GRE format changed to GRE revised general test
In this article, I describe the changes introduced in the revised GRE general test. The format of GRE was changed from August 1, 2011. This article gives all the information related to the new features introduced in this GRE revised general test.
What is GRE?
GRE is acronym for Graduate Record Examination. GRE test is taken by students to apply for a graduate degree. Universities in USA, Germany, Singapore, Australia and 75 other countries use the GRE scores to make a decision for admission for graduation degree. Every year more than 5 lakh students appear for GRE which is now renamed to GRE revised general test. For more information on this click on GRE revised general testNew features in GRE revised general test
After a lot of deliberation since 2008, finally GRE format has been modified. The new features introduced in the GRE revised general test will be beneficial to both the test takers and the review teams in the Universities. The new features are as as below.Introduction of Calculator
For the quantitative reasoning section, a calculator will now be introduced. Basic operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division will be available on the calculator. In addition, a square root function will also be available. The reason for introduction of the calculator is the new question types in Quantitative section which are more in resemblance to the actual and realistic values. Another reason is that most transaction related questions have solutions in decimal points which earlier had to be rounded up to the nearest integer. But now with the introduction of the calculator, these values can be kept in decimals. This change will help the students calculate and solve the Quant questions much faster.Skipping of questions in a section
In the old version of GRE, one had to attempt the question in order to see the next question. Now, one can skip through all the questions without answering. But this feature is restricted to only the questions in a particular section. One cannot skip through sections. One has to attempt an entire section to answer the next section. Also, this feature is not extended to the analytical writing measure. There are two tasks in the analytical writing measure and one has to be attempted before the other is displayed. But overall, this feature will be immensely helpful for the test takers because they no longer will answer just because they are forced to answer.Section level adaptive feature
GRE is an adaptive exam. It means that the difficulty level of the next question is dependent on the answer to the previous question. This extended to the questions in every section. Although GRE revised general test is also adaptive, it is no longer question level adaptive. This means that the difficulty level of the questions will not be dependent on the correctness of the answer to the previous question. According to the new feature, the next section of the same measure will be adaptive based on the performance in the previous section. The number of correct answers in the entire section will determine the difficulty level of the questions in the next section. And this adaptive feature is restricted to the section of the same measure. For example, the verbal reasoning measure section performance will determine the difficulty level of the next verbal reasoning section only, and not quantitative reasoning measure.Editing and changing answers in a section
In the GRE revised general test, test takers will now have the leverage of the editing and modifying answer feature in an entire section. Earlier, one could not modify, edit or change the answers once submitted. But with the new GRE, one can do this. But this feature is not extended from section to section. It means that once you have answered the entire section, you cannot change the answers in that section. Only within a section can you modify your answers in the GRE revised general test.New scoring system for GRE revised general test
A new scoring scale is introduced in the GRE revised general test for the benefit of comparison. In the old scoring system, the difference in the aptitude of the applicants seemed very high since the scoring changed every 10 points. Now the increment of 1 point makes the comparison much more simple for the review committees of Universities.
New scoring system for GRE
• Verbal Reasoning: 130-170 score scale
• Quantitative Reasoning: 130-170 score scale
• Analytical Writing: 0-6 score scale
Old scoring system for GRE
• Verbal Reasoning: 200-800 score scale
• Quantitative Reasoning: 200-800 score scale
• Analytical Writing: 0-6 score scaleIntroduction of new question types
With the change of format in the GRE revised general test new question types are introduced in Verbal as well as Quantitative measures. They are as follows:
Verbal Reasoning
• Sentence Equivalence Questions
• Text Completion Questions
Quantitative Reasoning
• Statistical and Distribution questions
• Graphical representation questions