Candidates who wish to pursue studies abroad need to qualify for GRE and secure the minimum scores as prescribed by the university they are applying to and according to the program they select. In order to secure a good score, they must be aware of GRE exam syllabus and the exam pattern. To ace the GRE exam, students can go through the preparation guides and start a study plan.
The GRE exam eligibility doesn’t have any age limit or a specific academic qualification requirement to appear for the exam. The only eligibility criteria that a student needs to worry about is an undergraduate degree from a recognized college/institution. GRE is taken by MBA and MS aspirants or students who wish to pursue engineering and law courses. Top business schools across the world have now started accepting GRE scores apart from the GMAT scores.
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Is GRE tough?
The GRE exam is considered a little more difficult as compared to SAT or ACT. It has quite challenging vocabulary and reading sections. Additionally, solving GRE math problems need higher-level reasoning skills and test the critical thinking skills of candidates rather than arithmetic skills. The GRE test was introduced to evaluate the academic prowess of a candidate. Candidates preparing for the GRE test should no consider GRE as a difficult examination but as a benchmark for higher education. However, the GRE exam is less difficult than specialized exams like the MCAT.
Check Out: Improve your GRE score
GRE Exam Formats
The GRE exam is divided into two parts: the GRE General Test and the GRE Subject Test. Each GRE syllabus is unique.
GRE General Exam: GRE General Exam is the standard exam that assesses students’ verbal thinking, mathematical reasoning, and analytical writing abilities.
GRE Subject Exam: The institution may demand a GRE Subject Test for more specialised courses, as the GRE Subject Test focuses on assessing the candidate’s proficiency in certain disciplines.
GRE Syllabus 2022
GRE or the Graduate Record Examination has two different testing formats i.e. GRE General and the GRE Subject Test. The syllabus is different for each test. The General Test comprises three sections i.e. Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning and Critical Thinking and Analytical Writing Skills. Whereas, the GRE subject test evaluates a candidate’s expertise in specific subjects like chemistry, physics, etc.
What Skills Are Tested in the GRE?
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Analytical Writing Assessment
- Verbal Reasoning
GRE Syllabus : Verbal Reasoning Section
The verbal reasoning section assesses the ability of the test taker to analyse and draw conclusions from the discourse, reason from incomplete data, identify the author’s assumptions and/or perspective, distinguish major from minor, summarise text, understand the structure of a text, understand the meanings of words, sentences, and entire texts, and understand relationships between words and concepts.
Following topics are included in the GRE verbal syllabus:
- Subject-Verb Agreement
- Idioms & Idiomatic Expressions
- Verb Tense
- Modifiers
- Pronoun Agreement
- Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives
GRE Syllabus : Analytical Writing Section
The GRE analytical writing section is intended to assess the test taker’s ability to articulate complex ideas clearly and effectively, support ideas with relevant reasons and examples, examine claims and accompanying evidence, maintain a well-focused, coherent discussion, and control the elements of standard written English.
The GRE Analytical Writing curriculum comprises of 2 parts, thirty-minute analytical writing assignments that are timed separately:
- Analyse an Argument
- Analyse an Issue
GRE Syllabus : Quantitative Reasoning Section
The quantitative reasoning section assesses the ability of the test taker to understand quantitative information, interpret and analyse quantitative information, solve problems using mathematical models, and apply basic mathematical skills and elementary mathematical concepts from arithmetic, algebra, geometry, probability, and statistics.
Following are some of the topics that are included in the GRE Quant Syllabus:
- Profit and loss
- Sets Theory
- Permutation & combination
- Probability
- Circles
- Coordinate geometry
- Number properties
- Powers and roots
Check Out: GRE study material
GRE Syllabus for Subject Test 2022
The following disciplines are included in the GRE Subject Test syllabus:
GRE Literature in English Syllabus
Each version of the test includes roughly 230 questions on poetry, theatre, biography, the essay, short storey, novel, criticism, literary theory, and linguistic history.
- Identification
- Cultural and Historical Contexts
- Literary Analysis
- History and Theory of Literary Criticism
GRE Math Syllabus
The exam comprises of around 66 multiple-choice questions selected from undergraduate-level courses.
- Calculus
- Algebra
- Additional Topics
GRE Physics Syllabus
The exam consists of roughly 90, five-choice questions, some of which are organised in sets and are based on resources such as diagrams, graphs, experimental data, and physical scenario descriptions.
- Atomic Physics
- Electromagnetism
- Laboratory Methods
- Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
- Quantum Mechanics
- Classical Mechanics
- Special Relativity
- Optics and Wave Phenomena
GRE Biology Syllabus
The exam comprises of around 185 Biology-related five-choice questions.
- Organismal Biology
- Ecology and Evolution
- Cellular and Molecular Biology
GRE Chemistry Syllabus
The exam comprises of around 120 multiple-choice questions about the four domains of chemistry that have historically been split.
- Analytical Chemistry
- Inorganic Chemistry
- Physical Chemistry
- Organic Chemistry
GRE Psychology Syllabus
There are around 200 multiple-choice questions in the exam. Each test question offers five possibilities from which the examinee must choose the one that is the correct or best response to the question.
- Cognitive
- Developmental
- Biological
- Social
- Clinical
GRE Exam Pattern for General Test
The General test syllabus is divided in three different sections namely quantitative reasoning, analytical writing and verbal reasoning. You can either opt for a computer-based exam or a paper-based one. The test pattern differs for both. Normally, students who wish to study abroad take the computer-based exam.
