Testing service cancels February GRE
Princeton Review officials denounce policy, criticize
computerized test
By Allyssa Lee
The recent cancellation of February’s Graduate Record
Examination has prompted the Princeton Review test preparation
center to threaten legal action against exam administrators.
The Educational Testing Service (ETS), which oversees the
graduate school admissions exam, received criticism earlier this
month for reducing its computerized Graduate School Exam by 80
percent. But the cancellation of the February paper and pencil test
caused the Princeton Review to denounce the testing service’s
public policy and threaten legal action, according to Princeton
Review officials.
"It’s very frustrating," said Bill Kerr, director of graduate
programs, Princeton Review, Los Angeles. "The ETS does what they
want when they want, and we just have to justify it."
The computerized Graduate Record Examination, otherwise known as
the Computer Adaptive Test, was introduced in November, 1992 with
hopes of eliminating the paper and pencil exam by the 1996-1997
school year.
The ETS credits its computerized exam for providing immediate
scoring, being adaptive to the students’ difficulty levels, having
less populated testing centers, as well as more testing dates.
But according to Kerr the test is unfair to the students.
"The first few questions are worth a lot  it’s unfair that
if you’re a slow starter, there’s no chance for you," Kerr
explained. "But that’s no reason for someone not to be able to go
to school. It’s very frustrating."
The cancellation of the February testing date came as part of a
decision to start phasing out the paper and pencil test
administration dates, said ETS spokesman Kevin Gonzales. The
decision, made last year, was printed on the test information
booklet and has been available to students since last summer, he
added.
"(The Princeton Review is) looking for a place on the GRE
(Graduate Record Examination) bandwagon," said Gonzalez. "Just like
Kaplan."
In December 1994 the Kaplan Test Preparation Services publicly
announced the computerized test’s susceptibility to cheating by
recreating 75 percent of the exam. As a result, the ETS pulled back
80 percent of its computerized test dates and charged Kaplan for
violating copyright and electronic communication privacy laws.
By eliminating its February testing date, Kerr believes exam
administrators are limiting students’ options. "The word was
getting out that not a lot of people were taking the (computerized
test), so (ETS) wanted to force people to take the test … people
are going crazy," said Kerr. "The test is only available for one
week a month  there’s nothing available for this week, unless
you want to go to a really far place."
In response to the criticism, Gonzales remarked, "(The students)
probably should have looked at the information booklet starting in
the fall and should have planned on the dates. The information has
been out there since the summer."
"There were two (paper and pen test) dates prior to this date,"
Gonzales added.
Albert Aubin, a Placement Career Planning Center special needs
counselor said he had not received any recent notice of a canceled
date. "It has had no effect on UCLA students," said Aubin. "Very
few students take the computerized GRE. It’s very new and
apparently most of our students take the paper and pencil test.
There’s no such thing as a February test. There’s only four
nationalized test dates."
Prospective graduate students at UCLA said they were unaffected
by the canceled pen and paper test.
Hong also said the February exam would probably have been too
late for seniors who planned to attend graduate school the next
year.
"People are doing applications right now," Hong said. "They want
you to have your applications done by March and it takes about a
month for ETS to report your scores. Each graduate school has a
different deadline, and they want all your information."
Test scores take about five weeks for the paper and pencil exam,
while the computerized one takes two to three weeks. Pen and paper
test dates for the 1994-1995 school year are listed in the ETS’s
current catalogue. Computerized test dates occur the first week of
every month.