Michelle May said she took the GRE in August but was unsure if graduate school was for her.About two months and an economic downturn later, the mass communication senior is thankful she decided to take the Graduate Record Examination — a standardized test many graduate schools include in their admissions requirements.”I’m glad I took it when I did,” May said. “It’s a smart fall back plan.”The notion of the GRE as a “smart fall back plan” is how Educational Testing Services, the creator of the GRE, is trying to convince more people to take the exam.ETS began an advertising campaign in the fall, tagging the GRE as a good alternative plan for students. The ads ran in both college bookstores and newspapers nationwide referring to the test as “[a] backup plan in case the ‘I don’t need money to be happy’ notion wears thin,” and an “insurance policy for your future,” complete with images of a young woman on a backpacking trip and a surfer overlooking the beach.”The goal of the campaign is to get more students to consider going to graduate school, and the GRE is really one of the first steps,” said Dawn Piacentino, associate director of the GRE program.Piacentino said ETS has seen that students under 23 usually perform better than older individuals — a fact she attributes to students attending college.”We believe that when you’re juniors or seniors in college you’re doing the things measured on the GRE,” she said. “You’re using the academic skills that you need on the test.”Piacentino said a graduate degree can lead to a student becoming more competitive and having a greater chance of employment. She said a graduate degree also helps students reach a higher level of income.Recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show that in 2007 men and women with only a bachelor’s degree earned a median income of $57,397 and $38,628, respectively. Men and women with a degree beyond the undergraduate level earned more. Men had a median income of $77,219, and women earned $50,937.But the recent economic downturn has resulted in a bleak outlook for 2009 college graduates, according to a survey released by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. NACE reported that employers who took part in the survey expected to hire only 1.3 percent more graduates in 2009 than they did in 2008. That number is down from the original 6 percent an August poll predicted.And the recent economic shifts have led to a greater enrollment in the GRE. Mark McNutt, ETS manager of external relations, said when the economy is poor, many students see the GRE as a smart fall back plan.”What we do know is that we saw our highest GRE registrations for any previous month [in September], since we have been tracking those numbers,” McNutt said.
In general, the GRE has gained popularity as more students are registering for the exam. U.S. enrollment in the GRE increased more than 41 percent between 2000 and 2007, according to data provided by ETS.”What we have seen over the years is there does seem to be a lot of increased interest in going to graduate or a professional school,” said Sara Crow, communications manager for Career Services.But she is wary to consider the GRE a fall back plan because Career Services is meant to counsel students on what to do for the future.”We kind of wince when we hear people say that it is a fall back plan,” Crow said. “I think there are students that think about going to graduate school as a fall back plan, but we want people to go to graduate school as a career.”At the University she said students don’t seem to be following the trend ETS has seen of fear in the economy.”I do think we are hearing students voice a concern over the economy, but we are not seeing students that are worried,” she said.But Crow said the students who usually seek advice from Career Services are usually the ones that have better structured career plans.Joan Gallagher, associate director of Career Services, said the GRE is best considered a smart backup if students have the right motivations.”I would say it’s a smart fall back plan to take the test, and then decide if you’re interested in graduate school,” Gallagher said.She suggested students who are fearful of the economy and job market instead should look for additional experience in their respective field. She said experience is more likely to show an employer the person they are hiring has not only a desire to work but a background in the profession.”If [students] are worried about the job market, get an internship before you leave school,” Gallagher said.—-Contact Sean Griffin at [email protected]