Admission test
GRE
Graduate Record Examinations General Test
Used for graduate admission, particularly in the USA — and often the difference between an offer and a funded offer.
What GRE is
The GRE General Test is used for admission to graduate programmes, most commonly master's and doctoral study in the United States and increasingly elsewhere. It assesses verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and analytical writing. It has been shortened significantly in recent years, so material written for the older, longer format is out of date.
Who accepts it
Graduate schools across the USA, and a growing number in Canada, the UK, Ireland and Australia. Many programmes have made the GRE optional, but it remains genuinely important for funded positions — assistantships and fellowships are competitive, and a strong quantitative score is often what separates candidates in engineering, computing and the sciences.
Who should take it
- Applicants to graduate programmes in the USA, particularly where funding is the goal.
- Students seeking research or teaching assistantships, where the score frequently carries real weight.
- Applicants whose undergraduate record is uneven and who want a strong objective signal to offset it.
- Students applying to programmes that explicitly require it — check each programme rather than assuming.
Test format
The GRE is taken on a computer at a test centre or at home where available. It is section-adaptive: your performance on the first verbal or quantitative section determines the difficulty of the second section of that type. An on-screen calculator is provided for the quantitative sections.
Analytical Writing
One taskAnalyse an Issue essay
Constructing and supporting a reasoned argument in clear written English. The task has been reduced from two essays to one.
Verbal Reasoning
Two sectionsReading comprehension, text completion and sentence equivalence
Academic vocabulary in context, analysing written material and drawing conclusions. Vocabulary demand is high and is the area where most Nepali applicants lose ground.
Quantitative Reasoning
Two sectionsQuantitative comparison, problem solving and data interpretation
Arithmetic, algebra, geometry and data analysis. The mathematical content is not advanced, but the questions are designed to reward careful reading rather than computation.
Total test time
ETS GREReviewed 26 August 2026
How scoring works
Verbal 130–170 and Quantitative 130–170 in one-point increments, plus Analytical Writing 0–6 in half-point increments
Verbal and Quantitative are reported separately and programmes weight them differently — engineering and computing programmes care most about the quantitative score, humanities programmes about the verbal. Analytical Writing is reported separately again and matters more for programmes where written work is central. Know which score your target programmes actually care about before allocating your preparation time.
Score validity
ETS GREReviewed 26 August 2026
Registering and getting results
We do not publish test fees. Providers set them per country and per centre, and a fee that has gone stale is worse than none — check the official site when you book.
- Create an ETS account on the official GRE website.
- Select the GRE General Test and choose a test centre in Nepal, or the at-home option where available.
- Book well ahead of graduate application deadlines, which cluster in December and January for Fall entry.
- Select the institutions to receive your scores — some free reports are included at registration.
- Bring the same passport used to register.
When results arrive
ETS GREReviewed 26 August 2026
How to prepare
What actually moves a score, based on where students from Nepal most often lose marks.
- Establish which score your target programmes actually weight. Preparing evenly across verbal and quantitative is usually the wrong allocation.
- Vocabulary is the long pole for most applicants from Nepal. Build it steadily over months, in context rather than from isolated word lists.
- The quantitative content is not advanced mathematics — the difficulty is in careful reading and avoiding traps. Slow down rather than speeding up.
- Practise quantitative comparison specifically. It is a question type most students have never seen before and it rewards technique.
- Write full timed essays and have them assessed. The analytical writing score is easy to neglect and hard to fix late.
- Use only current-format material — the test was shortened and older practice tests misrepresent both timing and structure.
GRE preparation with MATES
What a preparation course covers.
- Diagnostic test with separate verbal and quantitative scoring.
- A preparation plan weighted toward the score your target programmes value.
- Systematic vocabulary building in context.
- Quantitative technique work, including quantitative comparison and data interpretation.
- Timed analytical writing with written feedback.
- Full-length computer-based mock tests in the current format.
Class times, fees and instructors
Course schedules, fees, batch sizes and instructor details are confirmed directly by our Kathmandu office and branches rather than published here, so you always get current information rather than a page that has gone out of date. Call 01-5333565 or book a counselling session and we will confirm what is running.
GRE — common questions
Do I need the GRE if programmes say it is optional?
If you are seeking funding, usually yes. Assistantships and fellowships are competitive and a strong score — particularly quantitative, for technical fields — is often what distinguishes candidates. If you are self-funding and the programme is genuinely test-optional, it may not be worth the months of preparation.
Which score matters most?
It depends entirely on your field. Engineering, computing and the sciences weight the quantitative score heavily; humanities and social sciences weight verbal. Analytical writing matters most where written work is central to the programme. Find out before you allocate your study time.
How long should I prepare?
For most applicants from Nepal, three to four months of consistent work is realistic, and vocabulary is what drives that timeline. Quantitative technique can improve relatively quickly; verbal reasoning built on vocabulary cannot be rushed.
How long are GRE scores valid?
Generally reportable for five years, which is considerably longer than English test results. That means you can sit the GRE well ahead of your application cycle if it suits your schedule.
Related
Test format and scoring information on this page last reviewed . Rules, fees and thresholds change — always confirm against the official source before you apply.
Find out where you actually stand
A diagnostic test takes one session and tells you your current level in each skill. It is the difference between a preparation plan and a guess.