The GRE General Test is a standardized exam required by thousands of graduate and professional programs worldwide. If you are applying to a master's program, PhD program, or MBA program that accepts the GRE, you will almost certainly need to take it. About 206,000 people do so every year.
This guide covers what the test actually is, how it is structured, how it is scored, and what you need to know before you start preparing.
What the GRE Tests
The GRE measures three things: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and analytical writing. It is not a test of your major or subject expertise. A biology student and a finance student take the same exam.
Verbal reasoning tests your ability to analyze and evaluate written material, understand relationships between words and concepts, and reason with incomplete information. Quant tests your ability to reason mathematically using concepts from arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis. The AWA section tests your ability to construct a clear, coherent argument in writing.
None of this requires calculus or advanced math. The highest-level quant concept tested is coordinate geometry and basic statistics. There is no trigonometry, no calculus, and no formula sheet provided.
Who Takes It
About 206,000 people take the GRE each year. The test-taking population is heavily international: India leads with roughly 113,000 test takers annually, followed by the US at 97,000, and China at 58,000. That international mix matters when you think about score percentiles, which we will come back to.
The GRE is accepted by a wide range of programs: traditional master's and PhD programs in the social sciences, STEM fields, humanities, and business. Hundreds of MBA programs now accept it as an alternative to the GMAT, including Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, MIT Sloan, and essentially every top business school.
The 5-Section Structure
The GRE has five sections. Every test follows the same order:
- Analytical Writing (AWA) - 1 Issue essay, 30 minutes
- Verbal Section 1 - 12 questions, 18 minutes
- Verbal Section 2 - 15 questions, 23 minutes
- Quantitative Section 1 - 12 questions, 21 minutes
- Quantitative Section 2 - 15 questions, 26 minutes
Total: 54 scored questions plus one essay. Total testing time is approximately 1 hour and 58 minutes.
A few things worth noting. There is no experimental section. ETS removed the unscored research section in September 2023. There are also no scheduled breaks built into the test. The September 2023 update made the GRE meaningfully shorter, cutting it from roughly 3 hours and 45 minutes to under 2 hours, and reducing from two AWA essays to one.
How the Adaptive Format Works
The GRE uses section-level adaptation, not question-level adaptation. That distinction matters.
In a question-adaptive test, each question is chosen based on whether you answered the previous one correctly. In the GRE, the entire first section is the same for everyone. Your performance on Verbal Section 1 determines whether you are routed to an easier or harder Verbal Section 2. The same applies to Quant.
If you perform well on Section 1, you get a harder Section 2. A harder Section 2 gives you access to a higher score ceiling. If you underperform on Section 1, you get an easier Section 2, which limits how high your score can go regardless of how well you do on those questions.
This has one major practical implication: do not blow off Section 1. The first 12 questions in each subject area are the most consequential questions on the test in terms of what they unlock for you.
Scoring
Verbal and Quant are each scored on a scale of 130 to 170, in 1-point increments. Your total score is the sum of both, ranging from 260 to 340.
The AWA is scored separately, from 0 to 6 in half-point increments. It is evaluated by a combination of a trained human rater and an automated scoring engine called e-rater.
Average scores across all test takers: 151 Verbal, 155 Quant, 3.56 AWA.
Those averages give you a baseline, but they are not the right target. What matters is how your scores compare to the applicant pool at your specific programs. More on that below.
What Scores Actually Mean for MBA Programs
Top MBA programs that accept the GRE report combined scores in the mid-to-high 320s. Harvard Business School and Stanford GSB both average around 164 Verbal and 164 Quant (combined 328). Wharton averages 162 Verbal and 163 Quant (325). MIT Sloan averages 163 Verbal and 165 Quant (328).
These are median or average scores of enrolled students. Admitted students with stronger profiles elsewhere, particularly work experience and leadership, can score below these thresholds and still get in. But if you are targeting a top-10 program, a combined score below 320 is a genuine weakness in your application.
For deferred MBA programs specifically, the bar is the same as the general MBA pool. There is no separate standard for students applying directly from undergrad.
Percentiles: What the Numbers Actually Mean
A 160 in Verbal and a 160 in Quant are not equivalent accomplishments. The percentile rankings are dramatically different between sections.
A 160 in Quant is the 50th percentile. Half of all GRE test takers score at or above that mark. A 160 in Verbal is the 84th percentile. The same three-digit score means something completely different depending on which section you are looking at.
A 170 Quant is only the 91st percentile. A 170 Verbal is the 99th percentile. The compressed Quant percentiles happen because the test-taking pool is disproportionately STEM-educated, particularly given the large number of Indian and Chinese test takers who tend to have strong quantitative training.
This matters when you set study goals. Getting from a 155 to a 165 in Quant moves you from the 37th to the 67th percentile, a 30-point jump in percentile rank. The same 10-point improvement in Verbal moves you from the 65th to the 95th percentile.
Cost, Retakes, and Score Validity
The GRE costs $220. You can retake it after a 21-day waiting period, up to a maximum of 5 times per year. There is no lifetime limit on attempts.
Scores are valid for 5 years from the test date.
ETS also offers ScoreSelect, which lets you choose which scores to send to schools. You can send scores from a single test date or from all dates. This gives you flexibility if you take the test multiple times.
Before You Start Preparing
If you have not taken the GRE before, the most useful thing you can do first is take a diagnostic. A diagnostic tells you your actual starting point across both sections, which is far more useful than guessing at where you are weak.
Most test takers underestimate how different section-level adaptation, question types, and pacing feel under real conditions. A scored practice attempt gives you real data to build a study plan around.
Take a free GRE diagnostic at The Deferred MBA to see exactly where you stand before you start investing study hours.
The Bottom Line
The GRE is a 2-hour, 5-section test. It covers verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and analytical writing. Scores range from 260 to 340 on the combined sections, with averages around 151 Verbal and 155 Quant for the general test-taking population.
The test is section-adaptive, not question-adaptive. Your performance in the first section of each subject area determines the difficulty level of the second section, and therefore the ceiling of your possible score.
If you are targeting a top MBA or graduate program, the difference between an average score and a competitive score is real and meaningful. It is also a gap that structured preparation closes reliably.