GRADUATE RECORD
EXAMINATION
Purpose
Purpose of the GRE is to help graduate
school admission committees and fellowship
sponsors assess the qualifications of
applicants of their programs – it gives them
another ASSESSMENT to divide people with
„ It is ANOTHER weeding out process!
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Sources and Credits
ETS.org
„ ETS Practicing to Take the GRE General
Test 10th Edition
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What you will see on GRE
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GRE Analytical
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GRE Quantitative (45 minutes, 28 questions)
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Issue Task (45 minutes)
Argument Task (30 minutes)
Arithmetic
Algebra
Geometry
Data Analysis
GRE Verbal (30 minutes, 30 questions)
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Antonyms
Analogies
Sentence Completions
Reading Comprehension
How it is scored
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Verbal Score 200-800, in 10 point increments
Quantitative Score 200-800, in 10 point increments
Verbal and Quantitative Score combined to make
total GRE score that schools see and use (ie. 1000)
Analytical Writing Score 0-6 score, half point
increments
GRE-CAT
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The Computer Adaptive Test is scored differently
then the Paper-Based Test.
At the start of each section, you will be presented
with a question of medium difficulty. Depending on
how you answer that question, you will get a harder
question or an easier question.
You cannot go backward, only forward, and you
cannot skip. You will want to finish the test, but
budget your time. Guessing at the end and also,
not finishing will seriously lower your score.
Antonyms
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PRECIPITOUS
Pleasantly Sweet
(B) Overly Ambitious
(C) Agreeably Situated
(D) Publicly Known
(E) Gently Sloping *
Precipitous is sometimes meant to mean rash or
fool heartedly, but it’s central meaning is sharp
drop off
(A)
GRE - Verbal
Many antonyms and analogies use second
or alternate meanings!!!!!
„ Use knowledge of word parts to figure it out if
you don’t know the word
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GRE – Verbal Analogies
One common thing not necessarily taught in every
GRE prep course or book is to look for the
ambiguous first word in analogies.
The first word in choice (A) will ALWAYS
disambiguate the Analogy.
Work across, not down
Analogy Example
Tango: Dance ::
„ (A) arabesque : theme
„ (B) tonality :instrumentation
„ (C) rhyme : pattern
„ (D) stanza : line
„ (E) elegy : poem
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Answer
Tango: Dance ::
„ (A) arabesque : theme
„ (B) tonality :instrumentation
„ (C) rhyme : pattern
„ (D) stanza : line
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(E) elegy : poem *
GRE – Verbal Sentence
Completion
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Take out extraneous information to help find the
important parts of the sentence
Tips
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Memorize the format of the test
Memorize the directions
Practice the math and verbal > schools don’t weight
the analytical as much
Instead of memorizing tons of words, study word
parts (prefixes and suffixes)
Common Math Problem Set Up
Column A
Column B
5% of 36
36% of 5
For the following question, select the best
answer choice.
A. If the quantity in Column A is greater
B. If the quantity in Column B is greater
C. If the two quantities are equal
D. If the relationship cannot be determined
from the information given
Answer
Column A
5% of 36 =1.8
Column B
36% of 5 = 1.8
the two quantities are equal
Math Tips
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Figures are not to scale, but data displays are
Assumes lines are straight
The answers are there, look at the choices and
narrow it down
Resources
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ETS.org – examples of issue and argument tasks,
powerprep software
Number2.com – math and verbal tutorials
www.msu.edu – prefixes and suffixes