Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) - Overview

The GRE (Graduate Record Examination) is a standardised examination conducted by the ETS (Educational Testing Services), United States of America. GRE (Graduate Record Examination) measures the potential of a candidate which almost all the graduate schools and universities abroad demand for the purpose of admission in different streams like Graduate studies, Fellowships Programs and Research Programs etc. ETS representative in India is responsible for conducting the examinations.The GRE (Graduate Record Examination) scores happen to be one of the several parameters which the Graduate Schools or Universities look into, for assessing an applicant for study in the all the streams except Management. For management streams admission is done through GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test).

A high score in GRE (Graduate Record Examination) alone does not guarantee admission to any of the graduate Schools or Universities abroad, but the test can be looked upon as the first major hurdle to be cleared in the process of getting admission in the Graduate school of choice.

GRE is administered worldwide in two separate sets by Educational Testing Services, United States.

GRE General Tests AND GRE Subject Tests

The GRE General Test measures skills that have been acquired over a long period of time and that are not related to any specific field of study. Areas it measures are:

1. Critical thinking
2. Analytical writing
3. Verbal reasoning and
4. Quantitative reasoning
   

The GRE Subject Tests gauge the undergraduate achievement in eight specific fields of study.

A candidate may take either GRE General Test or GRE Subject Test or both depending upon the courses and the Institute or University requirements. The eight subjects are:

1. Biochemistry
2. Cell and Molecular Biology
3. Biology
4. Chemistry
5. Computer Science
6. Literature in English
7. Mathematics
8. Physics
9. Psychology