Quantitative Ability Section Format
For many students, the Quantitative Ability section of the GRE is the most daunting part of the exam. However, most students are not aware that the questions in this section of the exam are at approximately a high school freshman level of difficulty. In order to succeed on this portion of the exam, most students just need to refresh some basic math concepts and learn how to respond to the types of questions that will be on the exam. There are 28 questions in this section of the exam, and you will have 45 minutes in which to complete them. Half of the questions on the exam will be in the quantitative comparison format. In these questions, you will be given two quantities, Column A and Column B. Your task will be to determine the relative values of these quantities. Each quantitative comparison question has the same four possible answers: the quantity in Column A is greater; the quantity in Column B is greater; the two quantities are equal; or the relationship cannot be determined from the information given. It is a good idea to practice these kinds of questions in advance of the test. They do not require any content knowledge beyond what is necessary for the other questions, but sometimes this unique format confuses first-time test takers.
About 10 of the remaining questions in the Quantitative Ability section will be in a standard, problem-solving format; in other words, you will be given a basic problem of mathematical reasoning or calculation and asked to select from five possible answers. The remaining four questions in this section of the exam are data interpretation questions, which will require you to obtain and interpret information from charts, tables, or graphs.
Last Updated: 03/01/2012