Learn about the GRE test required by Turkish universities for registration in postgraduate studies for students who hold a bachelor’s degree from outside Turkish universities.
GRE: Graduate Record Examination
GRE is a standardized test for graduates, designed for students wishing to pursue their graduate studies. It measures the student’s eligibility to begin the program, covering various areas, including analytical writing, mathematics, and vocabulary. The GRE Test is administered via computer, although paper-based testing is also available in some areas. The GRE is a basic admission requirement for graduate studies in some English-speaking countries, such as the United States. It is accepted by thousands of graduate schools worldwide.
*The Educational Testing Service (ETS) oversees the GRE, which is the same organization responsible for tests like the TOEFL and others.
Where can the GRE be taken, and what is its purpose?
The GRE General Test is available at over 1,000 centers in more than 160 countries worldwide. The GRE aims to provide universities and academic institutions with a standardized academic measure for comparing graduate students and assessing their capabilities, qualifications, and academic and personal readiness to pursue their chosen academic program.
*The cost of the GRE varies in most countries but typically amounts to $205, with potential increases in some countries.
GRE Exam Details:
The exam consists of three main sections:
First: Analytical Writing Section:
- This section aims to measure the student’s ability to present and develop ideas in a logical and coherent manner, expressing complex ideas with supporting reasons and examples. It consists of two tasks, and students receive scores ranging from 0 to 6. The tasks include:
- First: The issue assignment: where the applicant chooses one topic out of two topics and begins writing about it. Both articles relate to a general issue, and the applicant must choose one of the sides, and then he must defend his opinion.
- As for the second task: it is a discussion task, where only one point of view is presented to the applicant, and he must discuss it in a scientific manner that shows its strengths and weaknesses.
Second: Linguistic Section:
This section assesses the ability to analyze written material, understand the meanings of words, sentences, and entire texts, The skills of understanding, assimilating, linking elements, and drawing conclusions. It includes questions such as sentence completion, comprehension, and other questions related to analogy and inference. This section of the test is divided into four main types:
Word Relationships:
The test presents two words separated by a colon, and the test-taker must understand their relationship. Then, they need to find two words from the options provided that share the same relationship. For example:
Epic: Poem
Options:
A. Marathon: Race
B. Exam: Test
C. Conclusion: Novel
D. Barrier: Law
E. Consensus: Opinion
The correct answer is option A. Why? What is the relationship between “epic” and “poem”? The relationship is that an epic is a long poem. This is also the relationship between a marathon and a race.
Synonyms:
In synonyms-related questions, the test-taker is given a word, and multiple options that carry a synonymous meaning for the original word are provided. The options may contain words or sentences that explain the meaning of a synonym.
Sentence Completion
In this type of question, a sentence is missing one or more words, and the test-taker must find the missing word(s) from the options provided.
Reading Comprehension
The test-taker is presented with a prose passage and a set of related questions. Based on their understanding of the passage, they must choose the correct answer.
Third: Department of Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning Section:
This section measures the ability to understand, interpret, and analyze quantitative information, solve problems using mathematical models, and apply basic concepts of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis. There are four types of questions in this section, focusing primarily on quantitative comparisons, the relationships between them, and problem-solving skills, often in multiple-choice format. Scores for this section range from 130 to 170. Here’s a sample question:
Quantity A: 10⁰ + 10⁰
Quantity B: ⁰(10) x ⁰(10)
Options:
A. Quantity A is always greater.
B. Quantity B is always greater.
C. The quantities are equal.
D. The relationship cannot be determined from the information provided.
The answer is that Quantity A is always greater, as its result is 2, whereas the result of Quantity B is 1.
