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How Long Should GRE Essays Be?

We take a head first dive into how long the gre essay should be.

Perhaps you’ve been studying for the GRE for weeks and are feeling pretty good about the verbal and quant sections. So finally, you turn your attention to the analytical writing section. You understand what’s being asked of you in terms of the analytical writing task, but the question naturally becomes how long do this essay need to be?  That question is answered in detail below.

About The GRE Essay

In considering the different sections on the GRE, it’s easy to wrap our heads around the Verbal and Quant sections . They’re well defined, objective and quantifiable. You’re presented a question, you analyze and solve it, enter your answer, and move on. These parameters give us comfort .

But the Analytical Writing (AW) section is open-ended and students are given limited information and guidelines in terms of essay length , structure and content. There is no maximum or minimum word count for the essay and no concrete direction on these points.

In addition, Educational Testing Service (ETS) , the administrators of the GRE , have been very reluctant to share any secrets in terms of their preferences on essay length and structure. We know the essays are co-graded by a human and a computer (e-rater), but we don’t know exactly what criteria they’re looking at.

How To Write A GRE Essay

Never fear! We’ve done the hard work for you by collecting and analyzing all the available data we could get our hands on to help you optimize your essay length. Here are the main takeaways:

• Longer is generally better
• 550 to 650 words is ideal
• Scores go up with length, then drop off

Longer is Better

One of the main conclusions from our analysis is that longer essays are generally better. And this makes sense — on the whole, longer essays are more likely to be better reasoned , contain examples and support the points being made. In addition, it gives the writer more opportunity to showcase their writing skills and ability to thoroughly think through a range of issues in less time.

Give Me 600 Words

For whatever reason, the magic number seems to be around 600 . To be more precise, it’s more of a magic “range,” and that window falls between 550 and 650 words . This seems to be the ideal length to most effectively draft an introduction, make and support your points with well-reasoned arguments and examples, and wrap it up with a tidy conclusion.

This also seems to be a result of the nature of GRE essay prompts . Any shorter and your essay lacks reasoning and support; any longer and you risk rambling. Which brings me to the next point.

What Goes Up, Must Come Down

While the data shows that longer is better, that only holds true to a certain point. After 650 words, the average AW score starts to drop off . It’s not a cliff drop-off, but there is a very real and significant decline in average score. Longer is better, but too long and you begin to ramble .

Your sentences turn into run-ons, your reasoned points become clouded and jumbled, and the grader loses interest. This makes sense. Students can’t be reasonably expected in 30 short minutes to read a prompt, analyze it, outline an answer, and draft a well-crafted 800+ word essay with reasoning and examples. There’s just no way .

Quality, Not Just Quantity

Now that you know more is better (up to a point), do not fall into the trap of just thinking that if you slap 600 words on a page you’ll get a decent score. That would be a serious mistake. Like many things in life, quality is equally as important (if not more) as quantity . The content of your essay must still be top notch.

To substantiate this point, check out this in-depth post from prep company Achievable on GRE essays. They took over 1,000 student essays and had them graded by multiple GRE tutors, then crunched the numbers using machine learning to determine what has the biggest impact on a GRE essay score . Their findings are packed with data and some awesome visuals. I highly suggest you check it out.

GRE Writing Tips

Clarity & Reasoning.  Perhaps the most important overarching goal of the AW section is to write a coherent, well-reasoned essay with supporting points and examples. Despite everything said above, this is more important than the length of the essay. After reading the prompt, develop your positions fully and organize the essay coherently. Explain your reasoning for the positions you take. Don’t just make statements and move on, provide clear, well-reasoned arguments to support it.

Structure.  There is nothing that makes an article or essay more unreadable that large blocks of text. People see a large text block and immediately fall half-asleep. Spoon-feed the reader in short, digestible, easy-to-read chunks. Start with a brief introductory paragraph, with four to six short body paragraphs making your points (i.e. the meat) and a short concluding paragraph to summarize everything. Follow this simple formula and you’ll be fine.

Diction & Sentence Variety.  Toss out the thesaurus. You don’t need to use large, fancy words or scientific terminology on the GRE to get a better score . Use intelligent, to-the-point vocabulary. This will help make your writing clear and won’t give your grader pause. Additionally, break up your sentences. Don’t use the same compound sentence time and time again. Mix in short punchy sentences and different sentence structures. This will keep your writing interesting.

Spelling & Grammar.  Although ETS says that small typographical and grammatical errors that do not interfere with the substance of the essay do not affect your score, I’d still recommend steering clear of relying on that assurance. Human graders are just that — human. If you have a couple errors in the first paragraph or two, they will notice this and could likely jade their impression of your writing. Take the time to make sure your spelling and grammar is on point before submitting.

Time Management.  Finally, make the most of your test time by managing it properly. Read the question and specific instructions carefully to ensure your understanding of what is expected in your response. Take a few minutes to plan your response before composing it. Allow for a few minutes at the end to review, proofread and correct any spelling or grammar errors that might be a distraction to the reader.

To sum it up, keep your essay in the 550- to 650-word range , follow the tips above, and you’ll be just fine.

GRE Writing Prompts & Examples

For reference, here is one example of an issue essay question :

“We learn our most valuable lessons in life from struggling with our limitations rather than from enjoying our successes.”

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position.

Writing plan. Before writing, carefully read the issue and the specific instructions that follow it. Think about the issue. If it is broad in scope, narrow it down to something specific. Think about your own feelings and experiences and draw from them. Make notes and develop your position . When writing your response, be sure not to deviate from the question. The key is stay focused and present a cogent argument, yet still infused with reason and experience.

How long should a GRE essay be?

After considering average grades and self-reported data, it appears the ideal length of a GRE essay is 550 to 650 words. Any shorter and you risk the essay being underdeveloped. Any longer and it is likely rambling.

What is the right GRE essay length?

When it comes to the AW section of the GRE, longer is better, until a point. The perfect length of GRE essays is somewhere between 550 and 650 words. But any longer and you may be hurting your score.

How to Use the GRE Essay Pool for Effective Practice

The GRE includes a unique component called the Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA), where test-takers are currently required to write two essays: the Issue Essay and the Argument Essay. With the upcoming changes to the GRE in September 2023, students will no longer be required to write the Argument Essay.

To prepare effectively for this section, it’s essential to practice with various essay topics. ETS, the organization that administers the GRE, provides an extensive pool of essay topics for both the Issue Essay and the Argument Essay . In this article, we will explore how to use the GRE essay pool for effective practice and enhance your essay-writing skills.

How to Train with the GRE Essay Pool:

• Track Your Journey : Keep records of your practice essays and the improvements you make over time. Seeing your progress can be a great motivator!

The GRE essay pool is like your personal training ground. Use it to hone your writing skills, get comfortable with different essay prompts, and build confidence. Remember to pay attention to structure, organization, and effective use of evidence, and develop your own unique writing style. With enough practice using the GRE essay pool, you’ll be ready to ace the AWA section of the GRE.

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How to Write a Great GRE Argument Essay

When you take the GRE , you’ll have to write two essays : an Issue essay and an Argument essay. In your GRE Argument essay, you’ll get to demonstrate how well you can understand, analyze, and evaluate an argument. Here are ten GRE Argument essay tips you should know.

Fact #1: It doesn’t matter who is right

Fact #2: you'll have just 30 minutes for the gre argument essay, fact #3: graders will not pore over your essay, fact #4: quality matters, but so does quantity, fact #5: the prompt will tell you everything you need to know.

Make sure you read the prompt two or three times. You’ll want to make sure you truly understand it. Pay attention to what evidence is provided, what is stated in the prompt, and what is claimed by the author. A great way to identify fallacies is to determine what the author has assumed, and then try to explain why that assumption may be wrong. Here are four things to look for:

• Lack of evidence to support an assumption : You’ll want to mention this dearth in your essay—and note the type of information that would strengthen the argument.
• Non-specific language : Does the author make generalizations without providing specifics? You will want to point that out!
• Jumping to conclusions : Most Argument prompts will jump to conclusions at least once. As you read each sentence in the prompt, look for the author’s reasoning. If you can’t find a clear line of argument, you should note that the author has jumped to conclusions.
• Data values : Just because the author provides numbers doesn’t mean they’re necessarily objective or even true. Consider—and discuss within your essay—the reliability of any data, or data collection methods, that are presented in the prompt.

Fact #6: Structure will save you

After you read the prompt, brainstorm the logical fallacies you want to address. Then, choose your top three or four, and formulate a brief outline before you start your essay. There is nothing worse than having to stop writing your essay to come up with new ideas, so you’re going to want to follow a strict organizational format. Here’s a good general template to keep in mind:

• Intro : This should consist of three or four sentences in which you provide an overview of all the fallacies you plan to address.
• Fallacies : Each should get its own indented paragraph. You’ll want to discuss it in detail, and you may even opt to quote from the prompt in making your case.
• Suggestions for improving the prompt argument : Time-permitting, you’ll ideally want to include a paragraph in which you detail how the author could make a stronger case.
• Conclusion : As short as the introduction, this should summarize your body paragraphs (the fallacies and suggestions) and tie up any loose ends. Don’t skip this part! Even if you only have time for a single sentence, write one. An essay without a conclusion will almost certainly receive a lower score than one that is finished.

Fact #7: Clear writing is key

Fact #8: you’ll get one combined score for both essays, fact #9: you don’t have to be perfect to earn a perfect score, fact #10: you can plan ahead.

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The GRE ® General Test

One test for graduate, business and law school

Select a step to learn more about your GRE ® General Test journey.

GRE General Test Structure

The GRE General Test is a computer-delivered test. Its test-taker friendly design lets you skip questions within a section, go back and change answers and have the flexibility to choose which questions within a section you want to answer first.

