GRE Changing in 2006

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by JoAnnP38, Jan 13, 2006.

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  1. JoAnnP38

    JoAnnP38 Member

    The GRE is Changing in October 2006!

    Reported by Kaplan...

    Every aspect of the GRE is affected including length, content, format, scoring, and frequency. Some key changes coming later this year:
    • Length increasing from 2.5 to 4 hours long
    • Test only administered 30 times per year, down from an unlimited amount currently
    • Scoring scale for Verbal & Quantitative sections moving from 200-800 to 120-179
      [/list=a]Verbal Section
      • Analogies and antonyms eliminated
      • More critical reading and complex reasoning questions
        [/list=a]Quantitative Section
        • Fewer geometry questions
        • More data interpretation and word problems

          • [/list=a]
     
  2. Splas

    Splas New Member

    Great idea! Because we all know that standardized testing is a perfect way to measures ones acedemic ability and intelligence :(.

    To say I hate these tests is a laughable understatement, and it makes it worse that I have not taken the beast yet. Now they change it to make it even longer and an even worse experience. I guess torchering our poor young public school kids with these ridiculos tests is not enough, lets make it worse on the graduate students too.

    Did Kaplan give a reason as to why they are changing it? Is it an excuse to charge more money?
     
  3. mcdirector

    mcdirector New Member

    Some of these changes are good. The contextual reading is a much better guide to success than analogies and antonyms. IMHO.

    The scoring scale is arbitrary anyway. BUT when I was filling out applications, many of the schools' online applications hadn't been updated to represent the current scoring methods. They were still representative of the test before GRE added the writing section.

    4 hours is horrendous. I don't think I took 2.5 hours to take mine, but I did take the optional sections for ETS analysis. It was a long morning. I liked the set up of the contextual reading. I also don't understand the cutback to 30 per year. I'd like to know the reasoning behind that one.
     
  4. JoAnnP38

    JoAnnP38 Member

    You know, I believe ETS when they say there is a high degree of correlation between performance on the GRE and performance in grad school. However, on the other hand (and a might bit contradictory) I don't believe that CLEP and other testing methods are valid methods for testing a students academic achievements in various subjects. Now, I'm going to have to sit down and decide what side of the fence I'm on.
    I haven't seen an announcement that they are raising prices, but you ask a good question. I wouldn't be surprised if they do. I'd bet that it isn't an excuse to raise prices since I've always thought they could do that anyways. It appears they do have a monopoly to some extent.
     
  5. 3$bill

    3$bill New Member

    I don't know, but I guess ETS determines external validity for CLEP tests by measuring how well questions discriminate among students who have actually taken the respective courses.

    The problem, if problem it be, is that even introductory courses may vary quite a bit; yet they have to offer a test in which an A student in a Skinnerian Psych 101 class does as well as an A student in a Rogerian one. Consequently, there is a lot that each one has learned that won't be tested.

    As users of Instacert and other CLEP aids know, it's possible to prepare for the test itself and score higher than a student who has spent more time and effort in coursework.

    (I've been a lit freak since I could read and have an averision to sociology, but I scored higher on the CLEP Sosh test after spending some time flipping through a used textbook than I did on the American Lit test.)

    So yes, I guess, the tests measure ability to take CLEP tests directly and equivalence of subject knowledge indirectly.

    And yet. At my school, and I think at the Big 3 as well, to get credit you have to score above the median: i.e. higher than many students who passed the courses would score. If a student who has passed, say, algebra, but cannot "pass" a CLEP test in the subject, you have to wonder how confidence-inspiring that C- is, too.
     
  6. threedogs

    threedogs New Member

    Do you know if any of the GRE subject tests (I'm particularly interested in taking the Psychology Subject test) will change?
     

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