The GRE is just under 2 hours long. To be exact, it takes 1 hour and 58 minutes to complete the entire test.
Now, that’s just for the exam content itself. Test day comes with additional steps and procedures that can add up to hours. There’s also the period of waiting for your official scores, which can take a little over a week. Furthermore, you’ll want to study before taking the exam, and that means additional weeks or months.
In other words, the total time you’ll spend related to the GRE will likely be a couple months, not a couple hours.
Let’s take a closer look at what your complete GRE timeline will look like!
Table of Contents
- How Long Does the GRE Test Take?
- How Long is GRE Test Day?
- The Timing of Tasks Surrounding the GRE
- When to Take the GRE
- Receiving and Sending Official GRE Scores
- Retaking the GRE
- How Long are GRE Scores Valid?
- How Long Does Studying for the GRE Take?
How Long Does the GRE Test Take?
Time by Section
| Section | Minutes |
|---|---|
| Analytical Writing | 30 minutes |
| Verbal Reasoning 1 | 18 minutes |
| Verbal Reasoning 2 | 23 minutes |
| Quantitative Reasoning 1 | 21 minutes |
| Quantitative Reasoning 2 | 26 minutes |
| TOTAL | 118 minutes |
The table above reflects the current structure of the GRE. Prior to 2024, the exam asked more questions and was much longer. However, now the GRE is one of the shortest standardized tests around—15 minutes shorter than even the Digital SAT and the GMAT Focus.
Take note that there are no breaks during the test. In its current format, the exam rolls from one section to the next. That means that after finishing the Analytical Writing section—which always comes first—you then dive right into the Quantitative Reasoning and Verbal Reasoning sections (which are ordered randomly).
For more information about how you’ll spend your 2 hours on all the sections, check out our Free Guide to the GRE Test.
Disability Accommodations
ETS—the creators of the GRE—is committed to providing a fair test-taking experience for everyone. Thus, they do provide various accommodations for disabilities and health-related needs.
So, while the default length of the GRE is 2 hours long, you can request extended testing time. The current options are 25%, 50%, and 100% more time. Those translate to roughly 2 hours and 30 minutes, 3 hours, or 4 hours of total testing time.
You can also request to take breaks during the exam (for medication, food, etc.). In this situation, the testing clock will stop during your breaks and resume only once you return.
To see if you meet the eligibility requirements for accommodations, be sure to check out ETS’s Accommodations page. Crucially, you’ll want to do this before you sign up to take the GRE and well ahead of time. The approval process generally takes 6 weeks. However, if ETS requests more documentation from you, the entire process may take up to 12 weeks.
How Long is GRE Test Day?
Before Your Test: At Home vs at a Test Center
Whether you choose to take the GRE at home or at a testing center, be prepared for an experience longer than just the 2-hour exam. Getting ready early, waiting around, and going through procedural steps all add up to additional time.
At Home
First, you need to make sure that you, your computer, and your room all meet ETS’s requirements. How long this takes varies, but let’s cautiously assume it’s 30 minutes. You may not need that much time, but definitely don’t try to cram everything in at the last minute!
The earliest you can check in to your appointment is 15 minutes before. Note that there is about 10 minutes of leeway beyond your scheduled time to check in if you’re running late. However, we recommend checking in as soon as you can. That way, if you do run into any unexpected issues, you can address them with time to spare.
After checking in, coordinating with the proctor and following all their requests and instructions takes about 20 minutes.
So, before even starting your test, you’re probably looking at an hour of preparation.
At a Test Center
If you’re taking the test at a testing center, how much time that adds to your GRE experience greatly depends on where you live.
If you live close to the testing center, this option may actually be faster. That’s because there’s less prep work for you to do: no computer to set up and no room to reorganize.
However, if you live far away, your commute—as well as possible traffic delays—will negate that time savings.
Either way, ETS recommends that you arrive at least 30 minutes prior to your appointment to give yourself ample time to complete all the check-in procedures. And there may indeed be a line of other test takers ahead of you, so arriving early is good advice!
After Your Test: ScoreSelect Screen
Whether you take the GRE at home or at a testing center, at the very end of the test, you’ll also spend a few minutes deciding which schools to send (or not send) your scores to.
To be clear, you’ll only see your unofficial Quant and Verbal scores at this time. Your official results—including your Analytical Writing section score—won’t be available until 8 to 10 days later.
The Timing of Tasks Surrounding the GRE
When to Take the GRE
When you should take the test is largely tied to when you’re going to apply to your graduate schools (or business schools or law schools). It’s a good idea to take the GRE the season before your applications are due. In other words, if you’re submitting your applications in the fall, you’ll want to test in the summer (at the latest). Likewise, if you’re applying to schools in the spring, you should take the exam by the winter before.
Now, when you can take the GRE depends on whether you’re taking it at home or at a testing center. At home, you can pretty much sign up a couple days of ahead of time. However, if you want to take it at testing center, plan to register a few months ahead of time to ensure you get your preferred test date.
Receiving and Sending Official GRE Scores
As mentioned earlier, you get your unofficial math and verbal scores immediately at the end of your test. Your official results, though, only appear in your ETS account 8 to 10 days later. This is also when the schools that you selected at the end of your test will receive your scores.
Additionally, you can send your scores to different schools—for a fee—after test day. In this case, it generally takes 5 business days for your request to be processed. Thus, make sure to give yourself enough time if your grad schools have deadlines approaching.
Retaking the GRE
Hopefully you knock your score out of the park on your first attempt! But just in case that doesn’t happen, it’s a good idea to budget in a potential retake in your timeline.
You have to wait at least 21 days before you can take the GRE again. Also, within a 365-day period, you can only take the test up to a total of 5 times.
How Long are GRE Scores Valid?
Life happens and plans change, so you may decide to delay going to graduate school even after you’ve taken the GRE. Your scores last for 5 years from your test date, so you won’t have to take the exam again if you’re applying within that time span.
How Long Does Studying for the GRE Take?
This depends on so many factors that we have a separate article discussing this in detail. Suffice it to say that you’ll probably spend 1 to 3 months studying for the test. However, some students may study even 6 months or more.
Magoosh has study schedules for all different timelines—all the way from 1 week up to 6 months—so choose whichever works best for you.
Picking and sticking to a study schedule is one of the best ways to study, so we highly recommend it!
Closing Thoughts
The bare minimum amount of time you can spend on the GRE is 2 hours. But that’s, uh, not recommended… At least try out some free practice questions before hopping right into your final test!
More realistically, you’re going to be doing tasks related to the GRE for at least a couple of months. And a huge part of that is studying. For all the questions, lessons, and practice tests you need to get a great score, check out a Magoosh GRE Premium plan. And though studying will take more than a couple of hours, it will be time well spent once you’re in the school of your dreams.
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