GRE Details: Educators
Current section: About the Test > Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions about the General Test
- Test Content and Validity
- Test Fairness
- Test Preparation
- Test Administration
- Scoring and Reporting
- Recruitment and Training of Essay Readers
- Score Use
Test Content and Validity
What skills does the General Test measure?
Verbal Reasoning
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Analyze and evaluate written material and synthesize information obtained from it
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Analyze relationships among component parts of sentences
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Recognize relationships between words and concepts
Quantitative Reasoning
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Understand basic concepts of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis
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Reason quantitatively
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Solve problems in a quantitative setting
Analytical Writing
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Articulate complex ideas clearly and effectively
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Examine claims and accompanying evidence
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Support ideas with relevant reasons and examples
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Sustain a well-focused, coherent discussion
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Control the elements of standard written English (plays a role only to the extent that poor writing skills impede readers' understanding of the argument)
What is the Analytical Writing section like?
The assessment 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 test takers to address the issue from any perspective(s) they wish, as long as they provide relevant reasons and examples to explain and support their views.
The "Argument" task presents a different challenge—it requires test takers to critique an argument by discussing how well-reasoned they find it. Test takers 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 the writer to construct a personal argument about an issue, and the second requires a critique of someone else's argument by assessing its claims.
Are there examples of what the essay questions look like?
Yes. View the Issue and Argument topics for the Analytical Writing section.
How does the Analytical Writing section differ from the Verbal section of the General Test?
Because the Analytical Writing section is a performance test, examinees must organize and articulate their own ideas as they discuss a complex issue, as well as explain the logical soundness of an argument they 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 a test taker's ability to understand complex ideas expressed in written passages and in the relationships between words, the Analytical Writing section measures the 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 Test of Written English (TWE) and the GRE® Analytical Writing measure are very different. The TWE is not designed to measure higher levels of thinking and analytical writing, but focuses 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 measure is due to lack of familiarity with English or lack of ability to produce and analyze logical arguments.
Information regarding test scores and international examinees is available in the TOEFL Test and Score Data Summary.
What validity evidence exists for the Analytical Writing section?
Interviews with graduate faculty, surveys of graduate faculty, and the work of the Writing Test Committee have consistently identified critical thinking and writing skills as important for success in graduate school. The two tasks that comprise the Analytical Writing measure (constructing an argument and evaluating an argument) are both considered essential in many fields of graduate study.
Thus, the structure of the test can be shown to have content validity because the test assesses skills identified by the graduate community as essential for success in many fields of graduate work.
Other types of validity evidence, such as construct validity, are documented in a variety of studies. In particular, large validity studies were conducted during the development of the Analytical Writing section (Validating a Writing Test for Gradute Admissions and Further Validation of a Writing Test for Graduate Admissions).
These studies contain evidence of the psychometric quality of the Analytical Writing measure. Additional studies focus on particular aspects of validity, such as a comparison of the usefulness of the Analytical Writing section compared with the personal statement.
Read all the research studies for the Analytical Writing section.
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 Analytical Writing were performed before the test became operational in October 1999. These analyses have since been supplemented by data from those who have taken the Analytical Writing section 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 Analytical Writing section 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 Analytical Writing section 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 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. The Analytical Writing section taps into different skills than the multiple-choice sections, so it may not be surprising that the performance of ESL examinees differs on this section.
In addition, since graduate school faculty have indicated that critical thinking and analytical writing are important components of work in most graduate schools, the inclusion of the Analytical Writing section as part of the GRE® should increase the validity of the General Test.
Test Preparation
How can individuals prepare for the General Test?
A CD-ROM containing "GRE Powerprep® Software - Test Preparation for the GRE General Test" is sent to each individual who registers for the computer-based GRE® General Test. Download Powerprep software for free.
The software includes
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test tutorials
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practice questions with explanations
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two actual computer-adaptive tests for the Verbal and Quantitative sections
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sample topics and essays for the Analytical Writing section.
The software lets users practice writing essays under simulated GRE testing conditions, with the same GRE word processing and testing tools that appear on the test.
The Practice General Test book is sent to each individual who registers for the paper-based GRE General Test. Download the Practice General Test book (PDF) for free. The publication includes practice questions with explanations, one actual test for the Verbal and Quantitative sections, and sample topics and essays for the Analytical Writing section.
In addition, individuals can view information about the Analytical Writing section on the GRE website. The materials include information about the nature of the test, directions for the two essay tasks, the entire pool of topics, and scoring criteria.
Test Administration
Where and how is the General Test given?
The General Test is given year-round on the computer in the U. S., Canada, and many other countries. The paper-based General Test is 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:
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Inserting text
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Deleting text
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Cutting and pasting
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Undoing the previous action
Tools, such as a spelling checker and grammar checker, are not in the ETS software, in large part to maintain fairness with those examinees who handwrite their essays at paper-based administrations.
What is the price of the General Test?
The General Test is
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U.S. $140 for individuals testing in the United States, U. S. Territories, and Puerto Rico
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U.S. $195 for individuals testing in China (including Hong Kong), Korea, and Taiwan
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U.S. $170 for individuals testing in all other locations
Scoring and Reporting
How are the sections of the General Test scored?
