To address the growing exam fatigue amongst millennials, and to match the short GMAT exam (GMAT Focus Edition), ETS has announced on June 1 that beginning this September, GRE Test will become a much shorter test that can be completed in just two hours. To achieve this, GRE has made important changes in exam structure.
Highlights of Shorter GRE Test:
- Will take less than 2 hours to complete
- Have 46 fewer Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning questions
- Have only one Analytical Writing essay, versus two in the current version.
- “Analyze an Argument” essay task from Analytical Writing section will be eliminated
- All other GRE General Test question types will remain the same.
In addition to test changes, test takers can expect to receive their official scores much faster, in just 8-10 days.
GRE Shorter Test Overview
Here’s what to expect for tests starting September 22, 2023.
|
Section
|
Structure
|
Estimated Timing
|
|
Analytical Writing
|
1 section, 1 essay task
|
30 minutes
|
|
Quantitative Reasoning
|
2 sections, 27 questions total
|
47 minutes
|
|
Verbal Reasoning
|
2 sections, 27 questions total
|
41 minutes
|
|
Total Time
|
|
1 hour, 58 minutes
|
Taking about the rationale for the changes, ETS CEO Amit Sevak said: “The changes we’re announcing today underscore the emphasis we place on keeping our customers at the center of all that we do.”
Commenting on the new GRE Exam, Prof. Kunal Dasgupta, Admissions & Financial Aid, IIM Bangalore said: “At IIM Bangalore, GRE is one of the assessments for consideration. Look forward to the new version, which proposes a reduced test duration that reflect ETS's commitment to prioritizing the needs of test takers.”
Shorter GRE Test Vs Current GRE Test: A comparison
Here is a comparison between Shorter GRE Test Vs Current GRE Test.
|
|
Current GRE General Test # tasks/questions
|
Current GRE General Test Total Time
|
Shorter GRE General Test # tasks/ questions
|
Shorter GRE General Test Total Time
|
|
Analytical writing
|
2 essay tasks
|
60 minutes
|
1 essay tasks
|
30 minutes
|
|
Quantitative Reasoning
|
40 questions
|
70 minutes
|
27 questions
|
47 minutes
|
|
Verbal Reasoning
|
40 questions
|
60 minutes
|
27 questions
|
41 minutes
|
|
Unscored Section
|
Varies
|
Varies
|
None
|
None
|
|
Scheduled Break
|
|
10 minutes
|
|
None
|
|
Total
|
|
3 hours, 45 mins
|
|
1 hour, 58 mins
|
ETS has also assured that GRE will continue to be “the most valid, reliable, and secure assessment of graduate readiness in the world, just in less time.”
Earlier in March 2023, Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) had introduced “GMAT Focus Edition. GMAT Focus Edition will feature three 45-minute sections: Quantitative Reasoning, which examines problem solving skills; Verbal Reasoning, which evaluates critical reasoning and reading comprehension but no longer incorporates sentence correction; and the newly developed Data Insights section, which measures candidates’ data literacy skills and ability to analyze and interpret data and apply it to real-world business scenarios. With these changes and the removal of the Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA), it is nearly one hour shorter than the current version of the GMAT and therefore requires less content to prepare. Registration for this test will open on August 29, 2023 for testing in the fourth quarter this year
It remains to be seen if popular Indian Exams like IIM’s CAT and XLRI’s XAT also reduce the test duration to make their tests students friendly.
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates
