Does every GRE test have an experimental section?

[samman1994]

Hello everyone,

The topic and question are the same. I know you can either have a quant or verbal experimental section, but does it show up for everyone on every test? I.E. Could you take the GRE and not come across an experimental section? Thank you ahead of time!

[TakeruK]

The instructions (https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/test_day/expect/) says this of the test: "There are six sections, one of which is an unidentified/unscored section." 

Later on, they also say, "An identified research section that is not scored may be included in place of the unscored section. The research section will always appear at the end of the test." 

So, the combination of these two statements tells me that every test does indeed have an experimental section. Sometimes it is the unidentified/unscored section, so you won't know which one of the six sections it was. However, sometimes they will identify it as a research section and it will be the last section, meaning that you will know which one is the "experimental" one.

When I took the test, I had one of those identified research sections. It was an experimental question that was an essay prompt. You could choose to complete or skip it. Since it was already at the end, I decided I would see the prompt and see if I wanted to write. I don't remember the prompt anymore but I did end up writing a response.

[samman1994]

56 minutes ago, TakeruK said:

The instructions (https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/test_day/expect/) says this of the test: "There are six sections, one of which is an unidentified/unscored section." 

Later on, they also say, "An identified research section that is not scored may be included in place of the unscored section. The research section will always appear at the end of the test." 

So, the combination of these two statements tells me that every test does indeed have an experimental section. Sometimes it is the unidentified/unscored section, so you won't know which one of the six sections it was. However, sometimes they will identify it as a research section and it will be the last section, meaning that you will know which one is the "experimental" one.

When I took the test, I had one of those identified research sections. It was an experimental question that was an essay prompt. You could choose to complete or skip it. Since it was already at the end, I decided I would see the prompt and see if I wanted to write. I don't remember the prompt anymore but I did end up writing a response.

Damn, wish mine told me. I had a verbal one, but didn't know which one was the experimental one or not.