The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is developed and administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). The GRE measures your ability to handle graduate-school level work through verbal, quantitative, and analytical reasoning questions. Graduate school admissions committees use your score to gauge your abilities and compare it with those of other applicants.
SNAPSHOT: GRE
The GRE is now a computer adaptive test (CAT). In other words, no more pencils, ovals, or erasure dust. Instead, you will take the exam on a computer. During the test, you will see one question at a time, which you must answer in order to move on to the next question. The first question will be of average difficulty. The computer will then select subsequent questions based on whether you got the first one right or wrong. The exam will continue in this way until you've seen the required mix of concepts and question types.
On the GRE, you will receive a "scaled score" within a range of 200-800 for each of the three sections (verbal, quantitative, and analytical). You can score no higher than 800 or lower than 200 on any one section.
GRE Subject Tests
Another exam you might have to take is a GRE Subject Test. These exams are designed to test your knowledge of a particular subject area, such as English, chemistry, or sociology. In all, there are sixteen tests covering a variety of topics. However, not every graduate school or program requires a subject test. Check the admissions requirements of the schools you're considering.
The format of the GRE Psychology Test is fairly straightforward. It's a multiple-choice test that has questions drawn from the areas of psychology commonly taught to undergraduates. In addition, according to Educational Testing Service (ETS), the test contains questions that may require "analyzing relationships, applying principles, drawing conclusions from data, and/or evaluating a research design."
IS IT IMPORTANT?
Many prospective psych graduate students ask us how the GRE Psychology Test is used in admissions? Well, more than 70% of the top graduate schools in psychology require the GRE Psychology Test for admission. They consider it as one facet of an applicant's overall profile. Depending on your circumstances, the test could make or break your application. You need to score in the 90th percentile or above on the GRE Psychology Subject Test to be considered for admission to the top clinical psychology programs. If you're pursuing a fellowship or teaching assistantship, you'll need to score even higher.
FOR MORE INFO...
...on the GRE Psych Test, consult the GRE Psychology Test descriptive booklet, available from ETS. This booklet, along with the GRE general test, can be ordered online from ETS. The Kaplan GRE Psychology program focuses on what you need to know for the test. Our supplemental course gives you review materials, videotaped lectures, a released GRE Psychology Test, access to in-center training library, and online support from Kaplan experts.
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