The New Shorter GRE General Test

In a competitive response to the GMAC’s shortening of the GMAT™, the ETS shortened the GRE® General Test as of September 22, 2023. See the ETS page about the new shorter exam here.

What’s New

  1. Total test time less than 2 hours

  2. Removal of the unscored section

  3. Removal of the Analyze an Argument essay

  4. Reduction in the number of scored questions from a total of 40 quant and 40 verbal to 27 of each, as follows:

    • Quant section 1: 12 questions in 21 minutes (1:45 per question)

    • Quant section 2: 15 questions in 26 minutes (1:44 per question)

    • Verbal section 1: 12 questions in 18 minutes (1:30 per question)

    • Verbal section 2: 15 questions in 23 minutes (1:32 per question)

  5. Elimination of the 10-minute scheduled break

What Stays the Same

  1. The exam fees remain the same, except the ETS is offering $50 off a retest using code GRE502023 through Dec. 31, 2023.

  2. The quant and verbal question formats remain the same.

  3. The average time per question is approximately the same.

  4. Section-adaptive: for both quant and verbal, the difficulty of the second section still adapts based on your performance in the first section.

  5. Mark for Review: you are still able to revisit questions within each quant and verbal section, if you have time.

  6. The Analyze an Issue essay remains the same.

Timing

September 20, 2023 was the last day to take the old longer GRE. Only the new shorter GRE is offered as of September 22, 2023.

Practice Materials

Since all the quant and verbal question formats will remain the same, you can still use all of the GRE test prep books for the old longer GRE.

As of January 14, 2024, five official practice exams in the new short format are available at the official GRE store here. They include two free POWERPREP® practice exams and three POWERPREP PLUS® practice exams for $39.95 each. The ETS now therefore offers as many official practice exams as it used to offer for the old GRE. You may sign up here to be notified about any additional official practice materials that may become available; however, even though I signed up months ago, I have not received any updates about the latest official practice exams or anything else.

Recommendations

Check the requirements of each of your target schools to ensure the new GRE will be accepted. Though unlikely, it is possible that some schools may decide not to accept the new GRE for the 2023-2024 application season, just as Harvard Business School decided not to accept the new GMAT Focus Edition for the 2023-2024 application season, except for 2+2 deferred admissions applicants.

Implications for Test-Taker Planning

Though the new shorter GRE will not be as much of a mental marathon, test takers should not expect it to be any easier to get a strong score. If anything, the shorter format will likely encourage more people to take the new GRE, potentially making it even more competitive.

In addition, the smaller number of questions means that the new GRE will rely on a smaller sample size in determining scores. Depending on how the mix of questions in this small sample plays to your strengths and weaknesses, you may do better or worse. Therefore, you can expect greater variability in results, something we’ve seen in the Executive Assessment, which was the GMAC’s first attempt to create a shorter GMAT. As a consequence, you may need to take the new GRE a greater number of times to reach your score goals. While in the past, a good plan may have been to anticipate taking the exam 2 or 3 times, it may now be wiser to plan for 3 or 4 attempts.

The ETS is marketing the new GRE as just as valid and reliable as the old GRE, but if that is the case, we can only question why the old GRE retained its format for so long. A shorter exam with fewer questions clearly cuts costs for the ETS, so if it could have been shortened while remaining equally valid and reliable, why did the ETS not make this change years ago? The same concern applies to the new GMAT Focus Edition. Also, if the unscored section of the GRE is eliminated, how will new questions be vetted and calibrated for the new GRE? Will the new process produce equally valid and reliable results? It seems the ETS and the GMAC are banking on the willingness of test-takers to take the exams a greater number of times if necessary, and they’re counting on the schools to continue to accept the validity and reliability of their scores.

Stuart Park