Introduction:

The GRE General Test is an examination designed to measure the verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing skills you have developed in the course of your academic career. High GRE scores strongly correlate with the probability of success in graduate school: the higher you score, the more likely you are to complete your graduate degree. For this reason, many graduate and professional schools require applicants to take the GRE General Test, a test now given only on computer. (They may also require you to take a GRE Subject Test in your particular field. Subject Tests currently are available in 14 fields.)

The GRE is an aptitude test. Like all aptitude tests, it must choose a medium in which to measure intellectual ability. The GRE has chosen math and English. No test can measure all aspects of intelligence. Thus any admission test, no matter how well written, is inherently inadequate. Nevertheless, some form of admission testing is necessary. It would be unfair to base acceptance to graduate school solely on grades; they can be misleading. For instance, would be fair to admit a student with an A average earned in easy classes over a student with a B average earned in difficult calsses? A school's reputation is too broad a measure to use as admission criteria: many students seek out easy classes and generous instructions, in hopes of inflating their GPA. Furthermore, a system that would monitor the academic standards of every class would be cost prohibitive and stifling. So until a better system is proposed, the admission test is here to stay.

The GRE® General Test measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and analytical writing skills that have been acquired over a long period of time and that are not related to any specific field of study.

Verbal Reasoning — The skills measured include the test taker's ability to

• analyze and evaluate written material and synthesize information obtained from it
• analyze relationships among component parts of sentences
• recognize relationships between words and concept

Quantitative Reasoning — The skills measured include the test taker's ability to

• understand basic concepts of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis
• reason quantitatively
• solve problems in a quantitative setting

Analytical Writing — The skills measured include the test taker's ability to

• articulate complex ideas clearly and effectively
• examine claims and accompanying evidence
• support ideas with relevant reasons and examples
• sustain a well-focused, coherent discussion
• control the elements of standard written English

You might also have to attempt an extra undefined unscored section and this section might be placed anywhere in the test after the anlytical section. Questions in the unscored section are being tested for possible use in future tests, and answers will not count toward your scores.

Total time for the test is three hours, excluding the research section. The total time for a section and the number of questions is mentioned at the beginning of each section.