1. Becoming Familiar with the GRE® General Test
GRE® Test Preparation Workshop for Campus Educators March 22, 2010
Becoming Familiar with the GRE® General Test
John Hawthorn
Educational Testing Service
Copyright © 2008 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, and GRE are registered trademarks of ETS.

2. Structure of the General Test
Section
Number of Questions
Time
Analytical Writing
1 Issue task
45 min.
1 Argument task
30 min.
Verbal Reasoning
30 questions
Quantitative Reasoning
28 questions
Unscored* (Position varies)
Varies
Research** (At end of test)
*Questions in this section are either being tried out for possible use in future tests or are being used
to ensure that scores on new editions of the test are comparable to scores on earlier test editions.
**Identified research section that is not scored may also be included.
ETS — Listening. Learning. Leading.®
Copyright © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. , GRE and POWERPREP are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Copyright © 2008 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, and GRE are registered trademarks of ETS.

3. Information It Is Important For Test Takers To Know Before They Register For The Test
Registration and appointment scheduling
Date, time and test center location
ID requirements
Cost
Score reporting procedures
Availability of special testing arrangements
This information is available in the GRE® Information and Registration Bulletin and on the GRE website at
ETS — Listening. Learning. Leading.®
Copyright © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. , GRE and POWERPREP are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Copyright © 2008 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, and GRE are registered trademarks of ETS.

4. Become Familiar with the Content of the Analytical Writing Section
Test takers should review the following:
Skills measured
Issue and Argument scoring guides
Score Level Descriptions
Sample topics
Scored Sample Essay Responses and corresponding reader commentary
Issue and Argument pools of topics
ETS — Listening. Learning. Leading.®
Copyright © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. , GRE and POWERPREP are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Copyright © 2008 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, and GRE are registered trademarks of ETS.

5. Become Familiar with the Content of the Verbal and Quantitative Sections
Test takers should review the following:
Skills measured
Types of questions and directions
Approximate numbers of questions in each section
Amount of time for each section
How the sections are scored
Strategies for each of the question types
Answer the sample questions
ETS — Listening. Learning. Leading.®
Copyright © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. , GRE and POWERPREP are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Copyright © 2008 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, and GRE are registered trademarks of ETS.

6. Scratch Paper
Test takers will receive a supply of scratch paper before they begin their test
Test takers will be able to replenish their supply of scratch paper, as necessary, throughout the entire test administration
Scratch paper may not be taken from the test center
ETS — Listening. Learning. Leading.®
Copyright © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. , GRE and POWERPREP are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS)

7. Breaks
There is a 10-minute break following the Analytical Writing section, and a one-minute break between the other test sections
Test takers might want to replenish their supply of scratch paper during each scheduled break
Section timing will not stop if the test taker takes an unscheduled break, so they should proceed with their test without interruption once it begins
ETS — Listening. Learning. Leading.®
Copyright © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. , GRE and POWERPREP are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS)

8. Linear (Traditional) Tests
Broad range of ability to be assessed — test questions to match this range
Some very easy and very difficult questions, but most questions are of middle/moderate difficulty
All questions typically selected in advance of test administration
At a given admininstration of a linear test, many or all examinees receive the same set of questions
Test scores are derived from the number of correct answers
Advantage: Familiar testing format
Disadvantage: Longer testing time
ETS — Listening. Learning. Leading.®
Copyright © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. , GRE and POWERPREP are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Copyright © 2008 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, and GRE are registered trademarks of ETS.

9. Computer Adaptive Test (CAT)
Each examinee receives a set of questions targeted to his/her specific ability
Questions are not chosen in advance but selected by the computer algorithm, as examinee goes through test, based in part on test design factors of preceding questions and on whether these questions were answered correctly/incorrectly
Test design factors include:
the statistical characteristics (including difficulty level) of the questions already answered
the required variety of question types
the appropriate coverage of content
Advantage: Shorter testing time
Disadvantage: Unfamiliar testing format
ETS — Listening. Learning. Leading.®
Copyright © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. , GRE and POWERPREP are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS)

10. Building An Adaptive Test
TEST DESIGN
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Copyright © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. , GRE and POWERPREP are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Copyright © 2008 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, and GRE are registered trademarks of ETS.

