Archive for the ‘GRE SAT TOEFL’ Category

New GRE question types - Changes to the Computer-based GRE® General Test

Saturday, January 9th, 2010


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ETS has announced in late 2007 that two types of questions are being included in the GRE General Test. You may see one new Quantitative or one new Verbal question type in your test. Like other experimental questions, these questions initially might not have appeared, or did not count towards actual score. However, these new question types will now be counted towards the scores as soon as an adequate sample of data has been collected. Since that can happen any day, or might have already happened, you need to treat the questions seriously and be prepared.



New Verbal question includes a short text with two or three numbered blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. You are asked to fill all the blanks in the way that best completes the text. You can find more details here .



Questions of this type ask you to enter your answer either as a number in a single answer box or as a fraction in two separate boxes — one for the numerator and one for the denominator - using the computer mouse and keyboard. The trickiest part in this type is to make sure you pay attention to the rounding off. If you calculate the answer correctly as 9.38 and the answer is expected to be rounded to one decimal place, only 9.4 will be treated as the correct answer. You can find more details here .



In another significant change, the Reading Comprehension questions have traditionally contained line numbers that reference specific parts of the passages. Those line numbers are being replaced with highlighting when necessary in order to focus the test taker on specific information in the passage.



Reference: This article is based on the official ETS announcement which is publicly available on their website.

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What is a good GRE score?

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009


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In recent months a lot of students are asking this question. Since it may be of interest to many of our users, we decided to respond in detail. There are different ways to look at this. Before we proceed please be reminded that GRE is one of many factors and a great GRE score does not guarantee admission or funding.



A simple answer to this question is the applicant should do her best and try to score as much as possible.



Some students are always trying to find out how much GRE is good enough to get into top 10 universities. Let’s assume for a minute that the answer is 600 in verbal and 780 in quant. But nobody is stopping you from scoring 700 in verbal and 800 in quant and increases your chances, rather than apply with minimum qualifications.



It is really important to understand your potential and how much you can possibly score, rather than how much you should score. Once you understand your potential and study for the test, chances are that you will achieve it. For anybody who received an engineering degree from anywhere on the planet, a score of 780 is realistically possible. But most applicants who take GRE do not score 780 plus. Out of the vast number of applicants with science and engineering background, those who really score 780 plus are those who complete the test and mark all right answers except one or two wrong answers. Does it take a mathematical genius to answer 37 out of 37 GRE questions correctly? No. But it does take practice, concentration, timing and accuracy. Not everyone can do this in a stressful environment. It is those who cannot take the stress end up with scores below 750.



To estimate the potential score in verbal is rather complicated. The score gradation is not like quant, and scoring is not as easy. Score of 790 in quantitative section approximately corresponds to 90th percentile, but only 640 in verbal corresponds to 90th percentile. To put it differently 700 is easy to score in quant but very difficult and rare in verbal. If you are not a native speaker of English, but had lifelong studies in English (like students from India/Singapore) 600 is a realistic goal, if you were one of the better students of English at your school and college. Otherwise 550 might be a challenging target. If you started to learn English late in life and are not fully conversational, then after considerable studies, you might be able to score 500A lot depends on the individual but above gives you some idea of what can you possible score. But the best part is even if you score 400 in verbal, admission committee might be able to ignore it based on your country of origin and your other accomplishments.



So the bottom line is, understand the difference in scoring pattern of the two sections, study for the test practice for the speed and give your best shot. At the end of the day applying to US universities is a competitive process and performing very well in the GRE General Test is a good way to keep you ahead of other applicants.


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Posted in GRE SAT TOEFL, GRE Cutoff | 2 Comments »

New SAT Score-Reporting Policy to take effect soon

Thursday, January 1st, 2009


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The new score-reporting feature for SAT will be in effect starting spring 2009, and will be first available to students participating in the March 2009 SAT test administration. Students will be able to select which scores they send to colleges. The new feature is optional, if students do not opt for it, all scores will be sent by default.



The advantage of this policy is that the student will not be penalized for one bad day during the test. However the disadvantages are many. It is not easy to take the test multiple times for those with limited financial resources. But rich kids can take the test over and over again till they get a decent score. The College Board claims that the new rule is designed to reduce student stress and improve the test-day experience. It will potentially increase the stress for those who know due to financial reason it is their first and last chance, while others can retake if they mess up. Also by taking the test multiple times a test taker can get unfair advantage. The practice and experience of the real test helps the next time. Whether or not the new system will help the admission process and its various stakeholders remains to be seen.


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Low GRE AWA scores

Tuesday, November 20th, 2007


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Many students post questions on our forum about their low AWA scores. GRE General Test score is one of many criteria for admission and do not make your break our application. Among the three sections of GRE AWA is of least significance.


