Overview of the Quantitative Reasoning Measure

The Quantitative Reasoning measure of the GRE General Test assesses your:

• basic mathematical skills
• understanding of elementary mathematical concepts
• ability to reason quantitatively and to model and solve problems with quantitative methods.

View Sample Questions

Become more familiar with the Quantitative Reasoning measure of the GRE General Test. Review sample questions, answers and explanations.

Content areas covered

Some of the Quantitative Reasoning questions are posed in real-life settings, while others are posed in purely mathematical settings. Many of the questions are "word problems," which must be translated and modeled mathematically. The skills, concepts and abilities are assessed in the four content areas below.

• Arithmetic topics, including:
  • properties and types of integers, such as divisibility, factorization, prime numbers, remainders and odd and even integers
  • arithmetic operations, exponents and roots
  • concepts such as estimation, percent, ratio, rate, absolute value, the number line, decimal representation and sequences of numbers
  • operations with exponents
  • factoring and simplifying algebraic expressions
  • relations, functions, equations and inequalities
  • solving linear and quadratic equations and inequalities
  • solving simultaneous equations and inequalities
  • setting up equations to solve word problems
  • coordinate geometry, including graphs of functions, equations and inequalities, intercepts and slopes of lines
  • parallel and perpendicular lines
  • circles
  • triangles, including isosceles, equilateral and 30°-60°-90° triangles
  • quadrilaterals
  • other polygons
  • congruent and similar figures
  • 3-dimensional figures
  • area
  • perimeter
  • volume
  • the Pythagorean theorem
  • angle measurement in degrees

  The ability to construct proofs is not tested.

  • Data analysis topics, including:
    • basic descriptive statistics, such as mean, median, mode, range, standard deviation, interquartile range, quartiles and percentiles
    • interpretation of data in tables and graphs, such as line graphs, bar graphs, circle graphs, boxplots, scatterplots and frequency distributions
    • elementary probability, such as probabilities of compound events and independent events
    • conditional probability
    • random variables and probability distributions, including normal distributions
    • counting methods, such as combinations, permutations and Venn diagrams

    These topics are typically taught in high school algebra courses or introductory statistics courses.

    Inferential statistics is not tested.

    The content in these areas includes high school mathematics and statistics at a level that is generally no higher than a second course in algebra. It doesn’t include trigonometry, calculus or other higher-level mathematics. The Math Review (PDF) provides detailed information about the content of the Quantitative Reasoning measure.

    Khan Academy® Instructional Videos: Free Preparation for the GRE Quantitative Reasoning Measure

    For more explanations about the concepts covered in the Math Review, view free Khan Academy instructional videos.