GRE is needed for admission into any Master’s degree program in the US and is also valid for admission decisions in many other countries in the Far East and Europe. Meant to measure your scholastic abilities at the undergraduate level, it is also a major factor influencing both admission decisions, and also financial aid awards. You have to score really well in GRE to get sufficient financial aid. There is no easy way.
The test consists of seven sections of which only six are scored and one is experimental though it is not disclosed, which one it is. Each section has a time limit of thirty minutes.
In some cases, the test has been offered with only six sections which cover:
- Reading comprehension
- Sentence completion
- Math problem solving
- Data interpretation
- Logical reasoning
- Verbal analogies
- Quantitative comparison
- Analysis and reasoning.
The whole test is multiple-choice type and each question has five answer options. There is, however, no penalty for wrong answers. Section scores are reported separately and each section has a maximum score of 800 totaling up to a maximum of 2,400.
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Since all these sections might not give a picture of your abilities, universities use scores in one or two sections. For example, if you are applying to MIT for Engineering or Physics, the college will not give as much importance to your verbal score as it will to your Math score. It will be the other way around if you are trying for admission into an English literature course.
Attach maximum importance to your score in the Quantitative and Math sections, though it is best to have a good overall score, which is anything above 2,000. You can as well forget the whole exercise if you score much below that. The practice tests will give you a fair indication of your possible scores. So do work real hard. A score of 2,300 should get you in almost anywhere, and with lots of financial aid. The catch is that in many countries like India, visa officers see your GRE scores before giving you a visa. This score is valid for five years.
GRE Subjects Test
She test is held four times a year in October, December, February and April. In India, GRE subject tests are held only in October, on the same afternoon as the general tests. The current fee is $83, payable in Indian rupees to IPEM.
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Note that the steps are described at length in the Bulletin you will get from ETS along with the form, so there is no point listing them here as it would only add to the number of pages which in turn would add to the cost of the book.
GRE preparation
Books, in this case too, are the same Baron’s GRE, which has been the number one prep guide since 1954 and is the most preferred and up-to-date manual world-wide.
The Test of Written English (TWE)
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TWE is offered as a part of TOEFL in August, October, February and May sittings.
Do not to take this test unless your college specifically asks for it, which very few do.
This score, although reported on the same sheet as TOEFL and at no extra fee, is reported on a scale of 0-6. It is best to avoid this test, since it can create a poor impression. In TWE, you will have to write 200-300 words on a given topic within 30 minutes on rather weird topics like:
- Inventions such as eyeglasses have an important effect on our lives. Choose another such invention and give reasons for your choice.
- Give your argument on “Teachers make learning fun for students”.
The scale of 1-6 is interpreted as:
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1: Incompetent
2: Incompetent
3: Competence developing
4: Minimal competence
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5: Competence with occasional errors.
6: Clear competence.
It’s best to avoid this test in most, if not all, circumstances.