GRE Syllabus — Taking up a GRE (Graduate Record Examination) is a popular internationally acclaimed examination for students who aspire to pursue a postgraduate degree from a university abroad. It basically comprises two test formats namely — GRE General and GRE Subject test. The GRE syllabus for each test is different. General Test is the standard exam that tests students verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and analytical writing skills. For more specific course, Subject Test might be required by the college, as Subject Test focuses on judging the candidate’s expertise in specific fields such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics etc.

In this article, we have answered the following questions — What is the GRE syllabus and exam pattern of General GRE (Computer or Paper Delivered) and Subject GRE? How much time duration is given to complete each section of the exam? What should be the strategy of students after obtaining GRE scores? Once you are aware of the GRE syllabus, you can head on to prepare for it.

GRE Syllabus — General Test Syllabus

Since the GRE test has two components, the GRE syllabus is also divided into General and Subject syllabus. General GRE syllabus consists of topics related to analytical writing, quantitative reasoning, and verbal reasoning. Given below is detailed information on each section of the GRE General syllabus:

Analytical Writing

This measures critical thinking and analytical writing skills of the students. It assesses the applicant’s ability to articulate and support complex ideas, construct arguments and sustain focussed and coherent discussions. The analytical writing consists of two separately timed analytical writing tasks: “Analyse an Issue” (30 minutes) and “Analyse an Argument” (30 minutes). In the issue task, an opinion on the issue of general interest is tested.

Quantitative Reasoning

The quantitative reasoning section aims to measure the candidate’s ability to understand quantitative information. To interpret and analyse quantitative information, solve problems using mathematical models, and apply basic mathematical skills and elementary mathematical concepts of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, probability, and statistics. What are the topics covered in quantitative reasoning? The answer to this question is mentioned in detail in the table below. It provides a comprehensive list of topics that are covered under the Quantitative Reasoning section.

List of topics covered in Quantitative Reasoning

Ratio and proportion Profit and loss Simple and compound interest Speed, distance and time Permutation & combination Linear equations Quadratic equations Sets Theory Statistics Powers and roots Probability Pipes, cisterns, work, time Lines and angles Triangles Polygon Quadrilateral Circles Co-ordinate geometry Order of operations Volume and surface area Percentage Number properties

Verbal Reasoning

The verbal reasoning section measures the ability of a student to analyse and evaluate written material and extract information. It also analyses relationships among component parts of sentences and recognises relationship among words and concepts. The verbal reasoning section contains mainly three types of questions:

Reading comprehensions

Text completion

Sentence equivalence

The topics covered in this section of GRE syllabus are:

Basic Sentence structure: Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives

Verb Tense, Idioms & Idiomatic Expressions

Pronoun Agreement and Subject-Verb Agreement

Modifiers and Parallelism

GRE Syllabus — Subject Test Syllabus

GRE Subject Test is an achievement test that measures the knowledge of the students in a particular field of study. The students should have an undergraduate major in one of the six disciplines namely, Biology, Chemistry, Literature, Mathematics, Physics, and Psychology. This test score is used by colleges or fellowship panels to supplement undergraduate records, recommendation letters, and other qualifications. The test is a paper-delivered format which can be taken worldwide 3 times a year in the month of September, October, and April.

The GRE syllabus for Subject Test consists of the following subjects:

Biology

Chemistry

Literature in English

Mathematics

Physics

Psychology

Given below is a subject-wise description of GRE syllabus for the Subject Test.

Biology

There are 190 questions with five answer choices.

Out of the total questions, a number of questions are grouped in sets towards the end of the test and are based on descriptions of laboratory and field situations, diagrams or experimental results.

The content of the test is organized into three major areas: cellular and molecular biology, organismal biology, and ecology and evolution.

For full syllabus details on each section in Biology — CLICK HERE

Chemistry

The test consists of 130 multiple-choice questions. Topics will be asked from the following 4 sections: Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, and Physical Chemistry.

Test questions are constructed to simplify mathematical manipulations. As a result, neither calculators nor tables of logarithms are needed to answer such questions.

