Although administered by the same company, GRE and TOEFL are designed to test you on different skills. GRE is a test of your logical reasoning skills, whereas TOEFL tests you on your English language skills.
Graduate schools use the GRE test to gauge your readiness for a graduate program. It is considerably more challenging than TOEFL. GRE includes challenging Math and English, whereas TOEFL only comprises of very basic English. Nonetheless, both tests also have some similarities. But first, let’s take a closer look at both the tests.
In this Article
Overview of the GRE and TOEFL
GRE
GRE is a standardized test that is used by the admissions board to determine if someone is ready for graduate school or not. GRE measures your reasoning, analysis, and comprehension skills. It has three measures – Verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and analytical writing analysis.
Verbal Reasoning
The verbal reasoning section measures your ability to analyze and draw conclusions from passages, identify the author’s assumptions/perspective, summarize text, and understand the meanings of words and sentences, etc. GRE has two English sections with 20 questions per section.
Quantitative Reasoning
The quantitative reasoning section measures your ability to use concepts of basic arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis to solve problems and interpret/analyze quantitative information. GRE has two Math sections with 20 questions per section.
Analytical Writing Analysis
The analytical writing section measures your ability to articulate complex ideas cogently in the form of essays. You have to support opinions with relevant reasons and examine claims and evidence. On the GRE, you have to write two essays.
TOEFL
TOEFL is an English proficiency exam for non-native English speakers looking to study in an English-language school. TOEFL measures your reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills. It is used by grad and undergrad schools to determine if you are fit to undertake studies in an English environment. TOEFL has four sections:
Reading
The reading section of the test is designed to assess how well you can read and understand academic material. You will read 3 or 4 passages, each around 700 words long, with 10 questions per passage.
Listening
The listening sections measures your ability to understand conversations and lectures in English. You will hear audio recordings of lectures and discussions of academic nature and then asked questions at the end.
Speaking
The speaking section of the test measures your ability to communicate effectively in English in academic settings. There are two questions, and your answers are recorded by a microphone and sent to ETS.
Writing
The writing section of the test measures your ability to write in English in an academic setting. You are expected to present your ideas effectively and in a well-organized manner. There are two tasks; one involves reading and listening to short passages and then writing a response. The other task consists of writing an essay based on personal experience or opinion.
Similarities between GRE and TOEFL
The verbal section of the GRE bears a resemblance to TOEFL in the following two ways:
Reading
Both tests measure your abilities to read and understand academic passages and analyze and interpret information. However, GRE does this in a far more challenging way than TOEFL. TOEFL does not require learning any extensive vocabulary, whereas, for GRE, you will have to memorize hundreds of new words.
Writing
GRE and TOEFL both require you to write essays and present your ideas and arguments effectively and clearly. However, again, GRE has a more challenging writing section than the TOEFL.
Differences between GRE and TOEFL
The difficulty of Reading and Writing Sections
As mentioned above, both tests have reading and writing tasks where you will be asked to write essays and read passages. However, compared to GRE, TOEFL has easier reading passages and writing tasks.
The questions on the GRE tend to be more difficult because they are designed to assess your critical reasoning skills in addition to your comprehension skills. In comparison, TOEFL is only concerned with your comprehension skills.
Moreover, the GRE passages are taken from academic literature and are generally difficult to understand than TOEFL passages.
There are no speaking and listening tasks on GRE.
Since TOEFL is concerned with your English language as a whole, it has to test all aspects of communication, including speaking and listening. GRE, on the other hand, has no such tasks.
GRE has a math section
Since TOEFL is purely an English language test, it doesn’t test you on your math skills. On the other hand, GRE has a formidable math section that tests you on various math topics such as geometry, algebra, and data analysis.
Can GRE prepare you for TOEFL?
Yes, the GRE can prepare you very well for TOEFL but only for the reading and writing sections. Since GRE doesn’t have any speaking and listening tasks, you will still need to prepare for those by exclusively studying for TOEFL from a well-suited source.
Keep in mind that the reading and writing questions on GRE are more demanding than TOEFL, so you will be more than prepared to tackle those on TOEFL.
Moreover, the vocabulary you learn for GRE will also come in handy on your TOEFL test, and you wouldn’t need to know any “must-know” words for TOEFL separately.
Should I prepare separately for TOEFL after GRE?
Yes, absolutely. If you take the TOEFL test after your GRE, then sure, your GRE prep will come in hand. However, GRE won’t prepare you for speaking and listening tasks, and hence you would need to prepare for them from a TOEFL-focused prep resource.
More importantly, even if GRE did prepare you for all the different TOEFL sections, you would still need to know the test’s format and structure as it is entirely different from GRE. The two tests only share some similarities in terms of content. Structurally they are very different, and you need to know, before test day, what you will encounter when you take your TOEFL test. Hence, I would advise you to study separately for TOEFL and not rely on your GRE prep. They are both different tests for the type of questions, format, time, and structure. Buy a book or a specially designed course to teach TOEFL if you want to do well on your test.