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The
Graduate Record Examination is a Standardized test that measures
verbal, mathematical and analytical skills. It is intended to help
the graduate schools (of all fields other than business) assess the
potential of applicants for advanced study . Nearly 2300
universities in the US require GRE scores from each applicant. The
GRE tests the fundamental skills - Reasoning and Comprehension
included - and does not require any subject-specific theoretical
study. (This is true only for the General GRE, and not the GRE Subject, which is required by certain
universities. In this section, we mean the General GRE whenever we
refer to the GRE)
The
test is designed in such a way that it would be unlike any other
test you would have taken at school or college. First, the test has
no question paper or answer sheets, nor does it have the same set of
questions for all the examinees. Further, it does not give you the
option of not answering a question (unless, of course, you run out
of time at the end). All this because the GRE is an entirely
Computer based test - the keyboard and mouse do the work of a pen or
pencil. The test is scored out of 1600 (in multiples of 10), and
most scores fall in the range of 1000-1200. However, a score of even
1600 is not unheard of!
The
GRE is only one of several parameters which the graduate schools
look at to determine the selection of an applicant. A high score
alone does not translate into an admission offer from a great
school. But the test can be looked upon as the first major hurdle to
be cleared in the process of getting admission into a Graduate
school of your choice.
The
GRE is developed and administered by the US-based "Educational
Testing Service" (ETS) under the direction of the Graduate Record
Examination Board , a non-profit organization of graduate business
schools worldwide. This implies that ETS sets the questions,
conducts the test, and sends each examinee the score report. For the
conduct of the test, ETS has appointed Testing Agencies in various
countries, which act as franchisee for ETS. In India, this agency is
the "Sylvan Testing Services Pvt Ltd" which administers the test at
9 centres in the country: Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Bangalore,
Calcutta, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, New Delhi, and
Trivandrum.
All-round-the-year. Unlike other exams, you can choose your
own date and time for taking the GRE! The test is administered in
the above cities five-days-a-week (Monday through Friday),
twice-a-day. September to December is the high season for GRE, so in
case you intend to take the test during this period, you need to
register very early (say 90 days in advance) to get a date of your
choice. Otherwise, registering at least 15 days in advance is
mandatory. The test lasts roughly three-and-a-half hours, and most
centres offer two slots : 9 A.M. and 2 P.M.
Anyone and everyone is eligible for taking the GRE - there
are no restrictions based on age or qualifications. The test scores
are valid for five years, i.e., most universities accept scores up
to five years old. But it is always better if your scores are recent
(not older than 2 years).
Test fees for GRE may vary according to the country in which
you take the test. In India, this fee is US $140 (approx Rs. 7000),
payable at the time of registration. You cannot pay in Indian
Rupees. The fees has to be paid through a US Dollar denominated
draft, made out in favour of "ETS - GRE" payable in the U.S. Such a
draft is usually available with the Main Branches of most banks
(which have a foreign exchange counter) in most of the big cities
for a nominal charge (around Rs. 200). Alternately, the payment can
also be made through a credit card which has global acceptance. The
credit card need not necessarily be yours - you can get your father
to sign for you!
Obtain the "GRE Information Bulletin" available free with
Sylvan Testing Services and USEFI. You can also request the bulletin
from Infozee at Request Test
Forms and it will be delivered to your given address. The
Test Scheduling Form comes with the bulletin. The Test Scheduling
Form comes with the bulletin. There are three ways to
register:
Registering by Phone: You may call up Sylvan
Delhi office until 12:00 noon to register. Make sure to call at
least THREE BUSINESS DAYS before the test date.
Registering by Fax: If registering by fax,
you must send your fax at lest SEVEN DAYS prior to your first choice
of a test day.
Registering by Mail/Courier: Fill in the
form, get the draft made (if you are not paying by credit card), and
submit these to the Sylvan Learning Centre at New Delhi either by
hand or by registered post/courier. You must send the documents at
least THREE WEEKS before your choice of a test day.
On
receipt of your documents, an appointment will be scheduled for you
to test at the Sylvan Technology Center. Confirmation of the date,
time and location of the appointment will be sent to you. If you do
not receive confirmation at least THREE business days
before your first choice of test day, please call the
Sylvan office to verify your appointment.
Sylvan Learning Centre
Sylvan Testing Services
Private Limited,
Senior Plaza, 160-A, Gautam Nagar,
Yusuf
Sarai,
Behind Indian Oil Building,
New Delhi-110049,
India.
Ph: (011) 2651-1649
Fax: (011) 2652-9741
You
will receive an admit card normally within a week of applying.
Remember to keep a copy of the form and the draft with
you.
What is a Computer-Adaptive Test?
In
a computer-adaptive test, the computer screen displays one question
at a time, which is chosen from a very large pool of questions
categorized by content and difficulty. The first question is always
of a medium difficulty, and each subsequent question is determined
by your responses to all the previous questions. In other words, the
CAT adjusts itself to your ability level - you’ll get few questions
that are either too easy or too difficult for you.
