As you likely know, there is one 30- or 35-minute (Verbal or Quant, respectively) experimental/research section, which will not count toward your score.

Each GRE has either an experimental section or a research section. The experimental section may appear at any point during the exam after the Analytical Writing task. It is not identified as an experimental section. If instead you are presented with a research section (as opposed to an unscored section), it will always be the final section of the exam, and it will be identified as such. The research section also is not scored.

The unscored/research section may be either a Verbal section or a Quantitative section. So, let’s say there is an unscored quantitative section on your exam. Since the experimental section is not identified as such, if you are presented with 3 Quantitative sections during the exam, you will not know which of the 3 sections is the unscored one. So, you must treat each section as one that will contribute to your score. Do your absolute best!

Alternatively, let’s say there is a research section on your exam, and it is a Verbal section. Although the research section is marked as such, since it always appears as the final section of your exam (and you will not be told beforehand whether you’ll see an unscored or research section), you still will not know when you’re completing the previous Verbal sections whether they are scored or not. So, you still must treat all of the preceding sections as though they are being scored.

Need to take your GRE Verbal and Quant scores to the next level? Start your $1 trial of the Target Test Prep GRE Course today, and get on the path to GRE success. 🚀

This Way For a Higher Score ➳ https://gre.targettestprep.com/plans