Testing
Required or Not?
Research graduate programs of interest to determine whether you are required to submit certain test scores. It is possible to find programs for many advance degrees that do not require testing for admission. More programs are becoming test-optional to increase equity and access.
GRE
The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is commonly required for grad school applications. It consists of three sections: analytical writing, quantitative reasoning, and verbal reasoning. There is a raw score and associated percentile ranking which compares your score to other GRE-test-takers (this is often the focus for admissions). Weight of the GRE in the application process varies. More competitive programs will want a more competitive GRE score, and certain programs will value quantitative more than verbal or vice versa. Perhaps if you didn’t do so well in a statistics course, a program will want to see a higher quantitative reasoning score. Doing your research about institutions expectations for the GRE will help you determine what goals to set for scores.
| For more general information about GRE scores/percentiles, check out Kaplan info pages: What’s a Good GRE Score? and Average GRE Scores for Top Grad School Programs. |
Studying for the GRE
It is advisable to study for the GRE to understand the question formats and to review math concepts if you haven’t taken a math course in a while.
- ETS, the makers of the GRE, have information about test structure and content, as well as free practice tests and other study materials
- Kaplan: make an account to access a free practice GRE
- Kaplan has other free GRE prep resources – explore their website for events/videos/etc.
- Test-Guide: free practice test sections of the GRE
Other Tests
|
MCAT: Medical College Admission Test DAT: Dental Admission Test OAT: Optometry Admission Test *Use the Pre-Health Advising Center as a resource for this prep
|
LSAT: Law School Admission Test
*Use the Center for Pre-Law Advising as a resource for test prep |
| English exams (like TOELF – Test of English as a Foreign Language) may be necessary for international students applying to graduate schools. |
GMAT: Graduate Management Admission Test. May be required for business school, though many accept the GRE. Do your research on the differences between the GMAT and GRE to determine which might be a better option for you (check out: GMATvsGRE).
|