All about GRE: Preparation, Process, and Tips

A plethora of students want to pursue higher education outside the country for undergraduate or postgraduate. This dream keep them awake. Many students work hard to fulfill this dream. Almost everyone has to follow a certain path to fulfill their dream in any way. The first step of this path may be GRE for some developed countries like the USA. Today in this article, I will let you know the details about GRE as well as some cogent tips to do well in GRE. Let us jump right in.

What is GRE?

Graduate Record Examination is called GRE for short. This is a fully computer based test. This is a rudimentary test to do a Master’s or Ph.D. in many universities in many countries after completing graduation.

At present, there is a growing trend among students to go abroad to study after completing honors. But it is natural that the education system of one country will be different from another country. The standard of study and evaluation method also varies from country to country and university to university. For many European universities, only CGPA and IELTS / TOEFL scores are enough. Nevertheless, universities in several other countries, including those in the United States and Canada, do not just measure eligibility by CGPA.

They measure students from different countries of the world, from different backgrounds, on a uniform scale. A common test for all, such as the GRE, tests merit. Writing skill in English is not necessary here. GRE basically tests the ability to analyze.

The CGPA approach of each university in the world is different. So it is good news for those who have low CGPA because they have another chance to prove their worth here through the GRE. Mainly Science and Arts background students take GRE. Besides, the GMAT is a test for Commerce background students.

Question Structure

GRE test is taken in 3 parts-
i. Analytical Writing
ii. Verbal Reasoning (English)
iii. Quantitative Reasoning (Math)

Analytical Writing

Time 1 hour, which means 60 minutes. At this time issues and argumentative these two types of essays have to be written. 30 minutes allotted for each section. Numbers are given on a scale of 1 to 6. Since this is the writing part, if you have good skills of writing in English and presenting ideas clearly, you can easily get 3.5-4 in writing.

Verbal Reasoning

This test tests the proficiency of the examinee on English words and sentences. Its main basis is vocabulary. The better the vocabulary, the easier it will be for him. There are basically three types of questions –

i) Text Completion- Fill in the blanks with one, two, or three blanks.
ii) Sentence Equivalence – Sentence Equivalence with Equivalent Sentences
iii) Reading Comprehension- Understanding the meaning of reading a passage (there will be multiple choice questions where only one is correct.

Quantitative Reasoning

It is also familiar as the Math Part. This part usually comes from college-level. However, there is no calculation from trigonometry. There are two steps here too.

The verbal number is 160 and the quantitative number is 180. There are 340 questions in total and two sets in each part. In 1 hour, for example, 30 minutes in Verbal, a total of 40 questions were given in two sections of 20 each. On the other hand, for the same number of questions in Quantitative, a total of 60 minutes is given for 35 minutes. The value of each question is 1. In many cases, questions can be asked from verbal or quantitative as an additional set – for which there is no scoring. Since there is no way to understand that no section is scoring, each section has to be given very well.

GRE Test Method

There are some differences between GRE and conventional testing methods. Conventional tests are done on paper, and GRE tests are done on computers. Traditional tests show how many marks for a question. But this is not exactly the case in GRE. Here the computer gives a score considering the overall performance that follows certain rules or formulas. For example, since there is a verbal and a math part, if one performs well, the other is difficult and vice versa. When the GRE test is over, everyone seats in front of a separate computer and the room inspectors or invigilators are in the outer room. They can see the activities of each examinee in the closed-circuit camera.

Application Process

To register for the GRE exam, first, you have to go to the official site and open an ETS account. After opening the account, you have to decide whether you want to take GRE General Test or GRE Subject Test. Then you have to select the exam date and center. Once the seat booking completed, the payment page will come. You have to pay a fee of USD 205 online via an international credit card.

GRE Preparation and Tips

GRE is not about reading more books or scholarly books, it is a test of strategy that can be won only with good basics or foundation. In case of capacity vs. capability, capability is actually needed for GRE. There is no specific book for GRE preparation that will guarantee 100% common in the exam. Books from various publications are available. Among these are the official GRE books of Manhattan, Barons, ETS. Kaplan, Nova Math Bible books are in great demand. There are also some websites like- magoosh, cruncprep, prepscholar etc. which help in preparation of GRE. These web sites contain a wealth of GRE preparation videos and questions.

Final Words

To sum up, the main preparation will be to prepare yourself to solve any problem very easily. Therefore, it is better to have a good grasp on various topics in the verbal and quantitative sections. If you firm enough for higher education abroad, a good GRE score would be benefacial for you. So, do not proscrastinate. Start preparing yourself as well as strive best. Wishing you luck!