The GRE has canceled its total makeover, choosing instead to roll out changes in a more gradual fashion.
The Educational Testing Service had previously announced plans for a complete overhaul of the test in 2006, arranging for a revised version to premiere in 2007.
However, as of April 2, ETS canceled plans for the revised version, saying that they will instead incorporate gradual changes into the test.
“The proposed changes had no effect on my decision to take the test the first time,” senior Ruth Martini said. “But for my second test I am going to try my hardest to avoid the revised version.”
The Graduate Record Examination is a standardized test required for admission by many graduate schools across the United States. Like the SATs, the test is developed, administered and scored by the Educational Testing Service, a nonprofit institution. The test is focused on several areas and provides math and verbal scores as a means of ranking students applying to graduate schools.
Many JMU students getting ready to apply to graduate schools have prepared themselves to take the test, changes or not.
“I’m hoping to go to graduate school after graduation,” senior Erin Bennett said. “Whether it’s right away or in a few years, I want to get the test out of the way now.”
Originally, ETS planned to completely scrap the old version and launch a new version of the test that would be longer in length, formatted differently and contain more difficult question content and types.
However, the nonprofit decided not to implement the overall changes because they feared that the new Internet-based test would not be available to test-takers in all areas.
Students seem apprehensive about the changes and were previously anxious to avoid the more difficult version of the test.
“I even thought about taking it in the summer before the new test was available,” Bennett said. “It seemed like the new test would be longer and more difficult and I didn’t want to deal with that.”
The ETS Web site reports that the nonprofit organization is still committed to excellence in providing a comprehensive exam, and plans to add revisions gradually over the next few years.
The first of these revisions will occur on the Nov. computer-based version of the test, which will include new questions in the Verbal Reasoning or Quantitative Reasoning sections of the computer-based GRE General Test. As a means of preparation, ETS has offered practice question on its Web sites.
The confusion surrounding the prolonged changes raises questions to students about the necessity of the test in evaluating students’ abilities before applying to graduate school.
“I do think that tests like the GRE are necessary because they provide an objective means of evaluating students from different schools,” Martini said. “On the other hand, it can be frustrating to have your intellectual ability reduced to a number.”
Others find the test unnecessary, but have resigned themselves to taking it.
“I don’t think I should have to take them because I feel like it’s not an accurate depiction of my abilities,” said Bennett. “But I understand that they use it as one more way to narrow down.”
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