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Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is an international standardized test required for admission into Graduate Schools in the United States of America and other parts of the world. Education Testing Services (ETS) is the organzing body of GRE. The test is conducted in offline mode thrice a year and in online mode throughout the year. 

• GRE intends to assess candidates' verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, analytical writing, and critical thinking skills. 
• A candidate can take the test a maximum of five times over a period of 12 months. There should be a gap of 21 days between 2 GRE attempts. 
• GRE Score is valid for up to 5 years.
• GRE test-takers will receive 3 separate scores, one for each section. Math and Verbal GRE scores range on a scale of 130–170. Analytical Writing scores range from 0–6. 
• GRE Subject tests aim at assessing candidate’s ability in a particular field of study.
• GRE Subject test is available in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Literature in English, Psychology and Physics.
• The test was taken by more than 600,000 candidates from all over the world in 2017. 

GRE Highlights

The following graph represents the number of GRE General Test takers in different regions of the world (Excluding United States) from 2013-14 to 2017-18:

GRE General Test

• GRE General Test is for candidates seeking admission into Masters programs in various fields in universities of the US and other countries across the world.
• It is available at more than 1000 centers in more than 160 countries across the world in both online and offline mode.
• GRE General can be taken once every 21 days and up to 5 times over a period of 12 months. The slots in both online and offline mode are filled in the first-cum-first-serve basis.
• The duration of GRE Computer-delivered test is 3 hours and 45 minutes and of GRE Paper-delivered test is 3 hours and 30 minutes.

GRE Subject Test

• GRE Subject Test is for testing knowledge in a specific field. There is a separate paper for each subject.
• There are six subjects tested through GRE Subject Test – Biology, Chemistry, Literature in English, Mathematics, Physics, and Psychology.
• The duration of the exam for each of the 6 subjects is 2 hours and 50 minutes.
• GRE Subject test is only available in the paper-delivered format up to three times a year in September, October and April.

GRE for Business School

• GRE Score is accepted by thousands of business schools across the world, including ivy leagues like Harvard Business School, Stanford University, HEC Paris, London Business School, and Oxford University. 
• GRE General Test assesses candidates on parameters learned overtime, therefore, it is easier to score high on GRE than on GMAT.
• GRE costs less than GMAT or any other international management entrance test that measure candidates on the same skills.

GRE for Law School

• Practicing law in the current times is one of the most lucrative career options for candidates. GRE General Test is used for admission into numerous Law Schools for the JD Program.
• Juris Doctor (JD) is an entry professional degree in law. It is basically a postgraduate course and can be used to practice law in the US, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Computerized Adaptive Testing in GRE

Computer delivered GRE is the standard form of testing, the paper delivered test is very rare and is conducted only in the regions where CBT mode is not possible. GRE is a computer adaptive test, which means that it is a form of computer based test which adapts to examinee’s ability. This works in the following way:

• There will be two math sections and two verbal sections.
• The difficulty  (easy, medium, difficult) evel of the second section for both verbal and math shall be based on candidate’s performance in the first section.
• If you get most questions right in the first section, you will get a difficult second section and your score range would go high.
• If you get most questions wrong in the first section, you will get an easier second section and your score range would go low.

Scoreselect Option in GRE

Scoreselect option in GRE helps you to send the particular test scores to schools which you want them to see. This option is available in both – General and Subject tests.

Once you are done with the test and received your scores, you can either choose to not send your scores of that test or you can choose from any of the following options for each of your free score reports:

• Most Recent: Send your scores from your current test.
• All : Send your scores from all GREGeneral Test administrations in the last five years.

After the test day, you need to pay a fee to send your scores and you can choose from the following options:

• Most Recent: Send your scores from your most recent test.
• All: Send your scores from all test administrations in the last five years.
• Any: Send your scores from one or as many test administrations as you like from the last five years.

Regardless of the option you pick, the schools you choose will only see the scores that you selected. There will be no additional information if you have taken multiple attempts at GRE. 

Note: There might be a requirment to report your scores more than once for some programs. Therefore, candidates must check the score requirements of the program they are applying to.

How to Register for GRE?

Candidates can register for  GRE General Test either online on the official website ets.org/gre or via phone. They can also request a GRE General Test Authorization Voucher by Mail.

• The registration must be done at least 2 business days before the preferred test date.
• GRE General Test consists of questions on Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Analytical Writing. GRE Subject Test aims at analysing candidate’s knowledge in a particular field of Study. 
• GRE Registration fee ranges between the US $ 205 – $ 230 depending upon the region a candidate is registering from.