GRE

                        GRE (Graduate Record Examinations)

Introduction : Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) is a standardized test that is an admissions requirement for many graduate schools in the United States, in other English-speaking countries and for English-taught graduate and business programs world-wide. Created and administered by Educational Testing Service (ETS) in 1949, the exam aims to measure verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, analytical writing and critical thinking skills that have been acquired over a long period of time and that are not related to any specific field of study. The GRE General Test is offered as a computer-based exam administered by selected qualified testing centers.

In the graduate school admissions process, the level of emphasis that is placed upon GRE scores varies widely between schools and between departments within schools. The importance of a GRE score can range from being a mere admission formality to an important selection factor.

The GRE was completely overhauled in August 2011, creating an exam that is not adaptive on a question-by-question basis, but rather by section, so that the performance on the first verbal and math sections determine the difficulty of the second sections shown. Overall, the test retained the sections and question types from its predecessor, but the scores were changed to a 130 to 170 scale.

Who Takes It?

Prospective graduate and business school applicants from all around the world take the GRE revised General Test. Applicants come from varying educational and cultural backgrounds and the GRE revised General Test provides a common measure for comparing candidates' qualifications.

GRE® scores are used by admissions or fellowship panels to supplement your undergraduate records, recommendation letters and other qualifications for graduate-level study.

When and Where Do People Take It?

The GRE revised General Test is available at about 700 test centers in more than 160 countries. In most regions of the world, the computer-based test is available on a continuous basis throughout the year. In Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea, the computer-based test is available one to three times per month. In areas of the world where computer-based testing is not available, the test is administered in a paper-based format up to three times a year in October, November and February.

See Test Centers and Dates for all regions.

See which format is available in your area.

Who Accepts It?

The GRE revised General Test is accepted at thousands of graduate and business schools as well as departments and divisions within these schools. View this list (PDF).

Register for the GRE® revised General Test

The GRE® revised General Test is available at about 700 test centers in more than 160 countries. It is offered as a computer-based test year round at most locations around the world and as a paper-based test up to three times a year in areas where computer-based testing is not available.

Which test format is offered in my location?

You can register for either the computer-based test or the paper-based test with a valid credit or debit card through your My GRE Account.

Register Online Now >

Note: Online registration is not available for test takers with disabilities or health-related needs requesting accommodations; test takers requesting fee reductions, standby testing or Monday testing; or for test takers in Nigeria.

See other ways to register for the computer-based test or the paper-based test.

Important Things to Remember When Registering

• You need to create a My GRE Account to register online.
• You are responsible for bringing valid and acceptable identification when you report to a test center. 
• When registering, the name you use to register — and the spelling of that name — must exactly match the name printed on the identification documents (excluding hyphens, accents and spaces) that you will present at the test center. See The Name You Use When Registering.
• When scheduling your testing appointment, be sure to allow sufficient time for score reporting so you can meet the admissions deadlines for the schools to which you are applying.
• Check the fees and read the reschedule and cancellation policies before registering for the test.
• If you have health-related needs that require you to bring equipment, beverages or snacks into the testing room or to take extra or extended breaks, you need to follow the accommodations request procedures described in the Bulletin Supplement for Test Takers with Disabilities or Health-related Needs (PDF).
• Not all test centers are open on all dates.
• You are not allowed to transfer your registration to someone else.
• As part of your test fee, you may request that scores be sent to up to four graduate programs, business programs or fellowship sponsors. Using the ScoreSelect option for each of your four free score reports, you can decide to send scores from your Most Recent test administration or from All the times you have taken the test in the last five years. If you are taking the computer-based test, you will designate your score recipients on test day. If you are taking the paper-based test, you will designate your score recipients when registering for the test. For more information, see Sending Your Scores.
• Individuals who register for the GRE revised General Test can send up to four FREE ETS® Personal Potential Index (ETS® PPI) Evaluation Reports to graduate institutions or fellowship sponsors. For more information, visit the ETS PPI website.
• You will be given the option to register for the FREE GRE Search Service when you register for a GRE test. Or, you may sign up for the GRE Search Service at any time. For more information, see GRE Search Service.

Retaking the GRE revised General Test

You can take the GRE revised General Test (computer-based and paper-based) only once every 30 days, and no more than five times within any continuous rolling 12-month period. This applies even if you canceled your scores on a test taken previously. If you take only the paper-based GRE revised General Test, you can take it as often as it is offered.

