GRE 2011 Details

The GRE one of the significant entrance examination that is been conducted as an admission requirement by many of the graduate schools in the United States of America and other English speaking countries, worldwide. This is been conducted successfully till date by the world largest private, non-profit organization for education testing and assessment, namely the Education Testing Service (ETS), which also administers, conducting the test procedures international tests, such as TOEFL, and TOEIC. Especially, the GRE scores are accepted by most of the management institutions/business schools for their admission procedures across the world.

GRE Pattern

It comprises of three sections namely, the verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and analytical writing. The verbal reasoning section consists of interrelated relationship between the words and concepts of the same. All you have to do is to analyze and evaluate the written materials and the given parts of the sentences. The quantitative section comprises of basic concepts of algebra, arithmetic, geometry and data analysis. It measures the problem solving abilities of the students/candidates/professionals.

The analytical writing section requires the students to articulate the complex logic with proper reasons and examples. The capabilities such as, focus on the subject/topic, examining each arguments clearly and providing the evidences in support to the arguments, etc... would be analyzed in this section.

GRE Scores

The verbal and the quantitative scores depend on the performance of the students in the examination, meaning, depends on the number of questions that are being attended within the given time period. The best part of these sections is that the computer selects the complex/difficult level of the questions, depending upon the performance of the students in the preceding questions. the verbal and the quantitative reasoning scores are reported on a 200-800 score scale in 10 points increments.

The writing section measures the critical thinking and analytical writing skills of the students, rather than concentrating on the grammar and mechanics of framing the answers. The essays would then be rated in the holistic six point scale by a trained reader. The rates would be provided based on the overall response to the essay writing and the performance of the student on each assigned task. The essay scores would then be reviewed by the computerized program of the ETS called as the e-rater'. If both the e-rater's evaluation and the score provided by the human evaluator, get agreed upon, then the score provided by the human evaluator would be considered as the final one, otherwise again the essay would be evaluated by another trained human reader, and the result would be the average of the scores provided by both the human evaluators. The analytical writing scores would be reported on a 0-6 score scale and in half point increments.

It has also come up with many new features and facilities, as a kind of support to the students, such as ETS Personal Potential Index, GRE Search Service, and ETS My Credentials Vault. Thus, by all means it is enhancing the students' future and hence, it is ultimately the students' part to take part in the examinations like GRE to nurture their future!

GRE Preparation

If you need your scores before winter of 2011, then you need to take the current test, which will be available until 1 ^st of August, 2011. If you were to showcase your skill on specific subject that you would like to do your masters, then you may choose to take the GRE subject test. While, the general test is mandatory, but one can choose to appear for the subject test, if they would like to take the extra credit to showcase their talent in the specific subject area. The specific subject areas are:

• Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Computer Science
• Literature in English
• Mathematics
• Physics
• Psychology

Since, most of the focus would be on the general test, some preparation strategies towards the general test are discussed here.

The 'general test' is designed to test your skills in analytical writing, mathematics and verbal ability. To start with the 'general test' preparation, start with some practice test from GRE preparation books and evaluate your score. The score tells you, where you are currently at and what areas need more concentration. Search online for the universities specializing in your subject and get an idea, regarding the required GRE scores to get an admission call. Once, you are aware of the required scores, you can accordingly draft a plan that will work out for you.

Always remember that the first few questions in each section are critical; it is based on these questions, the Computer Aided Test (CAT) will frame the direction in which your test is progressing. It is generally known that the tougher, the questions are in the beginning; the better chances of you acing the test. Be prepared to expect questions on all possible areas; hence do not neglect any area that you feel needs improvement, when you had taken your practice tests. Also have it in mind that taking too much time for each question will affect the overall time that you could better allocate for the rest of the questions.

While, it is better to work out each problem to get to the answer, but according to my perception, the elimination of choices is the best approach. You may not have known the right answer to a question, but you certainly knew enough to eliminate the wrong answers. Wrong answers are often easier to spot than the right ones; sometimes they just sound weird; other times, they're logically impossible. While it is very rare to eliminate all four of the incorrect answer choices in the GRE exam, but, you will almost be able to eliminate at least one of them and frequently two, or more by using process of elimination. Therefore, the process of elimination will enable you to answer questions that you don't have the time, or the inclination to figure out exactly!

For the quantitative ability, you are expected to be good at high school level mathematics. Do not waste time by looking at more complicated areas; know what to expect in the test. You can get GRE preparation books and materials that are widely available. For verbal ability, you are required to be good at understanding and working with Standard English.