Description of the Genaral Test

The General Test measures analytical writing, verbal, and quantitative skills that have been acquired over a long period of time and that are not related to any specific field of study.

The analytical writing section tests your critical thinking and analytical writing skills. It assesses your ability to articulate and support complex ideas, analyze an argument, and sustain a focused and coherent discussion. It does not assess specific content knowledge.

The verbal section measures your ability to analyze and evaluate written material and synthesize information obtained from it, to analyze relationships among component parts of sentences, to recognize relationships between words and concepts, and to reason with words in solving problems. There is a balance of passages across different subject matter areas: humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.

The quantitative section measures your basic mathematical skills, your understanding of elementary mathematical concepts, and your ability to reason quantitatively and solve problems in a quantitative setting. There is a balance of questions requiring arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis. These are content areas usually studied in high school.

Frequently Asked Questions About the
General Test

TEST CONTENT

What skills does the General Test measure?

Analytical Writing

• articulate complex ideas clearly and effectively
• examine claims and accompanying evidence
• support ideas with relevant reasons and examples
• sustain a well-focused, coherent discussion
• control the elements of standard written English (this factor plays a role only to the extent that poor writing skills impede readers' understanding of the argument)

Verbal

• analyze and evaluate written material and synthesize information obtained from it
  
• analyze relationships among component parts of sentences
• recognize relationships between words and concepts

Quantitative

• understand basic concepts of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis
• reason quantitatively
• solve problems in a quantitative setting

What is the analytical writing section like?

The analytical writing section consists of two analytical writing tasks: a 45-minute "Present Your Perspective on an Issue" task and a 30-minute "Analyze an Argument" task. The "Issue" task states an opinion on an issue of general interest and asks you to address the issue from any perspective(s) you wish, as long as you provide relevant reasons and examples to explain and support your views. The "Argument" task presents a different challenge — it requires you to critique an argument by discussing how well reasoned you find it. You are asked to consider the logical soundness of the argument rather than to agree or disagree with the position it presents. These two tasks are complementary in that the first requires you to construct a personal argument about an issue, and the second requires you to critique someone else's argument by assessing its claims.

Are there examples of what the essay questions look like?

Yes. You can view all the topics for the analytical writing section on the Gre Official Web site.

How does the analytical writing section differ from the verbal section of the General Test?

Because the analytical writing section is a performance test, you must organize and articulate your own ideas as you discuss a complex issue, as well as explain the logical soundness of an argument you have just read. The verbal section of the General Test measures reading comprehension, and verbal and analogical reasoning skills in a multiple-choice format. Whereas the verbal section measures your ability to understand complex ideas expressed in written passages and in the relationships between words, the analytical writing section measures your ability to articulate and support ideas, and to analyze arguments.

How does the analytical writing section differ from the TOEFL Test of Written English (TWE)?

The TOEFL and GRE writing sections are very different. The TWE is not designed to assess higher levels of thinking and analytical writing, but centers instead on command of English vocabulary, grammar, spelling, and syntax. Therefore, scores on the two tests are not at all comparable. Because the TOEFL test emphasizes fundamental writing skills, the TOEFL score can supplement an analytical writing score by helping faculty determine whether a low score on the GRE analytical writing section is due to lack of familiarity with English or to lack of ability to produce and analyze logical arguments.

TEST ADMINISTRATION

What is the price of the General Test?

The General Test is US $115 for individuals testing in the United States, U.S. Territories, and Puerto Rico, US $175 for individuals testing in China, including Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan, and US $140 for individuals testing in all other locations. Individuals who would like to request a fee waiver, should read about the requirements and procedures in the Fee Waiver section.

How is the General Test administered?

The General Test is given year-round on the computer in the U.S., Canada, and many other countries. Paper-based General Test administrations are offered in areas of the world where computer-based testing is not available.

What word processing software is used for the analytical writing section? What tools does it have?

The GRE Program uses an elementary word processor developed by ETS so that individuals familiar with a specific commercial word processing software do not have an advantage or disadvantage. This software contains the following functions: inserting text, deleting text, cut and paste, and undoing the previous action. Tools such as spellchecker and grammar checker are not available in the ETS software, in large part to maintain fairness with those examinees who handwrite their essays at paper-based administrations. You can practice writing essays using the word processor in POWERPREP .

SCORING AND REPORTING

How are the sections of the General Test scored?

Your scores on the verbal and quantitative sections of the computer-based General Test depend on your performance on the questions given and on the number of questions answered in the time allotted. Because both of these sections are computer adaptive, the questions presented are selected to reflect your performance on preceding questions and the requirements of the test design. Test design factors that influence which questions are presented to you include (1) the statistical characteristics (including difficulty level) of the questions already answered, (2) the required variety of question types, and (3) the appropriate coverage of content.

