Professor argues GRE hurts STEM, women and minorities

USF professor argues character more important for admissions, equity

test-grad-professorGraduate schools would do better to relax their over-reliance on a popular test score when it comes to admissions and instead try to judge the character of potential students, a University of South Florida professor argues.

The Graduate Record Examinations, a standardized test developed more than 60 years ago and a requirement at most U.S. grad schools, is not a good predictor of a student’s ultimate success, and is the primary barrier holding back women and minority students, said Casey Miller, a professor of physics at USF and co-author of “A Test that Fails,” published last month in the journal Nature.

“What we’re saying is, ‘Don’t misuse this tool,’ ” said Miller. “What people hear is not that, it’s, ‘We should get rid of standards.’ We’re not saying that. The point is that the GRE is not a predictor of success. And that should be understood, and it’s not.”…Read More

Would-be grad students face longer, revised GRE

An expert predicts 'some initial shock' from students about the revised GRE.

Graduate school applicants will soon face a new hurdle in their bids for admission: a longer and revamped GRE that test administrators say more accurately assesses the skills needed to earn advanced degrees.

The revised Graduate Record Examination will be given at test sites across the country beginning Aug. 1.

Taken by about 675,000 people last year, the GRE general test is used for admission to U.S. graduate schools and, increasingly, business schools as well.…Read More

Can online flashcards help students ‘Crush That Test’?

CrushThatTest has attracted more than 2,000 members since 2007.
CrushThatTest has attracted more than 2,000 members since 2007.

Sundar Nathan was a college student prepping for an exam, cramming hundreds of pieces of information into his overfilled memory bank when he resorted to flashcards—a strategy he’s evangelized for ever since.

Nathan and a group of University of Texas graduates created the site CrushThatTest in 2007, giving college students more than 1,000 free digital flashcards as a supplement to their course textbooks in nine subjects, ranging from U.S. history to psychology.

Students can access CrushThatTest on their desktops and laptops, or pay $1.99 to use the web-based flashcards on their iPhone. Students can use their iPhones to scroll through chapters and see how many flashcards are available in each chapter.…Read More

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