GRE Exam Pattern for Computer-Delivered Test
Each of these parts is then separated into two sub-sections for the computer-based pattern, totaling 40 questions (Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning). The GRE Analytical Writing component consists of only two activities with a time limit of one hour. Aside from these primary portions, the computer-based pattern test includes two extra changeable sections. After the Quantitative Reasoning segment is completed, there is a ten-minute break. These two variable portions, however, Unscored and Research, are not included in the final GRE scores.
Mention below table will give you more clarity over the matter :
| GRE Sections | No. of Sections | Duration |
| Quantitative Reasoning | 2 section- 40 questions | 70 minutes |
| Verbal Reasoning | 2 section- 40 questions | 60 minutes |
| Analytical Writing | 1 section- two tasks | 60 minutes |
| Research | Varies | Varies |
| Unscored | Varies | Varies |
GRE Test Pattern for Paper-Delivered Test
The paper-based GRE test schedule comprises two sub-sections for each of the three primary categories: analytical writing, verbal reasoning, and quantitative reasoning. The analytical Writing section consists of two one-hour projects (60 mins). Each portion of Verbal and Quantitative reasoning has two sections and 50 questions, with a maximum time restriction of 60 and 70 minutes, respectively. The paper-based test does not contain the variable components Unscored and Research.
| GRE Sections | No. of Sections | Duration |
| Quantitative Reasoning | 2 sections- 50 questions | 80 minutes |
| Verbal Reasoning | 2 sections- 50 questions | 70 minutes |
| Analytical Writing | 2 sections- 2 tasks | 60 minutes |
| Research | NA | NA |
| Unscored | NA | NA |
GRE Exam Syllabus for MS
Students planning to pursue MS abroad need to appear for the GRE exam and secure the minimum test score as mentioned by the university they are applying to. The GRE exam Syllabus for MS is nothing different and is the same as the GRE General test syllabus. The GRE scores are accepted by thousands of universities across the world for their masters and doctorate programs. The GRE exam is not subject-specific or branch-specific.
Check Out: How to get 300 in GRE?
GRE Exam Syllabus for MBA
The GRE exam is taken to get admission to various graduate programs. GMAT on the other hand is specifically for admission to business schools. In recent years, a number of business schools accept GRE instead of GMAT. The duration of GRE exam is 3 hours 45 minutes and the scores from the test are valid for 5 years.
The includes two essays in analytical writing and 80 multiple-choice questions across two sections i.e. Quantitative and Verbal Reasoning.
GRE Exam Syllabus for Mechanical Engineering
The GRE exam syllabus is not branch specific. The GRE syllabus for mechanical engineering remains the same. The General Test comprises three different sections to test the academic prowess of students across various sections like analytical thinking, quantitative reasoning and verbal reasoning. GRE exams can be given online 5 times a year with a minimum gap of 21 days.
GRE Exam Syllabus for ECE
As mentioned earlier, the GRE exam is held to test a student’s academic capacity and aptitude. The exam is not specific to a particular area of study and a common GRE General test is conducted to measure a student’s aptitude and ability to cope with any graduate program.
GRE Syllabus for Civil Engineering
As the GRE syllabus remains the same for any branch or subject, the GRE syllabus for civil engineering too is exactly like the general test syllabus. A student’s skills are tested across three different sections i.e. quantitative reasoning, verbal reasoning and analytical skills. Students are required to analyze and provide solutions to problems, articulate ideas and prove their language skills across these three sections.
GRE Syllabus for Computer Science
Computer Science is the study of computer systems and computing along with their theoretical and practical applications. It applies to principles of engineering, mathematics, logic and a plethora of other functions like formulation, software, algorithm, hardware development and artificial intelligence.
The average GRE score required by most US universities for computer science ranges between 310 and 320. The GRE exam for computer science can either be paper-based or taken online. The pattern for both is more or less the same. The exam has a similar pattern as that of a GRE General test.
The syllabus is as follows:
- The test is divided in three sections.
- The sections are Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative reasoning and Analytical Writing.
- The Analytical writing section evaluates how students articulate ideas and put forward their point of view.
- The verbal reasoning section covers sentence equivalence, comprehension and text completion.
- The quantitative reasoning interpreting, recognizing and evaluating analytical and mathematics problems using algebra and calculus.
- The total test duration is 220 minutes.
FAQs
Ans: The GRE exam consists of three sections i.e. verbal and quantitative reasoning and analytical writing. These sections are necessary in order to ensure success in higher educational studies. These sections are made up of multiple topics that are tested during the duration of the exam.
Ans: The GRE test serves as benchmark for higher education. The test is not as difficult as specialized exams like MCAT but is a little complicated as compared to exams like SAT and ACT. If students work hard and follow a good study plan, they can easily crack the exam and secure a good test score.
Ans: There is no specificity as to what is a good GRE score. Each university sets a different cut-off score and students are required to attain that score in order to get admitted to the specific program of that university. Candidates should note that a higher score means increased chances of securing a seat at the desired university and also makes them a front-runner when it comes to scholarships.
Ans: Indian citizens need to pay a US $213 fee in order to register for the GRE exam. Special requests on late registration and rescheduling require candidates to pay an additional cost.
Ans: Candidates must start preparing nicely in advance in order to secure a good test score before booking their slot. Those who have appeared for GRE before or are already well-prepared can use the one month gap between the booking and the exam date for revision. Other candidates would definitely need extra time for preparation and to be well-versed with the exam syllabus.
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