11. Mean score Ability / Difficulty Number of Questions Answered 1 2 3 4 51 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Number of Questions Answered
ETS — Listening. Learning. Leading.®
Copyright © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. , GRE and POWERPREP are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Copyright © 2008 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, and GRE are registered trademarks of ETS.

12. Some CAT Rules You cannot go back and revise a previous answer
You cannot skip ahead to fill in answers to questions you know
You must answer each question as it is presented — by posting a guess if necessary
ETS — Listening. Learning. Leading.®
Copyright © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. , GRE and POWERPREP are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Copyright © 2008 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, and GRE are registered trademarks of ETS.

13. CAT Strategy: Answer Questions!
Learn to identify the point at which it is best to post a guess. There are no time outs once a section has begun.
It is normal in CAT to answer several questions incorrectly, even for high scorers
ETS — Listening. Learning. Leading.®
Copyright © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. , GRE and POWERPREP are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Copyright © 2008 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, and GRE are registered trademarks of ETS.

14. Do Not Get Hung Up on a Question
Pacing is critical to success in the GRE® General Test. It is important not to leave questions unanswered, or to finish with a string of guesses
If you see a possible error, note its location and report it to the test center supervisor at the end of the test. Actual errors are very rare
It is important to focus on just one thing: answering the current question on the screen
ETS — Listening. Learning. Leading.®
Copyright © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. , GRE and POWERPREP are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Copyright © 2008 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, and GRE are registered trademarks of ETS.

15. Strategies to Use During the Analytical Writing Section
Be attentive to time, but do not rush
Organize your thoughts and prepare outlines for the two essays
In the Issue task, you will have 45 minutes to choose a topic, think about the issue, plan a response and compose a response
In the Argument task, you will have 30 minutes to analyze the argument, plan a critique and compose a response
Save a few minutes at the end of each time section to check for obvious errors
ETS — Listening. Learning. Leading.®
Copyright © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. , GRE and POWERPREP are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Copyright © 2008 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, and GRE are registered trademarks of ETS.

16. Computer-based Test Familiarization
Use the Powerprep® tutorial to learn how to interact with the computer
You may return to any part of the tutorial during the timed testing sessions, but this reduces the amount of time available
If you exit a section, you cannot return to it
Clicking on the “Test Quit” icon at the bottom of the screen ends the test session. If you quit a test, you will not receive scores, even for completed sections.
ETS — Listening. Learning. Leading.®
Copyright © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. , GRE and POWERPREP are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Copyright © 2008 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, and GRE are registered trademarks of ETS.

17. Don’t Take the Actual GRE® Tests for Practice
All scores earned in official GRE test administrations become part of your official record for five years
It is more economical to use GRE practice materials to take earlier editions of actual GRE tests under timed conditions
Practice tests for the paper-based and computer-based versions of the GRE General Test and the GRE Subject Tests are available at
ETS — Listening. Learning. Leading.®
Copyright © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. , GRE and POWERPREP are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Copyright © 2008 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, and GRE are registered trademarks of ETS.

18. Scores Reported Three scores are reported on the General Test:
a Verbal Reasoning score reported on a 200 – 800 score scale, in 10-point increments
a Quantitative Reasoning score reported on a – 800 score scale, in 10-point increments
an Analytical Writing score reported on a 0 – 6 score scale, in half-point increments
Any section in which the examinee answers no questions at all will be reported as an “NS” (No Score).
ETS — Listening. Learning. Leading.®
Copyright © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. , GRE and POWERPREP are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Copyright © 2008 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, and GRE are registered trademarks of ETS.

19. GRE® Score Reporting Policies
Score reporting is cumulative. Scores are reportable for five testing years following the testing year in which the examinee tested. All scores earned during this time will be reported to institutions the examinee designates.
Test taker options:
Send only General Test scores
Send only Subject Test scores
Send General Test and Subject Test scores
Examinee may not choose to have only those scores from a specific test date reported
ETS — Listening. Learning. Leading.®
Copyright © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. , GRE and POWERPREP are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS)

20. Questions?
ETS — Listening. Learning. Leading.®
Copyright © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. , GRE and POWERPREP are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Copyright © 2008 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, and GRE are registered trademarks of ETS.