Test sections and timing (beginning September 22, 2023)

The overall test time is about 1 hour and 58 minutes. There are five sections.

The Analytical Writing section will always be first. The Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning sections may appear in any order after the Analytical Writing section.

Test sections and timing before September 22, 2023

The overall testing time is about 3 hours and 45 minutes. There are six sections with a 10-minute break following the third section.

The Analytical Writing section will always be first. The Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning and unidentified/unscored sections may appear in any order; therefore, you should treat each section as if it counts toward your score.

Section-level adaptation

The Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning sections are section-level adaptive. The first section of each measure (i.e., Verbal and Quantitative) is of average difficulty. The difficulty level of the second section of each of the measures depends on your overall performance on the first section.

For example, if you do very well on the first Quantitative Reasoning section, the second section of Quantitative Reasoning will be at a higher level of difficulty. The scoring for the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning measures takes into consideration the total number of questions answered correctly across the two sections, as well as the difficulty level of the sections.

Test design features

The advanced adaptive design of the GRE General Test allows you to move forward and backward throughout an entire section. Specific features include:

• preview and review capabilities within a section
• "Mark" and "Review" features to tag questions, so you can skip them and return later if you have time remaining in the section
• the ability to change/edit answers within a section
• an on-screen calculator for the Quantitative Reasoning section

To experience the test design features, access the free POWERPREP ® Online practice tests .

1 An unidentified unscored section that doesn’t count toward your score may be included and may appear in any order after the Analytical Writing section. Questions in the unscored section are being tried out either for possible use in future tests or to ensure that scores on new editions of the test are comparable to scores from earlier editions.

2 An identified research section that doesn’t count toward your score may be included in place of the unscored section. The research section will always appear at the end of the test. Questions in this section are included for ETS research purposes.

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How Long Should Your GRE Essay Be? [A Data Driven Answer]

By Jitta Raghavender Rao • GRE Writing

Every so often when I’m writing the GRE essays, I’ll think: Should I really be writing so much?

I tend to get carried away. And when that happens, it would be great to know if all this extra writing is actually helping me score better or hurting my AWA score. Of course, I want to impress the essay graders, but I want to do it the right way.

Students often ask me, how long their GRE essays should be because there is no concrete information out there about the “perfect” length of a GRE essay, and even if there is, much of that data is conflicting.

Some say essays aren’t graded mostly on length but the higher grades for a longer essay is a mere correlation between essay length and grades.

When it comes to the Analytical Writing section, essay length is very important, so if you are planning to get a perfect score, you might as well do it right.

But before we come down to the ideal length for an essay, let’s first crush this shocking myth that has been around for sometime:

[tweet “Ever wondered what the ideal length of a GRE essay is? Here’s the answer and much more..”]

Myth #1: Longer essays are the only way!

On the GRE, essay length is not only one of the factors taken into consideration. You have to check a host of other factors, if you are looking to get a perfect score. All the following factors affect your overall AWA score:

Clarity in Ideas – This is the most basic of all considerations. What are you trying to say? What’s your main point? This should be very clear by the time the grader finishes off reading the essay. Substance and content of your essay matters more than any other factor. Also, every logically supporting reason or example that you make use of should ultimately connect to this main idea. If it isn’t explicit, you are losing points!

Structure – The way an article is formatted, has a massive impact upon its readability. It’s important to break up your essay into paragraphs so the essay graders can easily scan it.

The general structure is to start with an introductory paragraph followed by 3-4 body paragraphs and finish off with a conclusion paragraph. So, make sure there are at least 5-6 paragraphs in your essay.

Sentence Variety – Consecutive sentences with the same structure and length can sound monotonous and lifeless. Instead of sounding repetitive and boring, use sentence style skillfully.

You should vary the sentence flow and the rhythm by switching between short and long sentences. You should also make use of transitional and signal words to vary sentence openings.

Vocabulary – Another myth about GRE essays is that the usage of GRE words in the essay has a correlation with the essay score. Not really! As long as you use proper grammar and defend your point intelligently and use precise vocabulary to convey meaning effectively, you should be alright. It is not needed that you use heavy vocabulary or GRE words.

Language and Grammar –  Though ETS says you may have minor errors in the essay copy that do not interfere with overall meaning and coherence, the time you make your first error, the grader will notice it and this can have a negative impact on your AWA score. So, make sure your essay is as spotless as possible, and eliminate all errors before submitting.

Reasoning – You should include as many logically compelling reasons as you can to support your stance.

One of the most important aspects about a compelling essay is its ability to convince the reader by means of sound logical reasoning. So, you should be able to connect your ideas properly to the central theme or idea of the essay, and convince the reader to agree to your point of view. If the essay doesn’t sound logical or reasonable, you will pay the penalty, no matter how long the essay is.

By no means am I saying that essay length isn’t important. I am only saying that essay length on the GRE isn’t the only thing you should be concerned about. I am also saying that essay length is just one of the factors out of many others that influence your AWA score.

Myth #2: ETS uses e-Rater software which grades essays on their content length

This is the most egregious of the myths, and it’s been around for a long time.

Recently, I read a post on Quora which asks “Do humans readers grade my GRE essays?” The top answer said, “They don’t.” His/her point was that a computer software called ‘e-rater’ scans your essay based on preset rules (natural language processing algorithms) and prints out a score, using a 6-point holistic scale.

That’s just not true.

In fact, E.T.S. claims this grading software is used today, along with human raters, to grade GRE and TOEFL examinations, and without human raters in various practice tests.

I want you to understand that if ETS were to use an automated essay grader to evaluate your essay then don’t you think gaming a software would be too easy? You must keep in mind that there is a human reader who will also grade your essay along with the e-rater, and both their scores are averaged to obtain the final AWA score. So, even if you try and game the software, the human reader will give you the actual score you deserve, which will bring down the average. So, there is no point in trying to game the e-rater. Instead, you should try other tactics, such as using impressive AWA quotes , or writing coherent paragraphs, which will naturally raise your score.

So to sum things up, both of these myths should be shunned in favor of a more strategic approach to essay length. Longer is not necessarily better. Shorter is not necessarily better. And human readers do actually read your essays.

So what’s the ideal length?

I see students wondering about this all the time and I am sure you are here to find out the same.

ETS has written about the ideal length nowhere, and still remains tight lipped on this. Also, there is no word limit as such. But there seems to be a pattern that appears on GRE sample essays that come along with the ETS official guide to the GRE.

When closely observed, there is a significant increase in the number of words from a 5.0 graded essay and a 6.0 graded essay.

Longer is usually better

To analyze further on this topic, we have done a bit of research, and found out an interesting relation between essay length and the final score. If you look at the statistics below, you will have to concur with me. Longer essays usually score better on every essay topic.

If you are a long-essay fan and insist to pen a high scoring AWA essay on the GRE, you should write anywhere between 500-600 words. Don’t ask me why. The research shows that’s how it is, and if it true for a sample of 500 students, it must be true on a larger scale as well.

A column chart with average word count for essays from 500 students

As you can see, the longer the essay, the higher the grades. Notice that a 5+ point essay has length exceeding 500 words. Another interesting fact is, it seems as if 600 is an upper limit for word count. If you go beyond 600 words, you can see how the scores go down. This isn’t surprising, though. Almost no student on this planet can write a perfect 800 word essay under pressure in 30 minutes. If someone is shooting for a high word count, they are surely sacrificing on quality. So, it’s safe to say that 500-600 is what you should be looking at.

Now It’s Your Turn

In the end, I warn you against getting stuck up on essay length. If you focus on word count only, then you would be scribbling gibberish and unnecessary sentences hoping to get a perfect 6.0 score. The essay substance and content matters more than the essay’s length.

There’s no magic number on word count that’s going to get you the perfect AWA score. At the same time, the statistics from the above analysis proves that longer essays tend to get higher scores.

If you’re still looking for word count, an essay that has around 500 – 600 words with around 5 paragraphs, and quality content, seems to be the ideal GRE essay length.

How long are your regular essays? What differences have you noticed between a long essay and short ones? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.

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6 Comments to “How Long Should Your GRE Essay Be? [A Data Driven Answer]”

Thanks a lot!!! The article was very powerful, and interesting!!!

Hey Grisha, glad you found it helpful. 🙂

Thank you for the research you conducted and for the valuable as well as helpful information you provided.

I love this. Why isn’t this site more popular?

Truly speaking this research is well done, it covers all necessary points for passing the GRE test

This is awesome, thanks for sharing.

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Key GRE Statistics from the 2022 ETS GRE Snapshot Report

ETS, makers of the GRE Test , just published their 2022 A Snapshot of the Individuals Who Took the GRE General Test , a comprehensive report of key GRE statistics. This report is a deep dive into the volume and performance information for test takers who took the GRE General Test between July 1, 2017, and June 30, 2022; including the backgrounds of test takers and the factors that affected their GRE performance. Hopefully this will help you find the GRE test score range that will benefit your application.

This post is a snapshot of the GRE snapshot — we take a look at the key GRE statistics on gender, age, US citizenship, ethnic group, region, and whether they’re taking the GRE for MBA admissions. Let’s dig in!

Report Overview

How many people take the gre test each year, us gre test takers per year by ethnic group, gre test takers per year by age, gre test takers per year by gender, average gre test scores for men and women, gre test takers by us citizenship and gender, gre scores for us citizens and non-us citizens, gre test takers by country, with average gre scores by country, which country has the highest average gre quantitative reasoning score, which country has the highest average gre verbal reasoning score, which country has the highest average gre analytical writing score, gre test takers by region, what is the average age of gre test takers, gre test scores by age, gre test takers by major (undergrad), gre test takers by intended graduate school majors, gre score by major (intended graduate school major), what’s a good gre score for mba programs, gre test takers targeting mba programs by ethnic group, gre test takers targeting mba programs by age, gre scores for mba applicants by gender, what types of mba programs are gre applicants planning to enroll in, gre applicants to mba programs: work experience and gre scores, gre applicants to mba programs: online and on-campus.