GRE Word Lists   For word list click here  

BRM  

 

 

Follow us on Facebook

SAT

SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test)

About SAT :

The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test that assesses the critical reading, mathematics, and writing skills that students need to be successful in college. Each of the three sections that comprise the SAT Reasoning Test has a possible score of 800 points. Prior to 2005, the SAT test included only two sections, the verbal section (now referred to as the critical reading section) and the math section, each having possible scores of 800 points. SAT test results represent one factor considered by many colleges and universities in making admissions decisions.

Today, the SAT is the benchmark standardized assessment of the critical reading, mathematical reasoning, and writing skills students have developed over time and that they need to be successful in college. Each year, more than two million students take the SAT. Nearly every college in America uses the test as a common and objective scale for evaluating a student's college readiness.

Educators trust the SAT as a useful part of the college application process because the SAT is: 

• The most researched standardized admissions test

• The standard in reliability and validity

• An internationally recognized, accurate measure of college readiness and scholarship potential

SAT facts

 

The SAT is offered seven times a year in the United States and six times at international sites. The test: 

• Takes three hours and 45 minutes

• Consists of 10 separately timed sections:

• Three sections test critical reading (70 minutes total)

• Three sections test mathematics (70 minutes total)

• Three sections test writing (60 minutes total)

• One variable (un scored) section tests critical reading, mathematics, or writing (25 minutes total)

• Assesses subject matter learned in high school and problem solving skills in three areas:

• Critical reading

• Mathematics

• Writing

• Includes three kinds of questions:

• Multiple-choice questions

• Student-produced responses (mathematics only)

• Essay question

• Is machine-scored, except for the essay

Why should students take the SAT?

Students and parents often ask why it is important to take the SAT. Reasons include:

• All colleges accept the SAT as an objective measurement of students' college readiness.

• Used with GPA and high school transcripts, SAT scores allow colleges to fairly compare applicants.

• Taking the SAT gives students access to scholarship opportunities.

• Most colleges require an admission test like the SAT.

• The SAT provides students with the most comprehensive performance feedback of any admission test.

Many institutions require a writing assessment for admission. Students who take the SAT automatically fulfill such requirements.

Learn more about the scholarship search tool in the student area of our site.

How difficult is the SAT?

The SAT is developed to reflect accepted educational standards. The data show that the material on the SAT and the time allocated to each section are appropriate for the intended test-taking population: 

• On average, students answer 50 to 60 percent of questions correctly.

• 80 percent finish nearly the entire test.

• Almost all students complete at least 75 percent of the questions.

Encourage your students to become familiar with the test before they take their first SAT. (The following link takes you to the student area of this site.) The SAT practice section  offers: 

• Sample questions

• Answer explanations

• Official SAT practice test

• Personalized score report

Critical reading

 

The critical reading questions are all multiple choice. They can have one of two formats: 

• Sentence completion

• Passage-based reading with long and short excerpts from works in natural sciences, humanities, social sciences, and literary fiction

The questions assess students' reading skills, such as:

• Identifying main and supporting ideas

• Determining the meaning of words in context

• Understanding authors' purposes

• Understanding the structure and function of sentences

Mathematics 

The mathematics section has two types of questions: 

• Multiple-choice questions

• Student-produced responses

The questions require students to apply mathematical concepts and to use data literacy skills in interpreting tables, charts, and graphs. They cover skills in four major areas:

• Numbers and operations

• Algebra and functions

• Geometry and measurement

• Data analysis, statistics, and probability

Writing 

The writing section consists of two types of questions: 

• An essay

• Multiple-choice questions

The multiple-choice questions ask students to: 

• Recognize sentence errors

• Choose the best version of a piece of writing

• Improve paragraphs

SAT® section by section 

The SAT is three hours and 45 minutes long. It is broken into 10 sections: 

• Three writing

• Three critical reading

• Three mathematics

• One variable (un-scored)

The first section is always the essay, and the last section is also a writing section. In between, the academic content areas can come in any order. 

