New GRE vs Old GRE

Posted by TCYonline.com on July 5, 2011

Here’s a look at what’s changing on the three test measures — Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning and Analytical Writing.

Registration is now open for the GRE revised General Test. Even you can get a 50% savings on your test fee if you test in August or September 2011.

My GRE Experience

Posted by TCYonline.com on June 9, 2010

Contributor: Tony Jiang
I feel like writing today, so I thought I would share my GRE experience. For those who didn’t know, the Graduate Record Examination is a standardized exam prepared that students have to take if they want to apply to certain grad school programs (mainly in the United States). This article is basically my experience taking the GRE general test, starting from when I started studying and ending with me getting my scores. Unfortunately, there won’t be much useful studying tips in here since I tend to study the “dumb” way, but hopefully this article will at least be an interesting read.

I started studying about three months before my exam date. Out of the three sections in the GRE general test, I was most concerned about the verbal section because it tests some pretty obscure vocabulary, and unfortunately I didn’t know many of the words. In my mind, the verbal section of the GRE was an annoying vocabulary test, and in order to get a high score, I really had to work on remembering those pesky words. In comparison to the verbal section, the quantitative and analytical sections were not nearly as intimidating. Being an engineering undergrad student, there’s no way I’d be scared of a quantitative section that tests only high school math. As for the analytical writing, the only issue that might come up is the time constraint, but otherwise I’m capable of writing coherent essays that, while probably not excellent, will do the job.

To build up my vocabulary and also just to practice for the GRE, I started out by borrowing a couple of books from the library. The three books I used throughout the duration of my studies were the Kaplan GRE book, the Kaplan Verbal workbook, and the Idiot’s Guide on Acing the GRE (the real titles might be slightly different). I didn’t have a particularly preference for the prep books; the three listed were the easiest to find, and they all the word lists that I so desperately needed to memorize. Between Kaplan and the Idiot’s guide, the former had more goodies such as practice tests on the CD, while the latter was better written and contains more useful strategies. In addition to the books, I also found a couple of GRE word lists and practice questions online.

With the material ready, I started building my vocabulary by reading through the word lists and try to memorize the words and definition. This is probably not the best strategy to learn words, but I was lazy (to a point) and was hoping that my memory wouldn’t fail me. So every day (or every other day) I would go through a section of the word list trying to memorize the definitions. I had a scrap piece of paper that I use to scribble the words and make sentences with them, but that was about it. No flashcards, no cool memory techniques, just straight-up cramming. In between going through the word lists I would do some practice questions just to see if I improved or not. Nearing my exam date, I started doing whole sections and then full length-practice tests, first the paper version and then the computer versions. As a last before-the-actual-exam evaluation, I downloaded ETS’ (the organization that prepares the GRE) PowerPrep software, which contains two full-length practice exams along with some question sets. PowerPrep is the closest thing to the computerized GRE without actually writing the exam, so it was pretty useful for gauging performance. On both of the practice exams I scored 800 on the quantitative and 660 on the verbal. 660 for the verbal is decent, but could be better. I also practiced the analytical writing as well. Since the essays can’t be marked by computers, I just wrote a few to see if I can finish in the allotted time.

After three months of studying, it was time for me to take the real GRE. I wasn’t nervous at all during the exam, since I know if I perform up to expectations then I’d be okay. The topics I received for the analytical writing sections were pretty straight forward, so I managed to get my essays done without too much difficulty. Up next was the quantitative section, which I plowed through without any problems. After that was the verbal section, and this verbal section seemed a bit harder than the ones from the PowerPrep software. There were quite a few answers that I wasn’t entirely sure of, so I just made educated guesses. The official exam was done after I completed the verbal, but I did the extra research quantitative section in hopes that GRE will give me back my exam fee (supposedly a number of participants will receive $250).

Three hours of grueling testing later, these are the scores I received:

Verbal – 720
Quantitative – 800
Analytical – 4.5 (out of 6)

Yes! Looks like my vocabulary cramming has paid off, although to be honest I didn’t really study all that hard. I merely spread the studying over a longer period time compared to my usual final exams. My actual exam performance was actually better than my practice results, and this could be the result of last-minute studying, dumb luck, or maybe I’m just clutch haha. My essay scores are pretty average, but they are not terrible. Overall, I think my GRE scores should be more than enough to meet the requirements of the grad programs that I’m interested in.

Looking back, the GRE was really just another hoop to jump through on the road to grad school. Now that I think about it, as annoying as the GRE was, it’s probably still one of the easier requirements to meet. The hardest part will be getting good references from my professors. Since I’ve been out on co-op for 8 months, I only really have two months to build up relationships with my fourth year profs before I have to ask them for references. Hopefully everything will go well and I’ll be in grad school somewhere in the fall of 2010.

Thanks for reading.

Source: www.tonyjiang.com

How is the revised GRE being scored?

Posted by TCYonline.com on April 21, 2007

For those dreaming of studying in America, there are few exams as important as the GRE. However, recent changes to the formats of the TOEFL and GRE have introduced an element of doubt and difficulty into the admission process. Performing well on these exams is seen as a pre-requisite for procuring admission to top US universities.

The Graduate Record Exam is offered domestically and internationally, administered by the American company ETS. Last month, it announced the most significant changes to the exam in its 57 years history. The design has been altered to:

• Make the GRE more test-taker friendly.
• Reduce the security risk arising from too much exposure to test questions.
• Make the Verbal section easier and Quantitative section challenging in order to balance their levels of difficulty.
• Ensure better and more accurate measurement of graduate skills.

Hence, the focus should shift towards gradually acquiring skills and away from cramming and memorisation. However, preparation for the exam may be fruitless unless one understands the evaluation parameters and, most importantly, the evaluation scale. The new scoring scales are as follows:

~ 3-digit scores

The overall GRE score will be in 3 digits. It will no longer be out of a possible 1600 (800 each in Quantitative and Verbal Sections).

~ New score range

The new sectional scores range between 130* and 170*. The purpose of this is to bring the average score per section near 150*. The older scale suffered from clustering of the Verbal score around 470* and of the Quantitative score near 593*. (* Taken from the ETS web site)

~ Score increments

The score will increase with 1-point increments compared to the 10-point increments of the existing format.

~ Score validity

There has been no change in the validity of scores. The score will still be valid for 5 years. In order to protect the validity of the existing GRE score, a concordance table will be available in November 2007 at the ETS Web site.

~ Percentiles

In addition to the individual score, the GRE now offers percentile scores for initial administrations. This will aid both students and destination institutions interpret the score. Additionally, score equivalents will be offered in order to demonstrate the difference between the current and new scoring system.

~ AW score scale remains unchanged

The Analytical writing score scale is left unchanged, but written responses will now be available to universities so they are able to compare a candidate’s written answers with his or her personal information. This will constrain candidates from outsourcing admission information (SOP) through private professional bodies.

~ Availability of score scale

The new scale will be available to students in fall 2007 after the first three administrations of the test.

A format of the new score report (format adopted from ETS web site) IS as under:

**Hypothetical test dates