Changes in GRE may make students happier

It hasn’t been easy for Korean students to take the Graduate Record Examination - known as the GRE, a test administered to college graduates worldwide seeking to go on to advanced studies - due to a lack of test-taking opportunities. Some Koreans, due to that, have even resorted to leaving the country to take the test.

Now, though, due to revisions in the exam rules that will take effect next August, students shouldn’t have to become jet-setters to meet application deadlines for graduate and business schools.

According to David Payne, vice president of the Educational Testing Service, which administers the GRE, Korean students will be able to take the GRE once or twice a month, instead of once or twice a year.

Also, the test will be administered in one session, in one day, with the test questions being changed for each session to prevent cheating. In the past, the same exact test was given twice a year, which led to the cheating. To combat that, the test-taking had been split into two separate sessions and students didn’t know which questions would be asked at either of the two sessions. But that change added to the test-taking time crunch. China and Taiwan were the other countries subject to the split test, according to the ETS.

Also now, students will be able to receive test results in 10 to 15 days, instead of six weeks.

The test covers analytical writing, verbal reasoning and quantitative reasoning.

With the changes, the ETS said it has “tried to make the problems closer to what the students will go through,” said Payne.

The students also will be able to navigate through the exam better and have the freedom to skip questions and go back to them, the ETS said.

By Christine Kim [christine.kim@joongang.co.kr]