The GRE® Subject Tests gauge undergraduate achievement in the eight disciplines listed below. Each Subject Test is intended for students who have majored in or have extensive background in that specific area.

◊ Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology ◊ Literature in English

◊ Biology ◊ Mathematics

◊ Chemistry ◊ Computer Science

◊ Physics ◊ Psychology

Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology*

◊ The test consists of approximately 180 multiple-choice questions, a number of which are grouped in sets toward the end of the test and based on descriptions of laboratory situations, diagrams, or experimental results.

◊ The content of the test is organized into three major areas: biochemistry, cell biology, and molecular biology and genetics. In addition to the total score, a subscore in each of these subfield areas is reported. Because these three disciplines are basic to the study of all organisms, test questions encompass both eukaryotes and prokaryotes.

◊ Throughout the test, there is an emphasis on questions requiring problem-solving skills (including mathematical calculations that do not require the use of a calculator) as well as content knowledge.

◊ While only two content areas in the following outline specifically mention methodology, questions on methodology and data interpretation are included in all sections.

◊ In developing questions for the test, the test development committee considers both the content of typical courses taken by undergraduates and the knowledge and abilities required for graduate work in the fields related to the test.

◊ Because of the diversity of undergraduate curricula, few examinees will have encountered all of the topics in the content outline. Consequently, no examinee should expect to be able to answer all questions on the edition of the test he or she takes.

◊ The three subscore areas are interrelated. Because of these interrelationships, individual questions or sets of questions may test more than one content area. Therefore, the relative emphases of the three areas in the following outline should not be considered definitive. Likewise, the topics listed are not intended to be all-inclusive but, rather, representative of the typical undergraduate experience.

Biology*

◊ The test consists of approximately 200 five-choice questions, a number of which are grouped in sets toward the end of the test and are based on descriptions of laboratory and field situations, diagrams, or experimental results.

◊ The content of the test is organized into three major areas: cellular and molecular biology, organismal biology, and ecology and evolution. Approximately equal weight is given to each of these three areas. In addition to the total score, a subscore in each of these subfield areas is reported. Subject area subdivisions indicated by Arabic numerals may not contain equal numbers of questions.

Chemistry*

◊ The test consists of approximately 130 multiple-choice questions.

◊ A periodic table is printed in the test booklet as well as a table of information presenting various physical constants and a few conversion factors among SI units. Whenever necessary, additional values of physical constants are printed with the text of the question.

◊ Test questions are constructed to simplify mathematical manipulations. As a result, neither calculators nor tables of logarithms are needed. If the solution to a problem requires the use of logarithms, the necessary values are included with the question.

◊ The content of the test emphasizes the four fields into which chemistry has been traditionally divided and some interrelationships among the fields. Because of these interrelationships, individual questions may test more than one field of chemistry.

Computer Science*

◊ The test consists of approximately 70 multiple-choice questions, some of which are grouped in sets and based on such materials as diagrams, graphs, and program fragments.

◊ The approximate distribution of questions in each edition of the test according to content categories is indicated by the following outline.

◊ The percentages given are approximate; actual percentages will vary slightly from one edition of the test to another.

Literature in English*

◊ Each edition of the test consists of approximately 230 questions on poetry, drama, biography, the essay, the short story, the novel, criticism, literary theory, and the history of the language.

◊ The test draws on literature in English from the British Isles, the United States, and other parts of the world. It also contains a few questions on major works, including the Bible, translated from other languages.

◊ The test emphasizes authors, works, genres, and movements. The questions may be somewhat arbitrarily classified into two groups: factual and critical.

◊ The factual questions may require a student to identify characteristics of literary or critical movements, to assign a literary work to the period in which it was written, to identify a writer or work described in a brief critical comment, or to determine the period or author of a work on the basis of the style and content of a short excerpt.

◊ The critical questions test the ability to read a literary text perceptively. Students are asked to examine a given passage of prose or poetry and to answer questions about meaning, form and structure, literary techniques, and various aspects of language.

Mathematic

◊ The test consists of approximately 66 multiple-choice questions drawn from courses commonly offered at the undergraduate level.

◊ Approximately 50 percent of the questions involve calculus and its applications - subject matter that can be assumed to be common to the backgrounds of almost all mathematics majors.

◊ About 25 percent of the questions in the test are in elementary algebra, linear algebra, abstract algebra, and number theory. The remaining questions deal with other areas of mathematics currently studied by undergraduates in many institutions.

Physics*

◊ The test consists of approximately 100 five-choice questions, some of which are grouped in sets and based on such materials as diagrams, graphs, experimental data, and descriptions of physical situations.

◊ The aim of the test is to determine the extent of the examinees' grasp of fundamental principles and their ability to apply these principles in the solution of problems.

◊ Most test questions can be answered on the basis of a mastery of the first three years of undergraduate physics.

◊ The International System (SI) of units is used predominantly in the test. A table of information representing various physical constants and a few conversion factors among SI units is presented in the test book.

Psychology*

◊ Most editions of the test consist of approximately 205 multiple-choice questions. Each question in the test has five options from which the examinee is to select the one option that is the correct or best answer to the question.

◊ The questions in the Psychology Test are drawn from courses of study most commonly offered at the undergraduate level within the broadly defined field of psychology.

◊ Questions may require recalling factual information, analyzing relationships, applying principles, drawing conclusions from data, evaluating a research design, and/or identifying a psychologist who has made a theoretical or research contribution to the field.

*www.ets.org