Extensive revisions of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), expected for nearly two years, have been delayed indefinitely, according to the company that administers the tests.
This particular test revision, which was to go into effect this September, was to be the most significant change to the GRE in 55 years.
While the new version was expected to be a better indicator of students' aptitude for graduate school, Educational Testing Services (ETS) and the GRE Executive Committee Board were forced to delay the changes because of technical problems that would have blocked access to the exam for a significant number of students.
"As the launch approached, ETS determined that, despite the aggressive development of our Internet-based testing network, we could not guarantee complete access to all students needing to take the exam," wrote David Payne, executive director of the GRE Program at ETS, on the ETS Web site.
To carry out this change, the revised exam would have to be brought to over 3,200 testing centers around the world. Currently, ETS cannot ensure that the test would be available to all students.
Furthermore, the introduction of the new exam would drastically reduce the number of tests offered. As it is now, the GRE is administered nearly every day, but the new system would only allow for about 35 examinations each year.
"After much debate and evaluation, it became clear that the current format offers students more convenient and flexible opportunities to test when and where they choose, while still providing score users with valid predictors of test takers' preparedness for graduate school study," Payne said.
"While the graduate community supports and in fact helped develop and pilot the revised GRE General Test, they have also stated that they are satisfied with the current GRE General Test, until such time as improvements can be gradually implemented. ETS is being responsive to their best interests," Payne said. The ETS and GRE board is looking to modify the revised exam so as to alleviate the current access issues.
Despite the abruptness of this decision, few students appear to be suffering from this cancellation. In event of this reversal, the Princeton Review concluded on its Web site that it was "good news for students planning to apply for graduate school for the fall 2008 and beyond." Testing from the old exam system, students will be faced with unfamiliar questions, types and test structures.
In addition to a different scoring scale, the duration of the test was to be lengthened from two and a half hours to four hours. The new exam was also expected to feature more questions probing for "higher cognitive and reasoning skills", according to Kaplan Test Prep.
Senior Marilyn Perez felt that she was not affected by this decision.
"I actually didn't start studying until the week of the exam, but I didn't even know about potential changes until a couple of days before. Most of us didn't even know about a potential GRE revision," Perez said.
"The decision to cancel the revised GRE General Test best serves the interests of test takers and the graduate institutions that use those scores to make admissions decisions," Payne concluded.
