What Score in GRE may help me get into a good college?
Certification: Test Prep GRE - Graduate Record Examination
The GRE (Graduate Record Examination) is an exam taken by students to get admission in foreign colleges and universities, mostly in United States. The test is conducted and monitored by Education Testing Service. Initially around 1949 the test aimed to measure the verbal and quantitative reasoning, analytical writing, and critical thinking. These skills are attained by the students over a long period of time; it can’t be gained by studying a particular period of time in any school. The format of the exam is objective type having multiple choice questions, the scores of the test is a determining factor for the admission foreign graduate schools and the various department within schools. ETS had made some changes in august 2011 in the question pattern, making the exam more users friendly and less difficult in comparison to other exams. The changed pattern will make evaluation of students easier by the universities, enabling them to choose more deserving candidates. The new pattern is effective since august 2011. According to the GRE team this is largest change in the last 60 yrs of GRE history.
The revised pattern of GRE features questions that will reflect your thinking, and the skills that are needed to succeed in the graduate schools. The friendly design of the test enables you to sip questions within the section, allow back and forth for changing the answers and the freedom to choose which section you want to do first. The scoring of GRE is done on 41 point scale. This means that if there is a small change in your performance the score changes a bit. This change will make a big difference in your percentile ranking. For example, if there is point one increase in your score, it can increase your percentile by 5. The score ranking of the GRE follows a classic bell curve. As the percentile behaves like bell curve, it’s evident that that you have done better than your counterparts in last three years.
To have a good score that can land you up into a good college or college of your choice, can be had if you follow the following steps:
- Research about the good score: You should read about the previous admissions in the field of area you want to study, the previous year admission score, the average admission score. After you know every detail, set a goal for yourself and prepare accordingly. If you score around the average score of previous admissions it is likely that you will get the college of your dreams. In case don’t score there, don’t get disheartened, it was just a practice test. You can score better in your actual test.
- Test yourself: After your research about the requirements of your desired college and your program, you should prepare well. When you think your preparation is complete, then it’s time for you to test yourself. You should take exam time based papers to check how much you score. If you score is around or above the previous percentile , then you don’t need a guidance or training or if you scored below the average score you need to study hard or go for training.
- Always set a goal above previous score: You should always try to break your own records if you score the previous year average score in one test. Then you should set your goal 20 points higher than the previous goal. This will help you prepare well and raise your final score on the D-day. You should set yourself a target and work hard on the focus areas which can fetch you, your average score.
- Contact the current students and admission committee: If you have talked to the school committee earlier you would know what they look into the GRE score besides a good average score. Some of the colleges and departments look for good score in verbal reasoning while some in quantitative reasoning. You should try to connect with other students as well, who currently are studying in the same field you aspire to be. They can help you out in preparation as we as will let you know about the admission formalities.
- Aim for a good score: You should aim high. If you have a good score as well as a good GPA you are bound to get good college. But in case it doesn’t happen, don’t be afraid you should try to do better than you can perform. Always trust your abilities and according to your decided pan, you will achieve what you desire.
If you study according to fixed pan you likely to achieve what you want. Usually if you score high its better, but for certain programs, not for all. Some universities look for individual score, while some for genera cut off score depending on the programs. All of the applicants above the cut off score stand at the same place, unless the college asks for individual section score. The weightage that the GRE score gets in the universities varies from one to another. So one should look for the university requirement then apply for the course rather than getting rejected for the course if you don’t meet the requirements.
The GRE score of yours is responsible for your acceptance into a college, but getting the admission depends on many other factors. Like your internships, project work, GPA of yours, and your previous academic program. These factors are also considered during the admission procedure. Above all prepare well according to a plan so that you clears it the very first time, it will not only boost your confidence but can make you different from others too.
