What is the GRE?
The GRE stands for Graduate Record Examination — an international examination administered by Education Testing Service (ETS) around the globe.
It is a computer-based adaptive test that is available all around the year at test centers throughout the world. It measures quantitative reasoning, verbal reasoning, critical thinking and analytical writing skills of the test takers.
The test is of two types — (A) GRE General Test (B) GRE Subject Test.
The GRE General Test is intended to help the graduate school assess the potential of applicants for advanced study. On the other hand, the Subject tests are used to evaluate the test-taker’s expertise in the subjects of his/her targeted specialization.
The test is divided into three distinct sections
the Verbal
Quantitative Reasoning
Analytical Writing
The table below explains the marks distribution, number questions and time allowed in each section.
However, the actual examination has total of five sections i.e. there are two more sections — one experimental (any one out of a Verbal section, a Quant section, an issue or an Argument) and one un-scored section.
The experimental section (be it another Verbal or another Quant) is as important for a test-taker as the previously attempted one as both of them bear equal chances to contribute towards the final score.
Why should one take the GRE?
The GRE is required for admission into a Masters program (MS/ MA or PhD) for non-business graduate schools, for subjects such as engineering, psychology, sociology, political science, foreign languages and literature, music, religion, philosophy, geography, economics, history, basic sciences, etc in US and Canadian universities.
The test measures specific reasoning skills that one develops over a long period of time.
Standardized test scores and prior grades are the best ways to measure overlapping but different aspects of educational qualification. Unlike the past academic record, your score in GRE reflects performance on tasks and that are common to all applicants.
What is the best time of the year to take GRE for admission to US universities?
The best time for taking the GRE depends largely upon the session that you are targeting for admission to US universities.
The process of admission to American universities is highly systematic. On the whole, there are four intakes of new students viz Fall, Spring, Summer and Winter intakes.
However, the most preferred intakes are Fall (August-September) and Spring (February-March) intakes. Their popularity is mainly because of the low number and credibility of the universities offering Summer and Winter intakes. Moreover, the Fall intake suits the Indian academic calendar and the chances to get financial aid and assistantships are higher in these two sessions.
International students thoroughly plan their application process. Here is how one can systematically plan backward the process of his / her admission to a USA university, say, for the Fall 2009 (Aug-Sept 2009) session:
- September 2009: Course begins
- June-July 2009: Apply for visa
- November-January 2007: Apply for admission and financial aid.
- November 2008: All documents (statement of purpose, academic transcripts, resume, essays, recommendations and bank statements) and scores (for the standardized tests viz. SAT, ACT, GRE or GMAT) are ready to be sent to the universities for applying
- October 2008: Take the GRE (and TOEFL).
- June-July 2008: Prepare for the standardized tests (GRE/ TOEFL).
- Prior to June 2008: Gather information about the standardized tests and admission procedure to the universities.
Similarly for Spring 2010, the deadline for sending the application is September 2009 making it important to take the GRE somewhere in the May 2009.
Is the GRE the sole necessity and sufficient criterion for securing admission in international universities?
No. GRE is not the sole criterion for admission. The complete profile of the student including his prior grades, experience, publications and participation’s together with TOEFL or IELTS is taken into consideration by the University admission councils for deciding.
given below are a list of documents that must accompany a student’s GRE scores while the application is being sent to the selected universities:
- Statement of Purpose
- Letters of Recommendations
- Extra-curricular record
- Resume
- Publications and paper presentations
- Bank statement
How can I register for GRE? How much does it cost?
There are four ways to register for the GRE:
1. Online registration using a credit card
2. Telephonic registration using a credit card
3. Telephonic registration using a dollar demand draft
4. Postal registration using a dollar demand draft
In the Online registration, one has to log on to either www.ets.org/gre or www.prometric.com/ and follow the simple steps to register.
Telephonic registration requires you to call this number: 0124-4147700 and follow the simple steps to speak to the executive who will take down the registration information and credit card details in order to complete and confirm the registration.
For postal registration, one has to download the registration form from www.ets.org/gre. Send the completed registration form along with the demand draft to the ETS-Gurgaon office. In the postal registration, one gets an available date at least 20 days after the receipt of the demand draft.
What are the recently introduced changes in the GRE pattern? How are they going to affect test takers?
GRE test takers experienced the new question types introduced in November. The introduction of new question types in the Sentence Completion and Quantitative sections was a well planned and systematic move by the Education Testing Service (ETS) after their withdrawal of the proposed sudden and big changes in April 2007 worldwide earlier.
