“The revised test was made primarily to better align with the higher-level skills students will need in graduate school,” Betaneli said.

The new exam is computer-based, and students will notice new features such as the ability to skip back and forth between questions and an on-screen calculator, Betaneli said.

The exam also experienced significant changes in content by modifying question types in the areas of verbal and quantitative reasoning, with more focus on vocabulary in context and data interpretation in real-life scenarios, she said.

The verbal and quantitative reasoning sections of the test now are scored on a scale between 130-170 in one-point increments instead of the former 200-800 point scale in 10-point increments.

The biggest complaints from students taking the new exam have been about the length, said Lee Weiss, director of graduate programs at Kaplan Test Prep in New York.

“You have to have the mental stamina to do well for four hours consistently,” Weiss said. “It’s really important for students to get used to the length and keep concentration.”

Aside from the length, Weiss said students are realizing that a lot more preparation is necessary.
“Two to three months of consistent, computer-based practice is necessary for preparation,” Weiss said. “It’s very important to get used to the exam format.”

Since most graduate schools require students to take the test, it is vital to receive a high score, Weiss said.

“We’ve heard that the GRE is considered the most important factor for admission to graduate school programs,” Weiss said. “The better a student can do on the test, the better chance they have getting into their school of choice.”

For supply chain management senior Tom McCandlish, who took the new GRE in August, the changes made to the exam weren’t discouraging.

“Since I took the LSAT, the length wasn’t a problem,” said McCandlish. “Overall, I didn’t think it was too bad.”