ETS looked at the records of test takers who took the GRE General Exam within the period from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2022. This is broken up in the data below into the following five periods:

• July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018 (2017–18)
• July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019 (2018–19)
• July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020 (2019–20)
• July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021 (2020–21)
• July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2023 (2021-22)

The most recent scores were used in the event that test takers had more than one set of scores for the GRE General Test.

The data includes both on-site and at-home testing options starting in the 2020-2021 year, when the option was introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

341,574 people took the GRE Test between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022. This is a 6.8% decrease from 2020 – 2021. Key GRE Statistics from the 2022 ETS GRE Snapshot Report, Achievable

ETS does want to be clear: the data in this report is not representative of the population planning to attend graduate school, nor of the characteristics and performance of students presently enrolled in graduate schools. It is just a snapshot of GRE test takers specifically.

These figures are presented without bias or opinion. Furthermore, the ETS has flagged that errors of measurement may occur as part of the standard process of evaluating a large and imperfect data set. Think of the data below as guides in your own GRE pursuits, and not an evaluation of any group.

341,574 people took the GRE Test between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022. This is a 6.8% decrease from 2020 – 2021, and seems to have slowed the aggressive decline in test takers during the years impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

GRE test takers that were US Citizens declined by 31% from 180,294 to 124,151 between 2020-21 and 2021-22. Key GRE Statistics from the 2022 ETS GRE Snapshot Report, Achievable

However, when you look at the chart above, you can see clearly that there’s a very different story for US Citizens versus non-US citizens. GRE test takers that were US Citizens declined by 31% from 180,294 to 124,151 between 2020-21 and 2021-22. This decline was offset by a gain in Non-US Citizen GRE test takers of 16.6% from 186,357 to 217,392. After 2020-21 was the first year that Non-US Citizen test takers overtook US Citizen GRE test takers, the trend continued and the gap widened substantially. There are now 75% more GRE test takers outside of the US than in it.

India has almost overtaken the US in total GRE test takers, with 114,647 in 2022 to the United States’ 124,151. Key GRE Statistics from the 2022 ETS GRE Snapshot Report, Achievable

In the US, White was the largest group of GRE test takers, representing 53% of the total. The next largest ethnic group was Asian, at 9%, and then Black at 7%. If you combine Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Other Hispanic, as ETS does in the following chart, Hispanics are the largest non-white ethnic group of GRE test takers in the US with 12,674 students, or a little over 10% of the total.

When you remove the largest White ethnic group, you can see that the decline in US GRE test takers was consistent across all remaining ethnic groups. The lone exception is Asian test takers, who as a group declined more slowly than the others.

GRE test takers are skewing younger, as people 18-22 taking the GRE has increased from 45% of the total in 2017-18 to 52% in 2021-22. All other test taker cohorts have slowly declined in their percentage of the total.

As you can see, the trend lines for each age group follow similar patterns, which shows that the overall composition of GRE test takers age has not changed dramatically in the last five years.

In 2021-22, the number of men taking the GRE was greater than the number of women taking the GRE for the first time in recent years. This change was largely driven by the shift from US Citizens to non-US Citizens, since the US has a predominantly female GRE test taker population, while countries like China and India have a predominantly male GRE test taker population.

Men had slightly higher mean Verbal Reasoning and higher Quantitative Reasoning scores than women, and women had a slightly higher mean Analytical Writing score than men. A Snapshot of the Individuals Who Took the GRE® General Test, 2022

Slightly more men took the GRE than women in 2021-2022 – 51% to 49%. Men outscored women on the GRE Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning sections, while women outscored men on the Analytical Writing section.

But when you dig deeper, you can see that there’s actually a big difference when you break out the gender of the test takers by country. Let’s explore that in the next section.

Suddenly these statistics look very different. Among US citizens, far more women took the GRE than men, with 64% of GRE test takers being women and only 36% of GRE test takers being men. This mirrors the recent report from AEI.org that showed that women earned 60% of all master’s degrees in 2020 .

Outside of the US, it’s a different story: 60% of GRE test takers outside of the US were men, while only 40% were women.

Also interesting is that the majority of GRE test takers were not US citizens : 64% of GRE test takers were not US citizens, while 36% were US citizens.

Men who were US Citizens scored higher than men who were not US Citizens on the Verbal Reasoning and Analytical Writing sections, but scored substantially lower on the Quantitative Reasoning section.

When compared to women who were US Citizens, women who were not US Citizens scored the same on the Verbal Reasoning section as Non-US Citizen women, lower on the Analytical Writing section, and much higher on the Quantitative Reasoning section.

Taken together, while it is clear that US citizens still enjoy a small advantage in the GRE Verbal Reasoning and Analytical Writing sections, possibly due to them being in their native English language, US citizens are being outperformed dramatically on the GRE Quantitative Reasoning section . This also tells you something about the kind of test takers commonly taking the GRE abroad, who are likely more focused on applying to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) programs in the United States.

In the report , ETS includes a breakdown of the number of GRE test takers in each country and what their average scores were. To save you from reading a list of 160+ countries, we’ve pulled out the data for the top twelve by volume below:

The United States and India have the most GRE test takers by far, with over 110,000 each, and China is third with just over 50,000 GRE test takers. After that, there is a huge gap, with the next country on the list, Nigeria, having 4,596 test takers. Only fourteen countries had more than 1,000 GRE test takers.

India has almost overtaken the US in total GRE test takers, with 114,647 in 2022 to the United States’ 124,151.

Let’s take a quick look at the top three countries. The average GRE Verbal score in the United States was 151.8; the average GRE Verbal score in India was 150.5; and the average GRE verbal score in China was 153.4. This shows the strength of China’s English language education in its most globally mobile students.

The average GRE Quant score in the United States was 150.1; the average GRE Quant score in India was 161.2; and the average GRE Quant score in China was 165.9. This is remarkable: China’s average GRE Quant score is 165.9, just 4.1 points from the maximum score of 170.

Asian MBA applicants had the highest average GRE scores for all three sections: Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Analytical Writing. Key GRE Statistics from the 2022 ETS GRE Snapshot Report, Achievable

The average GRE Analytical Writing score in the United States was 3.9; the average GRE Analytical Writing score in India was 3.0; and the average GRE Analytical Writing sore in China was 3.4. The United States gets the best of this category among these three countries, likely in part due to the fact that English is the native language and its population has more experience writing in English.

China has the highest average GRE Quant score with an average score of 165.9. This is just 4.1 points from the maximum score of 170, and is truly an incredible average score.

American Samoa had the highest average GRE Verbal score with an average score of 161.8. However, they only had 121 GRE test takers, so it is a small sample size. Among the top fourteen countries with over 1,000 GRE test takers, Canada had the highest GRE Verbal score with an average score of 155.8.

Singapore had the highest average GRE Analytical Writing score with an average score of 4.5 out of 6. Close behind was the United Kingdom, who had an average GRE Analytical Writing score of 4.4. Singapore and the UK had 544 and 653 GRE test takers, respectively.

The number of GRE test takers in India increased 68% between 2020-21 and 2021-22. This helped offset the GRE’s decline in other regions, notably the US, which decreased 29% between 2020-21 and 2021-22. Aside from India, the GRE declined in China and the United States in the last year. GRE test takers increased slightly in Europe and in the rest of the world between 2020-21 and 2021-22.

Men who were US Citizens scored higher than men who were not US Citizens on the Verbal Reasoning and Analytical Writing sections, but scored substantially lower on the Quantitative Reasoning section. Key GRE Statistics from the 2022 ETS GRE Snapshot Report, Achievable

The weighted average age of all GRE test takers is 22 (weighted by the number of test takers). The average age of GRE test takers was the same for men and women.

52% of all GRE test takers were under 23, and an additional 25% of test takers were 23-25. 77% of all GRE test takers were under 25 , which shows us that the majority of GRE test takers are studying for the GRE pretty close to when they finish their undergraduate degrees at 22.

For both men and women, younger GRE test takers had higher mean scores the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning measures than older GRE test takers. A Snapshot of the Individuals Who Took the GRE® General Test, 2022

These test takers are likely looking to move into graduate school programs immediately after their undergraduate program or after a short 1-2 year stint in the workforce. This is backed up by the table above, which shows that 52% of respondents had less than 1 year of work experience when taking the GRE, and a total of 66% of GRE test taker respondents had less than 3 years of work experience. Surprisingly, the majority of GRE test takers do not have much work experience.

The remaining 23% of test takers were 26 or older. Just 1% of GRE test takers were over 40 , which shows that the window for graduate school seems to close for most after 40 years old.

For this section, we’re going to focus on GRE test takers under 40, since that makes up 99% of all GRE test takers.

GRE test takers age 18-22 have higher average test scores than all other groups besides the outlier under 18 group. For both men and women, younger GRE test takers had higher mean scores than older GRE test takers. Additionally, the gender performance differences we saw earlier, with men outperforming women on the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning sections, and women outperforming men on the Analytical Writing section, were consistent across all age groups.

The weighted average age of all GRE test takers is 22. Key GRE Statistics from the 2022 ETS GRE Snapshot Report, Achievable

While many of the majors match the overall trend towards less GRE test takers, there are still some interesting trends here. GRE test takers in Engineering and Physical Sciences have declined the least in the last 5 years, while GRE test takers in Education, Humanities and Arts, and Social and Behavioral Sciences have declined the most as a percentage.

