Correction
In Tuesday’s “”GRE to become more difficult,”” the article stated the GRE would still be administered in August. However, the UA will not administer the GRE in August in order to transition to the revised GRE. The Wildcat regrets the error.
Kaplan Test Prep and UA Admissions officials announced last week that the Educational Testing Service will phase out the current Graduate Record Examinations and replace it with a longer and more difficult one.
Kaplan and UA officials differed, however, on whether or not the exam would still be available for students to take this fall.
Maria Velez, associate dean of the graduate college, said the UA will continue to administer the GRE through August and mid-September and she did not hear anything from ETS regarding the change in the test administration schedule.
“”In the original exam, the test questions were re-used and people would memorize the questions … and post them on the Internet.””
– Susan Kaplan, graduate programs and Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions director
But Russell Schaffer, senior communications manager for Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, said the Educational Testing Service may still be in the process of communicating to schools that the test won’t be administered in the U.S.
“”Sometimes announcements like these take time, Kaplan is just here to let administrators and students know,”” Schaffer said.
The GRE will, however, change its format. The newest version will be administered to students in mid-September, Schaffer said.
“”To ensure a smooth transition between the new and old version of the GRE, the test needed the time to be implemented,”” Schaffer said.
The changes will make the test harder and more time-consuming, said Susan Kaplan, director of graduate programs and Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions.
Each of the three sections, verbal, cognitive and writing, will undergo a change, Kaplan said.
“”The GRE will only be administered on a particular date and ETS is asking to set up a sophisticated test in a large computer lab, which ETS is not paying for and is very expensive to do.””
– Maria Velez,
associate dean of the graduate college
One of the most significant changes will affect the writing portion. In the past, graduate schools were able to view thescore of the essay written, but not the actual essay. With the new analytical writing section, graduate schools will be able to see both, Kaplan said.
Cheating on the GRE will also be more difficult, and helped motivate the change.
“”In the original exam the test questions were re-used and people would memorize the questions to the exam and post them on the Internet,”” Kaplan said.
People planning to apply to graduate school in the fall will not have their test scores until November. For some graduate schools, this will be too late for consideration, Kaplan said.
One of the major problems that the UA has found with the new GRE concerns how the test will be administered.
“”The GRE will only be administered on a particular date and ETS is asking to set up a sophisticated test in a large computer lab, which ETS is not paying for and is very expensive to do,”” Velez said.
