Retooled GRE To Test ‘Real-Life’ Abilities

In an effort to improve the quality of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), a test required when applying to many graduate programs, the Educational Testing Service (ETS) is in the process of making major revisions to the material and methods tested on the exam.

The ETS, which also made changes to the SAT and the TOEFL last year, will redesign all three sections of the test: Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Analytical Writing. The company expects the changes to go into effect in October 2006.

Overall, the revisions are an effort to try to make the test more pertinent to the type of work that graduate school demands, according to David G. Payne, the executive director for the GRE program.

“The new item types are more similar to the tasks that you think you’re going to be doing in your graduate career,” said Payne.

For instance, the Verbal Reasoning section will seek to focus less on vocabulary and more on reading comprehension and analytical skills, both important in graduate work, according to Payne.

The ETS will also replace many geometry questions with more “real-life”-type math problems on the Quantitative Reasoning section and shorten the Analytical Writing section by 15 minutes, according to the ETS website.

Payne said the changes are the product of recommendations made by the GRE board, which is an external advisory board composed of deans of graduate schools from across the country.

“The primary question that they pushed us on is, they wanted us to see if we could improve the validity of the test,” said Payne.

Many students agree that these kinds of changes will benefit the test.

“I think that anything that is more comprehension-based, especially when you’re going to graduate school, is more important,” said Caroline M. Whiting ’06.

Eric D. Bennett, a fourth-year student at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, also said that the GRE in its current form does not always test for the right skills.

“Whether I know the word ‘adscititious’ doesn’t change the opinions I’m going to have about Moby Dick,” Bennett said.

Beyond the material, the ETS is also revising the way the exam is administered.

Currently the GRE is available nearly every day­—but only in specifically enabled GRE testing locations. The new test will be Internet-based and available almost anywhere on specific testing dates.

ETS will also provide admissions committees at graduate schools with the essays the students complete on the test so that officials can see applicants’ writing abilities before they are edited and refined.

“Faculty are really looking forward to having the ability to see a validated writing sample from their applicants,” said Payne.

The GRE program is taking many measures to prepare for all these changes. By the end of this month, sample questions will be available online, and this spring, ETS will release a full practice test.

Some students remain skeptical despite the changes being made.

“I really take ETS’ changes with a grain of salt,” said Lulu Wang ’06.

“The things that they change, they may think is working out for the best, but all in all I don’t think it ever stops being just another hoop that you jump through.”