GRE test: It is better to take the test now than later

With the new and improved Graduate Record Examination (GRE) to be introduced, timing will be a matter of concern for all those students who are taking the test.

Experts are saying that if you need your GRE scores before November, to take admission in foreign universities, you should take the old-style GRE no later than July, which means you should probably start getting ready now.

So if you're taking the GRE test in August, September or October, you will take the new version of the test. Also you will only be able to get your score by mid-November. However, it may be risky especially if you are chasing the 2012 deadline and not happy with your scores. It will be also difficult to sit for the test again.

Speaking to Business Week, C Betaneli, a spokesperson for ETS, which administers the GRE, says, "Starting in December, GRE will return to its current practice of reporting scores within 10-15 days of the test date (six weeks for paper tests)."

Not only this, many experts of the test preparation industry are advising students to take the test in its current pattern. The new pattern of GRE will see new scoring scale, a verbal section that tests reasoning skills in addition to vocabulary, a more difficult quantitative section and an on-screen calculator for complex math problems. Kaplan estimates that it will take about an hour longer than the old-style test.