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How to choose among the alphabet soup of grad school entrance exams out there depends on your chosen field of study. You have spent all these years training your brain in college and mentally cataloguing all that cumulative knowledge and now you have to prove that you learned something and that you are worthy of taking your education to an even higher level—grad school.
The SAT score, which might have made you a hot prospect for undergraduate college admission, is a thing of the past now and will not count toward the next step. However, it might be indicative of your performance as a standardized test-taker. Welcome to the battery of standardized tests that will determine how mentally fit you are to handle the rigors of a challenging grad school curriculum.
It begins with the GRE —the general entrance exam or the equivalent of the SAT, which assesses your overall scholastic preparedness. Then there are the more specific tests: the GMAT for business school, the LSAT for law school, and the MCAT for medical school.
Besides the general test, the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) gives you a chance to showcase your knowledge in specific subject areas that can highlight your proficiency in your chosen field.
You can select from eight discipline add-on tests if you feel your performance in these subjects will give you an edge. You also have the choice of taking the Writing Assessment test. Otherwise, the general exam should cover your field's requirements. It tests verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing sections and is taken on a computer; the subject tests are paper-based. Learn more at
The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), for those considering business school, is very similar to the GRE in that it tests the same skill sets, including the essay writing sections. It is about one hour longer than the GRE but is not much different. More details available here: http://www.gmat.com. You can take the GRE or the GMAT exams more than once if you are not satisfied with your score. Grad schools will count the best score towards admission. *Note, like the GRE, the GMAT can be taken year round in the U.S but not in other countries where it may only be available once per year. International students are advised to check the admissions deadlines of their prospective schools and sign up for test dates.
The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) contains reading and verbal reasoning sections but no quantitative portion. Reading comprehension, logical/critical reasoning, and a half-hour writing section are also part of it for a total exam time of three-and-a-half hours. The test dates are limited both domestically and internationally so planning ahead is essential. Check out http://www.lsat.com. By the way, you can take the exam more than once, and just this year, many law schools began taking the higher of the two scores instead of just averaging them.
The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is the exam of choice for those planning a career in medicine. Testing your knowledge of science is the main thrust here—both physical and biological sciences are thoroughly examined. Be prepared for extensive knowledge of chemistry, biology and physics. The verbal reasoning and writing sections are much shorter in this intensive six-hour exam. Find the list of test sites and more by searching the Association of American Medical Colleges. Click here to register. You can also take the MCAT more than once. Some schools will average the scores while others will take the highest score from each section; a majority of schools fall into the latter category, choosing to evaluate your highest scores. However, ALL scores are seen by admissions personnel.
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