          Content                                                   Minutes                     Total Time

Writing (essay)                                                25                              60 minutes

Writing (multiple-choice)                                25

Writing (multiple-choice)                                10

Critical reading (multiple-choice)                    25                               70 minutes

Critical reading (multiple-choice)                    25

Critical reading (multiple-choice)                    20

Mathematics (multiple-choice and student-produced response) 25          70 minutes

Mathematics (multiple-choice)                                                 25

Mathematics (multiple-choice)                                                 20

Variable (un-scored, multiple-choice)                                      25           25 minutes

The un-scored section

One of the 25-minute sections is un-scored. This "variable" or "equating" section may have critical reading, mathematics, or multiple-choice writing questions. It does not count toward the final score but is used to try out new questions and to ensure that scores on new editions of the SAT are comparable to scores on earlier editions.

Test book variations 

Test-takers sitting next to each other in the same testing session may have test books with an entirely different sequence of the 25-minute and 20-minute sections.

SAT Study Plan

A simple plan personalized to your stage of testing  SAT Study Plane

Thanks 
BRM 

 

TOEFL

TOEFL

Test Of English as a Foreign Language or TOEFL, evaluates the ability of an individual to use and understand English in an academic setting. It was developed to address the problem on ensuring English language proficiency for non-native speakers wishing to study at American universities. It has become an admission requirement for non-native English speakers at many English-speaking colleges and universities. Additionally, institutions such as government agencies, licensing bodies, businesses, or scholarship programs may require this test. 
A TOEFL score is valid for two years and then will no longer be officially reported since a candidate's language proficiency could have significantly changed since the date of the test. Colleges and universities usually consider only the most recent TOEFL score.

Policies governing the TOEFL program are formulated with advice from a 16-member board. Board members are affiliated with undergraduate and graduate schools, 2-year institutions and public or private agencies with an interest in international education. Other members are specialists in the field of English as a foreign or second language. 

The TOEFL Committee of Examiners is composed of 12 specialists in linguistics, language testing, teaching or research. Its main responsibility is to advise on TOEFL test content. The committee helps ensure the test is a valid measure of English language proficiency reflecting current trends and methodologies.

The TOEFL test is a registered trademark of Educational Testing Service (ETS) and is administered worldwide.

Formats and contents

Internet-based Test

Since its introduction in late 2005, the Internet-based Test (iBT) has progressively replaced both the computer-based tests (CBT) and paper-based tests (PBT), although paper-based testing is still used in select areas. The iBT has been introduced in phases, with the USA, Canada, France, Germany, and Italy in 2005 and the rest of the world in 2006, with test centers added regularly. The CBT was discontinued in September 2006 and these scores are no longer valid.

Although initially, the demand for test seats was higher than availability, and candidates had to wait for months, it is now possible to take the test within one to four weeks in most countries. The four-hour test consists of four sections, each measuring one of the basic language skills (while some tasks require integrating multiple skills) and all tasks focus on language used in an academic, higher-education environment. Note-taking is allowed during the iBT. The test cannot be taken more than once a week.

Reading :
 

The Reading section consists of 3–4 passages, each approximately 700 words in length and questions about the passages. The passages are on academic topics; they are the kind of material that might be found in an undergraduate university textbook. Passages require understanding of rhetorical functions such as cause-effect, compare-contrast and argumentation. Students answer questions about main ideas, details, inferences, essential information, sentence insertion, vocabulary, rhetorical purpose and overall ideas. New types of questions in the iBT require filling out tables or completing summaries. Prior knowledge of the subject under discussion is not necessary to come to the correct answer.

Listening:
 

The Listening section consists of six passages 3–5 minutes in length and questions about the passages. These passages include two student conversations and four academic lectures or discussions. A conversation involves two speakers, a student and either a professor or a campus service provider. A lecture is a self-contained portion of an academic lecture, which may involve student participation and does not assume specialized background knowledge in the subject area. Each conversation and lecture stimulus is heard only once. Test-takers may take notes while they listen and they may refer to their notes when they answer the questions. Each conversation is associated with five questions and each lecture with six. The questions are meant to measure the ability to understand main ideas, important details, implications, relationships between ideas, organization of information, speaker purpose and speaker attitude.