For the verbal and quantitative sections of the paper-based General Test' a raw score is computed. The raw score is the number of questions for which the best answer choice was given. The raw score is then converted to a scaled score through a process known as equating. The equating process accounts for differences in difficulty among the different test editions; thus, a given scaled score reflects approximately the same level of ability regardless of the edition of the test that was taken.

The scoring of the analytical writing section is the same whether the test is taken on computer or paper. Each essay receives a score from two trained readers, using a 6-point holistic scale. In holistic scoring, readers are trained to assign scores on the basis of the overall quality of an essay in response to the assigned task. If the two assigned scores differ by more than one point on the scale, the discrepancy is adjudicated by a third GRE reader. Otherwise, the scores from the two readings of an essay are averaged. The final scores on the two essays are then averaged and rounded up to the nearest half-point interval. A single score is reported for the analytical writing section.

The primary emphasis in scoring the analytical writing section is on your critical thinking and analytical writing skills rather than on grammar and mechanics.

During the scoring process, your essay responses on the analytical writing section will be reviewed by ETS essay-similarity-detection software and by experienced essay readers.

Are examinees that use alternative ways of developing an argument scored fairly?

You may use any one of a variety of strategies to structure your essays. Readers are explicitly trained to accept any strategy in an essay that meets the essential requirements of the essay task, i.e., a response that provides the information required by the essay prompt.

What scores are reported?

Three scores are reported on the General Test:

1. a verbal score reported on a 200-800 score scale, in 10-point increments
2. a quantitative score reported on a 200-800 score scale, in 10-point increments, and
3. an analytical writing score reported on a 0-6 score scale, in half-point increments.

If you answer no questions at all in a section (verbal, quantitative, or analytical writing), that section will be reported as a No Score (NS).

When are scores reported?

If you take the computer-based General Test, you can view your unofficial verbal and quantitative scores at the test center; however, because of the essay scoring process, you will not be able to view your analytical writing scores at that time. Verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing scores on the computer-based General Test will be sent to you and the institutions you designate within 10 to 15 days of your test administration.

If you take the paper-based General Test, you will not view any scores at the test center. Verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing scores on the paper-based General Test will be sent to you and the institutions you designate within 4 to 6 weeks of your test administration.

SCORE USE

How does the GRE Program recommend that departments use my scores on the verbal and quantitative sections of the General Test?

The GRE Program recommends that departments use scores from these two sections as they always have, considering the Guidelines for the Use of GRE Scores , published in the Guide to the Use of Scores .

How does the GRE Program recommend that departments interpret my analytical writing score?

As a performance assessment, the GRE analytical writing section provides a snapshot of your analytical writing ability before entry into graduate school. The Guide to the Use of GRE Scores includes information on the interpretation of analytical writing scores. This information includes descriptions of the characteristic analytical writing abilities reflected at each score level.

My native language is not English. How does the GRE Program recommend that departments interpret my analytical writing score?

If your native language is not English (ESL) and you do not understand the task posed to you, your performance on all three sections of the General Test will be affected. The GRE Program advises score users to consider a variety of pieces of information about ESL applicants, including TOEFL and TWE scores, to determine whether these students would be able to meet the department's requirements.

Should the analytical writing score be combined with the verbal and quantitative scores?

The GRE Program does not recommend combining the scores on any of the General Test sections. Each section should be considered separately because it provides insight into a different aspect of your abilities.

TEST FAIRNESS

How can we know that the analytical writing section is fair for all examinees, including groups that are underrepresented in graduate school?

The GRE Board has long been concerned that examinee groups not be disadvantaged by any major changes in the General Test. In response to that concern, extensive analyses of group differences in the Writing Assessment were performed before the test became operational in October 1999. These analyses have since been supplemented by data from those who have taken the Writing Assessment as an operational test, and by data from a special research study conducted in April 2001. The findings from each of these data sources indicate that there is less difference in the scores of men and women on the Writing Assessment than on the multiple-choice measures. The differences between African American and White examinees and between Hispanic and White examinees are also smaller on the Writing Assessment than on the multiple-choice measures. The difference between Asian American and White examinees is about the same as the difference on the verbal and analytical sections. (Asian American examinees outscore White examinees on the quantitative section.)

How can we know that the analytical writing section is fair for examinees whose native language is not English?

Test takers whose native language is not English (ESL) naturally find the analytical writing section more challenging, on average, than do native speakers of English. Steps have already been taken to ensure that these performance differences are not due to differences in the cross-cultural accessibility of the topics. Special fairness reviews occur for all topics to ensure that the content and tasks are clear and accessible for all groups of test takers, including ESL students. In addition, scorers are trained to focus on the analytical logic of the essay responses more than on spelling, grammar, or syntax. The mechanics of writing are weighed in their ratings only to the extent that these impede clarity of meaning. Since the analytical writing section is tapping into different skills than the multiple-choice measures, it may not be surprising that the performance of ESL examinees differs on this section. Given that graduate faculty have indicated that analytical writing is an important component of work in most graduate schools, including the analytical writing section should increase the validity of the General Test.

Source: gre.org