The three tests evaluate skills that candidates have developed over time, particularly those acquired during their high school education. Although the skills assessed by CAT, GMAT, and GRE are broadly similar, the depth of understanding and the way these concepts are tested differ across the tests.

Writing: Writing skills are not assessed in the CAT. However, both the GMAT and GRE include an Analytical Writing (AW) section. The GMAT features one writing task, whereas the GRE includes two writing tasks.

Critical Reasoning: Critical Reasoning has become less prominent in the CAT in recent years. In contrast, approximately 30% of the questions in the GMATs Verbal Ability section focus on Critical Reasoning. The GRE also assesses Critical Reasoning, though it is less emphasized compared to the GMAT.

Sentence Correction: The Sentence Correction questions in the GMAT differ from those in the CAT. The GMAT emphasizes not only grammatical functions but also contextual meaning, effective writing, and usage. It addresses specific types of errors. The GRE does not include Sentence Correction questions.

Reading Comprehension: The Reading Comprehension sections in the CAT and GMAT are quite similar, but the GRE introduces different question types. For instance, the GRE may ask candidates to select a specific text from the passage that answers a question.

Vocabulary: The CAT has largely removed out-of-context vocabulary questions, focusing instead on context-based questions like Fill in the Blanks or identifying synonyms within Reading Comprehension passages. The GMAT does not test vocabulary. The GRE, while vocabulary-intensive, avoids out-of-context vocabulary. It includes questions where candidates select words to fill in blanks or choose multiple answers for a blank.

Other Verbal Ability: Unique to the CAT are Paragraph-based questions, such as those on paragraph formation, completion, summary, or identifying odd sentences. These types of questions are not featured in the GMAT or GRE.

The quantitative section of the CAT is generally considered more challenging compared to the GMAT and GRE. Both the CAT and GMAT require candidates to choose a single correct answer for each question, while the GRE may ask candidates to select multiple answers or provide typed responses for certain questions.

All three tests include questions on Data Interpretation, but the GMAT features a section called Integrated Reasoning. While both the CAT and GRE assess the candidates quantitative data interpretation skills, the GMATs Integrated Reasoning section also evaluates qualitative data interpretation. The GMATs Integrated Reasoning section includes four distinct question types.

The CAT is a linear Computer-Based Test, whereas the GMAT is adaptive. In the GMAT, each questions difficulty adjusts based on the candidates previous answers, and candidates cannot skip questions or revisit previous ones. This adaptive format makes time management more challenging. The GRE is section-adaptive, meaning the difficulty level of each section depends on the candidates performance in the previous section.

The table below outlines the differences among the three tests.