Prospective graduate and business school applicants from all around the world who are interested in pursuing a master’s, MBA, specialized master’s in business, J.D. degree, or doctoral degree take the GRE General Test. Applicants come from varying educational and cultural backgrounds and the GRE General Test provides schools with a common measure for comparing candidates’ qualifications.

GRE scores are used by admissions or fellowship panels to supplement your undergraduate records, recommendation letters and other qualifications for graduate-level study.

The GRE General Test features question types that closely reflect the kind of thinking you’ll do in graduate or business school.

Verbal Reasoning — Measures the ability to analyze and draw conclusions from discourse and reason from incomplete data, understand multiple levels of meaning, such as literal, figurative and author’s intent, and summarize text and distinguish major from minor points, understand the meanings of words, sentences and entire texts, and understand relationships among words and among concepts. There is an emphasis on complex verbal reasoning skills.

Quantitative Reasoning — Measures the ability to understand, interpret and analyze quantitative information, solve problems using mathematical models, and apply the basic concepts of arithmetic, algebra, geometry and data analysis. There is an emphasis on quantitative reasoning skills.

Analytical Writing — Measures critical thinking and analytical writing skills, including the ability to articulate and support complex ideas with relevant reasons and examples, and examine claims and accompanying evidence. There is an emphasis on analytical writing skills