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The Daily OrangeGraduate Record Exam undergoes changes
By Anna Sweeney
Posted: 10/20/05, 2:57 AM EST Section: News
Starting in October, 2006, the Graduate Record Exam will almost double in length and switch to an Internet delivery format.
The GRE is required for admission to graduate schools in fields other than business, law and medicine. These include education, journalism and science. The GRE is administered by the Educational Testing Service.
"We decided to make these changes as a result of input that we've gotten from graduate deans," said David Payne, the executive director of the GRE program at ETS. "They wanted us to see if we could improve the validity of the GRE scores. Specifically, they wanted us to revise the test so that the skills that we were measuring were closer in line with the skills students need for their graduate studies."
Although the GRE has undergone minor changes in recent years, the new GRE format which will take effect in October 2006 will include many major changes.
"In terms of the magnitude, it's safe to call it the biggest change that the GRE has had ever," said Ben Baron, the vice president of graduate programs for Kaplan Test Prep. "Not only is the test being dramatically lengthened, but there are also some significant content changes."
The GRE will lengthen from two-and-a-half hours to at least four hours. Also, the new material tested will include more complex reasoning and data interpretation questions.
Payne said students have regularly asked about the significance of some questions, including analogies and antonyms, in relation to the knowledge they will need for graduate school.
"One of the things that will be very positive about the new test is that the students are going to see the direct relevance to the types of questions they are being asked to what they will be doing in their graduate programs," Payne said.
The scoring scale will also shift from the current 200 to 800 point system to a 120 to170 point system. Payne said this shift in scoring is important for the mental aspect.
The GRE is required for admission to graduate schools in fields other than business, law and medicine. These include education, journalism and science. The GRE is administered by the Educational Testing Service.
"We decided to make these changes as a result of input that we've gotten from graduate deans," said David Payne, the executive director of the GRE program at ETS. "They wanted us to see if we could improve the validity of the GRE scores. Specifically, they wanted us to revise the test so that the skills that we were measuring were closer in line with the skills students need for their graduate studies."
Although the GRE has undergone minor changes in recent years, the new GRE format which will take effect in October 2006 will include many major changes.
"In terms of the magnitude, it's safe to call it the biggest change that the GRE has had ever," said Ben Baron, the vice president of graduate programs for Kaplan Test Prep. "Not only is the test being dramatically lengthened, but there are also some significant content changes."
The GRE will lengthen from two-and-a-half hours to at least four hours. Also, the new material tested will include more complex reasoning and data interpretation questions.
Payne said students have regularly asked about the significance of some questions, including analogies and antonyms, in relation to the knowledge they will need for graduate school.
"One of the things that will be very positive about the new test is that the students are going to see the direct relevance to the types of questions they are being asked to what they will be doing in their graduate programs," Payne said.
The scoring scale will also shift from the current 200 to 800 point system to a 120 to170 point system. Payne said this shift in scoring is important for the mental aspect.