Each question in the GRE CAT has five answer options, and you
are required to select one of these five as the correct answer by
clicking on it. A subsequent question is displayed on the screen
only after you have answered the previous question, so you cannot
skip a question. You cannot also go back to a previously answered
question to change your answer. Thus, if you guess a correct answer
or answer a question incorrectly by mistake, your answers to
subsequent questions will lead you back to questions that are at the
appropriate level of difficulty for you.
The
test has three distinct sections : Writing Assessment (WA),
Quantitative, and Verbal. The Quantitative section has Problem
Solving questions, which test your mathematical skills and concepts
of roughly the high-school level. The Verbal Section has four types
of questions : Antonyms, Analogies, Reading Comprehension, and
Sentence Completion. The questions of each type appear in no set
sequence. There are a total of 58 questions, 28 in Quantitative and
30 in Verbal.
The
third section, Analytical Writing Assessment measures critical
thinking and analytical writing skills. It consists of two
analytical writing tasks : (1) "Present your perspective on an
issue", and (2) "Analyze an Argument".
There is a one-minute break between each test section. Midway
through the testing session, an on-screen message will inform you of
the opportunity to take a 10-minute break. Section timing will not
stop if you take an unscheduled break.
| Section |
Number of
questions |
Time |
|
Analytical
Writing:
Analysis of an issue
Analyze an
Argument |
1 Topic
1 Topic |
45
min.
30 min. |
| Verbal Section |
30 |
30 min. |
| Quantitative |
28 |
45 min. |
| Experimental Section |
varies |
varies |
An
unidentified verbal or quantitative experimental section may be
included and may appear in any order after the analytical writing
section. It is not counted as part of your score.
The
section tests you on a level of Maths that is comparable to Class 10
mathematics, with questions on Number Systems, Percentages,
Fractions & Decimals, Algebra (including Quadratic Equations),
Geometry (including Basic Coordinate Geometry), Ratio &
Proportion, Area & Volume of 2-D and 3-D figures, and
Probability. This list is not exhaustive; questions from beyond
these topics may also be asked.
The
section has 28 questions to be completed in 45 minutes.
The
verbal section in GRE requires a good vocabulary level, the basic
skills of correct English coupled with reasoning and analysis. The
30 questions, to be attempted in 30 minutes, consist of four types :
Antonyms, Analogies, Sentence Completion, and Reading Comprehension.
The four types are intermingled, with no fixed number for each type.
The writing assessment section requires you to write -
or type - two short essays. The first is the Issue task, in which
you need to analyze the issue presented and explain your views on
it. For the Issue task, you will be able to choose 1 of 2 essay
topics selected by the computer from the pool of topics. You will
get 45 minutes to do write or type this essay.
The
second essay is Analysis of an Argument, in which a given argument
has to be critically analyzed and evaluated. The Argument task does
not offer a choice of topics; the computer will present you with a
single topic selected from the topic pool. You will get 30 minutes
to write or type this essay.
For both the essays, the
emphasis is on the "Analytical" part, and not on the "Writing" part.
This implies that a concise essay with well-reasoned points written
in simple English will be looked upon more favourably than an essay
which falls short on the analytical aspects even though it is high
on writing skills.
A ten-minute break follows the two essays.
The computer gives you the option to take this break, or to move
directly to the subsequent section. Even if you finish the essays
before the stipulated sixty minutes, the break will still be of five
minutes. It is advisable to utilize this break by gearing yourself
up for the tougher sections that follow.
ETS
has the provision of reporting your GRE scores to a maximum of four
universities of your choice, the cost of which is built into the fee
you pay. You have to indicate the four universities where you wish a
copy of your GRE score to be sent after you get to know your scores.
For reporting to each additional university, the ETS charges you
$15, payable by an international credit card or a dollar denominated
draft.
The
GRE CAT (Computer Adaptive Test) results comprise four different
scores : a total score, and separate scores for Verbal,
Quantitative, and Analytical Writing Assessment sections. The total
score is reported out of 1600 and the sectional scores are out of
800. The Writing Assessment section is scored separately on
6.
In addition to these scores, the score report also
contains percents (%) below. These "% below" indicate the percentage
of examinees who scored below you based on the scores of the entire
GRE testing population for the most recent three-year period. These
percentages are important in considering how an applicant for
admission to a particular management school compares with everyone
in the specified period, with all other applicants to the same
school, and with students already enrolled at the school.
Even though an "I could have done better" feeling is
inevitable after any test, taking the GRE again may not be helpful.
Sometimes it is necessary to take the GRE more than once, like when
a management school asks you for more recent scores than what you
have. However, unless your scores seem unusually low compared to
your performance in the practice tests, or if you have not been able
to perform well because of a sudden illness or similar exceptional
circumstances, it’s advisable not to succumb to the temptation of
repeating the test. This is so for given the nature of the test, it
is unlikely that your scores can substantially improve, and in fact,
your scores may decrease.
If
you repeat the test, your scores from the latest test date and the
two most recent test administrations in the last five years will be
reported to the institutions you designate as recipients. In any
case, you cannot take the test more than once in the same calendar
month, even if you have taken the test and cancelled your scores.
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