GRE Eligibility 2023: Qualification, Age Limit, and Needed Documents

GRE Eligibility 2023: The Graduate Record Examination does not have any specific eligibility requirements. Anyone who has completed an undergraduate program from a recognized university or board is eligible to appear for the GRE exam. Numerous eligible applicants register for the test every year as the GRE score is accepted for most graduate programs at top colleges worldwide. Moreover, GRE is effectively taken into consideration when assessing applicants for graduate and business schools or fellowships. 

Check how to apply: GRE Registration 

Graduates and recent graduates from several fields such as science, arts, commerce, engineering, medicine, law, etc are eligible to take the exam. In fact, many working professionals also attempt this test when they decide on pursuing higher education abroad or even in India. To register and be eligible, a candidate must possess a legal document for identity verification, such as a passport. Even though the test does not have many eligibility requirements, interested candidates often wonder about the detailed eligibility criteria to appear for the test.

GRE Eligibility 2023

As mentioned above, the GRE exam does not have any specified eligibility which has been prescribed by the test conducting body, Educational Testing Service (ETS.) Still, some factors may be considered even if they are not mandatory. Such factors include Qualification, Age, Work Experience, Scores, etc.

ETS provides candidates with two testing options which are GRE General Test and GRE Subject Test. Candidates may question if the eligibility criteria for both these tests differ, but both testing options have similar eligibility patterns. Check: GRE Pattern

Read ahead to know more about the GRE criterion factors like qualification, age, work experience, etc, in detail. 

GRE Eligibility: Educational Qualification

ETS has not clarified any qualification requirements to register and appear for the GRE exam. Candidates must, however, hold a graduate degree in any field from an accredited institution. Apart from that, no formal education criterion exists as of now.

Simply put, ETS does not put much emphasis on prior qualifications till the candidate has successfully completed their undergraduate degree in any stream (arts, science, business, humanities, and so on). 

Although, if candidates are planning to apply to ivy league schools like Princeton or Yale, or any other highly-competitive university, their GPA will be considered during the admissions process. Such universities may demand a certain GPA or even examine how reputed the candidate’s graduation college is. For instance, the Ivy League schools, like Harvard with a 3.8, and Columbia with a 3.85 on a 4.0 scale, have high GPA requirements.

GRE Eligibility: Age Limit

No official age requirements or prerequisites have been issued by ETS for exam takers. There is no defined upper age limit for applicants who intend to take the GRE. Candidates who are recent graduates or about to graduate at the age of 20-21 appear for the test. Additionally, applicants who are experienced working professionals at the age of 35-40 also appear for the test. Hence, there are no age restrictions to be eligible for the GRE exam.

 A large fraction of GRE applicants is older than 30. According to a GRE report dated July 2016-June 2021, the age data of the examinees has been given below. The data shows that most examinees were 30 years of age or younger across gender groups.

Source: https://www.ets.org/pdfs/gre/snapshot.pdf

GRE Eligibility: Work Experience

Applicants who appear for the GRE exam are both freshers and industry experts. As a result, there are no formal requirements for eligibility in terms of job experience, and work experience will not be relevant for the GRE exam. The eligibility requirements are the same whether candidates are recent graduates or working professionals.

However, some courses like MBA require a few years of work experience to be eligible for admission intake. Various top colleges and universities demand a proper industry experience for selected programs apart from MBA. For instance, London Business School requires work experience of about 5-6 years for its Masters in Finance program. Candidates are advised to conduct proper research before applying for the GRE exam as to the requirements of the course they are applying for in the targetted universities. 

GRE Eligibility: Scores

Regarding prior academic performance and grades, the GRE entrance exam has no set requirements. There are no required minimum scores. There is no minimum or maximum score required on high school exams or graduation exams to sit for the GRE. However, this should not be mistaken with the criterion for academic performance for admission to colleges and universities.

GRE Eligibility: Language Fluency

Even though the test does not have any issued language eligibility criteria, candidates must still be fluent in the English language. That is because the GRE exam has a verbal reasoning section that candidates must perform well in to get a strong score. GRE verbal reasoning section has a high sectional weightage, hence, applicants should have command over the English language. 

Moreover, schools abroad demand applicants to be fluent in English. Most of the time, students will have to register themselves for English proficiency tests like TOEFL or IELTS to prove their proficiency level. Overall, even though language fluency is not an established criterion for GRE, candidates should be able to prove their language proficiency levels to get admitted into the targetted universities. 

GRE Eligibility: Conclusion

The GRE is the perfect standardized test for admission to prestigious international colleges. Candidates just need to have graduated from a school or board of recognized standing to be eligible. Age, work experience, and other eligibility requirements are not established requirements for taking the test. Candidates must, however, confirm that they meet the criteria of the desired course and universities and plan accordingly. This means that even if applicants are qualified to take the GRE without any work experience or language proficiency, their intended schools may still need them to have relevant experience and English language proficiency.

GRE Documentation

On the day of the test, candidates may be asked to prove their identity and this can be done by valid identification documents like a passport. It's crucial that candidates double-check that the name they enter when setting up their ETS account and registering for the test absolutely corresponds to the name on the identification (ID) information they intend to use on the test day. Candidates should get in touch with the Office of Testing Integrity (OTI) before registering if they have any questions regarding a discrepancy.

Candidates' first and last names, as well as the spelling of those names, must exactly match (with the exception of accents) the names printed on the IDs they'll be presenting on test day. If it doesn't, candidates can be barred from taking the test or their test results might be discarded after they take it.