The GRE experimental section can be either a 30-minute long verbal section or a 35-minute long quantitative section. The experimental section contains further questions that ETS is considering for future use.
Although the GRE experimental section’s score does not count, the experimental section looks very similar to the other scoring sections. You cannot differentiate the experimental section on the revised GRE from the rest of the test. Hence it is strongly recommended to do all parts equally well on the GRE test.
Let’s look at some critical known and unknown facts about the GRE experimental section.
In this Article
- What is the GRE Experimental Section?
- Can we skip the GRE Experimental Section?
- Never try to guess the experimental section!
- Will your performance on the Experimental section change the difficulty level of the next section?
- Is the Experimental section the same level, easier or complicated than other sections?
- Final words
What is the GRE Experimental Section?
The experimental section of the consists of either a Math’s part or a verbal section. The score of the Experimental section on the GRE does not count towards your final score. For a test taker, it is impossible to identify the experimental section. In case you saw 3 Math’s sections, your experimental part was one of the quant sections and vice versa. The experimental section can be right in the beginning, in the middle or the end. The fact remains that one would never recognize which part is the experimental section and which is not.
Can we skip the GRE Experimental Section?
In short, the answer is NO. As I mentioned earlier, you cannot know which section is experimental.
Never try to guess the experimental section!
If you think that you have a great instinct and can use it to find the experimental section during the test, then my advice would still be NOT to use it. You should always try and maintain a positive mindset and try to do every question, every section in the test.
At times students do encounter some weird probability or geometry problems, and they start guessing that this section is probably experimental. What would happen if you guess the wrong part? This could significantly hurt your overall score on the GRE. So be careful!
ETS (the one who creates the GRE) wishes to test the highest level of students’ capabilities, i.e., to see up to which maximum level a student can reach to clear/ top the GRE! Therefore they will twist you, tear you, and stretch you to test your test-taking limits.
Will your performance on the Experimental section change the difficulty level of the next section?
Your performance on the GRE experimental section does not affect the next section. The GRE does not adapt to the experimental section, and it has no bearing on your final score and performance.
Is the Experimental section the same level, easier or complicated than other sections?
Unfortunately, we cannot tell. There is not much information shared by ETS to get a prediction on that. Generally, I have heard that the experimental section is most likely complicated. But this is based on my test-taking experience.
Final words
Many students believe that if they get an arcane sequence problem, then probably the section is experimental. Well, this is not the truth. However, if you have a hard time solving a question, you can always skip it for the moment and come back to it later.