ETS Advances Campaign for Grad School Exams
Stuart Nachbar
October 08, 2008
The Chronicles of Higher Education online edition reported that the Educational Testing Service had begun a test marketing campaign at a hundred institutions, including Purdue and Vanderbilt, to encourage juniors and seniors to register for the Graduate Record Examination, even if they have no immediate plans to attend graduate school. See the story at: http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/10/4923n.htm?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
As the New York political machine boss George Washington Plunkett used to say, "I saw my opportunities and I took ´em." This time America´s Testing Machine did the same.
ETS appears to be using a weak job market to get more students to take a test that they might not be prepared to take. But there are advantages to taking the graduate examination as an undergrad. For example, undergraduate students are already accustomed to taking tests, and they are not too far removed from taking fill-in-the-blanks exams; they´ve had them in their introductory lecture courses. In addition, the scores are good for a few years, so test takers would not need to take the GRE at a later date, assuming they scored well enough to get into the school of their choice.
But this might not be the best time for ETS to ask college students and their parents for the money. For one thing, the GRE is an aptitude test that is not much different from the SATs. The verbal and math sections are similar, although there is an analytical section unique to that exam. Students who did not perform well on the SAT are likely to want a tutor for the GRE. So the costs of taking and prepping for the test are much higher than the examination fee; not all undergraduate schools offer the same intense tutoring as the prep services, especially not for free. Not to mention that test takers are already juggling work and a schedule of classes. The best time to prepare for these tests is when you have no classes.
In today´s story, ETS reported that its GRE board endorsed the marketing campaign and that the board is comprised of graduate school officials who have no stake in ETS´ revenues, only graduate school admissions. Then why aren´t these same officials questioning the need for the exam, just as undergraduate admissions officers have been questioning the use of the SATs?
The arguments for requiring a general aptitude test for college admissions are different than for graduate school. A graduate student should demonstrate proficiency in the subject they wish to study—and ETS has advanced tests for many academic majors—but why, for example, must a candidate for a Masters in fine arts, creative writing or journalism re-learn high school algebra or geometry? There are not many graduate majors where a general aptitude test is necessary, and graduate admissions are already a more personalized process where other factors, such as essays, interviews and student portfolios are taken into account.
At a time when money has become scarce with students, parents and college administrators, it might be better for graduate school officials to consider subjects where they can do away with the GRE requirement, rather than endorse a marketing campaign to support it. They would attract more applicants, and become more selective. And as the ETS representative said, the job of graduate school officials is to attract more students to graduate school.
Contact Stuart Nachbar at http://www.EducatedQuest.com, a blog on education politics, policy and technology or read about his first book, The Sex Ed Chronicles, a novel on education and politics in 1980 New Jersey, at http://www.SexEdChronicles.com.
As the New York political machine boss George Washington Plunkett used to say, "I saw my opportunities and I took ´em." This time America´s Testing Machine did the same.
ETS appears to be using a weak job market to get more students to take a test that they might not be prepared to take. But there are advantages to taking the graduate examination as an undergrad. For example, undergraduate students are already accustomed to taking tests, and they are not too far removed from taking fill-in-the-blanks exams; they´ve had them in their introductory lecture courses. In addition, the scores are good for a few years, so test takers would not need to take the GRE at a later date, assuming they scored well enough to get into the school of their choice.
But this might not be the best time for ETS to ask college students and their parents for the money. For one thing, the GRE is an aptitude test that is not much different from the SATs. The verbal and math sections are similar, although there is an analytical section unique to that exam. Students who did not perform well on the SAT are likely to want a tutor for the GRE. So the costs of taking and prepping for the test are much higher than the examination fee; not all undergraduate schools offer the same intense tutoring as the prep services, especially not for free. Not to mention that test takers are already juggling work and a schedule of classes. The best time to prepare for these tests is when you have no classes.
In today´s story, ETS reported that its GRE board endorsed the marketing campaign and that the board is comprised of graduate school officials who have no stake in ETS´ revenues, only graduate school admissions. Then why aren´t these same officials questioning the need for the exam, just as undergraduate admissions officers have been questioning the use of the SATs?
The arguments for requiring a general aptitude test for college admissions are different than for graduate school. A graduate student should demonstrate proficiency in the subject they wish to study—and ETS has advanced tests for many academic majors—but why, for example, must a candidate for a Masters in fine arts, creative writing or journalism re-learn high school algebra or geometry? There are not many graduate majors where a general aptitude test is necessary, and graduate admissions are already a more personalized process where other factors, such as essays, interviews and student portfolios are taken into account.
At a time when money has become scarce with students, parents and college administrators, it might be better for graduate school officials to consider subjects where they can do away with the GRE requirement, rather than endorse a marketing campaign to support it. They would attract more applicants, and become more selective. And as the ETS representative said, the job of graduate school officials is to attract more students to graduate school.
Contact Stuart Nachbar at http://www.EducatedQuest.com, a blog on education politics, policy and technology or read about his first book, The Sex Ed Chronicles, a novel on education and politics in 1980 New Jersey, at http://www.SexEdChronicles.com.
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