The GRE Psychology Test is designed to test the fundamental
knowledge most important for successful graduate study in the
field of psychology. The format is fairly straightforward:
multiple-choice questions drawn from the areas of psychology
commonly taught to undergraduates. In addition, according to the
Educational Testing Service (ETS), the test contains questions
that may require "analyzing relationships, applying principles,
drawing conclusions from data, and/or evaluating a research
design."
Exam Format
The GRE Psychology test consists of approximately 220
multiple-choice questions. You will have 2 hours and 50 minutes
to complete the test. There are no breaks.
Test questions are drawn from three broad content categories.
The exam itself is not divided into three separate
sections though. You'll find questions from the three content
areas distributed throughout the test.
- About 43% of the test questions are experimental or
natural science-oriented. These questions deal with the
fields of learning, cognitive psychology, sensation and
perception, comparative psychology and ethology, and
physiological psychology.
- About 43% of the test questions are social or social
science-oriented. These questions deal with the fields of
clinical and abnormal psychology, personality, developmental
psychology, and social psychology.
- About 14% of the test questions deal with more general
theoretical and methodological issues. These questions are
drawn from the fields of applied psychology, tests and
measurements, research design and statistics, and the history
of psychology.
Is It Important?
The short answer is "yes."
More than 70% of the top graduate schools in psychology
require the GRE Psychology Test for admission. Admission
committees consider it as one facet of an applicant's overall
profile. Depending on your circumstances, the test could make or
break your application.
To be considered competitive for the top clinical programs,
you generally will need to score in the 90th percentile or
above. If you're pursuing a fellowship or teaching
assistantship, you'll need to score even higher.
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