GRE test takers in Education, Humanities and Arts, and Social and Behavioral Sciences have declined the most since 2017, with the decline becoming more pronounced in each field during the COVID-19 pandemic. Key GRE Statistics from the 2022 ETS GRE Snapshot Report, Achievable

Among intended graduate school majors, Engineering, Business, and Physical Sciences bucked the overall decline in GRE test takers and held steady or grew between 2020-21 and 2021-22. A common theory for why these majors bucked the trend was the shift to test-optional policies among US universities and graduate schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was less commonly enacted among STEM programs than others. In fact, that is not the case. Instead, this trend was caused by the growth in GRE test takers from India for each of these three categories, which you can see below.

66% of GRE test taker respondents had less than 3 years of work experience. Key GRE Statistics from the 2022 ETS GRE Snapshot Report, Achievable

When you factor in the Indian GRE test takers above, it is clear that the primary trend driving the differences in each major’s GRE test taker population over the last five years is whether or not that major is popular among Indian test takers.

What is a good GRE score by major depends on which major you’re applying for. The intended majors with the highest average GRE Verbal Reasoning scores are Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences. The intended majors with the highest average GRE Quantitative Reasoning scores are Business, Engineering, and Physical Sciences. These trends are guided by the types of scores that these programs want to see, as each major will emphasis different skills.

It is clear that the primary trend driving the differences in each major’s GRE test taker population over the last five years is whether or not that major is popular among Indian test takers. Key GRE Statistics from the 2022 ETS GRE Snapshot Report, Achievable

The average GRE score for MBA applicants is 154.6 Verbal Reasoning, 152.8 Quantitative Reasoning, and 4.1 Analytical Writing. Getting higher than these scores will put you in a good position when applying to an average MBA program. Of course, what GRE score you need depends a lot on what MBA program you are applying to, so be sure to look up the median Verbal, Quant, and Writing scores for that program when setting your targets.

The largest cohort of GRE test takers targeting MBA programs is 26-30 with 39% of test takers. Key GRE Statistics from the 2022 ETS GRE Snapshot Report, Achievable

The majority of GRE test takers targeting MBA programs were white, representing 53% of the total population. The next largest ethnic group of GRE test takers targeting MBA programs were black, representing 12%, and Asian, also representing 12% of the total population.

Among the named ethnic groups, Asian MBA applicants had the highest average GRE scores for all three sections: Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Analytical Writing.

GRE test takers applying to MBA programs skews older than the total GRE test taker audience, with only 46% of test takers under the age of 25 versus 77% for the overall population. The largest cohort of GRE test takers targeting MBA programs is 26-30 with 39% of test takers. Less than 15% of GRE test takers targeting MBA programs are over 30, and less than 4% are over 35.

Among GRE test takers applying to MBA programs, 26-30 year olds had the highest average Verbal Reasoning score and average Analytical Writing score, while 18-22 year olds had the highest average Quantitative Reasoning score.

MBA applicants with more work experience had higher average GRE scores. Key GRE Statistics from the 2022 ETS GRE Snapshot Report, Achievable

58% of GRE test takers applying to MBA programs were men. This skews more heavily male than the total GRE test taker audience, which is 51% male.

Men applying to MBA programs had higher average scores than woman on the GRE Verbal Reasoning and GRE Quantitative Reasoning sections, while women had higher scores than men on the GRE Analytical Writing section.

Men applying to MBA programs had higher average scores than woman on the GRE Verbal Reasoning and GRE Quantitative Reasoning sections, while women had higher scores than men on the GRE Analytical Writing section. Key GRE Statistics from the 2022 ETS GRE Snapshot Report, Achievable

The type of MBA program most popular among GRE test takers was Full Time, with 81% of respondents saying they plan to attend a full time program. Full time programs are still the most popular kind of MBA program enrollment type among GRE test takers.

GRE applicants pursing full time MBA programs had the highest average Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning scores.

Among GRE test takers, 73% of 2022 MBA applicants preferred doing their MBA entirely on-campus, up 4% from a year ago. Key GRE Statistics from the 2022 ETS GRE Snapshot Report, Achievable

20% of GRE applicants to MBA programs have less than one year of work experience, which shows that they’re applying to business school right after finishing their undergraduate degree. 34% of GRE applicants to MBA programs have less than 3 years of work experience, and 75% of GRE applicants to MBA programs have less than 8 years of work experience.

Except for those with 15 years of work experience or more, MBA applicants with more work experience had higher average GRE scores. MBA applicants with 5-7 years of work experience scored highest on the GRE Verbal Reasoning section, while MBA applicants with 3-4 years of experience scored highest on the GRE Quantitative Reasoning and Analytical Writing sections.

Among GRE test takers, 73% of 2022 MBA applicants preferred doing their MBA entirely on-campus, up 4% from a year ago. An additional 10% of applicants were seeking a combination program that included some on-campus time. Only 4% of GRE test takers applying to MBA programs preferred online-only programs, the smallest cohort. When it comes to MBA programs, it seems that the networking and other benefits of being on-campus still outweigh the convenience of studying online.

GRE test takers applying to on-campus MBA programs had the highest average GRE scores in all sections. GRE test takers applying to online-only MBA programs had the lowest average GRE scores in all sections. It is possible that this is because online-only MBA programs are less selective, or because they target a different audience that generally gets lower GRE scores.

The ETS report A Snapshot of the Individuals Who Took the GRE General Test shows that the makeup of the average GRE test taker is shifting to be more international, particularly from India, and with more Physical Sciences and Engineering majors that ever before – thanks in part to that international shift.

We hope this helps you gain insight into test taker populations and possible key performance drivers of examinees. We also hope that the average GRE scores by country, major, gender, ethnic group, and more helped you learn what your target score should be.

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New GRE Test Format: Shorter GRE Guide

Last Updated on October 19, 2023

You may have heard that the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is changing in September 2023. If so, like many other grad school hopefuls, you’re probably wondering what to expect on the new test.

In this article, I’ll answer the most common questions students have been asking about what exactly is changing with the new GRE General Test. You’ll learn what’s new, what’s staying the same, and when you can take the new GRE test!

Here are the topics we’ll cover:

How often does the gre test change, ​​shorter gre test time, average time per question (unchanged), no unscored section, only one essay task , are gre scores changing, are gre subject tests changing, when can i register for and take the new gre, are official gre preparation materials for the shorter gre available, is the shorter gre easier, side by side: what is the difference between the shorter gre test and the standard one, what’s next.

Before we get into everything that is changing with the GRE in 2023, let’s quickly discuss how often GRE tests change — and whether we can expect more changes to come.

Many people were surprised to hear that a new GRE test was on the horizon. However, the GRE does change periodically — sometimes significantly. The last time there were significant revisions to the GRE was in 2011.

At that time, the test revamp included instituting the current GRE score scales, moving to a section-adaptive model, eliminating certain question types, and adding the onscreen calculator. So, many of what we now consider fundamental characteristics of the GRE haven’t exactly been around forever.

Generally, revisions to the GRE are aimed at two things:

• improving the test-taker experience
• ensuring that the test is relevant for current students.

The revisions that ETS (the test-maker) is instituting in 2023 also have those aims.

In fact, ETS states that the 2023 changes “mark the first of several planned future updates to the GRE General Test, all of which are intended to provide test takers with a better experience that values their time and reduces anxiety and fatigue.”

So, be on the lookout for more changes to the GRE coming in the not-too-distant future!

ETS states that the 2023 GRE changes “mark the first of several planned future updates to the GRE General Test.”

Now, let’s discuss the changes coming in September 2023, starting with how the GRE format is changing.

How Has the GRE Format Changed on the New Test?

There are a few major ways the new GRE is different from the version that has been around since 2011:

• ​​shorter GRE test time
• reduced number of questions
• no unscored section
• only one essay task

Note that the new version of the GRE still allows you to (time permitting) perform the following actions:

• skip around within a section
• flag questions in a section and return to them later
• change your answers to previous questions.

You also still have access to an onscreen calculator throughout the Quantitative Reasoning sections.

Additionally, testing accommodations are still available for students who need them.

So, many familiar favorites about the GRE format are remaining the same.

You can still skip around within a section, flag questions, and edit answers on the new GRE. You also still have access to an onscreen calculator for Quant.

That said, let’s discuss the changes mentioned above in detail, starting with perhaps the most major: shorter GRE test time.

If a 2-hour GRE sounds much better to you than a 4-hour one, you’re in luck. With the new version of the GRE, the GRE testing time is getting slashed essentially in half. The “standard” GRE — the one that has been around since 2011 — is 3 hours, 45 minutes long. The new GRE, on the other hand, is only 1 hour and 58 minutes.

One thing to note is that the longer version of the test allows for a 10-minute break (bringing the total testing time to just under 4 hours). The shorter GRE does not have a scheduled break. However, given the much shorter testing time, not having a break is understandable. Of course, test-takers who require breaks for medical reasons can still apply for accommodations.

The new GRE test time clocks in at 1 hour and 58 minutes, roughly half the standard GRE test time.

Reduced Number of Questions

More great news for GRE test-takers: the shorter GRE contains significantly fewer questions. In fact, there are a total of 46 fewer questions in the Quantitative and Verbal Reasoning sections.

On the standard GRE, the total number of Quant and Verbal questions is 40 each, so 80 questions in all. Additionally, there is an unscored section that is either Quant or Verbal, bringing the grand total to 100 questions across 5 sections (2 scored sections each of Quant and Verbal and 1 unscored section of either type).

On the new GRE, the total number of Quant and Verbal questions is 27 each. So, the grand total is only 54 questions. There is no additional unscored section.

Furthermore, the new GRE has only 1 essay question, whereas the standard GRE has 2.

So, overall, there are about half as many questions on the new GRE as on the old — as we might expect, given that the new test time is about half as long.

The new GRE contains 46 fewer Quant and Verbal questions, and only 1 essay question instead of 2.

Now, you may be wondering, how do these changes affect my time per question? Let’s discuss.

