A dramatic overhaul of the Graduate Record Examination taken by nearly 500,000 graduate school hopefuls is slated for October 2006, primarily aimed to enhance security measures and increase validity, according to the Educational Testing Service.

After four years of research, ETS is changing the structure and content of the GRE, modifying the emphasis in each of its three sections to include more “real-life” scenarios. The new format will make tests unique for each student and require a wide range of questions. Other changes include increasing the test time from two-and-a-half to four hours, and limiting the number of times the test is offered.

However, the Princeton Review sees a different reason behind the format change.

“The new test will contain new question types that have never been tested on any standardized exam, it will be an hour and a half longer, it will have a new scoring scale, and it will be less convenient for students to take,” said Liz Wands, Princeton Review’s national director of graduate programs. “How does that make a more valid test? ETS only makes changes when their pocketbook is affected, and they’re changing the exam to save money.”

ETS is looking to rid itself of the current computer-adaptive version, which is more expensive because it requires a constant need for fresh question pools, Wands said.

However, finances played no role in the GRE’s change, according to Director of External Communications Tom Ewing. In fact, ETS will have to shoulder additional expenses by creating 30 different tests and increasing the number of online test centers from 600 to 2,000.

Changing the GRE is a step toward accomplishing the goals set by several graduate school committees, which envisioned a test that could better gauge future graduate work, Ewing said. Some students that plan on taking the GRE next fall or later find the new test to be a better version.

“I think the new GRE will be more beneficial because it will be testing actual knowledge that might predict future success rather than just how well a person takes a test,” Thurgood Marshall College senior Ashley Torres said.

Torres plans on taking the GRE next fall in preparation to pursue a graduate degree in sociology.

Test equality is another factor that makes the impending GRE an improved test, according to Thurgood Marshall College junior Angela Diveley, who hopes to study psychology at the graduate level.

On the other hand, the lengthened exam and limited number of sittings makes the experience more stressful and less convenient, both students said.

“But if a longer test time results in a more accurate test score, it will be worth the time,” Diveley said.

While a revised GRE will also require new ways of preparation, students shouldn’t fear the changes, according to Wands. The Princeton Review is currently looking into new methods of training students to continue to help them excel on the exam.

A new GRE doesn’t present major obstacles, but is just a matter of adaptation, Torres said.

“If you really want to go to grad school to pursue your goals, you’re going to do what you have to do,” Torres said. “It’s just another one of life’s inconveniences that we’ll have to deal with.”

The new GRE is currently undergoing field study until Nov. 23 to determine final revisions. Test preparatory courses such as Princeton Review are creating new courses for the revised exam.