For full details on syllabus on each section in Chemistry- CLICK HERE

Literature in English

Each edition of this test consists of 230 questions on poetry, drama, biography, essay, short story, novel, criticism, literary theory and the history of the language.

Some of the questions are based on short works reprinted in their entirety and some on excerpts from longer works.

The test draws on literature in English from the British Isles, the United States and other parts of the world.

It also contains a few questions on major works, including the Bible, translated from other languages.

The test emphasizes authors, works, genres, and movements.

The questions may be classified into two groups: factual and analytical.

The literary-historical scope of the test follows the distribution given below:

Literary-Historical Scope

S.No Literary Topic Percentage 1 Continental, Classical and Comparative Literature 5–10% 2 British Literature to 1660 25–30% 3 British Literature 1660–1925 25–35% 4 American Literature through 1925 15–25% 5 American, British and World Literature after 1925 20–30%

Mathematics

The test consists around 66 multiple-choice questions drawn from courses commonly offered at the undergraduate level. The topic mostly includes calculus and algebra.

50% of the questions involve calculus and its applications.

The subject matter is generally assumed to be common to the backgrounds of almost all mathematics majors.

For full syllabus details — CLICK HERE

Physics

This test comprises 100 questions with five answer choices, some of which are grouped in sets and based on formats like diagrams, graphs, experimental data and descriptions of physical situations.

The questions can be answered on the basis of knowledge gained in the first three years of undergraduate physics.

The following topics will be asked in this section — Electromagnetism, Classical Mechanics, Optics and Wave Phenomenon, Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics, Atomic Physics and Special Relativity.

For full syllabus details — CLICK HERE

Psychology

The test consists of 205 multiple-choice questions. Each question in the test has five options from which the examinee has to select the option that is correct.

Some of the stimulus materials, such as a description of an experiment or a graph, may serve as the basis for several questions.

The questions in the psychology test are drawn from the core of knowledge most commonly encountered in courses offered at the undergraduate level.

A free subject test practice book containing a full-length practice test for helping students to prepare for the exam is available for each Subject Test. Check out the practice book here.

GRE Syllabus — General Exam Pattern

Once you are aware of GRE syllabus, you must also have complete information about the exam pattern. When it comes to computer-delivered GRE General Test, there are six sections that come with a 10-minute break following the third section. The total duration of the exam is 3 hours 45 minutes. According to the GRE Test pattern, the unscored and the research section do not count towards the actual GRE score. The research section can be included in place of the unscored section.

The overall testing time for the paper-delivered GRE General Test is about 3 hours and 30 minutes. There are six sections with a 10-minute break following the second section in the paper-delivered test. The tables given below provide full details about the test pattern of Computer-delivered and Paper-delivered General GRE:

Test Pattern for Computer-Delivered General GRE

GRE Exam Section

Number of Questions

Duration

Analytical Writing

One “Analyse an Issue” task and one “Analyse an Argument” task

30 minutes per task

Verbal Reasoning

(2 Sections)

20 questions per section

30 minutes per section

Quantitative Reasoning

(2 Sections)

20 questions per section

35 minutes per section

Unscored

Questions vary

Time varies

Research

Questions vary

Time varies

Test Pattern for Paper-Delivered General GRE

Sections Number of Questions Time Duration Analytical Writing

(Two sections) Section 1: “Analyze an Issue” task

Section 2: “Analyze an Argument” task 30 minutes each Verbal Reasoning

(Two sections) 25 questions per section 35 minutes each Quantitative Reasoning

(Two sections) 25 questions per section 40 minutes each Also Read: GRE PREPARATION — HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE GRE EXAMINATION?

GRE Syllabus — After GRE Strategy?

If you stick to the GRE syllabus specified and prepare accordingly, then you can achieve a good GRE score. What is to be done after you obtain the GRE score? How will you get admission to a foreign University of your choice? For how long is your GRE score valid? Get an answer to all these questions in this section. Here, you will get to know the strategy to follow after qualifying the examination.