What is GRE ?
Exam Format
Scoring
GRE & GMAT
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Graduate Record Examination or
GRE is a commercially run standardized test that
is an admission requirement for many graduate schools principally in the United States,
but also in other English speaking countries. Created and administered by
Educational
Testing Service (or ETS) in
1949, the exam is primarily focused on testing abstract
thinking skills in the areas of mathematics, vocabulary, and analytical writing.
The GRE is typically a
computer-based exam that is administered by select qualified
testing centers; however, paper-based exams are offered in areas of the world that
lack the technological requirements.
In the graduate school admissions process, the level of emphasis that is placed upon GRE scores
varies widely between schools and even departments within schools. The importance of a GRE score
can range from being an important selection factor to being a mere admission formality.
Critics of the GRE have argued that the exam format is so rigid that it effectively tests
only how well a student can conform to a standardized test taking procedure. ETS responded
by announcing plans in 2006 to radically redesign the test structure starting in the fall
of 2007; however, the company has since announced, "Plans for launching an entirely new
test all at once were dropped, and ETS decided to introduce new question types and
improvements gradually over time." The new questions have been gradually introduced
since November 2007.
In the United States and Canada, the cost of the general test is
$150 as of September, 2009,
although ETS will reduce the fee under certain circumstances. They are promoting financial
aid to those GRE applicants who prove economic hardship . ETS erases all test records that
are older than 5 years, although graduate program policies on the admittance of scores
older than 5 years will vary.
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The exam consists of
four sections. The first section
is a
writing section, while the
other three are
multiple-choice style. One of the
multiple choice style exams will test
verbal skills, another will test
quantitative
skills and a third exam will be an
experimental section that is not included in the
reported score. Test takers do not know which of the three multiple-choice sections
is the experimental section .The entire test procedure takes about
4 hours.
Analytical writing section
The analytical writing section consists of
two different essays, an "
issue task" and an
"
argument task". The writing section is graded on a scale of 0-6, in half-point increments.
The essays are written on a computer using a word processing program specifically designed
by ETS. The program allows only basic computer functions and does not contain a spell-checker
or other advanced features. Each essay is scored by at least two readers on a six-point
holistic scale. If the two scores are within one point, the average of the scores is taken.
If the two scores differ by more than a point, a third reader examines the response.
Issue task
The test taker will be able to choose between
two topics upon which to write an essay.
The time allowed for this essay is
45 minutes.
Argument task
The test taker will be given an "
argument" and will be asked to write an
essay that
critiques the argument. Test takers are asked to consider the argument´s logic and to make
suggestions about how to improve the logic of the argument. The time allotted for this essay is
30 minutes.
Verbal section
One graded multiple-choice section is always a verbal section, consisting of
analogies,
antonyms,
sentence completions, and
reading comprehension passages. Multiple-choice response sections are graded
on a scale of 200-800, in 10-point increments. This section primarily tests vocabulary, and average
scores in this section are substantially lower than those in the quantitative section. In a typical
examination, this section may consist of
30 questions, and
30 minutes may be allotted to complete
the section.
Quantitative section
The quantitative section, the other multiple-choice section, consists of
problem
solving and
quantitative comparison questions that test high-school level mathematics. Multiple-choice
response sections are graded on a scale of 200-800, in 10-point increments. In a typical examination,
this section may consist of
28 questions, and test takers may be given
45 minutes to complete the section.
Experimental section
The experimental section, which can be either a
verbal, quantitative, or analytical writing
task, contains new questions that ETS is considering for future use. Although the experimental
section does not count toward the test-taker's score, it is unidentified and appears identical
to the real (scored) part of the test. As test takers have no clear way of knowing which section
is experimental, they are forced to complete this section, or risk seriously damaging their final scores.
If the experimental section appears as an analytical writing question (essay), if an "issue" type
question is presented, a choice between two topics will not be given. This coupled with the fact
that the true analytical writing section is the first test given can help the test-taker to deduce
which is the experimental section and the taker can thus lower the importance of that section.
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Computerized adaptive testing
The common (Verbal and Quantitative) multiple-choice portions
of the exam currently use
computer-adaptive testing (CAT) methods that automatically
change the
difficulty of questions as the test taker proceeds with the exam, depending
on the number of correct or incorrect answers that are given. The test taker is not
allowed to go back and change the answers to previous questions, and some type of
answer must be given before the next question is presented.
The
first question that is given in a multiple-choice section is considered to be an "
average level"
question that half of the GRE test takers will answer correctly. If the question is answered correctly,
then subsequent questions become more difficult. If the question is answered incorrectly, then
subsequent questions become easier, until a question is answered correctly. This approach to
administration yields scores that are of similar accuracy while using approximately half as
many items. However, this effect is moderated with the GRE because it has a fixed length;
true CATs are variable length, where the test will stop itself once it has zeroed in on
a candidate's ability level.
The
actual scoring of the test is done with
item response theory (IRT). While CAT is associated
with IRT, IRT is actually used to score non-CAT exams. The GRE subject tests, which are administered
in the traditional paper-and-pencil format, use the same IRT scoring algorithm. The difference that
CAT provides is that items are dynamically selected so that the test taker only sees items of
appropriate difficulty. Besides the psychometric benefits, this has the added benefit of not
wasting the examinee's time by administering items that are far too hard or easy. This occurs
in fixed-form testing.
An examinee can miss one or more questions on a multiple-choice section and still receive a perfect
score of 800. Likewise, even if no question is answered correctly, 200 is the lowest score possible.
Scaled score percentiles
The percentiles of the current test are as follows:
Comparisons for "Intended Graduate Major" are "limited to those who earned their
college degrees up to two years prior to the test date." ETS provides no score data
for "non-traditional" students who have been out of school more than two years, although
its own report "RR-99-16" indicated that 22% of all test takers in 1996 were over the age
of 30.
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GMAT (The
Graduate Management Admission Test) is a computer adaptive standardized
test in
Mathematics and the
English language for measuring aptitude to succeed
academically in graduate business studies. Business schools commonly use the test
as one of many selection criteria for admission into an
MBA program. However,
there are many business schools that also accept GRE scores.
The following are criteria of certain business schools:
•
U Penn-Wharton School: Official test scores for the
GMAT or
GRE tests.
•
Stanford: Finance - The
GRE is preferred, although the GMAT will be accepted.
•
NYU-Stern School: The
GMAT is strongly prefered, but scores from the Graduate Record Examination
(GRE) will also be accepted.
•
U Chicago: For Economics - the GRE is required. For Finance - the GRE is preferred;
GMAT is acceptable. For all other areas - the GRE or the GMAT are accepted.
•
Berkeley-Haas: Without exception, all applicants to the Haas Ph.D. Program must submit
official scores of either the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) or the Graduate Examination.
In comparison with GMAT's emphasis on logic, GRE measures the test-takers' ability more in
vocabulary. This difference is reflected in the structure of each test. Despite the
Analytical Writing section in common, GRE has analogies,
antonyms,
sentence completions,
and
reading comprehension passages in Verbal section, while
GMAT has
sentence correction,
critical reasoning and
reading comprehension.
Also, higher mathematical ability is required in GMAT to get a good score. The GRE is more
appealing to international MBA students and applicants from a non-traditional background.
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