The Graduate Record Examination General Test (GRE) is for college graduates or soon-to-be graduates who are planning to attend graduate school or business school. GRE scores are used by admissions departments to be included in application packages and can also be used to support scholarship applications.

The exam requires the test taker to think the way they would have to in graduate or business school and is a way to determine whether he or she is prepared for graduate work. The test can be taken on a continuous basis at any time throughout the year for the computer-based exam, although paper exams are only available on a limited basis.

The revised General Test measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and analytical writing skills. The questions that are asked are not related to a specific field of study but are important for those planning to enter a wide variety of graduate programs, so test takers in any given field will not have an advantage of any kind over those in other fields.