Speaking :
 

The Speaking section consists of six tasks: two independent tasks and four integrated tasks. In the two independent tasks, test-takers answer opinion questions on familiar topics. They are evaluated on their ability to speak spontaneously and convey their ideas clearly and coherently. In two of the integrated tasks, test-takers read a short passage, listen to an academic course lecture or a conversation about campus life and answer a question by combining appropriate information from the text and the talk. In the two remaining integrated tasks, test-takers listen to an academic course lecture or a conversation about campus life and then respond to a question about what they heard. In the integrated tasks, test-takers are evaluated on their ability to appropriately synthesize and effectively convey information from the reading and listening material. Test-takers may take notes as they read and listen and may use their notes to help prepare their responses. Test-takers are given a short preparation time before they have to begin speaking. The responses are digitally recorded, sent to ETS’s Online Scoring Network (OSN) and evaluated by three to six raters.

Writing :
 

The Writing section measures a test taker's ability to write in an academic setting and consists of two tasks: one integrated task and one independent task. In the integrated task, test-takers read a passage on an academic topic and then listen to a speaker discuss the same topic. The test-taker will then write a summary about the important points in the listening passage and explain how these relate to the key points of the reading passage. In the independent task, the test-taker must write an essay that states, explains, and supports their opinion on an issue, supporting their opinions or choices, rather than simply listing personal preferences or choices. Responses are sent to the ETS OSN and evaluated by four raters.

Task	Description	Approx. time
Reading	3–4 passages, each containing 12–14 questions	60–80 minutes
Listening	6–9 passages, each containing 5–6 questions	60–90 minutes
Break		10 minutes
Speaking	6 tasks and 6 questions	20 minutes
Writing	2 tasks and 2 questions	50 minutes

One of the sections of the test will include extra, uncounted material. Educational Testing Service includes extra material in order to pilot test questions for future test forms. When test-takers are given a longer section, they should give equal effort to all of the questions because they do not know which question will count and which will be considered extra. For example, if there are four reading passages instead of three, then three of those passages will count and one of the passages will not be counted. Any of the four passages could be the uncounted one.

Paper-based Test

In areas where the internet-based test is not available, a paper-based test (PBT) is given. Test takers must register in advance either online or by using the registration form provided in the Supplemental Paper TOEFL Bulletin. They should register in advance of the given deadlines to ensure a place because the test centers have limited seating and may fill up early. Tests are administered on fixed dates 6 times each year.

The test is 3 hours long and all test sections can be taken on the same day. Students can take the test as many times as they wish. However, colleges and universities usually consider only the most recent score.

Listening (30 – 40 minutes) 

The Listening section consists of 3 parts. The first one contains 30 questions about short conversations. The second part has 8 questions about longer conversations. The last part asks 12 questions about lectures or talks.

Structure and Written Expression (25 minutes) 

The Structure and Written Expression section has 15 exercises of completing sentences correctly and 25 exercises of identifying errors.

Reading Comprehension (55 minutes)

The Reading Comprehension section has 50 questions about reading passages.

Writing (30 minutes)

The Writing section is one essay with 250–300 words in average.

Test scores

Internet-based Test

The iBT version of the TOEFL test is scored on a scale of 0 to 120 points.

Each of the four sections (Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing) receives a scaled score from 0 to 30. The scaled scores from the four sections are added together to determine the total score.

Each speaking question is initially given a score of 0 to 4, and each writing question is initially given a score of 0 to 5. These scores are converted to scaled scores of 0 to 30.

Paper-based Test

The final PBT score ranges between 310 and 677 and is based on three sub scores: Listening (31–68), Structure (31–68), and Reading (31–67). Unlike the CBT, the score of the Writing section (referred to as the Test of Written English, TWE) is not part of the final score; instead, it is reported separately on a scale of 0–6.

The score test takers receive on the Listening, Structure and Reading parts of the TOEFL test is not the percentage of correct answers. The score is converted to take into account the fact that some tests are more difficult than others. The converted scores correct these differences. Therefore, the converted score is a more accurate reflection of the ability than the correct answer score is.

Accepted TOEFL Scores

Most colleges use TOEFL scores as only one factor in their admission process. Each college or program within a college often has a minimum TOEFL score required. The minimum TOEFL iBT scores range from 61 (Bowling Green State University) to 100 (MIT, Columbia, Harvard). A sampling of required TOEFL admissions scores shows that a total TOEFL iBT score of 74.2 for undergraduate admissions and 82.6 for graduate admissions may be required.