GRE dates limited; students searching

By PAULA SHAKI
Collegian Staff Writer

Educational Testing Services has canceled the February paper-and-pencil Graduate Record Examination, in addition to cutting back the computerized GRE dates to one week each month.

This step could leave many students who were planning to take the February exam out in the cold, because test centers are booked for the GRE until April due to the reduction in computerized testing dates.

This is the worst time of the year for this to happen because students scrambling to make fall admission deadlines rely on the February paper-and-pencil GRE, said Andrew Lutz, director of research and development for The Princeton Review, a standardized test-preparation service.

Lutz added that students have limited access to the computerized GRE, increasing the demand for the paper-and-pencil test. He said ETS plans to eliminate more paper-and-pencil exams next year and has just announced its plan to offer only the computerized GRE, which is now under revision to increase the pool of questions by 1999.

"The cancellation of the February paper-and-pencil exam was part of the phase-out for the paper-and-pencil test. We are gradually reducing the paper-and-pencil test," said Tom Ewing, spokesman for ETS.

The February cancellation is not a real problem because there are still two more exams this year in April and June, Ewing said. He said students can still make college admissions deadlines, adding he has not heard any problems relating to the cancellation.

"We are preparing for the introduction of a completely new GRE with types of questions that have never been used before on the GRE test," Ewing said. The delay of the elimination of paper-and-pencil exams until 1999 is part of the transitional process ETS is using to revise the test, he said.

Last month, ETS filed a lawsuit against Kaplan Educational Centers for reproducing about 80 percent of the computerized GRE exam and exposing the test's vulnerability to cheating.

The Princeton Review filed an amicus brief, entering the case as a third party to present information that proves ETS has covered up the cheating problem, Lutz said.

"It's been so obvious that this cheating problem has been there since day one. We don't want them (ETS) to get off the hook again," Lutz said.

Jeanne Krier, spokeswoman for The Princeton Review, said ETS rushed the test out too quickly, with the knowledge that the test was vulnerable to cheating.

"We want to bring in the students' rights issue. Students need to know they are not alone if they're getting hurt by what's going on," Lutz said.

Students' rights are violated by the computerized GRE, Krier said, because unlike the paper-and-pencil exam -- in which ETS is required by law to disclose the exam to the students who have taken it -- there is no law that lets students have access to the computerized GRE they have taken. This is a safety measure to prevent students from memorizing the questions from the exam they have already taken.

But Lutz said students are not allowed to take the computerized GRE again for another six months after their first test because of the security problem. Students are also required to answer a certain number of questions in order to get their score, he said. This means students who skip too many questions will not receive their scores.

ETS admitted reusing questions from previously administered computerized exams. The service needed to boost the pool of questions for a while because of the Kaplan lawsuit, Ewing said. He said they will notify students if they do this again.

Lutz said ETS is not ready to put the computerized GRE into full swing.

"There shouldn't be this worry about getting the same questions," Lutz said. "They're turning ahead the clock technologically, but they're turning back the clock on students' rights."