Most Universities do not have a minimum AWA cut off. Do not worry if you get a low AWA score. If you got 2.5 or more you are ok.


If you got less than 2.5 and you really think you did well on AWA, there is a process to challenge the score. (AWA only). It costs $55 for the computer bases test. For the details on the AWA score review process click here .


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Minimum TOEFL scores

Monday, October 29th, 2007


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TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) is a qualifying exam. Most Universities specify a minimum TOEFL score, which varies. Even within same University, different departments may have different scores.


If your TOEFL score is below the minimum, do not apply to that University. You can always find another equally good University with a lower TOEFL requirement.


If your TOEFL score is very high, it is nice but it does not help much.


Some Universities (example Texas A&M University, College Station) waive the TOEFL requirement if the applicants GRE verbal score is above a particular cutoff.


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Reporting GRE GMAT and TOEFL scores for free

Thursday, October 11th, 2007


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On the day of the GRE GMAT and TOEFL tests, there is an option to report your score to upto 4 Universities for free. This is a significant opportunity to save a lot of dollars if you plan ahead.


Identify ten Universities where you would like to apply. Then identify the middle four according to ranking and reputation. These are the safest Universities to report your score to. In case you end up with a very low GRE score then you may still be applying to these 4 Universities as against your dream school which could be ruled out due to a poor score. If you do not do careful planning then you may end up wasting this wonderful opportunity.


Posted in GRE SAT TOEFL, MBA and GMAT | 1 Comment »

GRE General Test has new question Types

Wednesday, August 8th, 2007


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Test takers may encounter one of these new questions in the Verbal Reasoning or Quantitative Reasoning sections of the computer-based GRE General Test. The new Verbal question type is a text completion question that requires the test taker to fill in two or three blanks within a passage from separate multiple-choice lists. Currently, the Verbal section contains text completion questions that require test takers to fill in one blank within a passage from a single multiple-choice list. The new Quantitative question type will be a numeric entry question that requires test takers to type their answer as a number in a box, or as a fraction in two boxes.

Test takers can review sample questions and additional information about the new question types on the GRE website.For more information about the GRE General Test, visit www.ets.org/gre. Test takers can e-mail questions to gre-info@ets.org or call (609) 771-7670.

Source: ETS Press Release

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Applicants with Low GRE Score

Thursday, July 12th, 2007


GRE General Test score is required for most MS programs at US Universities. For many international students, GRE is a cause of anxiety. If you have got a low GRE score, there is no need to worry and there is a lot of hope for those with low GRE scores.GRE is one of many requirements. Most Universities do not have a minimum cut off. Strong academic background and evidence of research and publication are more important factors for admission. Well written essays and statement of purpose can also make up for a poor GRE score. If your undergraduate degree is from a very reputable University or college, the GRE scores become less relevant.A very high GRE score can help you only if your academic record and other aspects of application are very strong. Similarly a very low GRE score will hurt if all other factors are weak.
We suggest you do not waste time in reapplying for the GRE general test, it is better to improve the other aspects of applications. The best thing you can do is try and improve your academic grades/ marks and publish a research paper, in any conference or publication.please checkout www.app2us.com

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GRE General Test explained

Sunday, May 27th, 2007

The GRE (Graduate Record Examination) General Test, often referred to as “GRE”, is a standardized test. There is a subject GRE also, but most students can manage their graduate admission process with the General Test score. This post is about the GRE General Test. The test has two formats – paper based and computer based. The paper based test is offered in a very few countries, on two specific dates every year. A Computer based test can be scheduled anytime during the year. The computer based GRE is adaptive. 

Adaptive means the test adapts according to the correct or wrong response to previous answers. If you are doing great and getting answers correct, the subsequent question would be of greater difficulty level. A difficult question carries more weight. GRE has 3 sections – verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and analytical writing. The possible range of score in each of Verbal and Quant section is between 200 to 800. If you score 431 in verbal and 591 in quant, you did better than half of the of test takers in each section, but for admission to a good university you should do better than that. Interpreting your score.

Different Universities have different rules about more than one GRE scores of the same candidate. Some take an average; some consider the most recent and so on. It is in the best academic and financial interest of an applicant to prepare well so that a need of a second shot at GRE does not arise. 

One should know that it costs a significant amount of money to report your GRE score to each University that you are applying to. However on the test day, you can supply the names of 4 Universities and the score to those Universities is reported by ETS free of cost. GRE score is one of many aspects of an applicant’s academic profile.

A great GRE score does not guarantee admission to a top University and at the same time all is not lost if the GRE score is not so great. 

More information about GRE General Test, see the official GRE website

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