Starting in the fall of 2007, the Graduate Record Exam will undergo several changes.
Though changes to the test were set to begin in October, members of the GRE Board, which is composed of the graduate education community, thinks that test takers and graduate schools will benefit from the delay.
According to a news release from the Educational Testing Service, changes to the format of the test will ease the “transitions from the current computer-and paper-based forms of the test to the new Internet-based version.”
Tom Ewing, spokesman for ETS, said the service delayed the release of the new test to gain experience with the Internet-based system before it was put onto the network and to establish enough testing centers.
“Students mostly wait until the fall [to take the test], so we didn’t want to find ourselves in a situation where students couldn’t find a testing center,” Ewing said.
The new GRE is designed to improve test effectiveness and address safety concerns. The new format is also expected to provide additional worldwide access to the test, give faculty better information about applicants’ performance and make better use of advances in technology and psychometric design.
Ewing said the primary reason for the change is to update the GRE to reflect the level of skills and abilities graduating students are supposed to have. Ewing said the GRE Board sought questions with more critical reasoning and less simple memorization.
ETS will confirm final changes to the test in 2007.
The GRE is offered regularly on campus at 137 Himes Hall. To register, visit www.ets.org.
 
Contact Samantha Walker at [email protected]