Dear Mentor:

How will my application be affected by the new GRE?

I understand that the GRE [Graduate Record Exam] General Exam pattern will change from October 1, 2002 onwards; that is, the Analytical Reasoning section will be replaced by Analytical Writing. How would this affect someone who has taken the GRE on the old pattern in December 2000 but will apply to grad school for spring 2004? Would journalism/mass communications courses discriminate against an applicant who has not appeared for analytical writing in the GRE General? In such a case, would it be possible to take the Test of analytical writing separately sometime in 2003. GRE Changed, Calcutta, West Bengal, India

Dear GRE Changed:

The GRE format is indeed slated to change on October 1, 2002. The GRE currently consists of three parts: Quantitative, Verbal, and Analytical. Each part is scored on a scale of 800, thus the GRE maximum score of 2400. All this will remain the same. The changes will be in the format of the Analytical portion, which are as follows. The Analytical portion of the test will contain 2 writing assignments: presenting your perspective on an issue (45 minutes), and analyzing an argument (30 minutes).

We had to make a direct contact with the GRE to get this information. While they were not able to provide any details in writing, they are expected to post the details on the GRE Website at least 3 months before the change goes into effect.

We are not sure how various colleges will respond to the requirement of new GRE versus the old GRE. The GRE scores are typically valid for 5 years. It is our view that the colleges will continue to accept valid GRE scores, whether under the new or old format.

Regardless of the change, you can not change your score by taking only a particular portion of the GRE alone. You would still be required to take the entire exam.

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