When individuals are thinking about attending graduate school and taking the requisite admissions exam, the first question that generally comes to their minds is, “How difficult is the GRE?”
Because it has such a significant bearing on the admissions decision, the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is typically the first item that students who are considering graduate school worry about.
However, this is a tough subject to discuss because the concept of “difficulty” is based on several different aspects, such as the structure, duration, time, and content of the examination.
In other words, to ascertain the degree of difficulty of the GRE, you must first evaluate your capabilities and limitations.
This article discusses the difficulty of the GRE, including what factors contribute to the test’s challenging nature, as well as strategies for overcoming those factors.
Is the GRE a Tough Test?
If you ask different people, you’ll get different answers about how difficult the GRE is.
The GRE is significantly more difficult than other standardized tests, such as the SAT and ACT, which high school students frequently take.
This is because the GRE contains more difficult math problems and reading passages, as well as vocabulary intended for students with higher-level reasoning.
However, many students report that they found the GRE to be easier than other exams required for graduate school entry, such as the LSAT and the MCAT.
Why Is the GRE Such a Challenging Exam?
Students frequently judge the difficulty of an examination based on their capabilities and areas for improvement.
For instance, if you have a hard time grasping mathematical concepts, you might discover that this section of the GRE is more challenging than others.
The GRE can also be challenging for certain people due to a number of other variables.
The phrasing of GRE questions: If you want to do well on the GRE, part of your preparation will involve learning how to deal with questions with complex wording.
For example, if you want to ace the quantitative reasoning portion of the GRE, you might have to depend more on logic than analysis to get to the bottom of the question.
This is because the terminology may be confusing, requiring you to apply logic to discover the required answer.
The Writing Component: Some students, when attempting to answer the question “Is the GRE test difficult?” will refer to the challenging writing section.
The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is the only exam for graduate school that asks applicants to write not one but two essays.
However, the purpose of the two essays is to evaluate your writing style and capacity for analysis and argumentation.
The first prompt for your essay will ask you to advocate a stance and then provide evidence to support that argument.
In the second essay portion of the GRE, you will be required to evaluate an argument by describing its flaws and potential dangers.
Factor 1: First and Foremost, a Demanding Vocabulary
The vocabulary section of the GRE is known to be one of the test’s more challenging parts.
A full half of the Verbal Reasoning part is dedicated to testing your familiarity with a range of words that are very uncommon and advanced.
Throughout the entirety of this level, you will be prompted to choose individual words or groups of words to complete various statements.
Even if you did well on vocabulary questions on the SAT or ACT, the GRE features more difficult vocabulary, so you may still need to complete some review before taking the test.
ESL students who are not as fluent in the English language are the ones who are most impacted by this.
Factor 2: Solid Mathematical Knowledge is Required
The vast majority of students who take either the SAT or the ACT do so while they are still enrolled in high school and most likely enrolled in regular math classes.
On the other hand, it may have been many years since some persons who take the GRE have attended a math class or been required to apply their geometry knowledge in real-world situations.
You might also have a natural aversion to mathematics and have mistakenly believed that completing your undergraduate mathematics requirements ended your involvement with the subject.
Either of these circumstances can make the GRE more difficult for you because you may need to cover a lot of territory to improve your mathematical skills.
In the Quantitative Reasoning section of the GRE, you will be tested on algebra, geometry, data tables and graphs, and fundamental statistics.
If you want to do well on that portion of the exam, you will need to have a thorough understanding of each of these subject areas.
People who have never felt comfortable with mathematics and those who haven’t recently taken a math class or used a lot of arithmetic, such as those who major in humanities, are the ones who will struggle the most with this.
How to Overcome It: Using prep materials to strengthen your knowledge of GRE math is an excellent method to overcome this challenge.
One of the many preparation books available can help you become more familiar with the arithmetic that will be assessed on the GRE.
If you want more in-depth information on a subject, you can enhance what you already know about it with extra resources, such as math videos from Khan Academy.
Quick Links:
- GRE Word List: Complete List You Must Know!
- How To Create An Online Course For Free?
- Demand For Online Education is Growing: Are The Providers Ready?
- An Educational Revolution Waiting To Happen
Conclusion: How Hard Is The GRE?
If your scores are already at or above the needed level, you will want to do some studying to avoid an unpleasant surprise on Test Day.
Even if your results are already at or above the scores you need, studying is still recommended.
On the other hand, it’s possible that you won’t need to devote a significant amount of time to prepare.
If, on the other hand, there is a sizable gap between the results you achieved on your practice tests and the scores you need for the real test, then you will need to put in a lot of effort in order to get the scores you want.
In this regard, the GRE is considered a “challenging” test; however, this is solely due to the fact that you are not yet prepared to take it.
If you put in the effort to practice, the test will be much simpler.
