The GRE General Test is a graduate-level admissions exam used by many graduate school and business school programs. The GRE provides grad and b-schools with one common criterion that can be used to compare all applicants, who come from all over the world and will certainly have an enormous range in academic and professional experience.
Your GRE score is a significant part of your graduate school application, but it certainly isn’t the only part. Admissions officers consider many other factors, including your undergraduate GPA, work and research experience, personal statement, letters of recommendation, and interviews. Some grad programs also require or consider GRE Subject Test scores.
It’s possible your GRE score could come in handy if you are interested in law school, as some schools are accepting (or are considering accepting) GRE scores in lieu of LSAT scores.
The GRE General Test features question types that closely reflect the kind of thinking you’ll do in graduate or business school.