Since their adoption into the modern education system, standardized tests have been highly effective in the admissions process for various higher education programs in the United States. They test prospective candidates on their pre-existing knowledge and help identify students who are most likely to succeed in their program of choice.
Now, different careers and education goals require different graduate school programs. Many such graduate school programs screen applicants based on certain standardized test scores. There are a total of 12 standardized graduate exams that are conducted year-round in the United States. Which test you take depends on which type of degree you are hoping to obtain.
GRE – Graduate Record Examinations
The Graduate Record Examinations is one of the most widely accepted examinations for admissions into graduate and MBA programs worldwide. Unlike most of the other examinations in this list, it is not restricted to a specific subject/career. The test ETS conducts this test, and it has a duration of approximately four hours.
ETS will score you on three of the GRE sections:
- Analytical Writing – Includes two essays based on “analyzing an argument” and “analyzing an issue.”
- Quantitative Reasoning – This section will test your math and problem-solving skills.
- Verbal Reasoning – Includes twenty tasks—four sentence equivalence questions, ten reading comprehension questions, and six text completion questions.
To be in the 90th percentile of GRE examinees, you would need to score 162 and 167 in the verbal reasoning and quantitative reasoning sections. On the other hand, a score of 38 in analytical writing will generally ensure a score level of 3.5.
LSAT – Law Schools Admissions Test
You can pursue many career paths with a law degree, including as a lawyer, judge, politician, and journalist. The LSAT is the single-point gateway to all American Bar Association Accredited colleges all across the United States. It is also one of the most competitive exams globally, with the top 25 law schools consistently requiring scores above 160 (in the 75th percentile or higher).
Furthermore, with the number of test-takers on the rise every year, prospective law students begin preparing far in advance. You’ll need to make sure that you have access to the best LSAT prep courses and preparatory materials during college.
The Law Schools Admissions Council (LSAC) administers the LSAT, and it is approximately two hours and 55 minutes long, excluding the breaks. It has four multiple choice-based questioning sections: two on logical reasoning and one each on analytical reasoning and reading comprehension. It also features a non-graded written essay section. Each section is 35 minutes long, with a 15-minute break between each of them.
MCAT – Medical Colleges Admissions Test
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) administers the MCAT. The examination serves as a common entryway into all the medical programs at accredited medical schools in the United States. It is the longest examination of all the standardized tests, with a testing duration of approximately 7.5 hours.
The test features four multiple-choice based question sections:
- Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Sciences
- Reasoning and Critical Analysis
- Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems
- Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior
The MCAT is extremely competitive, and most medical schools demand a score of 506 and above even from applicants with undergraduate GPAs higher than 3.79. Thus, if medicine is your choice of career, you’ll need to put in some serious effort to clear the MCAT.
GMAT – Graduate Management Aptitude Test
An MBA is a multipurpose degree and can benefit your career irrespective of the sector. Many B-schools in the US and abroad require a good GMAT score for their admission screening process. The Graduate Management Admissions Council administers the exam, and it is designed to test your suitability for admission into management programs worldwide on a 200-800 point scale.
The GMAT is approximately 3.5 hours long and tests candidates on three MCQ-based sections and a non-graded but compulsory essay writing section:
- Integrated Reasoning – This section will test your ability to solve modern-day business problems, the ability to parse data from charts, etc.
- Quantitative – This section will test your analytical mindset and the ability to solve arithmetic, algebraic, and geometric problems.
- Verbal – The questions from this section test your command of the English language.
- Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) – This features a non-graded, 30-minute essay writing section.
Other Specialized Test(s)
The GRE also conducts subject Subject Tests that are subject-specific and can be an added advantage for candidates looking to specialize in the same. It is offered for Biology, Chemistry, English Literature, Maths, Physics, and Psychology.
However, the regular GRE is generally considered sufficient for most graduate programs, so you’ll need to weigh the likelihood of obtaining a good score in such a subject-specific exam against its cost and feasibility before making your decision.
Too Many Exams Spoil The Score
Standardized exam scores are highly convenient for institutions to compare prospective applicants for admission into their graduate programs—and there are a lot of them out there. However, preparing for and taking too many exams is only putting undue stress on yourself and will get you nowhere. Thus, you really should introspect on your future and choice of career and only appear for those exams that your program of interest requires.
