WITH a brand new format, scoring scale and test-taking interface, the revised GRE General Test attempts to offer much to applicants. With the freedom to move back and forth, edit or change answers, and skip and return to questions, all within a section, candidates have the ability to use more of their own test-taking strategies.

• Before taking a practice GRE revised General Test, visit takethegre.com and become familiar with the content of the Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Analytical Writing sections of the test. 
• Take a practice test by using the free software offered by GRE. The software provides a timed test that demonstrates the new design features, including the ability to move back and forth and change answers within a section, as well as the new on-screen calculator. 
• The questions in the Verbal Reasoning and QR sections have a variety of formats. Some require candidates to select a single answer choice; others require candidates to select one or more answer choices, and yet others require test-takers to enter a numeric answer. When answering a question, candidates should make sure they understand what response is required.
• The computer-based GRE revised General Test has a “mark and review” feature that enables test-takers to keep track of questions they would like to revisit during the time provided to work on a section and identify questions they may have skipped. Candidates can view a complete list of the questions in the section, and see an indicator of whether they answered or marked questions for review. Test-takers should budget their time so they can use the “mark and review” feature as an added check before completing a section. 
• Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning scores will be determined by the number of questions answered correctly. To maximise scores on these sections, it is best to answer every question. Points are not subtracted for incorrect answers, so it’s better to guess than to leave an answer blank. 
• Most of the Quantitative Reasoning questions don’t require difficult computations, so test-takers should not use the calculator just because it’s available. They should use it for calculations that are more time-consuming, such as long division, square roots and addition, subtraction or multiplication of numbers that have several digits. 
• During the Analytical Writing section candidates should be careful to budget their time. Within the 30-minute time limit for each task, allow sufficient time to think about the issue, plan a response and compose an essay. 
• Save a few minutes at the end of each timed Analytical Writing task to check for obvious errors. Although an occasional typographical, spelling or grammatical error will not affect a score, severe and persistent errors will detract from the overall effectiveness of a candidate’s writing and lower the score. So errors have to be avoided at all costs
• There is a 10-minute break following the third section and a one-minute break between the other test sections. Candidates should use this time to replenish scratch paper. Section timing will not stop if candidates take an unscheduled break, so proceed with the test without interruption once it begins.
• Use free materials available at www.takethegre.com/prep. You can also get official updates by signing up, which will come in handy for the exam. 

End of rote learning David Payne, VP & COO Higher Education Division, ETS, and former Dean SUNY Binghamton’s Graduate School, who heads the GRE programme shares some useful snippets with Merril Diniz   Q. Does GRE have an edge over GMAT? A. It’s literally a matter of time when all B-Schools accept GRE scores. Price-wise, GRE is 60 US Dollars cheaper than GMAT. Also, employers have been telling us for years that success in the work required skills like team work or resilience. So, we introduced the ETS Personal Potential Index (PPI) in 2009, which provides B-Schools information on 6 critical non-cognitive skills - Knowledge and Creativity, Team Work, Ethics, Resilience, Planning & Organization, Ethics & Integrity. GRE test-takers can access this for no extra cost (scroll down to view the sample report).   Q. How does the tool work? A. If you were applying to a B-School or a set of them, you can identify three or four faculty members who agree to evaluate you. They will get an e-mail asking them to answer a set of 24 questions, which evaluate you on all six dimensions. Even if they’ve taken the GMAT test they can use the tool.   Q. Do students really need coaching for a good GRE score? Your perspective on this… A. It’s the decision of the individual student but we try to make sure that the playing field has been levelled by making test preparation materials and practice tests available for free. If not, then a student who is more affluent can afford to go to a coaching school and will have an unfair advantage. We work hard to reduce such gaps.

 Click on the image to view full sample report