The Graduate Record Examinations General Test and the Medical College Admissions Test will both undergo significant changes in the fall of 2006. Among the changes, the GRE, a necessary part of graduate school applications, and the MCAT, a necessary part of medical school applications, will both adopt a non-adaptive computer-based testing format.
While the current GRE is already administered by computer, the test will change in October 2006 from a computer-adaptive exam, which generates questions according to a student's performance on the test, to a computer-based exam, which gives the same questions to all students.
"The computer-adaptive test has been troublesome to ETS [Educational Testing Service] for a number of years," Liz Wands, national director of graduate programs for the Princeton Review.
The Princeton Review publishes preparatory material for various standardized tests, including the GRE and the MCAT.
Under the current computer-adaptive system, ETS needs to generate thousands of questions for one exam, each of which costs approximately $1,000, Wands said. The limited number of questions on the revised GRE will greatly diminish these expenses.
The two-and-a-half hour test will be increased to four hours as a result of additional test sections, particularly in the verbal reasoning and quantitative reasoning sections. Meanwhile, the analytical writing section will be shortened for the new GRE.
The new GRE will replace the analogy and antonym questions for the analytical writing section with additional critical reading questions.
Changes under the new system will also affect when students can take the test. While the test is now offered on ongoing test dates throughout the year, the new GRE will be offered on only 30 days throughout the year. The changes in testing dates will go hand-in-hand with the change to computer-based exams as ETS works to increase test security.
The MCAT, which currently uses paper and pencil tests, will also change to a computer-based format after the August 2006 testing date. This change will allow the test to be offered more frequently than twice each year.
In addition, the Association of American Medical Colleges will be able to return scores to students more quickly.
According to Amjed Mustafa, MCAT program manager for Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, the 60 days it currently takes for students to receive scores will be cut in half with the new computerized test.
While GRE test takers will have to spend more time on the revised exam, those taking the MCAT will experience a version shortened from the original eight hours to five-and-a-half with approximately a third fewer questions.
The compacted test comes as a result of the acknowledged difficulty of sitting in front of a computer screen for eight hours, as well as the necessity of providing enough computers for students to take the test in separate morning and afternoon sessions, Mustafa said.
Although the new MCAT will be shorter, many students opposed the changes.
In a survey of students planning to take the MCAT, Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions found that 82 percent thought they would perform worse on a computer-based exam.
Complaints included worries of computers malfunctioning and freezing, which can add to the stress students will already be experiencing.
Students also expressed concern about the inability to take notes and potential eye strain from the computer screen.
"I don't know if it's in fear of the computer test, but for whatever reason it seems like more sophomores are planning on taking the test in August of 2006," Mustafa said.
Jenna Sherman '08, who plans to take the MCAT the summer following her senior year, said she doesn't mind the changes that will affect her exam.
"This way, there will be much more available dates to take the test, and scores will be available much sooner," Sherman said.
"With all the things that I do on my computer at Dartmouth, I don't think being on a computer will have too much of an effect."
