(REVISED) GRE

-Nishita Muhnot

Nishita Muhnot

 Nishita Muhnot

Contents
What is GRE ? Quick Facts.
Revised GRE. What Changed ?
Test Content + sample questions
How to Prepare ?
After GRE
Q&A

 Nishita Muhnot

Quick Facts
What ?
GRE or Graduate Record Examinations is a standardized test created and
administered by Educational Testing Service (ETS), the same people who administer
TOEFL (English language test).

Who requires it ?
It is an admissions requirement for almost all graduate schools in the United States,
some of them in Canada and few of them in other countries like Germany, France, etc.
It is also required for PhD programs.
GRE scores are now also been accepted by a fast-growing number of business schools
such as Harvard, INSEAD, MIT Sloan, NYU Stern, Stanford, etc to widen their
application pool.

 Nishita Muhnot

Quick Facts
When ?
It is offered as a computer-based test year round at most locations around the world
including India and as a paper-based test up to three times a year in areas where
computer-based testing is not available.
In India, the frequency of the test is typically twice a day on the five working days of
the week in all the major cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Trivandrum,
Ahmadabad etc. This is subject to change.
You can take the GRE revised General Test only once every 60 days, and no more
than five times in a year.
You are advised to book your dates at least 3 months in advance to get a desirable
date (applicable to India).

 Nishita Muhnot

Quick Facts
Validity Period ?
GRE scores are valid for 5 years though there are few universities that want GRE
scores less than 2 years old.

Fee ?
190$
This includes free score reports to 4 graduate schools and the POWERPREP II
software CD which includes a simulated test-taking experience.

Registration and Information

Go to www.ets.org/gre

 Nishita Muhnot

Quick Facts
2 types of GRE tests :
General Test :
Has 3 sections
Verbal Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Analytical Writing
Aims to test skills that have been acquired over a long period of time and that
are not related to any specific field of study.
More on the sections later.

 Nishita Muhnot

Quick Facts
2 types of GRE tests :
Subject Tests :
Tests your knowledge in a specific subject. There are 8 subject tests
Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology; Biology; Chemistry; Computer
Science; Literature in English; Mathematics; Physics; Psychology.
General Test is a must whereas Subject Tests are optional. I have not come across
any university that requires a subject test nor have I come across any individual who
has given the subject test.

 Nishita Muhnot

Revised GRE
From 1st August 2011, the GRE revised General Test replaced the GRE General Test
to more closely reflect the kind of thinking you'll do in graduate or business school.
Since its been less than a year since the change and most of the people are only
familiar with the old GRE, we have included a short comparison of the old and new
GRE.

 Nishita Muhnot

What Changed?
Old GRE

New GRE

Test Structure

Test Structure

1 verbal section
1 quant section
1 analytical writing section

2 verbal sections
2 quant sections
1 analytical writing section

Question Adaptive :

Each new
questions difficulty level was determined
on the basis of the answer to the
previous question.

Section Adaptive :

Each new
sections difficulty level is determined on
the basis of the answers given in the
previous section.

Cant skip or come back to a question.

Can skip, mark, and come back to

questions in the same section only.

 Nishita Muhnot

What Changed?
Old GRE

New GRE

Duration

Duration

2 hours 30 minutes

3 hours 45 minutes

Scoring Pattern

Scoring Pattern

Total : 1600
Quant : 800 (score range : 200-800)
Verbal : 800 (score range : 200-800)
Analytical Writing : 0-6
10 point increment
No negative marking

Total : 340
Quant : 170 (score range : 130-170)
Verbal : 170 (score range : 130-170)
Analytical Writing : 0-6
1 point increment
No negative marking

 Nishita Muhnot

 Nishita Muhnot

What Changed?
Old GRE

New GRE

Verbal

Verbal

Type of Questions :
Analogies
Antonyms
Sentence Completion
Reading Comprehension

Type of Questions :
Text Completion
Sentence Equivalence
Reading Comprehension

All are Multiple Choice with only 1

correct answer

Multiple choice questions with 1 or more

correct answers + sentence-in-passage
questions.

Exactly 30 questions.

Approximately 20 questions per section.

30 mins.

30 mins per section. Total Time : 60 mins.