Good news: the average time per question you have in each section remains unchanged. You still have an average of roughly 1 minute and 45 seconds for each Quant question and roughly 1 minute and 30 seconds for each Verbal question.

The table below breaks down how the old and new versions of the GRE compared in terms of Quantitative and Verbal Reasoning section structure:

Of course, as indicated above, the Quantitative and Verbal Reasoning sections on the new GRE are each split in two, just as they are on the standard GRE. The thing is, on the standard GRE, test-takers see an equal number of questions in each section. On the new GRE, you’ll see a slightly different number of questions in each section. (Notice that 27 is not an even number.) The first section of each type presents 12 questions, while the second section of each type presents 15.

Consequently, the time you’re allotted per each section varies somewhat — although not enough to make a significant difference for your pacing.

Here is the exact breakdown for each Quant and Verbal section:

On the shorter GRE, you still have an average of roughly 1 minute and 45 seconds for each Quant question and roughly 1 minute and 30 seconds for each Verbal question.

Now, let’s dig into the details of the other changes we mentioned, starting with the elimination of the unscored section.

On the standard GRE, there is an unscored section that could be either another Quant section or another Verbal section. ETS used this section to test possible questions for future GREs. However, for test-takers, the unscored section added another 20 questions and 30 to 35 minutes to their exam.

Moreover, generally, there was no way to know which section was unscored. So, test-takers had to put their full effort and energy into answering questions that did not affect their scores.

The new GRE test eliminates all that. Without the unscored section, test-takers see only 2 Quant sections and 2 Verbal sections — no “mystery third.” Furthermore, test-takers know that every section they see on the new GRE counts toward their scores.

There is no unscored section on the new GRE. So, all the Quant and Verbal sections you see count toward your scores.

Now, let’s discuss the reduction in essay tasks.

Another change on the new GRE is the removal of the Analyze an Argument task in the Analytical Writing section.

On the standard GRE, the Analytical Writing section contains 2 essay tasks: Analyze an Argument and Analyze an Issue. Test-takers have 30 minutes to complete each essay.

The Analyze an Argument task requires you to write an essay objectively evaluating a given argument and the evidence provided to support it. This task is NOT on the shorter GRE.

In fact, Analyze an Argument is the only question type that has been eliminated on the new GRE. Although there are a reduced number of Quant and Verbal questions on the shorter test, the question types in those sections remain the same.

The remaining essay task in the Analytical Writing section, Analyze an Issue, presents a statement of opinion that you must respond to per the instructions given. With only this task to complete, the Analytical Writing section is only 30 minutes long, instead of 1 hour.

On the shorter GRE, there is only 1 essay task, Analyze an Issue, which you have 30 minutes to complete.

Now that we’ve covered all the GRE format changes, let’s discuss scoring.

The GRE score scales are NOT changing. So, admissions committees will be able to compare the GRE performances of applicants regardless of whether those applicants took the standard GRE or the new GRE.

One thing that is changing is that your official GRE scores will be available more quickly. They will post to your ets.org account 8 to 10 days after your test instead of 10 to 15.

So, you will have a little more wiggle room as far as when you can sit for your exam and retakes and still meet your application deadlines.

Your official GRE scores will be available 8 to 10 days after your test instead of 10 to 15 days after.

There are some changes to the GRE Subject Tests coming this fall as well.

Firstly, if you were hoping to take the Chemistry Test later this year, no luck. The April 2023 administration of that exam was the last one. (If you already took the Chemistry Test, your score is still valid for 5 years.)

So, the only GRE Subject Tests now available are:

• Mathematics

All of those tests will be in a computer-delivered format, rather than on paper, starting in September 2023. And the tests will be available in more test centers, as well as online in most countries.

Additionally, the Physics and Psychology Tests will be 2 hours shorter.

You can read more about the GRE Subject Tests here .

Starting in September 2023, the GRE Subject Tests in Physics and Psychology will be 2 hours shorter.

Registration for the shorter GRE is OPEN NOW. To register for the shorter test, follow the regular registration process on ets.org . Just make sure you select a test date that is either on or after September 22, 2023. If you select a date that is before September 22, you will be scheduled to sit for a 4-hour GRE.

If you want to sit for the standard test, it is available until September 20, 2023.

Note that the shorter GRE is available both at test centers and online, just as the standard GRE is. So, you can take the shorter GRE at home, as long as online tests are permitted in your country.

Note also that the registration fee is the same regardless of whether you take the standard or new GRE. You can learn all about GRE fees here .

To register for the shorter GRE, you must select a test date that is either on or after September 22, 2023.

Official GRE preparation materials specifically designed for the shorter test will not be available until September 2023. The thing is, none of the question types have changed in the Quant and Verbal sections. So, you can use a pre-September 2023 Official Guide as a resource for the new GRE.

If you are using the TTP GRE Course to study but now would like to take the shorter test, absolutely nothing changes for you. All the material in your TTP study plan is still relevant for the shorter test. So, you can continue to follow your TTP study plan as usual.

Of course, if in preparation for the shorter GRE you take official GRE practice tests before September, you will be practicing with much longer tests than you need to — even if you skip the Analyze the Argument essay task.

So, ideally, if you want to take the shorter GRE, you have enough time before your application deadlines to wait until September to take the redesigned official practice tests in the weeks leading up to your exam. That way, you can really get the test-day experience and the most accurate picture of how you’re likely to score on test day.

Official GRE preparation materials specifically designed for the shorter test will be available in September 2023.

There are a few reasons that preparing for taking the shorter GRE is likely to be, overall, a somewhat easier experience for most test-takers.

For one, many test-takers will have less anxiety about a 2-hour GRE than about a 4-hour one. Sure, you’re still dealing with a rigorous and challenging exam that is important for your graduate school applications. So, there is bound to still be some stress and anxiety associated with the GRE .

However, a 2-hour test just “feels” more manageable. And mindset matters — often quite a bit — not only on test day, but also throughout the test preparation process.

Secondly, you won’t have to build as much stamina for test day as you would for the 4-hour GRE. Fatigue won’t be as much of an issue.

Third, you won’t have to prepare for two different essay types. Although the essays aren’t always a top priority for GRE test-takers, it’s nice to have one less thing to worry about during your prep.

All that said, since the question types in the Quantitative and Verbal sections are unchanged, the variety of topics you have to master to earn good GRE scores remains the same. And, if you know anything about the GRE, you know those sections encompass a large number of topics that test your quantitative and logical reasoning, verbal reasoning, critical thinking, and analytical writing skills.

So, I wouldn’t assume that a shorter test means an easy test, even if some aspects of the test are easier. Moreover, test-takers shouldn’t expect that they can spend half as long preparing for the new GRE just because the new test is half as long as the old.

You have to master the same number of Quant and Verbal topics for the shorter GRE and the standard GRE.

Use the table below as a quick reference to see how the new version of the GRE, coming September 22, 2023, and the standard GRE, available until September 20, 2023, stack up against each other. that test-takers have come to know since 2011.

Check out this GRE study guide for tips on the most effective way to prepare for the GRE.

Then check out our free GRE resources page to test your quantitative and verbal skills with a GRE diagnostic , download our 1,200 word GRE Vocab Review Sheet , and more!

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About The Author

Scott Woodbury-Stewart is the founder & CEO of Target Test Prep. A passionate teacher who is deeply invested in the success of his students, Scott began his career teaching physics, chemistry, math, and biology. Since then, he has spent more than a decade helping students gain entry into the world’s top business schools, logging 10,000+ hours of GMAT, EA, GRE and SAT instruction. Scott also served as lead content developer and curriculum architect for the revolutionary courses Target Test Prep GMAT, Target Test Prep EA, Target Test Prep GRE and Target Test Prep SAT Quant.

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Shorter GRE AWA Guide - How many words do I need for the essays?

• Michael Flor - Educational Testing Service | ETS · Division of Research and Development Ph.D. Cognitive Psychology
• Melissa Beth Lopez - Montclair State University · Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
• Yoko Futagi - Educational Testing Service | ETS · Division of Research and Development

• Analysis of the average percentage of misspellings per essay showed that the rate of misspellings decreases as proficiency (essay score) increases;
• The severity of misspellings depends on writing proficiency. Writers of lesser proficiency produce more of severe errors, and the average error severity decreases with better proficiency;
• With increased proficiency, essays become longer (more words). Writers of increased proficiency introduce more long words, but they also introduce more short words, and the relative proportions of words of different lengths remain roughly similar for all proficiency levels .
• So, while writers of greater proficiency introduce more long words (in absolute measures, such as average word length per essay), they are also less prone to misspell such words (as compared to writers of lesser proficiency).
• words' variation and their length;
• the misspelling of them;
• the structure of the sentences as a result of the first two elements;
• the cogency as a whole
• Patrick Fore via Unsplash
• Patterns of misspellings in L2 and L1 English: a view from the ETS Spelling Corpus

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If you're planning to apply to graduate school, you will have to take the GRE. This course is here to help. Part 1 takes you through all the question types on the verbal reasoning and analytical writing sections, including reading comprehension, text completion, sentence equivalence questions, and both essay tasks. You will also gain pointers on time management, anxiety relief, scoring, and general standardized test-taking. Be prepared to excel on exam day to achieve your best potential score.

Introducing the GRE® Revised General Test

You may have heard that you can't study for the GRE. But that's not true. There are many things you can do to prepare for the GRE, and the more time you spend preparing the better your scores will be. This lesson tells you everything you need to know about the general makeup of the GRE, so you know what to expect come test day.

Overview of GRE Verbal and Analytical Sections

This lesson gives you an overview of what to expect from the GRE Verbal and Analytical sections. You will see sample reading comprehension, sentence equivalence, and text completion questions, and take a brief look at the analytical writing section.

