Graduate Record Examinations

Record Examination: General Test

Logo used since 2024
Acronym	GRE
Type	Computer-based or paper-based standardized test
Administrator	Educational Testing Service
Skills tested	Analytical writing, quantitative reasoning and verbal reasoning.
Purpose	Admissions to master's and doctoral degree programs in various universities
Year started	1936; 88 years ago (1936)
Duration	1 hour and 58 minutes[1]
Score range	Analytical writing: 0.0 to 6.0 (in 0.5-point increments), Verbal reasoning: 130 to 170 (in 1-point increments), Quantitative reasoning: 130 to 170 (in 1-point increments).
Score validity	5 years
Offered	Computer-based test: Multiple times a year (depends on availability of the test center) Paper-based test: Up to 3 times a year in October, November and February[2]
Restrictions on attempts	Computer-based test: Can be taken only once after 21 days from the day of exam in every year. Maximum of 5 times a year. (Applies even if candidate cancels scores on a test taken previously.)[3] Paper-based test: Can be taken as often as it is offered.[3]
Regions	About 1,000 test centers in more than 160 countries[4]
Languages	English
Annual number of test takers	319,101 (T.Y. 2021-22)[5]
Prerequisites	No official prerequisite. Intended for bachelor's degree graduates and undergraduate students who are about to graduate. Fluency in English assumed.
Fee	US$ 205[6] (Limited offers of "Fee Reduction Program" for U.S. citizens or resident aliens who demonstrate financial need, and for national programs in United States that work with underrepresented groups.[7])
Used by	Most graduate schools in USA, and in a few other countries
Website	www.ets.org/gre

The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) is a standardized test that is part of the admissions process for many graduate schools^[8] in the United States and Canada^[9] and a few other countries. The GRE is owned and administered by Educational Testing Service (ETS).^[10] The test was established in 1936 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.^[11]

According to ETS, the GRE aims to measure verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, analytical writing, and critical thinking skills that have been acquired over a long period of learning. The content of the GRE consists of certain specific data analysis or interpretation, arguments and reasoning, algebra, geometry, arithmetic, and vocabulary sections. The GRE General Test is offered as a computer-based exam administered at testing centers and institution owned or authorized by Prometric. In the graduate school admissions process, the level of emphasis that is placed upon GRE scores varies widely among schools and departments. The importance of a GRE score can range from being a mere admission formality to an important selection factor.

The GRE was significantly overhauled in August 2011, resulting in an exam that is adaptive on a section-by-section basis, rather than question by question, so that the performance on the first verbal and math sections determines the difficulty of the second sections presented (excluding the experimental section). Overall, the test retained the sections and many of the question types from its predecessor, but the scoring scale was changed to a 130 to 170 scale (from a 200 to 800 scale).^[12]

The cost to take the test is US$205,^[6] although ETS will reduce the fee under certain circumstances.^[7] It also provides financial aid to GRE applicants who prove economic hardship.^[13] ETS does not release scores that are older than five years, although graduate program policies on the acceptance of scores older than five years will vary.

Once almost universally required for admission to Ph.D. science programs in the U.S., its use for that purpose has fallen precipitously.^[14]