Beginning in August of 2011, the GRE will no longer be given in its current form. Instead, a new test known as the GRE revised General Test (aka the new GRE) will be the only option for GRE test takers.  This article will detail exactly what changes will be made, and how they affect you.

At left is a flow chart design to help students decide which GRE to take.  For some students, the Old GRE will be your only option.  For others, the schools you apply to will accept only the New GRE.  However, most students will have to decide between the two tests.  Click the chart to enlarge and follow it to the test you need, or want, to take. 

Format Changes

The first and most noticeable change in the exam is in the overall format. The current GRE is a Computer Adaptive Test, in which your answer on any given question determines the next question the test gives you (i.e., a correct answer will lead to a more difficult subsequent question, while an incorrect answer will lead to an easier one). On the current GRE, you are unable to navigate back to questions that you have already answered. You are also prohibited from skipping any questions or previewing questions that are yet to come.

The new GRE will be given in a section adaptive format. In this format, once you have completed the Analytical Writing section, you will get either a verbal or quantitative section. You will then have a set amount of time (30 or 35 minutes depending on the type of section) to complete that section. Unlike the current GRE, the new test will allow you to skip questions, meaning you can preview all questions in a given section before beginning to answer them (it’s probably not a good idea to actually do this, but you could if you wanted to). You will also have the ability to mark and review your answers before submitting them so long as you stay within the section time limit. This new format provides you with a chance to work on a section freely, meaning you are less likely to get stuck wasting time on one particular question. However, the test requires more questions to draw an accurate picture of your ability level, meaning the new GRE is a longer test.

Your performance on the first verbal section will determine the difficulty level of your second verbal section, and your performance on your first quantitative section will determine the difficulty level of your second quantitative section.

Another big format change is the shift from an entirely multiple-choice test to one with varying question types. Whereas the current GRE consists only of multiple-choice questions that have a single correct answer, the new GRE will be a mix of multiple-choice questions with one correct answer, multiple-choice questions with more than one correct answer, text-interactive questions (in which you must highlight a relevant section of a reading comprehension passage), and numeric entry questions (quantitative questions that require you to type your numeric answer into a text box).

The final change in the format of the new GRE is in the scoring. The verbal and quantitative sections of the exam will shift from the old scale of 200-800 in ten-point increments, to a new scale of 130-170 in one-point increments. The Analytical Writing section will continue to be scored on a scale of 0-6 in half-point increments.

New Question Formats in Detail

You will see the biggest changes to the GRE in the verbal section. The current GRE features four types of questions: Reading Comprehension, Sentence Completion, Antonyms, and Analogies. The new GRE will completely do away with Antonyms and Analogies, so there will be no more questions that test vocabulary out of context. These will be replaced by two new question types: Sentence Equivalence and Text Completion. For Sentence Equivalence questions, the test taker must select two words that could each fill the same single blank in a sentence such that the sentence would have the same meaning using either selection. Text Completion questions may include up to three blanks. Unlike old Sentence Completion questions in which answers were selected in set pairs, the new Text Completion problems ask you to select a word for each blank independently. There will be no partial credit given for these questions.

Reading Comprehension questions will go largely unchanged, with a few exceptions. On some questions, you will be asked to highlight a portion of the passage rather than selecting an answer from a list. Also, on some RC questions, you will be asked to choose all correct answers from a list of three choices. Anywhere from one to three choices could be correct.

The math section will not change much in terms of the content covered on the exam. However, there will be a few new question formats.

The first change is the addition of Numeric Entry questions. These questions will ask you to calculate a numerical answer and enter it into a box (instead of selecting an answer from a list of choices). The second is the addition of multiple choice questions with more than one correct answer. These questions will ask you to select all correct answers. As with the verbal questions with more than one correct answer, there is no partial credit given on these questions.

Finally, the new GRE will include an on-screen calculator. This change will NOT necessarily make the test easier. This likely signals a shift away from computation based questions toward questions that cannot be solved with a calculator alone.

What GRE Should You Take?

Which GRE should you take, the current test or the new test? Here are the points we urge students to consider when making this decision.

1. Application Timeline and Score Reporting Delays – As part of the process of adjusting the scores on the GRE to the new scale mentioned above, ETS is delaying the release of scores for students who take the new GRE this year. Anyone who takes the test after August 1st will not receive their scores until mid-November at the earliest, and the scores will not be distributed on a stable schedule until December. You can find an exact breakdown of the distribution dates here. If you are planning to apply to a school with a fall 2011 application deadline you MUST take the current GRE in order to get your scores on time. Make sure that you check your application deadlines before planning your GRE so that you don’t get stuck without a score.

2. Ease of Testing / Content Familiarity – The new test will be different, and may play to your advantages. Fewer vocabulary questions out of context will make the verbal section easier for some students, while the addition of multiple answer questions and numerical entry questions may make the math more difficult. However, this is all speculation. You should assume that the exams will be of equal difficulty. Furthermore, everyone taking the new exam will be in the same boat – remember that your score depends not on how many questions you get correct, but on how well you do relative to other test takers.

3. Score longevity – One concern we’ve heard is that schools will stop looking at current GRE scores as the new test comes into vogue. Don’t worry – that isn’t going to happen. The current GRE scores will continue to be good for five years*. So, if you feel more comfortable with the current exam, you can take the exam and keep your scores on tap for up to five years.

Conclusion

I hope this has been a helpful overview and has helped to set your mind at ease.