The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is a standardized test that is required to be taken by students seeking admission to graduate schools. The exam has been developed to evaluate the verbal, analytical and mathematical skills of the candidates. GRE is a computer-based test and has a user-friendly design. Individuals applying to graduate schools in order to pursue a Masters of Science (MS) or MBA are required to take the exam.

GRE also has subject tests, apart from the basic GRE exam. These subject tests help to make your application stand out from the rest by highlighting your subject knowledge and skill-level of a particular subject. Each subject test is intended for those students who have a bachelor's degree in the particular disciplines. The subject tests being offered currently are Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Literature, Mathematics, Physics, and Psychology.

If you are applying for MS courses in the US in particular, remember that colleges don’t have minimum ‘cutoff’ marks required for admission. However, you still need to have an idea about average GRE scores across Top US universities.

GRE Exam Fee

The application fee for GRE General Test is $205 worldwide, which would roughly translate to Rs. 13,500 to Rs. 14,500 approximately. GRE Subject Test costs $150 worldwide, which would cost Indian students Rs. 10,000 to 11,000 approximately.

GRE Eligibility

There are no specific eligibility criteria for the GRE exam. Anyone can register for this exam, irrespective of age or qualifications. The only thing you need to keep in mind is the fact that you will be required to produce your original passport as proof of identity at the exam center, so make sure that you have a valid passport before you register for the GRE exam.

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How to register for GRE

The Graduate Record Examination or GRE is a required standardized exam by those students who wish to seek admission to graduate courses like MS, MSc, MBA etc. at universities abroad.

Types of GRE

GRE exam is of two types:

GRE General Test – The General Test takes into account verbal reasoning, quantitative ability, and analytical writing skills. Most universities accept the general test score and usually majority of students opt for this test. It takes place round the year and you can choose your date according to your convenience.

GRE Subject Test – The GRE Subject Test measures the candidate’s achievement in a particular subject area. These tests are in the following areas: Biochemistry (Cell and Molecular Biology), Biology, Chemistry, Literature (English), Math, Physics and Psychology. It is conducted on a fixed date for everyone like an entrance exam. This test is required for specialized courses.

GRE Eligibility

A Bachelor’s degree is the minimum requirement for seeking admission in any master’s program. Therefore, it is an essential qualification for taking GRE. Also, the candidate must be over 18 years of age.

GRE Registration

There are four ways you can register for GRE exam in India.

1. Online Registration – Exam registration is done online and you need an account for the same. Click here to create a new account. Once the candidate has logged on to the GRE official website, s/he will have to fill in the required basic information like name, address etc. Payment can be made by credit/debit card only. After the completion of these steps, the candidate can log in and select the date and place to take the exam.Note: Online registration is not available for test takers with disabilities or health-related issues.

2. Mail Registration – Print and complete this Form, and send it to the following address along with the appropriate fee – Prometric 2nd floor, DLF Infinity Tower–A Sector 25, Phase II, DLF City, Gurgaon, Haryana – 122002 India The form must be received at least three weeks before your choice of the earliest GRE test date. A confirmation number, reporting time and the test center address will be emailed, faxed or mailed to you.

3. Phone Registration – Call the Regional Registration Center (RRC), which is ‘Prometric’ located in Gurgaon, Haryana. The phone number is 91-124-4147700. The call must be made at least two business days before your preferred test date. A confirmation number, reporting time and the test center address.

4. Fax Registration – Print and complete this Form, and send it to 91-124-4147773 with the appropriate fee. The form must be received at least seven days before your first choice of test date.

GRE Subject Tests: What they are and which exam to take for which course?

GRE or the Graduate Record Examinations, is perhaps the most widely accepted exam for graduate students planning to take up their masters from abroad. Accepted across various top universities around the world, even for management programs, there is no wonder that you are planning to write one. However, most students find the presence of GRE Subject Tests rather confusing and want to understand which GRE Subject Tests they should write for pursuing a certain master’s program. For example, what is the GRE Subject Test a student should write for MS in Instrumentation and Design? Or the GRE Subject Tests for MS in Computer Software Engineering and so on. But before we answer which GRE subject to write for which specialization, let us understand what GRE Subject Tests are, their structure/ pattern as well as when to write them.

How, When and Where are the Exams Conducted?

The GRE Subject Tests are paper based tests and conducted only thrice every year across designated test centres. They are conducted in September, October, April

When you need to start preparing for GRE

Pursuing your masters from a university abroad is perhaps a one way ticket to success in today’s competitive world. So be it that postgraduate degree in design, even philosophy, psychology, engineering, literature or the famous MBA, the first step to reaching out to that dream college abroad is your GMAT/ GRE score. In all probability, the colleges you line up would be requiring the scores along with the applications. And remember, well begun is half done! So preparing for a GRE/GMAT is of utmost importance...and to understand when to start preparing, we must first answer...when to write the GMAT/GRE.

There are a few things an applicant must keep in mind before deciding when to appear for the GMAT or GRE exams.

1. The scores would be required when you send in your application.

2. You can re-take the exams but the same are limited, as below.

GRE Pattern

GRE exam pattern is as follow- three sections, namely, Analytical Writing, Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning. The Analytical Writing section will always be the first, whereas, the Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and unscored sections may appear in any order. The writing section has two tasks and you have 30 minutes to complete each task, making the total time for this section to be one hour. Verbal section has to be completed within one hour as well as both the two sections require 30 minutes each. Same goes for quantitative section, where you get 35 minutes for the two sections. Here we cover the GRE General test pattern.

Here is the GRE paper pattern -