• In the admissions process: At most schools the GRE is one of the most important factors in the admissions process since the test is designed to measure the academic skills many schools believe are the most important for academic success in graduate school. Schools also place a great emphasis on your score because tests like the GRE are the only standard, or "objective" measures for all applicants - GRE scores can be compared directly as opposed to GPAs from different colleges. In addition, some schools may require a minimum score.
  
• In obtaining academic scholarships and other financial aid: Eligibility for financial aid is dependent on your GRE score. Also your score can greatly boost your chances of obtaining highly competitive and limited academic scholarships which are usually based in part on GRE scores. With soaring college tuition, nothing is sweeter than money you don't have to pay back.
  
• The graduate school rankings process: Since the average GRE of admitted applicants is one of the factors in some college rankings processes, many schools may view a higher average as a way to increase their respective rankings.
  
• Landing the best summer internships: Like grad schools, some employers rely on the GRE in differentiating among applicants. In some of the more competitive summer internships, employers may only interview those with a minimum GRE - in the 90th percentile, or higher, for example.

The CAT is a computer-based test that attempts to estimate your score based on your response to previous questions. In other words, it "adapts" as you either answer a previous question correctly or incorrectly. The questions are chosen from a very large pool of test questions categorized by content and difficulty. Only one question at a time is presented to you on the screen. The first question is always of middle difficulty. The selection of each question thereafter is determined by your responses to all previous questions. In other words, as the adaptive test adjusts to your ability level, you will get few questions that are too easy or too difficult. Once you answer a question and move on to the next question, you may not return to the previous question to change your answer.

Example: CAT Operation
Assume all questions on the test can be ranked in difficulty from 1 to 10 where 1 is the easiest level question and 10 the most difficult. The test will begin by giving you a few 5-level, or mid-level, questions. If you correctly answer most of those questions, the computer will assume that you may be able to answer higher-level questions so it will start to give you some 6 or 7-level questions. If you get most of those questions right it will start to throw in some 8 or 9-level questions. But, if you then start to get the higher level questions wrong it will send you back to the 6 and 7 level questions, and so on. Its kind of like a program designed to fine tune your score based on your success with previous questions.

See GRE Instruction for more information about how PrimeScore can help you maximize your score on the GRE, or enroll now

Because of the adaptive nature of the GRE CAT, it will have a different "feel" compared to traditional "paper and pencil" tests. Usually when a person is really prepared and understands the material on a paper and pencil test, he or she will be able to answer most questions with relative ease. Therefore the test may "feel" easy. Not so on the CAT. On the CAT, because the computer is constantly adjusting, or adapting, you will be given harder and harder questions the better you do, so even though you may be doing great on the test, it will probably feel somewhat difficult. The point is, don't despair if the test "feels" hard because it is probably a good sign that you are doing well since those who answer harder level questions correctly do better on the GRE than those who answer easier questions correctly.

Another major difference, mentioned above, between the CAT and traditional "paper and pencil" tests, is your inability on the CAT to go back to review and change answer choices on previously answered questions. This amounts to a fairly significant strategic difference for those of us who like to "save" questions for later review, if time permits, so that we can go on and spend time on other hopefully easier questions before coming back to the difficult ones. As a result we must learn to become comfortable with selecting the best answer and moving on to the next question with the knowledge that we cannot revisit it even though we are not sure about our answer. Therefore, doing well on the CAT involves developing effective strategies for "educated" guessing and for knowing when to move on to the next question. Helping you to develop that kind of strategy is just one purpose of PrimeScore's test prep courses and tutoring sessions. Our strategies for "educated" guessing are particularly effective because we have developed and designed them so that we can identify and eliminate typical "wrong answer choices" based on our extensive experience with the GRE.

See GRE Instruction for more information about how PrimeScore can help you maximize your score on the GRE, or enroll now

GRE Fee: $150 (U.S., U.S. Territories, and Puerto Rico ), $180 (Most other locations)

Registration: By phone: Contact Educational Testing Service (ETS) at (800) GRE-CALL and request a registration form; Online Registration: http://www.gre.org/generalreg.html.

Canceling Your Scores: At the end of the test, you will have the option to cancel your scores. If you choose to cancel your scores, they cannot be reinstated, and no refund will be made.

Repeating a test: You may take the computer-based General Test once per calendar month up to 5 times in a 12-month period. This applies even if you canceled your scores on a test taken previously.

More information about the GRE: Contact PrimeScore by calling (713) 977-TEST, or contact Educational Testing Service (ETS) at (800) GRE-CALL or on their web site: http://www.gre.org/.