Sometimes it’s good for international graduate students to prepare for the two most essential tests together: IELTS and GRE. You can prepare for both tests at the same time. Studying for both the GRE and the IELTS might sound scary, but luckily, both tests are quite similar. Both tests are taken from students to test their specific skills but in different ways.
Before knowing how you can study for both tests simultaneously, let’s have an overview of their structures.
The GRE test has three main sections, and each section has two more parts. The entire sections of this test are six in number, and you will be given about three hours and forty-five minutes to solve them all. Following are the sections:
The IELTS has four sections, and you will be given two hours and forty-five minutes to solve its three sections in a day, and the other section is approximately thirty minutes. A section of IELTS is often taken a week before or after the complete exam. Following are the sections:
Writing sections of the IELTS and the GRE is the same. Both ask for your opinion and to test your argumentative skills. The writing pattern and test format of the GRE are the same as the IELTS exam’s point of view or opinion-related questions. In both cases, you have to analyze the issue and give your constructive opinion, and the topics would be: global warming, formal educational trends, technology or society, etc.
Tests might be similar in written ways, but the GRE Analytical Writing section is more complex and challenging than IELTS. Their time and word count vary too. Like in IELTS, you have to write 250 to 300 words within 40 minutes, but in GRE, you only write 500 to 600 words in 30 minutes. It means you will have more time and fewer words to write in the IELTS exam compared to GRE.
So, if you are going to study for both exams altogether, start practising from IELTS Task 2 writing. And preparing for the IELTS Speaking section will also be beneficial for your GRE Writing (Argument and Issues) part because the IELTS speaking test demands you to think quickly and clearly. If you practice more of it, you can attempt the GRE writing section more rapidly and clearly.
So, before rushing to GRE preparation, prepare for IELTS a few days ago and then practice both tests altogether.
Again, both IELTS and the GRE have many similarities, but GRE is a bit harder than IELTS. However, you can study for both at the same time. Consider IELTS as an initial and easy practice for completing GRE tough questions.
Both exams test your same skills, which is understanding how you fit vocabulary into the sentence context. The test format of GRE Verbal is exact as IELTS Listening and Reading sections, but GRE sentences are short and comparatively harder than IELTS. Also, IELTS does not ask the meaning of vocabulary or difficult words like GRE. But the level of vocabulary and Reading Comprehension vocabulary are the same of both IELTS and the GRE, respectively.
The format of questions makes GRE harder than the IELTS. If you compare both exams, they will have some questions but are asked differently. Like GRE, the question paper will have more questions about the author’s attitude, theme, meaning, or subtext. IELTS also asks the same question but in a slightly easy way.
So, if you are studying for IELTS Reading and Listening tests and GRE Verbal at the same time, you should start learning from the IELTS exam material. Once you master the skills of IELTS, you can easily prepare yourself for the GRE Verbal exam.
The quantitative reasoning section of GRE includes tables, graphs, charts and other logical questions. They are to test your problem-solving skills. On the other hand, IELTS writing tasks ask you to describe infographics, and they are to test your reading skills via diagrams and charts questions. To sharpen your skills for GRE word problems, you should master your skills in the IELTS reading exam first. This can help you perform better in the GRE math section.
IELTS does not have a specific Math section, and it has a reading section. And it is pointless to compare GRE and IELTS in these sections. Both are equally challenging, hard and important to practice. Sometimes IELTS visuals are harder to solve than GRE quantitative questions or vice versa. So, you can study for GRE and IELTS exams at the same time, or you can start with GRE Quant infographics questions practice. It is up to you.
