The Educational Testing Service is making multiple changes to the Graduate Record Examinations, a standardized test required for admission to many graduate schools. ETS recently announced that these changes will go into effect in September, after being scheduled to take effect in October of last year, according to an ETS press release.
"We are introducing a number of changes into the context and the administrations of the test, as well as to the score scales," said Dawn Piacentino, the associate director in the GRE program at ETS.
One of the major adjustments is the transition from an adaptive test, one that is individually responsive to the person taking the test, to a linear test, in which everyone would answer the same set of questions, Piacentino said.
According to the release, the GRE will now also be based on the internet, as opposed to its current forms which consist of computer-based or paper-based testing.
According to Piacentino, the primary reason changes are being implemented is to address security issues, to provide faculty with more accurate information of a candidate's skill set and to improve testing access for international students.
"We want to reduce possible memorization by eliminating the antonym and analogy [sections] and adding more questions that have reading comprehension that require much more focused responses," Piacentino said, adding that this will help to thwart the use of non-original essays.
Another element of the new format is that "it is a longer test," which could make it more difficult, Piacentino added.
Graduate admissions programs that use the GRE are "basically obliged to accept what ETS promotes," said Aaron Mills, associate dean for graduate studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. "We know that there are substantial changes that are going to be made: in the way it is administered online, how often [it is administered], and the structure of [the] exam. Of particular importance to us is their changing of the scoring range. Right now we're not sure how the new scores will compare with the old scores."
The international expansion will be greatly aided by the creation of additional centers. While there are 600 test centers worldwide, Piacentino said he aimed to establish an additional 3,000.
According to Sara Neher, director of admissions at the Darden School, few of the school's applicants take the GRE since the Graduate Management Admission Test is designed specifically for those applying to business school; however, she said the expansion of the GRE program may help the school to reach out to people living in areas of the world that do not offer the GMAT.
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