
Who This Affects Most: People who haven’t taken a math class or used a lot of math recently, such as humanities majors, and those who’ve never been comfortable with math. The Quantitative Reasoning section of the GRE tests algebra, geometry, data tables and graphs, and basic statistics, so you’ll need to have solid knowledge of each of these areas in order to do well on that part of the exam. Or you may just have always disliked math and thought you were done with it once you finished your undergrad math requirements.Įither of these situations can make the GRE harder because you may have to make up a lot of ground in order to get your math skills to where they need to be. However, for some people who take the GRE, it may be years since they’ve last taken a math class or had to put their geometry skills to use. Most people who take the SAT or ACT do so while they’re in high school and likely taking regular math classes.
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How to Overcome It: Fortunately, the GRE repeats many of the vocab words it tests, so you can study and become familiar with the most common vocab words by making flashcards and quizzing yourself. Who This Affects Most: ESL students not as familiar with the English language. Fully half of the Verbal Reasoning section tests your knowledge of some pretty obscure and sophisticated vocabulary. Throughout this section you’ll be asked to select words or sets of words to fill in the blanks in sentences. Even if you did well on vocab questions on the SAT or ACT, the GRE has more challenging vocabulary, so you’ll likely still need to do some review.

One of the more difficult aspects of the GRE is its vocabulary. Why is the GRE hard? Below are six of the exam’s most difficult aspects, along with who is affected most by each factor and what you can do to help overcome the issue. But we believe PrepScholar is the best GRE prep program available right now, especially if you find it hard to organize your study schedule and don't know what to study.Ĭlick here to learn how you can improve your GRE score by 7 points, guaranteed.

You don't NEED a prep program to get a great GRE score. Not sure what to study? Confused by how to improve your score? We give you minute by minute guide. Quick side note: we've created the world's leading online GRE prep program that adapts to you and your strengths and weaknesses. So, generally the GRE is more challenging than college entrance exams such as the SAT and ACT but less difficult than other graduate admissions tests like the MCAT, LSAT, and GMAT. In the next sections, we’ll look at what exactly makes the GRE challenging and what aspects of the test may make it less challenging than you’re expecting. The easiest and fastest way to get a general sense of the GRE’s difficulty level is to compare it to other standardized tests, one or more of which you’ve likely taken in the past.Ĭompared to the ACT and the SAT, the GRE is typically considered more difficult because, even though the math tested on the GRE is a lower level than the math tested on the SAT and ACT, the GRE has more challenging vocabulary and reading passages, and the math problems have trickier wording or require higher-level reasoning.Ĭompared to other graduate exams, such as the MCAT, LSAT or, GMAT, the GRE is often considered less difficult because the GRE requires less specialized knowledge, has an easier curve, and generally has less-challenging math questions compared to other graduate exams. Finally, I’ll end with some tips to help you be prepared for the GRE on test day.

I’ll then explain each of the aspects of the GRE that make it challenging, as well as those that make it easier than you may think. In this guide, I’ll compare the GRE’s difficulty level to other standardized tests you may have taken to give you an initial sense of how tough it is. Are you taking the GRE soon and are worried about the difficulty level of the test? Just how hard is the GRE, really?
