All About the GRE

The GRE is a necessary evil when it comes to applying to some graduate programs. It's widely accepted in academia that the GRE doesn't mean much. It can show which students are good test takers, but doesn't accurately determine graduate school performance. Here is everything you need to know about the GRE before taking it. 


What is it?
Remember how you needed to take the SAT or ACT before college? The GRE is pretty much the same thing for graduate school. Not all colleges require it, but every college that I applied to did, and it's likely you'll have to take it too. It's similar to the SAT where you have 2 graded reading comprehension (verbal reasoning) sections and 2 graded math (quantitative reasoning) sections and two essays. 

How is it graded?
Both the analytical and quantitative reasoning sections are graded from 130-170 in whole point increments. Most schools require a combined score of 300, which would be a 150 for each. The writing is graded from 1.0-6.0 in half point increments. This is a computer taken test, so the analytical and quantitative sections are computer graded and the writing is graded by people. 

Be real, how hard was it?
Not hard at all (for me). To be fair, I am a very good test taker and always have been, but I don't think this is a hard test to get a 300 on. I studied before taking the test, as you should, but I didn't study excessively. I did two to three full length practice tests a week for the two weeks leading up to the test. I can do a full post on the studying method, but it wasn't intensive at all and left me feeling adequately prepared. Keep in mind that I took this the summer before senior year of college, so it had been over a year since my last math class at that point and nearly two years after my last English class and I wasn't nearly as fresh as I could have been. 

What about the essays?
This is where things differ from the SAT. These essays are very much argument and reason based. One of the essay prompts is about an issue, the other about an argument. It's really testing to see how well you can form a thesis and support your point. Not hard, but different than what you're probably used to. Another reason why it's a good idea to do a few practice tests before the real thing. 

When should I take it?
I took it the summer before senior year and it worked well for me. However, if this is something you are nervous about, you may want to take it earlier so you'll have time to retest before applications are due. I've heard it said that people interested in graduate school should take the GRE at the same time they take the SAT because preparations for both tests are similar and GRE scores are good for five years. That is a little extreme, but also pretty accurate. If I had known I wanted to go to graduate school back then, I probably would have done the same. 

Any pro tips?
Go into taking the GRE with an idea of the schools you want to apply to. You can send up to four score reports to schools for free at the time of testing, however sending scores after the test will cost you $25 per institution. Also, how well you do on the first analytical and quantitative sections will determine the types of questions you get on the second section of each. So this is a test that you'll want to start strong on so you have the best chance of getting harder questions and more points. Lastly, schools don't really care how well you do on this test as long as you meet the application minimums, so there is no sense in retaking the test if you meet the 300 requirement. 

How well did you do? Do you think your scores helped you get in?
If any of you were interested, I got a 323 combined score and a 5.0 for the writing. My quantitative was 160 (73 percentile), my analytical was 163 (93 percentile), and my writing was 5.0 (92 percentile). I don't think my scores were a huge factor in which schools accepted and declined me. I've always been a solid student and I think that this score combined with my GPA showed that I'm good at school. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Wait, you didn't answer my question!
I'm so sorry! Leave it down below in a comment or email me at thegradschoolgal@gmail.com and I'll be happy to go deep into the application process or test taking process with you. 

If you're taking the GRE this summer or any time soon, best of luck! And a full post of how I studied for the GRE will be up soon (complete with a full list of free full length tests)!

x, S