 Nishita Muhnot

What Changed?
Old GRE

New GRE

Quant

Quant

Type of Questions :
Quantitative Comparison
Problem Solving
Data Interpretation

Type of Questions :
Quantitative Comparison
Problem Solving
Data Interpretation

All are Multiple Choice with only 1

correct answer.

Multiple choice with 1 or more correct

answers + numeric entry questions.

28 questions.
45 mins.

Approximately 20 questions per section.

35 mins per section. Total : 70 mins

Has onscreen simple calculator.

 Nishita Muhnot

What Changed?
Old GRE

New GRE

Analytical Writing

Analytical Writing

Has 2 essays:
Issue Essay
Argument Essay

Has 2 essays:
Issue Essay
Argument Essay

2 choices given for issue essay. No

choice for argument essay.

No choice for issue and argument essay.

Issue Essay : 45 mins.

Argument Essay : 30 mins.
Total : 1 hour 15 mins.

Issue Essay : 30 mins.

Argument Essay : 30 mins.
Total : 1 hour.

 Nishita Muhnot

Analytical Section (1 hour, always first)

Verbal or Quant Section 1 ( 30-35 mins)
Verbal or Quant Section 1 or Section 2 ( 30-35 mins)
10 mins break
Verbal or Quant Section 1 or Section 2 ( 30-35 mins)
Verbal or Quant Section 1 or Section 2 ( 30-35 mins)
Unscored Verbal or Quant Section ( 30-35 mins)
Research Question (Optional)

The analytical section is always first, whereas the verbal, quant, unscored sections
can appear in any order.

 Nishita Muhnot

Sample Questions
Verbal
Text Completion 1 fill in the blank (Level Easy)

Rumor : No need to learn words for the new GRE. False. Yes you still need to learn the
Barrons 5000 GRE words. No escape.
30% of the verbal section.

 Nishita Muhnot

Sample Questions
Verbal
Text Completion 2 fill in the blanks(Level Medium)

No marks for only 1 correct answer. You need to get all the blanks right to gain marks
for that questions.

 Nishita Muhnot

Sample Questions
Verbal
Text Completion 3 fill in the blanks (Level Difficult)

 Nishita Muhnot

Sample Questions
Verbal
Sentence Equivalence always 2 correct answers

Its like synonyms.

20% of the verbal section.

 Nishita Muhnot

Sample Questions
Verbal
Reading Comprehension (RCs)
sentence-in-passage question

RCs now make 50% of the verbal sections as opposed to 30% earlier. There can be 1
para, 2 paras, 3 paras and even 4 paras RCs.
They are also now more similar to GMAT RCs where critical reasoning is also tested
rather than just finding information from the passage. Questions are tougher.
Fast reading speed is a must to complete the test on time.

 Nishita Muhnot

Sample Questions
Quant
Syllabus is same as 10th std Math in India.
An on-screen calculator has been added.

 Nishita Muhnot

Sample Questions
Quant
Quantitative Comparison only 1 correct answer

Easiest and most time saving questions on the test.

40% of the quant section.

 Nishita Muhnot

Sample Questions
Quant
Problem Solving One or Multiple Answers

35-40% of the quant section.

 Nishita Muhnot

Sample Questions
Quant
Problem Solving Numeric Entry

Around 2 questions in the quant section.

 Nishita Muhnot

Sample Questions
Quant
Data Interpretation One or Multiple Answers

20-25% of the quant section.

 Nishita Muhnot

Sample Questions
Analytical Writing
Issue Essay

The good is the entire pool of issue tasks is officially available online from ETS at
http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/issue/po
ol
The bad news is there are just too many topics!

 Nishita Muhnot

Sample Questions
Analytical Writing
Argument Essay

Pool
http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/argumen
t/pool

 Nishita Muhnot

Sample Questions
Analytical Writing
Its best to practice writing essays a
minimum of 6-7 times before appearing for
the test. However this varies greatly
according to individual caliber. Only you can
decide how much practice you need.
Both the essays are graded on a scale of 06 and the average is taken. There are
increments of 0.5.

 Nishita Muhnot

Basically REVISED GRE is :

Old wine in new bottle!