The changes occurred in the form of (at most) one question each (either there will be one question of new type or none) in the Quantitative reasoning and Verbal reasoning modules of the test.
The following table summarizes the changes:
Implications
~ In the quantitative section, the format of the required answer has undergone a change. That is, instead of clicking on the right answer choice from the multiple choices, the test taker will type the answer in the box provided. The implication is that the test taker has to be doubly sure of the answer because there will be no answer choices in the question.
~ The change in RC’s is a welcome change. The students will now be able to find the relevant text in the highlighted form and spotting the right piece of information for answering questions will become easier than it was earlier.
~ Earlier the test takers were able to guess out the answer by simply working out one best fit. They could also proceed by trial and error. They cannot indulge in any such speculation any longer.
There will now be three options available for each blank and each set is independent of the others. What is worse, there is no partial credit even if the test taker is able to get the right fits for two blanks, but not for the third. In effect this becomes a set of two or three inter-related questions, each of which has to be answered right if credit is to be received.
How should one strategies the preparation for Quantitative reasoning section?
Here’s a summary of the strategies required for tackling GRE’s quantitative comparison section with following points:
~ Assumption is the greatest enemy in GRE Quant. It is very important not to assume anything. Restricting yourself to the given hypothesis is the only good way to avoid the trap in the question.
~ The focus should be on comparing the answer choices rather than doing lengthy calculations.
~ The answer format is a standard one and practicing it well saves time and energy in the actual GRE.
~ The questions in this section have common mathematical traps; hence it is recommended that one should re-check and confirm the answer before registering it.
What is the most effective way to build a great vocabulary?
Our expert suggests three strategies for the same:
(A) Imagination: This method requires the learner to attach an image with the word. In other words, symbolizing a word is the key here.
(B) Association: Here, the skill to associate the given words with the known words plays a vital role. Association is highly effective if used carefully. The words can be associated by their structure, usage, meaning and pronunciation
(C) Vernaculisation: This technique is one of my most preferred when it comes to learning new words for which you cannot find any imaginary or associative source. Vernaculisation is simply the technique that our experts derived when they found out that an easy way to learn a particular word was to relate it to something that one could use in one’s mother tongue.
How to manage the time factor in the Reading Comprehension section of the Verbal reasoning section?
RC questions are never based on the TOTAL contents of the passage; they are rather based on the main idea(s) or gist of the individual stanzas. So the strategy is not to read for words, but for ideas. The solution lies in reading with varying speeds: rushing through the chaff, but slowing down at the grain (main and/or supplementary idea).
Moreover, bear the central idea in mind while answering the questions, because the right answers will revolve round the main idea and will concatenate. Also look for extreme answers and half-truths as they are more likely to be distracters.
What is the most challenging component of GRE and what should be done to manage it effectively?
The most challenging component of GRE is the fact that it is a Computer Adaptive Test. That is, the test adapts itself to the test taker’s intelligence. Moreover, the individual score per question decreases as one advances in the test and one can not move to the next question unless s/he answers the previous one.
What worsens the situation is the fact that all the questions are important to be attempted and an un-attempted question bears huge penalties.
The best way to counter this challenge is the fact that each kind of question is important and efforts must be made to make sure that the initial questions of each kind are marked correct.
Taking more and more simulated tests is the key to master this skill. Another important input is to make sure that you have understood and practiced the concepts well before taking the simulated tests.
What is AWA and how much is it important?
AWA stands for Analytical Writing Assessment. It is the test taker’s ability to think critically at the given situation or problem and write using one’s analytical abilities together with the proficiency in the language. It is graded on the scale of 6.
The AWA section has recently got a fillip from the ETS and the universities as the standard format to compare the level and appropriateness of the language used in the admission documentation with that in the analytical writing tasks in the GRE. This is done to ensure that student do not take help to have their SOPs, essay and other documentation prepared solely by the professionals �that otherwise is expected to reflect the individual’s original ideas and thoughts.
What is a fairly good, a bad and an excellent score in GRE?
There is no good or bad GRE score. Moreover, GRE is not the sole admission criterion as discussed earlier. Everything depends upon the universities one is applying for.
If the target university requires 1370 or above in GRE, one has to aim for 1370 and above. For him 1370 is the excellent score. However, for admission to top 10 universities of the USA, one has to aim for 1400 and above together with a good and aggressive academic record and sound documentation.
Filed under: Uncategorized