Approaching the Analytical Writing Section

The first section you will encounter on the GRE is the analytical writing section. You will write two essays in 60 minutes, so you need to be well prepared. This lesson gives you the essentials to be your best on exam day.

Writing Style Review for the Analytical Writing Section

Grammar and punctuation count on the analytical writing section. This lesson covers tips for improving your writing style and reviews the important rules of Standard English so that you can perform your best.

Practice for the Analytical Writing Section

If the thought of writing a complete analysis of an issue or argument within a half an hour has you running for the hills, don't despair. Here's a specific plan for making the most of your time so you can prove to the admissions committee of your favorite graduate program that you can create a cohesive, interesting essay.

How to Interpret a Reading Passage

Roughly half of the questions in the verbal reasoning sections require you to answer questions based on reading passages. The GRE reading passages come in all sizes and topics. This lesson will walk you through the process of examining passages efficiently so that you can quickly soar through the reading questions.

How to Answer Reading Questions

The reading questions on the GRE revised General Test come in a variety of formats with several objectives. You will learn unique approaches to various reading question formats that will maximize your performance on exam day.

Practicing Reading Questions

The best way to improve your performance on the GRE reading questions is practice. In this lesson you will take a short reading practice exam and then carefully examine the strategy for answering each question correctly.

How to Answer Text Completion Questions

The fill-in-the-blank GRE text completion questions test your reading ability and knowledge of vocabulary. In this lesson, you will learn the tactics for dissecting each sentence to extract its exact meaning.

Practice Answering Text Completion Questions

In this lesson, you will take a mini practice exam and become familiar with text completion questions. Then you will explore how best to answer each question.

How to Answer Sentence Equivalence Questions

In this lesson, you will discover what to expect from the third question type in the verbal reasoning section, the sentence equivalence question. You will discover some strategies for evaluating sentences and recognizing synonyms.

Practice Answering Sentence Equivalence Questions

Test your prowess on sentence equivalence questions by taking a mini practice exam, followed by detailed explanations on how to answer each question.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

• This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

• PC: Windows 8 or later.
• Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
• Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader .
• Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.
• Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

The Philippines economy in 2024: Stronger for longer?

The Philippines ended 2023 on a high note, being the fastest growing economy across Southeast Asia with a growth rate of 5.6 percent—just shy of the government's target of 6.0 to 7.0 percent. 1 “National accounts,” Philippine Statistics Authority, January 31, 2024; "Philippine economic updates,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, November 16, 2023. Should projections hold, the Philippines is expected to, once again, show significant growth in 2024, demonstrating its resilience despite various global economic pressures (Exhibit 1). 2 “Economic forecast 2024,” International Monetary Fund, November 1, 2023; McKinsey analysis.

The growth in the Philippine economy in 2023 was driven by a resumption in commercial activities, public infrastructure spending, and growth in digital financial services. Most sectors grew, with transportation and storage (13 percent), construction (9 percent), and financial services (9 percent), performing the best (Exhibit 2). 3 “National accounts,” Philippine Statistics Authority, January 31, 2024. While the country's trade deficit narrowed in 2023, it remains elevated at $52 billion due to slowing global demand and geopolitical uncertainties. 4 “Highlights of the Philippine export and import statistics,” Philippine Statistics Authority, January 28, 2024. Looking ahead to 2024, the current economic forecast for the Philippines projects a GDP growth of between 5 and 6 percent.

Inflation rates are expected to temper between 3.2 and 3.6 percent in 2024 after ending 2023 at 6.0 percent, above the 2.0 to 4.0 percent target range set by the government. 5 “Nomura downgrades Philippine 2024 growth forecast,” Nomura, September 11, 2023; “IMF raises Philippine growth rate forecast,” International Monetary Fund, July 16, 2023.

For the purposes of this article, most of the statistics used for our analysis have come from a common thread of sources. These include the Central Bank of the Philippines (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas); the Department of Energy Philippines; the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP); and the Philippines Statistics Authority.

The state of the Philippine economy across seven major sectors and themes

In the article, we explore the 2024 outlook for seven key sectors and themes, what may affect each of them in the coming year, and what could potentially unlock continued growth.

Financial services

The recovery of the financial services sector appears on track as year-on-year growth rates stabilize. 6 Philippines Statistics Authority, November 2023; McKinsey in partnership with Oxford Economics, November 2023. In 2024, this sector will likely continue to grow, though at a slower pace of about 5 percent.

Financial inclusion and digitalization are contributing to growth in this sector in 2024, even if new challenges emerge. Various factors are expected to impact this sector:

• Inclusive finance: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas continues to invest in financial inclusion initiatives. For example, basic deposit accounts (BDAs) reached $22 million in 2023 and banking penetration improved, with the proportion of adults with formal bank accounts increasing from 29 percent in 2019 to 56 percent in 2021. 7 “Financial inclusion dashboard: First quarter 2023,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, February 6, 2024.
• Digital adoption: Digital channels are expected to continue to grow, with data showing that 60 percent of adults who have a mobile phone and internet access have done a digital financial transaction. 8 “Financial inclusion dashboard: First quarter 2023,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, February 6, 2024. Businesses in this sector, however, will need to remain vigilant in navigating cybersecurity and fraud risks.
• Unsecured lending growth: Growth in unsecured lending is expected to continue, but at a slower pace than the past two to three years. For example, unsecured retail lending for the banking system alone grew by 27 percent annually from 2020 to 2022. 9 “Loan accounts: As of first quarter 2023,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, February 6, 2024; "Global banking pools,” McKinsey, November 2023. Businesses in this field are, however, expected to recalibrate their risk profiling models as segments with high nonperforming loans emerge.
• High interest rates: Key interest rates are expected to decline in the second half of 2024, creating more accommodating borrowing conditions that could boost wholesale and corporate loans.

Supportive frameworks have a pivotal role to play in unlocking growth in this sector to meet the ever-increasing demand from the financially underserved. For example, financial literacy programs and easier-to-access accounts—such as BDAs—are some measures that can help widen market access to financial services. Continued efforts are being made to build an open finance framework that could serve the needs of the unbanked population, as well as a unified credit scoring mechanism to increase the ability of historically under-financed segments, such as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to access formal credit. 10 “BSP launches credit scoring model,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, April 26, 2023.

Energy and Power

The outlook for the energy sector seems positive, with the potential to grow by 7 percent in 2024 as the country focuses on renewable energy generation. 11 McKinsey analysis based on input from industry experts. Currently, stakeholders are focused on increasing energy security, particularly on importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) to meet power plants’ requirements as production in one of the country’s main sources of natural gas, the Malampaya gas field, declines. 12 Myrna M. Velasco, “Malampaya gas field prod’n declines steeply in 2021,” Manila Bulletin , July 9, 2022. High global inflation and the fact that the Philippines is a net fuel importer are impacting electricity prices and the build-out of planned renewable energy projects. Recent regulatory moves to remove foreign ownership limits on exploration, development, and utilization of renewable energy resources could possibly accelerate growth in the country’s energy and power sector. 13 “RA 11659,” Department of Energy Philippines, June 8, 2023.

Gas, renewables, and transmission are potential growth drivers for the sector. Upgrading power grids so that they become more flexible and better able to cope with the intermittent electricity supply that comes with renewables will be critical as the sector pivots toward renewable energy. A recent coal moratorium may position natural gas as a transition fuel—this could stimulate exploration and production investments for new, indigenous natural gas fields, gas pipeline infrastructure, and LNG import terminal projects. 14 Philippine energy plan 2020–2040, Department of Energy Philippines, June 10, 2022; Power development plan 2020–2040 , Department of Energy Philippines, 2021. The increasing momentum of green energy auctions could facilitate the development of renewables at scale, as the country targets 35 percent share of renewables by 2030. 15 Power development plan 2020–2040 , 2022.

Growth in the healthcare industry may slow to 2.8 percent in 2024, while pharmaceuticals manufacturing is expected to rebound with 5.2 percent growth in 2024. 16 McKinsey analysis in partnership with Oxford Economics.

Healthcare demand could grow, although the quality of care may be strained as the health worker shortage is projected to increase over the next five years. 17 McKinsey analysis. The supply-and-demand gap in nursing alone is forecast to reach a shortage of approximately 90,000 nurses by 2028. 18 McKinsey analysis. Another compounding factor straining healthcare is the higher than anticipated benefit utilization and rising healthcare costs, which, while helping to meet people's healthcare budgets, may continue to drive down profitability for health insurers.

Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies are feeling varying effects of people becoming increasingly health conscious. Consumers are using more over the counter (OTC) medication and placing more beneficial value on organic health products, such as vitamins and supplements made from natural ingredients, which could impact demand for prescription drugs. 19 “Consumer health in the Philippines 2023,” Euromonitor, October 2023.

Businesses operating in this field may end up benefiting from universal healthcare policies. If initiatives are implemented that integrate healthcare systems, rationalize copayments, attract and retain talent, and incentivize investments, they could potentially help to strengthen healthcare provision and quality.

Businesses may also need to navigate an increasingly complex landscape of diverse health needs, digitization, and price controls. Digital and data transformations are being seen to facilitate improvements in healthcare delivery and access, with leading digital health apps getting more than one million downloads. 20 Google Play Store, September 27, 2023. Digitization may create an opportunity to develop healthcare ecosystems that unify touchpoints along the patient journey and provide offline-to-online care, as well as potentially realizing cost efficiencies.

Consumer and retail

Growth in the retail and wholesale trade and consumer goods sectors is projected to remain stable in 2024, at 4 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

Inflation, however, continues to put consumers under pressure. While inflation rates may fall—predicted to reach 4 percent in 2024—commodity prices may still remain elevated in the near term, a top concern for Filipinos. 21 “IMF raises Philippine growth forecast,” July 26, 2023; “Nomura downgrades Philippines 2024 growth forecast,” September 11, 2023. In response to challenging economic conditions, 92 percent of consumers have changed their shopping behaviors, and approximately 50 percent indicate that they are switching brands or retail providers in seek of promotions and better prices. 22 “Philippines consumer pulse survey, 2023,” McKinsey, November 2023.

