The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) is a standardized test that is part of the admissions process for many graduate schools in the United States and Canada. and a few other countries. The GRE is owned and administered by Educational Testing Service. The test was established in 1936 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. According to ETS, the GRE aims to measure verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, analytical writing, and critical thinking skills that have been acquired over a long period of learning. The content of the GRE consists of certain specific data analysis or interpretation, arguments and reasoning, algebra, geometry, arithmetic, and vocabulary sections. The GRE General Test is offered as a computer-based exam administered at testing centres and institution owned or authorized by Prometric. In the graduate school admissions process, the level of emphasis that is placed upon GRE scores varies widely among schools and departments. The importance of a GRE score can range from being a mere admission formality to an important selection factor. The GRE was significantly overhauled in August 2011, resulting in an exam that is adaptive on a section-by-section basis, rather than question by question, so that the performance on the first verbal and math sections determines the difficulty of the second sections presented (excluding the experimental section). Overall, the test retained the sections and many of the question types from its predecessor, but the scoring scale was changed to a 130 to 170 scale (from a 200 to 800 scale).
The GRE General Test measures your verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and analytical writing skills. The test is accepted by graduate and business schools in U.S. and other countries, meaning you only need to take one test to have many opportunities within reach.