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Since undergraduate degrees are no longer what they were for previous generations, more and more college students are considering post-graduate schooling. But before prioritizing career goals, selecting a program, and weighing the financial commitment, one must first return to the quagmire of algebra and call up a deluge of obtuse S.A.T. vocabulary words to prepare for the Graduate Record Examination.
According to the Education Testing Services (the company that administers post-graduate testing, along with conducting its own research and offering a variety of instruction products and services), the GRE measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and analytical writing skills “that have been acquired over a long period of time and that are not related to any specific field of study.” But when you ask most of those studying for the test what they think? “It’s a bunch of crap you’re never going to use, except maybe the vocabulary. But who talks like that anyway?” says Jesse Dixon, 25, a political consultant in Manhattan currently studying for the test.
With 2007 fast approaching, it is already time for those with the academic bug to start considering taking the GRE test. “We always recommend that people set aside 12 to 16 months when preparing to go back to school,” says Susan Kaplan, the director of communications for Kaplan. “There are a lot of pieces to the application puzzle and it is best to get part of it done now.”
And although there is always the argument of gaining real world experience versus old school instruction, the ETS is planning a complete revision of the test for the Fall 2007 exam period, so Kaplan says the time to take the test is now. The ETS currently uses a computer adaptive test with the GRE, which creates harder questions as the test taker successfully answers them. The new format, which will still be computer-based, will eliminate the gradual difficulty increase to ensure that everyone gets the same test. This means more questions, which will extend the length of the test my more than two hours.
“We expect most people to find the new version much more challenging,” Kaplan added. “ETS wants to make sure the exam is a more accurate prediction of success in graduate school so there will be more concentration on higher cognitive and reasoning skills.”
