Better Know a Test: The GRE
Kitt’s tour through the world of standardized testing continues with the GRE. If you’re hoping to get into Graduate school, better start prepping.
What it is:The GRE or Graduate Record Examinations is a standardized test that is a requirement for many graduate schools admission in the US, other English speaking countries, and for English taught graduate and business programs world-wide. Created in 1949 by the Education Testing Service (ETS), it is aimed at measuring verbal and quantitative reasoning, analytical writing and critical thinking skills that have been acquired over the years and is not related to any specific field of study. The GRE General Test is a computer-based, computer adaptive exam administered by selected qualified tested centers; although, paper exams are offered in the case where computers are not available.
Different levels of emphasis are placed on the GRE depending on the school and the admission process. The importance of the GRE score can range from being a mere admission formality to an important selection factor.
The cost of the test is anywhere from $130-210, although ETS will reduce the fee depending on circumstances. ETS erases all test records after 5 years.
How it works:The GRE is made up of 4 sections. The first is a writing section, and the others are multiple-choice, testing verbal and quantitative skills. There is one more experimental section that is not included in the reported score. The entire test procedure takes roughly 4 hours.
Verbal: The verbal section consists of analogies, sentence completions, and reading comprehension and is, overall, testing vocabulary. This section is graded on a scale of 130-170, in 1-point increments. Typically this section consists of 30 questions and takes about 30 minutes. Scores are usually lower in verbal than in quantitative.
Quantitative: The quantitative section is also multiple choice and is made up of problem solving and quantitative comparisons that test high-school level mathematics. Graded a scale of 130-170, in 1-point increments, a typical exam includes 28 questions, with 45- minutes allotted to complete the section. There are usually 14 quantitative comparisons, 10 discrete quantitative questions, and 4 data interpretation questions.
Analytical Writing: The analytical writing section consists of an “issue task” and an “argument task” essay and are graded on a scale of 0-6 in half-point increments. The essays are written on computer using a word processing program designed by ETS with only basic computer functions, forgoing spell-check, grammar-check, and other advanced features. Each essay is scored by at least two graders, and if the discrepancy in more than a point, a third reader is brought in.
Issue task:A choice of two topics, the time allotted is 30 minutes.
Argument task: Given an “argument” the test taker is asked to critique the argument by considering the argument’s logic and making suggestions about how to improve the logic of the argument. The time allotted is 30 minutes.
Experimental: The experimental section can be either verbal, quantitative or writing and contains new questions that ETS is considering for future use. The test taker is uninformed about which section is experimental, some tests forgoing the section altogether, and others with the section clearly identified at the end of the test.
Scoring: The multiple choice questions are administered via a computer adaptive testing method (CAT) that automatically changes the difficulty of the questions as the test taker proceeds, depending on the number of correct or incorrect answers given. This system does not permit going back and changing answers once given, as the next question given is contingent on the last one answered.
GRE subject tests: In addition to the general test, there are eight GRE subject tests in the areas of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Literature in English, Mathematics, Physics, and Psychology. Each exam is 2 hours and 10 minutes.
When and Where: The GRE revised General Test is given year-round at computer based test centers in most locations around the world. Appointments are scheduled on a first-come, first served basis.
You can take the GRE revised General Test only once every 60 days and no more than 5 times in any 12 month period. To find a test center near you, you can log-on to http://etsis4.ets.org/tcenter/ and find locations.
Think grad school is in your future but getting scared by the GRE? Might be time to check out one of our private tutors!
GRE comic from: here
GRE tutors in New York
GRE Tutors in New York
The average tutor in New York charges around $65/hr. For GRE tutors in New York, you should expect to pay around the same.
First off, let’s look at the types of schools that need the GRE. Some of the top business schools may accept a GRE score, though most business, law, and medical scores look at your GMAT, LSAT, and MCAT instead (respectively). Then, you may ask, what schools want to see your GRE? The answer: virtually every other graduate school. All PhD programs and most Masters programs require your GRE score for admissions. Here are some rankings for the most popular graduate programs:
Education & Teaching:
1. Vanderbilt University
2. Harvard University
3. University of Texas - Austin
4. Stanford University
5. Teachers College, Columbia University
Engineering:
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2. Stanford University
3. University of California - Berkeley
4. Georgia Institute of Technology
5. University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign
Computer Science:
1. Carnegie Mellon University
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3. Stanford University
4. University of California - Berkeley
5. Cornell University
Psychology:
1. Stanford University
2. University of California - Berkeley
3. Harvard University
4. University of California - Los Angeles
5. University of Michigan - Ann Harbor
Such a wide variety of graduate schools means that our top GRE tutors in New York come from a variety of backgrounds as well. Antonia is a graduate student at the Institute of Fine Arts at NYU. Her passions include art, traveling, languages, and teaching. Ayesha is from NYU with degrees in Biochemistry and Public Health and Policy. She offers college prep skills along with GRE tutoring. Next, we have Rodrigo, who has twelve years of experience teaching undergraduate Statistics, Economics, and Calculus. He’s ready to help build your GRE test-taking skills with patience and dedication. Chengcheng is a math PhD student, number three from NYU. She scored highly on the GRE math and GRE general tests. Melanie is a seasoned test-taker who can help with the NY Regents exam, GRE, SAT, and ACT preparation. She has a Masters in Math Education and currently teaches high school math.
Attributions:
Image from Trey Ratcliff
Graduate Programs Rankings
