The GRE® Test

Pulling all-nighters to study for that GPA-altering exam, time-consuming group projects out the wazoo and monotonous lectures lasting for hours on end. Gotta love those undergrad years. But wait—now you’re thinking about graduate school? Are you crazy? Crazy about money maybe.

Not only have statistics shown that a woman’s salary can double with a master’s while a man’s can increase by 89 percent, but oftentimes your employer will pay for part or sometimes all of your graduate degree. Attend graduate school for almost nothing and then get a generous raise because of your new degree? Sounds like a good deal.

Of course you don’t just show up for grad school one day-- you must apply, and to do that you must first take the GRE test. This exam evaluates candidates’ analytical writing, verbal and quantitative skills developed over a long period of time and not specifically related to any field of study. Scores are intended to show how well a candidate will perform in their first year of a graduate program.

The analytical writing section assesses critical thinking and analytical writing skills. The verbal section tests candidates’ ability to analyze and evaluate written material and interpret information from it, analyze relationships among component arts of sentences, recognize relationships between words and concepts and reason with words in solving problems. Lastly, the quantitative section is a combination of arithmetic, algebra, geometry and data analysis—all concepts covered in high school.

There are two different forms of the GRE test—a computer-adaptive test and a paper-based test. In areas where computer-adaptive tests aren’t available, candidates must take the paper-based test and vice versa.

If you’re wondering whether you should take the GRE test or the GMAT exam, be aware that the GMAT is specifically designed as an entrance exam for graduate business schools, and the GRE test is a more general social sciences exam. The GRE test is used more to get into humanities or liberal arts masters degree programs. Contact your school of choice to find out which tests they prefer.

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