A new version of the Graduate Record Examination is scheduled to go into effect by September 2011.
According to Inside Higher Ed, more than 600,000 applicants take the GRE annually in order to get into graduate school.
The Educational Testing Service (ETS) plans to modify parts of the test’s content and format. The changes are beneficial for test-takers and graduate programs that use the test results when evaluating applicants, David Payne, an ETS vice president and chief operating officer, told Inside Higher Ed.
Initially, changes were to be made to the GRE in 2007. The ETS was forced to pull back on the modifications after citing computer-testing difficulties.
There are six modifications to the GRE that the ETS plans to make.
First, test-takers will be able to move through questions instead of giving a final answer to get the next question. According to Payne, this will reduce stress for test-takers so they can figure out for themselves what order they want to answer the questions.
Second, the scoring system for the verbal and qualitative part of the test will be scored on a 130-170 scale instead of a 200-800 scale.
Third, the antonyms and analogies section will be eliminated. Instead, the ETS plans to increase the reading and comprehension section.
The fourth change will shrink the geometry and quantitative sections, and additional questions will be added for data analysis.
Fifth, a calculator will be provided for the mathematic questions so that test-takers will be tested on their comprehension of concepts and not their speed in calculations.
Finally, the length of the exam — originally three hours — will increase to three hours and 45 minutes.
According to Inside Higher Ed, GRE-takers will also see the addition of the Personal Potential Index, which will allow professors to look at and analyze applicants on a range of non-cognitive factors — such as knowledge, creativity, ethics and integrity — that could persuade graduate programs to admit them.
The cost of the exam, currently $150 in the United States, is not expected to increase explicitly due to the revisions, according to Inside Higher Ed. However, ETS is planning to review the pricing for next year.
In addition, the changes in the exam questions are part of a plan to replicate the same kind of work that students do in graduate school. Also, replacing geometry questions with data analysis questions makes the GRE look more appealing to business schools for use in administration decision-making, Payne said.
The changes to the GRE are seen by the ETS as a positive adjustment in order to make the testing experience more enjoyable, according to Neill Seltzer, national GRE content director for the Princeton Review and lead author of its GRE guidebooks. He has been monitoring the competition between the GRE and the Graduate Management Admissions Test very closely. Seltzer believes these changes should produce better scores for test-takers.
However, some Cal State Long Beach graduate advisers do not know about the new GRE.
Psychology graduate adviser Diane Roe was unaware of the new round of changes for the GRE.
“I didn’t know about it being changed,” Roe said.
Other department advisers were unavailable for comments.