Online shopping has become entrenched in Filipino consumers, as they find that they get access to a wider range of products, can compare prices more easily, and can shop with more convenience. For example, a McKinsey Philippines consumer sentiment survey in 2023 found that 80 percent of respondents, on average, use online and omnichannel to purchase footwear, toys, baby supplies, apparel, and accessories. To capture the opportunity that this shift in Filipino consumer preferences brings and to unlock growth in this sector, retail organizations could turn to omnichannel strategies to seamlessly integrate online and offline channels. Businesses may need to explore investments that increase resilience across the supply chain, alongside researching and developing new products that serve emerging consumer preferences, such as that for natural ingredients and sustainable sources.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing is a key contributor to the Philippine economy, contributing approximately 19 percent of GDP in 2022, employing about 7 percent of the country’s labor force, and growing in line with GDP at approximately 6 percent between 2023 and 2024. 23 McKinsey analysis based on input from industry experts.

Some changes could be seen in 2024 that might affect the sector moving forward. The focus toward building resilient supply chains and increasing self-sufficiency is growing. The Philippines also is likely to benefit from increasing regional trade, as well as the emerging trend of nearshoring or onshoring as countries seek to make their supply chains more resilient. With semiconductors driving approximately 45 percent of Philippine exports, the transfer of knowledge and technology, as well as the development of STEM capabilities, could help attract investments into the sector and increase the relevance of the country as a manufacturing hub. 24 McKinsey analysis based on input from industry experts.

To secure growth, public and private sector support could bolster investments in R&D and upskill the labor force. In addition, strategies to attract investment may be integral to the further development of supply chain infrastructure and manufacturing bases. Government programs to enable digital transformation and R&D, along with a strategic approach to upskilling the labor force, could help boost industry innovation in line with Industry 4.0 demand. 25 Industry 4.0 is also referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Priority products to which manufacturing industries could pivot include more complex, higher value chain electronic components in the semiconductor segment; generic OTC drugs and nature-based pharmaceuticals in the pharmaceutical sector; and, for green industries, products such as EVs, batteries, solar panels, and biomass production.

Information technology business process outsourcing

The information technology business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) sector is on track to reach its long-term targets, with $38 billion in forecast revenues in 2024. 26 Khriscielle Yalao, “WHF flexibility key to achieving growth targets—IBPAP,” Manila Bulletin , January 23, 2024. Emerging innovations in service delivery and work models are being observed, which could drive further growth in the sector.

The industry continues to outperform headcount and revenue targets, shaping its position as a country leader for employment and services. 27 McKinsey analysis based in input from industry experts. Demand from global companies for offshoring is expected to increase, due to cost containment strategies and preference for Philippine IT-BPO providers. New work setups continue to emerge, ranging from remote-first to office-first, which could translate to potential net benefits. These include a 10 to 30 percent increase in employee retention; a three- to four-hour reduction in commute times; an increase in enabled talent of 350,000; and a potential reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 1.4 to 1.5 million tons of CO 2 per year. 28 McKinsey analysis based in input from industry experts. It is becoming increasingly more important that the IT-BPO sector adapts to new technologies as businesses begin to harness automation and generative AI (gen AI) to unlock productivity.

Talent and technology are clear areas where growth in this sector can be unlocked. The growing complexity of offshoring requirements necessitates building a proper talent hub to help bridge employee gaps and better match local talent to employers’ needs. Businesses in the industry could explore developing facilities and digital infrastructure to enable industry expansion outside the metros, especially in future “digital cities” nationwide. Introducing new service areas could capture latent demand from existing clients with evolving needs as well as unserved clients. BPO centers could explore the potential of offering higher-value services by cultivating technology-focused capabilities, such as using gen AI to unlock revenue, deliver sales excellence, and reduce general administrative costs.

Sustainability

The Philippines is considered to be the fourth most vulnerable country to climate change in the world as, due to its geographic location, the country has a higher risk of exposure to natural disasters, such as rising sea levels. 29 “The Philippines has been ranked the fourth most vulnerable country to climate change,” Global Climate Risk Index, January 2021. Approximately $3.2 billion, on average, in economic loss could occur annually because of natural disasters over the next five decades, translating to up to 7 to 8 percent of the country’s nominal GDP. 30 “The Philippines has been ranked the fourth most vulnerable country to climate change,” Global Climate Risk Index, January 2021.

The Philippines could capitalize on five green growth opportunities to operate in global value chains and catalyze growth for the nation:

• Renewable energy: The country could aim to generate 50 percent of its energy from renewables by 2040, building on its high renewable energy potential and the declining cost of producing renewable energy.
• Solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing: More than a twofold increase in annual output from 2023 to 2030 could be achieved, enabled by lower production costs.
• Battery production: The Philippines could aim for a $1.5 billion domestic market by 2030, capitalizing on its vast nickel reserves (the second largest globally). 31 “MineSpans,” McKinsey, November 2023.
• Electric mobility: Electric vehicles could account for 15 percent of the country’s vehicle sales by 2030 (from less than 1 percent currently), driven by incentives, local distribution, and charging infrastructure. 32 McKinsey analysis based on input from industry experts.
• Nature-based solutions: The country’s largely untapped total abatement potential could reach up to 200 to 300 metric tons of CO 2 , enabled by its biodiversity and strong demand.

The Philippine economy: Three scenarios for growth

Having grown faster than other economies in Southeast Asia in 2023 to end the year with 5.6 percent growth, the Philippines can expect a similarly healthy growth outlook for 2024. Based on our analysis, there are three potential scenarios for the country’s growth. 33 McKinsey analysis in partnership with Oxford Economics.

Slower growth: The first scenario projects GDP growth of 4.8 percent if there are challenging conditions—such as declining trade and accelerated inflation—which could keep key policy rates high at about 6.5 percent and dampen private consumption, leading to slower long-term growth.

Soft landing: The second scenario projects GDP growth of 5.2 percent if inflation moderates and global conditions turn out to be largely favorable due to a stable investment environment and regional trade demand.

Accelerated growth: In the third scenario, GDP growth is projected to reach 6.1 percent if inflation slows and public policies accommodate aspects such as loosening key policy rates and offering incentive programs to boost productivity.

Focusing on factors that could unlock growth in its seven critical sectors and themes, while adapting to the macro-economic scenario that plays out, would allow the Philippines to materialize its growth potential in 2024 and take steps towards achieving longer-term, sustainable economic growth.

Jon Canto is a partner in McKinsey’s Manila office, where Frauke Renz is an associate partner, and Vicah Villanueva is a consultant.

The authors wish to thank Charlene Chua, Charlie del Rosario, Ryan delos Reyes, Debadrita Dhara, Evelyn C. Fong, Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, Frances Lee, Aaron Ong, and Liane Tan for their contributions to this article.

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Gre prep online guides and tips, gre score breakdown: understanding your scores.

What’s the GRE score breakdown? What scores will you actually receive after taking the exam, and how are these scores calculated? In this guide, we explain the GRE scoring breakdown so you can understand what your GRE scores mean and how you can use this information to maximize your GRE score.

What Is the Overall GRE Score Breakdown?

In your GRE score report , you’ll receive three GRE scores, one for each of the exam sections: Analytical Writing, Verbal Reasoning, and Quantitative Reasoning. Analytical Writing is scored from 0-6, in half-point increments. Both Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning sections are scored between 130 and 170, in one-point increments. But how do exam graders calculate these scores? Keep reading to find out.

What’s the GRE Score Breakdown for Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning?

For both Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning, you’ll receive a score between 130 and 170. You’ll only answer 40 Verbal questions and 40 Quant questions, so how are these scores calculated? Is it just 130 + the number of questions you answered correctly? Not exactly.

You earn one point for each question you answer correctly. For questions with multiple blanks or parts to answer, it’s all or nothing. You must get the entire question correct to get the point; there is no partial credit. You don’t lose any points for incorrect answers. So, if you got 33 Verbal questions right, your raw score for Verbal would be 33. You won’t see your raw scores though because raw scores are converted to scaled scores (the scores from 130 to 170) before they are included on your GRE score report.

In order to make sure your GRE scores are as fair and accurate as possible, two processes occur when your raw scores are converted to scaled scores: adaptive testing and equating.

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Adaptive Testing

If, like most people, you take the GRE on the computer, your Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning sections will be adaptive. On the GRE, both Verbal and Quant have two sections, referred to as “measures” by the ETS. Because they’re adaptive, how well you do on the first of these measures determines the difficulty of questions in the second measure.

Your first measure for both Verbal and Quant will have medium-difficulty questions, and your second measure for each could have questions pulled mostly from either the easy, medium, or challenging question banks. For example, if you do very well on the first Verbal Reasoning measure and only get two questions wrong, your second Verbal Reasoning measure will have more challenging questions, compared to the second measure of someone who only got half the questions on the first measure correct.

The types of questions you answered incorrectly on the first measure don’t matter. If you got all the algebra questions wrong on the first Quant measure, that doesn’t mean only algebra questions will be easier in the second measure; the only thing that matters for adaptive testing is the total number of questions you answered incorrectly.

Adaptive testing creates more differentiation between the scores of test takers so GRE breakdown scores are more accurate. If you got 10/20 questions correct on the first Quantitative Reasoning measure and then a perfect 20/20 on the second measure, your final section score won’t be quite as high as someone who got 19/20 questions correct on the first Verbal measure and then 11/20 on the second measure. Even though you both ended up answering 30/40 questions correctly, the person who got 19/20 questions correct on the first measure will have been given more challenging questions than you did on the second measure. The increased difficulty of these questions results in a slightly higher final score.