 Nishita Muhnot

How To Prepare
Join Princeton/Kaplan classes.
Quite expensive.
Or prepare on your own. Certainly doable.
You need at least 2-3 months of preparation.
Verbal preparation and memorizing words consume 80% of the time for most
students.
Start with high frequency word lists (around 500 words) to remember the important
words first. Easily available on net. Then go on to Barrons 5000 words list.
You need to do Barrons 5000 word list at least 2-3 times to remember most of the
words.

 Nishita Muhnot

How To Prepare
Dont ignore math. Students often loose a lot of marks due to silly mistakes.
READ THE QUESTIONS PROPERLY!
Dont ponder too long on a question. Mark it for review and move on!
Answer all questions, even if it is guess work. Remember there is no negative
marking.
Make an educated guess. Eliminate potential incorrect answers to arrive at the
right answer.

 Nishita Muhnot

How To Prepare
Books :
1) The Official Guide to the GRE Revised General Test. By ETS.

A must have because right now ETS is more knowledgeable than any one else about
the new format.
Includes around 100 sample questions organized according to difficulty level.
Has real essays written by test takers along with the ETS peoples evaluation and
comments.

 Nishita Muhnot

How To Prepare
Books :
2) Barrons New GRE

A good book for Quant.

Does not have the word list . You can download the word list online or xerox it
from an old Barrons.
Includes sample tests.
Also includes a CD with stimulated tests (around 2).

 Nishita Muhnot

How To Prepare
Extra Books :
3) Cracking the NEW GRE by Princeton.

A good book for practice. Nothing special.

4) Kaplan NEW GRE Premier

I have not used the book. No comments.

 Nishita Muhnot

How To Prepare
Other Important Stuff We Can Give
1) Nova GRE Math Bible (softcopy)
Excellent for math preparation. Has 1000s of questions organized according to
difficulty levels and topics. Must Have!
2) Voca Game based on Barrons Word List
An excellent refreshing multiple choice game where you need to guess a words
meaning. Has ALL Barrons Words.
3) Big Book (softcopy)
This book had a lot of old GRE papers but is now out of publication. Even though it
has old GRE questions, they really help you increase your reading speed for RCs and
test your words memory as well.

 Nishita Muhnot

How To Prepare
Online (Not Much) :
1) www.majortests.com
Though their RCs section has weird questions and answers.
2) http://www.tyrannosaurusprep.com
A fun word game for GRE and SAT though dont rely solely on it to learn words as
they do not have even half the important words that are present in Barrons. YOU
CANNOT ESCAPE BARRONS WORD LIST.

 Nishita Muhnot

After GRE
After completing the test, you are given an option to either view your score or
cancel your scores. If you cancel your scores, you or anyone else will never know
them. There is no use cancelling your scores.
When you give GRE more than once, the scores from all attempts are displayed on
your score report. However, universities always consider your latest score.

 Nishita Muhnot

After GRE
After you accept your score, the computer then asks you the names or codes of the
4 universities you want to send your scores to courtesy ETS, free of charge.
Basically, you need to order your GRE score reports to be sent by ETS to all the
universities you wish to apply to. The universities dont trust you.
Each additional score report costs 23$.
Thats why it is best to first decide on your universities and make use of the 4 free
score reports option that you get when you register for the test.
Department codes are not necessary to send a score as most of the universities
have a centralized database for all the departments. However, check with your
university first.
You will need to memorize these codes at the end of the test to enter at the
computer by going out for 5 mins with the officials permission, as the center officials
dont allow you to carry any paper inside even after the test.

 Nishita Muhnot

After GRE
Cancellation and rescheduling services, available on ETS website, are not free of
cost.
You get the official hard copy of your score report 15-20 days after the test. Most
universities require you to scan this and upload it in addition to the official scores
sent by ETS.
It takes 5-10 business days for a score report sent by ETS to reach the universities. So
plan well in advance.
Ideally you should give your GRE by October end. Deadlines for universities start by
Nov end and continue till March.
Students normally give their TOEFL, also a requirement in US and in almost all other
countries, within a few days after GRE as their memory in case of words is fresh,
which are needed to a very small extent in TOEFL also. You should schedule your
TOEFL 3 months (applicable to India).

 Nishita Muhnot

Q&A