The Graduate Records Exam (GRE)

Who? Test takers are mostly college students seeking to enter graduate school. Ages would be in the college years around the age of 21 years. There is not a specific age group though because students finish school at different paces. Test material is college level meant for that level of knowledge.

What? Purpose: to help graduate schools choose the right candidates to accept. A good enough score will bring promising results.

What? (cont.) Content: The GRE general test is divided into 3 main sections that can be taken either on computer or on paper. 1. Analytical Writing 2. Verbal 3. Quantitative

What? (cont.) The GRE also has a separate test called the subject test. This tests the students’ knowledge of psychological concepts. Only some programs require this.

How? General Test: 1. Analytical writing-appears first and has 2 essays, one 45 minute on a general issue and one 30 minute critiquing an argument. These can be done on computer but are not scanned. They are graded by actual computers.

How? (cont.) Either the Verbal or Quantitative section could come next. 2. Verbal: includes sentence completions, analogies, antonyms, and reading comprehension questions. Its purpose is to test your ability to form conclusions from written materials, recognize relationships between concepts and words, and to determine relationships between different parts of sentences. Computer: 30 min., 30 questions Paper: Two 30 min. sections, 38 questions each.

How? (cont.) 3. Quantitative: tests high-school-level math. This portion of the exam aims to test your skill at solving a variety of different math problems, as well as to analyze your ability to use quantitative reasoning. It is very much similar to tests taken before college like ACT and SAT. Computer: 45 min., 28 questions Paper: Two 30 min. segments, 30 questions each

Sample Question When walking, a certain person takes 16 complete steps in 10 seconds. At this rate, how many complete steps does the person take in 72 seconds? (A) 45 (B) 78 (C) 86 (D) 90 (E) 115 Strategies for Answering Determine what is given and what is being asked. Scan all answer choices before answering a question. When approximation is required, scan answer choices to determine the degree of approximation. Avoid long computations. Use reasoning instead, when possible.

Sample Question Early ________ of hearing loss is ________ by the fact that the other senses are able to compensate for moderate amounts of loss, so that people frequently do not know that their hearing is imperfect. (A) discovery.. indicated (B) development.. prevented (C) detection.. complicated (D) treatment.. facilitated (E) incidence.. corrected Strategies for Answering Read the incomplete sentence carefully. Look for key words or phrases. Complete the blank(s) with your own words; see if any options are like yours. Pay attention to grammatical cues. If there are two blanks, be sure that both parts of your answer choice fit logically and stylistically into the sentence. After choosing an answer, read the sentence through again to see if it makes sense.

Scores/Results The Verbal, Quantitative, and Subject tests are scored on a basis of The Analytical Writing portion is scored on a basis of 0-6 with ½ increments.

Usage The scores are based on the how high your score is. If a score is deemed to be proficient enough, the graduate college will accept the student. Obviously, if it is not, the college will not accept the individual.

Important Facts It is important to take the test in November to meet any deadline for applications for grad. School. Also, you can re-take the test in December to improve your scores. There is still a chance that your score could be worse, and both scores are reported to the schools unless the scores are cancelled before that point. There are some questions that are research questions that are not scored to see if they can be used in future tests.

Works Cited “General Test Practice Test.” GRE. 30, November “The GRE Test: What You Need to Know.” Petersons Graduate Schools. 30, November Lloyd, M.A. “What is the GRE (Graduate Record Exam)?” 15, October , November Psi Chi. 30, November