In preparing for a future after college, students are now more than ever urged to continue their education due to a wavering economy.’ Attending graduate school is an alternative that many students would find beneficial if their goals are uncertain.’ ‘ ‘

Students unsure of what they will do upon graduation are encouraged to take graduate school entrance exams in their junior and senior years.’ According to research conducted by certain organizations such as the Educational Testing Service, if a student is 23 years or younger, their chances of success on a Graduate Record Examination are increased.

According to Manager of External Relations Mark I. McNutt at the Princeton, N.J.-based ETS location, there are obvious reasons why students perform better on entrance exams while still in college.

‘There’s research that shows that students age 23 and younger score the best,’ McNutt said.’ ‘The reason we believe that is the case is because of the skills they are still using on a daily basis.’ You’re studying, writing papers, problem solving on an academic level during a college routine.’

‘The math that’s being measured on the GRE is high school,” McNutt said.’ ‘The closer you are to that the better you will do.’ It’s easier than if you’re out of school, working and paying mortgage or rent.’

McNutt went on to describe the goal of the ETS program and its benefit to driven students.

‘The organization is a non-profit with a mission to advance fairness and equity by providing fair and valid assessments, research and related services worldwide,’ McNutt said.’ ‘One of the interesting things about ETS is that we are one of the largest educational research organizations in the world.’

Jan Vardaman, a graduate valuator at CSUN, detailed what is necessary to be accepted into a graduate school.

‘If a student’s cumulative GPA is less than a 3.0, the GRE is a requirement for the master’s program and they need to score in the 50th percentile or higher in one of three areas, which are verbal, quantitative and analytical writing,’ Vardaman said.

Joy Mondragon, Director of Tseng College of Extended Studies at CSUN, works closely with the Bobrow Test Preparation Services which originated at CSUN by the request of the student body in 1973.’

The BTPS focuses on adequately training a potential graduate school student to perform as well as possible on the GRE.

‘A study conducted by Harvard indicated that students can significantly improve their test results by reading material, taking test preparation classes and knowing what to expect,’ Mondragon said.

The GRE can range up to a couple of hundreds of dollars to take.’ Enrolling in the BTPS courses can nearly double that cost.

‘We have students who evaluate the program after they’ve taken the class and it receives outstanding evaluations,’ Mondragon said.’ She said she has a fairly decent idea of why students aged 23 and younger perform better on the GRE.

‘My hypothesis would be that students who are just coming from a four year program still have material fresh in their minds.’

Sample GRE questions from www.ets.org:

‘ 1. ‘ Color : Spectrum
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ A. tone : scale
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ B. sound : wave
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ C. verse : poem
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ D. dimension : space
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ E. cell : organism
‘ ‘ ‘
‘ ‘ 2. ‘ Lawyer : Courtroom
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ A. participant : team
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ B. commuter : train
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ C. gladiator : arena
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ D. senator : caucus
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ E. patient : ward

‘ ‘ 3. ‘ Fallacy
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ A. personal philosophy
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ B. imaginative idea
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ C. unconfirmed theory
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ D. tentative opinion
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ E. valid argument

‘ ‘ 4. ‘ The average (arthimetic mean) of x and y is 20. ‘ If z = 5, what is the average of x, y, and z?

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ A. 8 1/3
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ B. 10
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ C. 12 1/2
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ D. 15
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ E. 17 1/2

‘ ‘ ‘ 5. If 3x – 2 = 7, the 4x =
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ A. 3
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ B. 5
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ C. 20/3
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ D. 9
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ E. 12

Answers:

1. A. tone : scale

2. C. gladiator : arena

3. E. valid argument

4. D. 15

5. E. 12