Christine Fader
Career Counselor, Author, and Editor
The GRE is a standardized test (along the same lines as an SAT) and stands for the Graduate Record Exam. Many master’s and doctoral programs require it as part of their admission process. Some schools require both the general GRE (which contains verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and analytical writing sections) and a relevant subject GRE (i.e., if you’re aiming for a graduate psychology program, you might be asked to take both the general and psychology GRE). Often, programs will have a minimum GRE test score that they desire from their applicants and this is sometimes used in conjunction with GPA to assess your candidacy. It is a computer-based test (although available in some areas in paper-based format), and there are many test centers around the country. A variety of test dates during the year allows you to plan to complete your GRE and receive your scores before you apply to the programs that interest you. For more information, check out www.ets.org/gre.