Many graduate school aspirants are signing up for GRE at-home amidst the ongoing Covid outbreak. Early last year, ETS announced their home-based GRE test to combat the test center shut-down worldwide. The at-home GRE service has allowed millions of students worldwide to take the GRE in the safety of their homes. The response has been so positive that ETS has announced that the test’s home version is here to stay indefinitely.
The GRE at-home test is a convenient alternative to the regular test administered at test centers worldwide. As you may already know, the outbreak of Covid last year prompted all educational and testing institutions to cease operations. This was a necessary response at the time to contain the spread. However, aspiring graduate school students had to bear the brunt of this decision as they could no longer take the GRE.
It’s been a little over a year since ETS launched its GRE “at home” service for test-takers worldwide. The home-based test was born out of necessity early last year when the pandemic caused test-centers to shut down globally. As you can imagine, it wasn’t long before ETS found itself in rough waters due to reports of rampant cheating on the home-based version of the test.
If you are reading this, I would assume that the test day is upon you, and you haven’t studied at all in the months leading up to it. If this the case, then the first thing you should do is not panic. Whatever happened has already happened, and you cannot change it, so why fret? I will give you some tips and try to help you with last-minute study, and you can use this opportunity as a learning experience. You can always book another test and avoid the same mistakes leading up to it.
We have all heard that acing the GRE test requires learning hundreds of new words. This can often be a daunting task because not all of us are keen on memorizing a barrage of new vocabulary. However, as mundane as it sounds, a well-equipped vocabulary is crucial for the GRE test’s verbal section. The most common route that students choose is they learn specialized words. These words are carefully curated and are likely to show up on the test. You can purchase various great resources for this, such as Magoosh Vocabulary Builder or Manhattan’s flashcards.
I recently wrote an article proving how test-takers worldwide are cheating on their “GRE at Home” tests. It is quite disappointing how ETS’s home-based GRE service is so vulnerable to fraudulent activity. ETS first introduced the home-based test a year ago after the pandemic broke out, and there is no telling how many of the test results have been fraudulent so far.
It is equally alarming that there hasn’t been a more significant backlash by people regarding the rampant cheating, but that might be due to the lack of coverage on the issue. Anyway, it is no secret now that ETS’s “proctor U” software is obnoxiously easy to cheat. Since ETS plans on keeping the home-based test around for the foreseeable future, it is paramount that they fix the issues so that decent people who take the test legitimately don’t get affected.
MBA aspirants looking to take either GRE or GMAT during the pandemic can do so thanks to the “at-home” versions of the tests. Both ETS and GMAC began offering their home-based tests shortly after the pandemic broke out last year. Due to test center shutdowns, students couldn’t take the regular tests.
As far as format and content are concerned, both tests are identical to their test-center versions. However, GMAC has omitted the AWA section on GMAT online, whereas GRE has no such omissions. Skipping the AWA section from GMAT has made it 30 mins shorter as compared to the regular test. Other than this, GMAT online is identical to the standard test.
The ongoing pandemic has caused GRE test centers worldwide to shut down. ETS introduced a home-based GRE test to cope with the shutdown and offer students a chance to take the test without leaving their home. However, as you can imagine, a home-based standardized test comes with its own set of problems due to the lack of in-person supervision.
Although the home-based test and the general test are identical in format and content, their delivery is vastly different. ETS has to deal with particular challenges to prevent cheating instances, and the recent cheating reports are hopefully going to make the proctors more vigilant.
ETS began its “GRE General at Home” testing service early last year due to the pandemic. The home-based test is identical to the GRE in format and content. However, the rules for the kind of stationery you can use for note-taking differs from the usual GRE.
The home-based test is administered through “Proctor U” software, and because of security concerns, there are special guidelines in place to ensure that nothing related to the content of the test leaves the room.
Oh yes, the most dreaded part of GRE preparation – learning hundreds of words before the test day.