Should You Take the GRE® Online or In-Person?

You can take the GRE® at a test center or online. Either way, the GRE® test itself is exactly the same: the length, difficulty level, and scoring is identical, regardless of whether you take the GRE® in-person or online. So, deciding where to take the exam boils down to personal preference.

If the test center heightens your test anxiety, then consider taking the GRE® at home. If, on the other hand, you are worried about your internet connection or noisy roommates, you’ll want to take the exam at a test center.

For more information about the GRE® as a whole, visit What is the GRE®?.

Read below for more considerations about the online vs. in-person GRE®.

Benefits of Taking the GRE® Test Online

The primary benefit of taking the GRE® online is that you can take the test in an environment that is comfortable for you. You can even set up your practice tests to closely simulate the conditions of the official online GRE®: you can remove everything from your desk, use the exact whiteboard that you plan to use on test day, and complete your practice test at the same time as your official GRE® test appointment. Then, on test day, you just rinse and repeat the same process. This is particularly useful for students who feel any amount of test anxiety about their upcoming GRE®.

If you take the GRE® online, you won’t have to budget time to commute to the test center. The GRE® is a two-hour exam, so cutting out commute time can reduce your fatigue.

It’s also easy to get an online GRE® appointment for any time on any day. As long as you schedule at least a few days in advance, you can generally take the test whenever you want. Test center availability is more hit-or-miss, so if you prefer to take your in-person GRE® on a specific time or day, you might need to schedule much farther in advance.

Benefits of Taking the GRE® Test In-Person

If you take the test in a test center, you don’t have to worry about your home environment or internet connection. For the online GRE®, you’ll need a private, quiet space, a decent computer with a webcam, and a very stable internet connection. Check out the GRE® environment and testing space requirements and technical requirements to see if your home setup is okay for the online GRE®. If not, then take the test in-person at a test center.

Some students (understandably!) don’t like the feeling of a proctor watching them through their webcam. If that applies to you, then maybe the good, old-fashioned surveillance of a test center will be more comfortable than the online GRE®. If you do take the online GRE®, it’s not unusual for the proctor to contact you a couple of times throughout your test. They may tell you to shift your camera, or to stop moving your lips as you read, or something along those lines. These interruptions are usually pretty minor, but if they are going to throw you off of your game then you might perform better in a test center.

Finally, some students thrive on the “game day” feeling of heading into an official test center. If stepping into a new environment amps you up in a positive way, then the in-person GRE® test may be best for you.

Online vs. In-Person GRE®: What Is the Same?

We’ve discussed some of the differences between the online and in-person GRE® experience, but both options also have a lot in common.

These things are exactly the same regardless of which option you choose:

• Cost. Sadly, there are no discounts for taking the test at home instead of in a test center.
• Overall length of the test. The GRE® will take nearly two hours, regardless of whether you take it online or in-person.
• Number of sections. Every GRE® exam features a 30-minute Analytical Writing section, two Quantitative Reasoning sections, and two Verbal Reasoning sections.
• How the test appears on your score report. Schools won’t know whether you took the test online or in-person.
• Scoring. You will see your unofficial scores right after you complete the test, and you will receive your official scores within about two weeks.
• Difficulty level. The GRE® is a standardized exam, and the difficulty does not change based on whether you take the test in-person or online.
• GRE® Diagnostic Service. About two weeks after your test, you can find a detailed report of your results in your ETS account.

Online vs. In-Person GRE®: The Bottom Line

Overall, the online and in-person GRE® tests are very similar. So, just choose the option that feels more comfortable for you as a test-taker. For a fuller picture of both experiences, walk through what GRE® test day is actually like.