Time is running out for students to register for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test before the exam switches formats.

"A lot of time when we introduce a new test, everyone rushes to take the old test before it stops, and the testing centers get overwhelmed," said Tom Ewing, spokesman for Education Testing Services (ETS), which administers the GRE.

The last day to take the current GRE General Test is July 31, according to an ETS press release. The test will not be offered during August, and the first date for the new test will be Sept. 10. The new test will be significantly longer -- more than four hours, compared to two-and-a-half-hours for the current test, Susan Kaplan, director of graduate programs at Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, said. It will focus on skills more directly related to graduate school and aims to reduce the effects of memorization, according to ETS's Web site, www.ets.org. Also, the test will feature a linear format, instead of the current "adaptive" format in which questions vary according to the test taker's performance.

Ewing said the test could not be offered during August because time was needed to transition to the new test.

Students can register for the current test on the Web site. Registration for the new test begins on July 1.

Ewing said while the current GRE test could be delivered six days a week, the new test will be administered only about 35 times a year.

To accommodate more students during the reduced number of testing dates, Ewing said the new test would be administered at about three times more centers as the old test, including university computer labs.

Kaplan said she encourages students to register as soon as possible for the current test.

"We do think the test dates are going to fill up," Kaplan said. "People are looking to take the test before it changes if they can."

Kaplan said the company recommended taking the current test if possible because of the time difference.

"People are going to have to build up that stamina to be able to sit for a four-hour exam," she said.

Kaplan said she also recommended that students planning to apply to graduate programs in the fall take the current test because scores for the new test will not be released until mid-November.

Kaplan said the company would begin offering programs this summer for the new test. She said information about the change is available at www.kaptest.com/newgre.

Mark Wardell, associate dean of the Graduate School, said there is no graduate school-wide requirement to submit GRE scores.

"A lot of people think this is a graduate school requirement, but it isn't," he said. "That decision is made on a program-by-program basis."