Remember though that when you’re taking the GRE, you won’t receive any of your scores until the end of the test, so you won’t know how well you did on the first measure or which difficulty level your second measure questions are.  Just do your best on every question and don’t stress yourself out trying to figure out if you got “easy” or “hard” questions for the second measures.

Equating is another process used to make sure GRE scores are accurate and fair for all people who take the test. ETS using equating to take into account small variations in difficulty between different GREs.  If the GRE given in October ends up being more difficult than the GRE given in November, equating will be used to make sure that the people who took the October GRE aren’t unfairly penalized with lower scores because they took a harder exam. For example, people who took the easier November exam and got 30 Quant questions correct might receive a scaled score of 160 (130 + 30 correct answers). People who took the October test and got 30 Quant questions correct may receive a score of 161 or 162 because the questions were harder.

It’s impossible to have every version of the GRE be exactly the same level of difficulty, so equating is used to make sure that average scores stay consistent across different versions of the test. ETS doesn’t disclose the exact process they use for equating but, like adaptive testing, it won’t have a huge impact on your final GRE scores. Just know that it’s done to keep everything fair, and remember that your main goal is still to answer as many questions correctly as you can.

To sum up, you receive one point for each question you answer correctly in Verbal or Quant. These points will be added up to get your raw score (0-40) for each section. Your raw scores will then be converted to scaled scores (130-170) which take into account both adaptive testing and equating.

So, if you answered 30 Verbal questions correctly, you may, for example, get a final Verbal score of 157 if you had an easier exam and/or you scored low enough on the first Verbal measure to get easier questions in the second measure. Or, you could answer 30 Verbal questions correctly and get a score of, say, 162 if your GRE was harder and/or your second measure was adapted to have more challenging questions. On your GRE score report, you’ll only see your final scaled scores, so you won’t know how equating or adaptive testing affected your final GRE score breakdown.

What Is the GRE Score Breakdown for Analytical Writing?

For the Analytical Writing section, you’ll need to write two complete essays, an Argument essay and an Issue essay, but you’ll only receive one score from this section, between 0 and 6.

Each essay you write is read by at a trained grader and given a score from 0-6. Then the essay is scored by an e-reader, a computer program created by ETS to grade writing skills in multiple areas. If the human grader’s and e-reader’s scores are within one point of each other, then the average of those two scores is used as the final essay score. If they disagree, a second human grader scores the essay, and the average of the two human scores is the final essay score.

To get the final Analytical Writing score, the two essay scores are averaged, and that value is rounded to the nearest half-point.  The graders use rubrics to decide which score to give each of your essays. Below, we give the key parts of each of the two rubrics so you can better understand what essay graders are looking for and how they decide on your score.

Scoring for the Argument Essay

Below are the different characteristics of essays scoring a 6, 4, or 2 on the Argument task. It includes the main writing characteristics and skills graders are looking for. You can also see the complete rubric on the ETS website.

Overall, a high-scoring Argument essay will:

• Limit its discussion to identifying and explaining the parts of the argument that are relevant to the essay task
• Develop its ideas logically
• Be organized and connect ideas smoothly
• Include support for the main points of the author’s analysis
• Be well written

Scoring for the Issue Essay

Below are descriptions for 6-, 4-, and 2-scoring Issue essays. You can find the complete Issue rubric here.

To get a high score on your Issue essay , your essay must:

• Make sense logically
• Be precise in its discussion of the issue and the author’s stance on the issue
• Include support for the author’s position that persuades the reader to the author’s point of view
• Be organized and flow smoothly from idea to idea
• Be well-written

How Can You Use GRE Scoring to Your Advantage?

There are lots of processes that occur before you get your final GRE breakdown of scores. How can you use all of this information to your advantage? We discuss three key ways below.

#1: Pay Particular Attention to the First Measure of Verbal and Quant

Because the GRE is section-level adaptive, how well you do on the first measure of Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning determines the difficulty of the second sections.  Your score on the first measure of both Verbal and Quant affects the difficulty of the questions you get on the second measures. You can only get a top GRE score if your second measure questions are the highest difficulty level.

This means the questions in the first measures of Verbal and Quant are slightly more important than those in the second measure since they determine the difficulty of the second measure questions. Don’t get too hung up on this though since, on the whole, adaptive testing won’t have a huge impact on your score. Your goal should always be to just answer as many questions correctly as you can.

#2: Don’t Spend a Lot of Time on One Question

Remember, every Verbal and Quant question is worth one point if you answer it correctly, so don’t spend a ton of time trying to get one question right if it causes you to run out of time and not get to look at multiple other questions in a section.

Timing is very important for the GRE , and because you have to answer a lot of questions in a limited amount of time, don’t let your timing get derailed by agonizing over one question.

You should spend about 90 seconds on each Verbal question and 105 seconds on each Quant question in order to complete all the questions in a section on time. Remember this GRE time breakdown, and, if you find yourself spending longer than this on a single question, make your best guess on it, then move onto the next question and only come back to it if you have time at the end of the section.

#3: Answer Every Question

Remember, you don’t lose any points if you answer a GRE question incorrectly. This means you should answer every question, even if you’re just making a complete guess. You may guess right and get another point!

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Summary: GRE Sections Breakdown

You’ll receive three scores for the GRE, and scoring for the exam is much more complicated than simply adding up the number of questions you answered correctly.  For Analytical Writing, your GRE breakdown of scoring will be from 0-6. Each of the two essays you write will be graded by both a human grader and a computer program.

For both the Verbal and Quant sections, you’ll receive a score from 130-170. You’ll get a point for each question you answer correctly, but your scores may also be affected by adaptive testing and equating. Knowing this GRE test breakdown can help you raise your GRE score by remembering to be especially careful on the first measure of Verbal and Quant, not spending too much time on any one question, and answering every question on the exam.

What’s Next?

Just how long should you study for the GRE?   Learn exactly how many hours you should study for the GRE to get the score you want.

Looking for other GRE tips and resources?  Check out our complete collection of GRE practice tests  and our picks for the top GRE study materials .

Need help registering for the GRE?  Check out our step-by-step guide to GRE registration to learn every step in the process.

Ready to improve your GRE score by 7 points?

Author: Christine Sarikas

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries. View all posts by Christine Sarikas

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House passes sweeping fiscal 2024 spending package

The measure now heads to the Senate, where it could be considered late Friday. Appropriations for agencies covered by the bill lapse at midnight, though a brief funding gap and weekend presidential signature wouldn’t amount to a shutdown. Senate leaders were still working on an agreement on amendment votes needed to secure consent from all 100 senators to speed up the process. 

With the House considered a more challenging hurdle to clear, Senate passage seems all but assured, and President Joe Biden has said he would sign the bill quickly.

Both chambers’ upcoming two-week recess is another encouraging factor as lawmakers strive to wrap up the lengthy fiscal 2024 appropriations process, six months into the new fiscal year. 

Both parties found things to like in the final package, with Republicans heralding the continued prohibition on funding for the U.N. Palestinian relief agency and increased funding for Border Patrol agents. The measure includes a more than 3 percent increase for the Pentagon while domestic and foreign aid accounts in the bill would, on average, face cuts.

“I am proud to say that this bill strengthens our national security and funds critical defense efforts,” House Appropriations Chairwoman Kay Granger, R-Texas, said during floor debate. “Against all odds, House Republicans refocused spending on America’s most crucial needs, at home and abroad.”

‘Harming the American people’

Most of the House Republicans who voted against the bill were members of the House Freedom Caucus and other conservatives upset with the spending levels.

“Why are we in a rush to keep this government open that is so harming the American people by the very policies which they are suffering under,” House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good, R-Va., said during a Friday morning press conference. 

Good blasted the bill for including funding for the Department of Defense’s climate programs, $200 million to construct a new FBI headquarters and money for the World Health Organization. He also objected to the increase in funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which GOP leadership has highlighted as a win in the bill. 

The inclusion of Democratic earmarks, specifically in the Labor-HHS-Education bill, also led to opposition from some Republicans, including House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Chairman Robert B. Aderholt, R-Ala. 

Aderholt, who is considering a run to be the next top Republican on the full Appropriations Committee following Granger’s retirement, objected to 12 earmarks from Democratic senators. 

One project Aderholt opposed is a $1 million earmark that Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., requested for a virtual programming pilot for SAGE, an organization that provides services to LGBTQ elders. 

Aderholt also objected to a $1.8 million project for the midwifery unit at Women & Infants Hospital in Providence, R.I., sponsored by the state’s Democratic Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse. The hospital’s family-planning clinic provides abortion and related services, which Aderholt objects to. 

UNRWA, border issues

On the Democratic side, progressives were uneasy about the legislation’s continued block on funding for UNRWA. The Biden administration blocked funding for the agency after Israel said UNRWA workers had participated in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. 

Congressional Democrats believed only UNRWA would be in position to address the need, but the preexisting ban was too much for them to overcome in negotiations with Republicans, for whom the continued ban was a top priority. 

“America should not be indifferent to children dying of dehydration and starvation because of man-made famine,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said Thursday. “And there’s no way to have aid distributed into Gaza without that distribution system.” 

Migrant advocacy groups had also taken aim at the Homeland Security bill for the increase in ICE beds and funding for Customs and Border Protection, and some progressives were also unhappy with the level of defense spending. 

DeLauro urged lawmakers to back the measure as a hard-fought and long-delayed compromise in divided government that was necessary to avoid a shutdown and move on to the fiscal 2025 budget cycle.

“This legislation does not have everything either side may have wanted, but I am satisfied that many of the extreme cuts and policies proposed by House Republicans were rejected,” she said.

David Lerman contributed to this report.

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