Amaterasu ([info]amaterasu_no_ki) wrote in [info]applyingtograd,
@ 2005-11-16 22:48:00
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WHY???
I know this doesn't really apply to anyone in this applying to grad school now, but since I am a member and aren't applying for grad school until 2006/2007, I figured there might be some other early birds like me out there. Got this e-mail from Princeton Review:

Beginning in October 2006, The GRE...

...Will Be Much Longer
ETS is adding more questions to the GRE so it will be about 4 hours long, significantly longer than the current 2½-hour exam.

...Will Have a New Format
The new test will be administered as a computer-based, linear exam replacing the current computer-adaptive test.

...Will Have New Scoring Scales
Test takers will receive Quantitative and Verbal scores on a scale of about 120 to 170. The Written section will retain the current scoring scale.

...Will Be Given Less Often
ETS plans to offer the GRE on about 30 fixed test dates per year and eliminate the current flexible scheduling.

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[info]withopeneyes21
2005-11-17 03:57 am UTC (link)
I'm an early bird...though a senior.

I'm actually looking forward to the new format. There's more emphasis on reading comprehension, which is by far my strongest point.

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[info]amaterasu_no_ki
2005-11-17 04:46 am UTC (link)
Me too, so I'm happy about that, but I can't sit still for very long. The original 3-hour SAT bothered me...a 4-hour exam? What's the deal? In a few years the exam will take all day, with a lunch break.

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[info]ti_ana
2005-11-17 12:42 pm UTC (link)
The test I took to get into undergrad here in Puerto Rico-- called the College Board-- was like that. Started at 8, lunch break at 12 or 1, can't remember, and then it continued until 3. It wasn't a hard test, but it was *really* tiresome. When we got out, we were so tired, we looked like we were drunk. :-P

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[info]linwetaralom
2005-11-17 04:06 am UTC (link)
Also an early bird, so much so that I'm actually not super familiar with the current format. But this just sounds...ugly. And cruel. Why??!

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easy solution.
[info]vbrooksutk
2005-11-17 04:48 am UTC (link)
so just take it before october 06 - scores are good for at least two years.

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Re: easy solution.
[info]amaterasu_no_ki
2005-11-17 04:58 am UTC (link)
Yes, but I won't be entering grad school. until at the very earliest the summer of '08. If I take a year off to teach abroad, as I plan to, then I won't enter until the summer of '09, and the programs I am interested in are in cohort form and won't let you defer admissions.

Plus, I noticed that with the SAT, many schools took the scores from the old SAT for like a year, MAYBE two, after they changed the format, and then they only started accepting new SAT scores (taken after March '05). I don't want to be stuck having to take the GRE again because they won't accept my old GRE scores.

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Re: easy solution.
(Anonymous)
2005-11-17 05:04 am UTC (link)
scores are good for 5 years. take it now.

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Re: easy solution.
[info]amaterasu_no_ki
2005-11-17 05:40 am UTC (link)
If for five years...hmm.

Thanks for the info.

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[info]intense_chica
2005-11-17 07:32 am UTC (link)
Ugh. Great. I'm taking my LSATs too...which only means that now I have to sit through TWO 4 hour-long standardized tests. Woot.

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[info]bonesinpeople
2005-11-17 07:47 am UTC (link)
Yeah, I'm in the same boat. Yikes.

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(Anonymous)
2005-11-17 11:41 am UTC (link)
at least you're not taking the mcat, which is 8 hours, i think...

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[info]intense_chica
2005-11-17 05:14 pm UTC (link)
Ah, touche! I knew there was a reason why I didn't want to be a doctor, lol

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[info]amaterasu_no_ki
2005-11-21 09:08 pm UTC (link)
Take it now! I just e-mailed UGA's grad office, and they said they will be taking the old scores until they expire -- and I'm sure other grad offices will share the sentiment ^_^

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(Anonymous)
2005-11-17 07:53 am UTC (link)
The reason why they're doing the new format (so I've heard) is because the GRE isn't really working now...in that it doesn't show much. The new GRE may be better, though by making it longer it becomes more a test in perseverance. I suggest you look at the current test and see if you're comfortable with that. I don't know how much material is currently available about the new test, but they're testing it during GRE test sessions right now.

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[info]weirdtab
2005-11-17 01:26 pm UTC (link)
Here's a link to the press release on the ETS website about the new GRE test: Revised GRE® General Test to Premiere in October 2006

Also, if you have some spare time and you took the GRE in 2005, they're looking for people to Participate in a Field Study of the New Internet-based GRE General Test and EARN USD $115!


Maybe it's because I don't plan on taking the new GRE, but a four-hour exam doesn't seem too daunting to me. The finals in my physics classes have been that long, as were the AP tests in high school.

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[info]amaterasu_no_ki
2005-11-21 09:31 pm UTC (link)
Yes, the AP exams in HS were 4 hours, but I knew by the time I finished the second essay I was usually exhausted, and with calculus I KNEW I was tired after the first two hours. I'm not a patient person and a 4-hour exam is like torture to me.

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(Anonymous)
2005-11-17 03:45 pm UTC (link)
This is just another example of why the GRE is absoluteley WORTHLESS.

This test should NOT be changing as often as it does. If its supposed to "equalize" between different applicants from ridiculously different background, then one would think its pretty standard. But, the fact that they keeep feelin the need to change it tells you that it ain't working.

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[info]immorethanme
2005-11-17 05:31 pm UTC (link)
AMEN BROTHA! PREACH ON!! TESTIFY!

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[info]holyschist
2005-11-17 04:51 pm UTC (link)
The first one just sounds depressing. More questions does not make a more valid exam; the hardest and most meaningful exams I've ever taken have had 4-10 questions (granted, you can't do that with multiple-choice tests).

The second is good. I think the CAT aspect is awful, since not everyone is even taking a comparable test, and it's arbitrary and stupid.

What is the point of changing the scoring scales? Again, meaningless.

And #4 just seems designed to drive people nuts.

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