Candidates wanting to pursue graduate studies abroad are required to qualify their Graduate Record Examinations (GRE). Candidates are required to check with their university admission guidelines and accordingly start preparing for the test. Candidates can check out the latest GRE Syllabus and the GRE Exam Pattern below.
GRE exam has two test formats - GRE General Test and GRE Subject Test. The GRE syllabus is different for each.
• GRE General Test: General Test is the standard exam that tests students’ verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and analytical writing skills.
• GRE Subject Test: For more specific courses a Subject Test might be required by the college, as Subject Test focuses on judging the candidate’s expertise in specific fields.
1. Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA)
2. Quantitative Reasoning
3. Verbal Reasoning
Here is the GRE exam syllabus covering writing syllabus, verbal reasoning syllabus, and Math syllabus:
The analytical writing section aims to measure the test taker's ability to articulate complex ideas clearly and effectively, support ideas with relevant reasons and examples, examine claims and accompanying evidence, sustain a well-focused, coherent discussion and control the elements of standard written English.
The verbal reasoning section aims to measure the test taker's ability to analyze and draw conclusions from the discourse, reason from incomplete data, identify author's assumptions and/or perspective, select important points, distinguish major from minor or relevant points, summarize text, understand the structure of a text, understand the meanings of words, sentences and entire texts and understand relationships among words and concepts.
• Basic Sentence structure: Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives
• Verb Tense
• Idioms & Idiomatic Expressions
• Pronoun Agreement
• Subject-Verb Agreement
• Modifiers
• Parallelism
The quantitative reasoning section aims to measure the test taker's ability to understand quantitative information, interpret and analyze quantitative information, solve problems using mathematical models, and apply basic mathematical skills and elementary mathematical concepts of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, probability, and statistics.
| Ratio and proportion | Profit and loss |
|---|---|
| Simple and compound interest | Speed, distance and time |
| Permutation & combination | Linear equations |
| Quadratic equations | Sets Theory |
| Statistics | Powers and roots |
| Probability | Pipes, cisterns, work, time |
| Lines and angles | Triangles |
| Polygon | Quadrilateral |
| Circles | Coordinate geometry |
| Order of operations | Volume and surface area |
| Percentage | Number properties |
GRE syllabus for Subject Test consists of the following subjects: Biology
The test consists of approximately 190 five-choice questions related to Biology. The topics include:
• Cellular and Molecular Biology
• Organismal Biology
• Ecology and Evolution Chemistry The test consists of approximately 130 multiple-choice questions related to the four fields into which chemistry has been traditionally divided
• Analytical Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry
Each edition of the test consists of approximately 230 questions on poetry, drama, biography, the essay, the short story, the novel, criticism, literary theory and the history of the language.
• Literary Analysis
• Identification
• Cultural and Historical Contexts
• History and Theory of Literary Criticism
The test consists of approximately 66 multiple-choice questions drawn from courses commonly offered at the undergraduate level.
• Algebra
• Calculus
• Additional Topics
The test consists of approximately 100 five-choice questions, some of which are grouped in sets and based on such materials as diagrams, graphs, experimental data and descriptions of physical situations.
• Classical Mechanics
• Electromagnetism
• Optics and Wave Phenomena
• Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
• Quantum Mechanics
• Atomic Physics
• Special Relativity
• Laboratory Methods
• Specialized Topics
The test consists of approximately 205 multiple-choice questions. Each question in the test has five options from which the examinee is to select the one option that is the correct or best answer to the question.
• Biological
• Cognitive
• Developmental
• Social
• Clinical
• Measurement/Methodology/Other
Even though one is aware of the GRE Syllabus and knows all the answers, failure to manage time can lead to an incomplete exam. This is where the importance of being familiar with the GRE Exam pattern is of utmost importance. The GRE question paper is divided into three main sections, namely, Analytical Writing, Verbal Reasoning, and Quantitative Reasoning. The total time given to complete the exam is three hours and thirty minutes (3 hours 30 minutes=210 mins) and for computer-based, it is three hours and forty minutes (3 hours 40 minutes= 220 mins).
For the computer-based pattern, each of these sections is further divided into two-sub-sections with forty questions in total (Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning). Analytical Writing has only one section that contains two tasks with a time duration of one hour. Apart from these main sections, there are two other variable sections included in the computer-based pattern exam. This section is followed by a ten-minute break after the Quantitative Reasoning part is complete. However, these two variable sections- Unscored and Research section- are not included in the final GRE Scores.
| GRE Sections | No. of Sections | Durationt |
|---|---|---|
| Analytical Writing | 1 section- two tasks | 60 minutes |
| Verbal Reasoning | 2 section- 40 questions | 60 minutes |
| Quantitative Reasoning | 2 section- 40 questions | 70 minutes |
| Unscored | Varies | Varies |
| Research | Varies | Varies |
The paper-based exam includes two sub-sections of each of the main categories- Analytical Writing, Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning. Analytical Writing part contains two tasks with a duration of one hour (60 mins). Verbal and Quantitative reasoning each contains two sections and 50 questions with a maximum time limit of 60 and 70 minutes, consequently. The variable sections of Unscored and Research are not included in the paper-based exam.
| GRE Sections | No. of Sections | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Analytical Writing | 2 sections- 2 tasks | 60 minutes |
| Verbal Reasoning | 2 sections- 50 questions | 70 minutes |
| Quantitative Reasoning | 2 sections- 50 questions | 80 minutes |
| Unscored | NA | NA |
| Research | NA | NA |
