Grad Exam - Take the GRE - Key Facts

The GRE is one of two standardized achievement examinations for business school admissions in the United States, as well as various graduate studies programs. It was first administered in 1949 by Educational Testing Service (ETS). The GRE test has historically consisted of 2 multiple choice sections, Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning, and an Analytical Writing Assessment. In 2011, The New York Times says, the test will be revamped and even extended in length, with a new grading scale of 130 to 170. The Educational Testing Service (“ETS”), which administers the GRE, claims the changes are the “largest revisions” in the GRE history. Check with your graduate program or business school to find out whether you should take the GRE. 

• The GRE is about 3 hours and can be taken at any one of many test centers in the United States at any time and around the world 5 or 6 times a year.
• The GRE composite score ranges from 400 to 1600 and is drawn from the two multiple-choice sections. The writing section does not get factored into the composite score, but has its own, unrelated score.
• The GRE is a computer-adaptive test, and leaving questions blank is very detrimental to your score.
• The GRE can be taken only once a month, and up to five times per twelve-month period.
• If you have taken the GRE multiple times, all scores will be evaluated by the admissions officers for your chosen programs.  Some programs will put greater weight on the higher score and be more impressed by a significant increase in score than two similar scores.  Other programs will choose to judge applicants by the highest scores in each section.  Averaging scores is uncommon.
• The national mean GRE score is about 462 in Verbal, 584 in Quantitative and 4 for the writing assessment.