Note: In October 2008, the GRE Program implemented e-rater scoring technology in the scoring process for the computer-based GRE Analytical Writing section. E-rater is a computerized natural language-processing program developed by ETS.
Computer-Based General Test:
Scores on the Verbal and Quantitative sections of the computer-based General Test depend on the test taker's 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 the test taker's performance on preceding questions and the requirements of the test design.
Test design factors that influence which questions are presented to a test taker include
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the statistical characteristics (including difficulty level) of the questions already answered
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the required variety of question types
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the appropriate coverage of content
For the computer-based Analytical Writing section, each essay receives a score from at least one trained reader, using a six-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. The essay score is then reviewed by e-rater, a computerized program developed by ETS, which is being used to monitor the human reader. If the e-rater evaluation and the human score agree, the human score is used as the final score. If they disagree by a certain amount, a second human score is obtained, and the final score is the average of the two human scores.
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 examinees' critical thinking and analytical writing skills rather than on grammar and mechanics. (Read the scoring guides for the issue task and argument task).
During the scoring process, examinees' essay responses on the Analytical Writing section will be reviewed by ETS essay-similarity-detection software and by experienced essay readers. See Independent Intellectual Activity.
Paper-Based General Test:
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 test edition.
For the paper-based Analytical Writing section, each essay receives a score from two trained readers, using a six-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 examinees' critical thinking and analytical writing skills rather than on grammar and mechanics. (Read the scoring guides for the issue task and argument task).
During the scoring process, examinees' essay responses on the Analytical Writing section will be reviewed by ETS essay-similarity-detection software and by experienced essay readers. See Independent Intellectual Activity.
Are examinees who use alternative ways of developing an argument scored fairly?
Examinees may use any one of a variety of strategies to structure their essays. Readers are explicitly trained to accept any strategy in an essay that meets the essential requirements of the essay task, that is, a response that provides the information required by the essay prompt.
How is reader performance monitored?
Many different strategies are used to ensure that all readers use the same scoring standard. At the beginning of each scoring session, readers must score a calibration set of ten previously scored essays with 90 percent accuracy before being permitted to score operational essays.
During operational scoring, previously scored essays (monitor essays) are interspersed among unscored operational essays to monitor each reader's scoring accuracy; readers cannot distinguish between the two kinds of essays.
Scoring leaders (very experienced readers) also monitor readers' performance throughout the scoring session by reviewing readers' scores on operational essays, monitor essays, and calibration essays, and by monitoring score distributions. Scoring leaders also provide readers with ongoing support and guidance. Readers who deviate from the acceptable level of accuracy are retrained or dismissed. In the current operational test, 97 percent of scores are within one point of agreement with each other.
What scores are reported?
Three scores are reported on the General Test:
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A Verbal Reasoning score reported on a 200-800 score scale, in 10-point increments
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A Quantitative Reasoning score reported on a 200-800 score scale, in 10-point increments
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An Analytical Writing score reported on a 0-6 score scale, in half-point increments.
If no questions at all are answered in a section (Verbal, Quantitative, or Analytical Writing), that section is reported as a No Score (NS).
Review descriptions of the analytical writing abilities characteristic of particular score levels that are available.
When are General Test scores reported?
Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytical Writing scores for the computer-based General Test are sent to institutions and test takers within 10 to 15 days of the test administration.
Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytical Writing scores on the paper-based General Test are sent to institutions and test takers within 6 weeks of the test administration.
Recruitment and Training of Essay Readers
How are readers recruited?
Readers are recruited from a variety of academic disciplines throughout the United States. The criteria for readers are
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recent experience in undergraduate or graduate teaching
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experience in teaching courses that emphasize critical thinking or analytical writing
If you meet these criteria and are interested in training to become a reader for the GRE® Analytical Writing measure, please read Frequently Asked Questions about GRE Online Scoring.
Where are the readers located?
Readers are located throughout the United States. Most scoring of the Analytical Writing section is conducted through the ETS® Online Scoring Network (OSN). OSN is a computer-based scoring system in which readers login to OSN to read and score essays online, either from home via the web or at an OSN center.
How are readers trained?
To qualify as official scorers for a task type, readers must take and pass a certification test demonstrating that they can apply the scoring standards to the same consistent standard as other scorers. At the beginning of each scoring session, or when changing to a different task type, trained readers must score a calibration set of 10 prescored essays with 90 percent accuracy.
To familiarize themselves with each new topic, readers review topic notes, read prescored benchmark essays and commentary, and then practice scoring rangefinder essays before beginning operational scoring.
Score Use
How should departments use the scores on the General Test?
The GRE Board has developed Guidelines for the Use of GRE Scores, which summarizes the considerations for appropriate use of GRE® test scores.
Should the Analytical Writing score be combined with the Verbal and Quantitative scores?
No. 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 the applicant's abilities.
How should we interpret Analytical Writing scores, particularly for examinees whose native language is not English?
As a performance assessment, the GRE® Analytical Writing section provides a snapshot of examinees' analytical writing ability before entry into graduate school. If ESL examinees do not understand the task being posed to them, their performance on the Analytical Writing section and the Verbal section will be affected. Test users should consider a variety of pieces of information about ESL applicants, including TOEFL® and TWE scores, to determine whether to admit these students.
