In this article, I’ll share the test information of GRE with you based on the book, “The Official Guide to the GRE revised General Test,” 2nd edition.

　　The GRE revised General Test is the most widely accepted graduate admissions test worldwide, which measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and analytical writing skills that are necessary for success in graduate and business school.

　　There are two testing format. One is computer-delivered and the other is paper-delivered format. In most regions of the world, the computer delivered test is available on a continuous basis throughout the year, for example, one to three times per month in Taiwan. But in areas of the world where computer delivered testing is not available, the test is administered in a paper delivered format up to three times a year. For the most up-to-date information about the GRE revised General Test, visit the GRE website, www.ets.org/gre.

　　The GRE revised General Test is composed of three measures:

　　* Analytical Writing section

　　* Verbal Reasoning section

　　* Quantitative Reasoning section

　　The analytical writing section measures the ability to articulate and support complex ideas, examine claims and accompanying evidence, sustain a focused and coherent discussion, and control the element of standard written English. The verbal reasoning section measures your ability to analyze and evaluate written material, synthesize information obtained from it, understand the meanings of words, sentences and entire texts, and understand relationships among words and concepts. The quantitative reasoning section measures your basic understanding of the elementary mathematical concepts of arithmatic, algebra, geometry and data analysis.

　　The content of this official guide includes:

　　Chapter1: About the GRE revised General Test

　　Chapter2: GRE Analytical Writing

　　Chapter3: GRE Verbal Reasoning

　　Chapter4: GRE Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions

　　Chapter5: GRE Quantitative Reasoning

　　Chapter6: GRE Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions

　　Chapter7: GRE Math Review

　　Chapter8: GRE Practice Test1

　　Chapter9: GRE Practice Test2

　　This book/CD package provides a large amount of important information about the GRE revised General Test, the types of questions it includes, and the knowledge and skills that it measures. The following six steps program has been designed to help test-taker make the best use of this book and CD:

　　Step1: Learn About the GRE revised General Test Format (Chap1)

　　Step2: Study the Different GRE Question Types (Chap2/3/5)

　　Step3: Practice GRE Verbal & Quantitative Reasoning (Chap4/6)

　　Step4: Use the Test Preview Tool on the CD

　　Step5: Review GRE Math Topics (Chap7)

　　Step6: Take the Practice Tests (Chap8/9)

　　Test structure of the computer-delivered GRE revised General Test:

　　Basic part:

　　Additional part:

* The unidentified/unscored section doesn’t count toward a score.

* The unidentified section can be either the verbal or quantitative reasoning.

* The research section will not count and always appear at the end of the test.

　　1. There are total 6 sections.

　　2. Analytical writing section always come first in the test.

　　3. Verbal/Quantitative/Unidentified sections may appear in any order.

　　　e.g. the order of the test can be A-V-Q-V-Q-V or A-Q-V-Q-V-Q

　　4. Treat each section seriously since the unidentified can’t be determined.

　　5. Total test time is 3 hours and 45 minutes long.

　　Test Design Features (computer-delivered format):

　　Analytical Writing section:

　　1. The interface of the software is developed by ETS.

　　2. The functionality contains insert, delete, cut and paste, and undo.

　　3. No spelling checker and grammar checker.

　　Verbal & Quantitative reasoning section:

　　1. It’s section-level adaptive which means the computer will selects the second section of a measure based on the performance on the first section.

　　2. There is on-screen calculator for quantitative reasoning.

　　3. You can freely move forward (skip) and backward within a section.

　　4. Feature “mark and review” allow you to tag question and return later.

　　5. Review screen shows the status of answer/marked for each question.

　　6. The format of the answer can be single, multiple or numeric answer.

　　7. Only one section is available at a time. Once leaving, you can’t go back.

　　8. Scratch paper is provided and can be replenish as necessary.

　　9. There is a scheduled break between each sections. Timer will stop.

　　GRE Scoring:

　　Analytical Writing section:

　　1. Each essay receives a score from two readers using a 6-points scale.

　　2. The two scores on each essay are averaged.

　　3. If the two scores differ by more than 1 pts, a third reader adjudicate.

　　4. The final scores on the two essays are then averaged and rounded.

　　5. The reported score is on 0-6 score scale, in half-point increments.

　　6. The score will be canceled if violated independent intellectual activity.

　　Verbal & Quantitative reasoning section:

　　1. Scores is determined by the number of questions answered correctly.

　　2. Nothing is subtracted from a score if answered incorrectly.

　　3. No question carries greater weight than any other, said equal score.

　　4. The above raw score is then converted to a scaled score.

　　5. The reported score is on 130-170 score scale, in 1 increments.

　　Summary:

　　1. There are total 3 score reports, Analytical, Verbal and Quantitative.

　　2. The scores are reported approximately 10 to 15 days after the test date.

　　3. The scores are reportable from the last 5 years.

　　4. After test day, the scores can be sent  in the form of most recent, all, or any specific test administration for a fee.

　　In the article above, we only introduced the overview of GRE revised General Test. The remaining chapter of the book will detail and analyze how analytical writing, verbal reasoning and quantitative reasoning is constructed. If possible, I’ll show you all of these after I finish the reading.

　　To be honest, I have tried to take an authentic test this morning. Here is some of my experience: For the new beginners to GRE test, it’s better to read some sample articles of “analyze an argument task” of analytical writing. Otherwise, it’s so easy to get confused by the form of question.  To be more specific, we have to argue the provided statement and this style of writing is completely different from previous writing test. Besides, the difficulty of verbal reasoning is fucking hard! I can hardly understand what the questions mean, nor do the choices. It really frustrates me such that I can’t go on my second verbal reasoning section. The only comforting part is that quantitative reasoning is piece of cake for Asian students.

　　Finally, we will conclude the GRE revised General Test as follows: It’s a test for admission of college application. There are three parts composed of this test, analytical writing, verbal reasoning and quantitative reasoning. The purpose of this test is not only to check out the language ability but also to verify the logic reasoning. They are different to other English test so the test-taker must be careful and fully prepare this GRE revised General Test.