Description of the General Test
The General Test
is composed of verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing sections. The
verbal and quantitative sections remain unchanged. The analytical writing
section is identical to the Writing Assessment, which was introduced in
October 1999. The analytical section is no longer a part of the General
Test. For more information, read Frequently Asked Questions about the New
General Test at www.gre.org/faqnew.html
Changes to the
General Test are being made in order to (1) help admissions committees
assess higher level critical thinking and analytical writing skills of
applicants, and (2) provide a performance assessment that measures a test
taker's ability to make and critique arguments, which is central to the
work done by graduate students in most fields.
The new General
Test measures verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing skills that
have been acquired over a long period of time and that are not related to
any specific field of study.
The Verbal
section (section is unchanged) measures your ability to analyze and
evaluate written material and synthesize information obtained from it, to
analyze relationships among component parts of sentences, to recognize
relationships between words and concepts, and to reason with words in
solving problems. There is a balance of passages across different subject
matter areas: humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
The
Quantitative section (section is unchanged) measures your basic
mathematical skills, your understanding of elementary mathematical
concepts, and your ability to reason quantitatively and solve problems in
a quantitative setting. There is a balance of questions requiring
arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis. These are content areas
usually studied in high school.
The Analytical writing
section is a NEW section introduced beginning in October 2002 that
tests your critical thinking and analytical writing skills. It assesses
your ability to articulate and support complex ideas, analyze an argument,
and sustain a focused and coherent discussion. It does not assess specific
content knowledge. The analytical writing section consists of two
analytical writing tasks: a 45-minute "Present Your Perspective on an
Issue" task and a 30-minute "Analyze an Argument" task. The "Issue" task
states an opinion on an issue of general interest and asks you to address
the issue from any perspective(s) you wish, as long as you provide
relevant reasons and examples to explain and support your views.
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Descriptions of the Subject
Tests
The GRE
Subject Tests are designed to help graduate school admission committees ad
fellowship sponsors assess the qualifications of applicants in specific
fields of study. The tests also provide students with an assessment of
their own qualifications.
Scores on the
tests are intended to indicate students' knowledge of the subject matter
emphasized in many undergraduate programs as preparation for graduate
study. Since past achievement is usually a good indicator of future
performance, the scores are helpful in predicting students' success in
graduate study. Because the tests are standardized, the test scores permit
comparison of students from different institutions with different
undergraduate programs. For some Subject Tests, subscores are provided in
addition to the total score; these subscores indicate the strengths and
weaknesses of individual student's preparation, and they may help students
plan their future studies.
Subject Tests
are currently available in 8 disciplines:
Attention GRE Test Takers:
Beginning July 1, 2003, the
option to handwrite essay responses on the analytical writing section of
the GRE General Test will no longer be available at computer-based test (CBT)
centers. All GRE examinees at CBT centers worldwide will be required to
word process their essay responses on the GRE Analytical Writing section.
A separate paper-based
Analytical Writing Measure will be available at the December 13, 2003
Subject Test administration. The fee for this test is $55 in the U.S.,
U.S. Territories (includes American Samoa, Guam, and U.S. Virgin Islands
only), and Puerto Rico, and $70 in all other locations. (Note that you
cannot take the Analytical Writing Measure and a Subject Test on the same
test date.) Call or fax ETS no later than 6 weeks prior to the
registration deadline for registration instructions. See the 2003-04 GRE
Bulletin for registration receipt dates.
Scores on the paper-based
Analytical Writing Measure will be reported on or about January 16, 2004.
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