Typically, you cannot take the official Graduate Record Exam (GRE®) online. The GRE® is a computer adaptive exam, meaning that you take it using a computer and that the difficulty level of subsequent questions depends on your answers to previous questions, but you will most often need to go to a testing center to sit the exam. If you wish to take a practice GRE® online, there are a number of excellent test preparation companies that offer online practice exams as well as online test preparation models to help you get ready for this challenging graduate school test.
While it is not usually possible to take the GRE® online from your place of choice, it has many of the same characteristics as a test taken online. It requires that you are comfortable typing and entering information into the appropriate fields. You will also have to get used to viewing test instructions and questions on a computer screen for a long period of time. The GRE® takes up to four hours to complete, so it is important to be sure that you have the stamina to withstand looking at a bright computer screen for that long.
The computer adaptive nature of the exam takes a significant amount of acclimation time on your part. You should prepare yourself by taking the time to answer questions correctly at the beginning of the exam to increase your changes of getting more difficult questions, which may lead to a higher score. If you can answer many difficult questions correctly, you will receive a higher score on the exam.
Many companies offer practice GRE® online exams so that you can get a feel for taking the GRE® test on the computer. Particularly for the math section, you will need to adapt to writing down answers on an erasable tablet and transferring those answers to the computer screen in front of you. It is advisable that you take as many online practice exams as possible in order to prepare yourself for this type of examination.
Although the actual test is computer adaptive and not online, some of the best preparation you can receive for the GRE® exam can be found online. There are video archives which, for a fee, can be accessed anytime and anywhere by anyone with an Internet connection. These videos feature an instructor that reviews key GRE® math, writing, and verbal concepts. Many GRE® online test preparation companies also offer online, interactive classrooms where you can learn in real-time, benefit from classmates all around the world, and immediately have questions answered by a competent instructor.
