In an effort to increase test validity, the GRE will be lengthened to four hours and ask questions differently.
RYAN HAGEN
News Assistant
Many students hoping to attend graduate school will soon have a higher hurdle to jump, as the revamped Graduate Record Examination goes into effect in 2007.
The GRE, a standardized test required by many graduate schools for admission, will stretch from two- and-a-half hours to four in September 2007.
“It will require a lot more stamina,” said Susan Kaplan, director of graduate programs for Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions. “Some will find it harder after the changes.”
Revisions are designed to “increase test validity, provide faculty with better information regarding applicants’ performance [and] address security concerns,” according to the Web site for Educational Testing Service (ETS), which designed the computer-based exam.
These alterations are partly due to psychometric studies showing GRE results do not correlate as strongly with graduate school success as desired.
“It doesn’t do a good enough job predicting how well you’ll do in grad school,” said junior Tiffany Love, who plans to take the GRE next year. “I’m scared, and I don’t want to [take it].”
She was unaware of the upcoming changes and was not excited to learn the test would nearly double in length.
Neither was her friend Shana St. Pierre, who will graduate in December 2007.
Both agreed the GRE was overemphasized and that admission officers should pay more attention to GPAs, research and other experiences.
The GRE is a major factor in acceptance at most schools and also influences financial aid offers by many private foundations as well as ETS.
Nate Edelson, client contact for Beverly Hills Educational Services, said that other than a major medical problem, nothing should overshadow preparation for the GRE.
“It’s your career, your main goal,” he said.
Kaplan agreed, pointing to the $32,500 in debt most students compile in addition to their advanced degrees.
Many experts recommend 16 weeks of studying, to master both the content and format — which will be even more difficult for students facing the revised test.
The current “computer adaptive” version of the test selects harder or easier questions based on responses to past questions, but that poses security concerns.
“They don’t want to repeat questions, so it will become a linear exam,” Kaplan said. Students will answer the same questions regardless of their performance earlier in the exam, one reason the GRE is nearly doubling in length.
Changes to each of the test’s three sections aim to focus more on higher cognitive and reasoning skills. For instance, the verbal section will now emphasize critical reading over vocabulary, the quantitative section will shift toward data interpretation at the expense of geometry, and the analytical writing section employs more focused prompts to restrict reliance on outside materials.
In 2005, 500,000 students worldwide took the GRE, including many from Pepperdine. It is becoming less prominent, however. “A lot of schools don’t require it anymore,” said Edelson.
A high score on the new scale, which ranges from 130 to 170, helps secure a spot at a prestigious graduate school and help students pay for it with grants, scholarships, fellowships or assistantships. An assistantship is an opportunity to help teach and research with a professor based on academic and GRE achievements.
Students prepared to take the old GRE should do so, Kaplan said. Others should close any holes in their algebra or other basic skills, then prepare for a four hour ordeal.
“Number one, become familiar with the highest yield content areas. Then get comfortable with the computer and work to build up your stamina,” she said. These four hours will determine the next four years.
11-02-2006
