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GRE in English Literature--Are there different versions of the test that vary in difficulty?

green_leo_jolie - 2008-11-08 11:46:19 - Standards Testing

I remember reading somewhere that there are several different versions of this test, and that a person is scored depending on his/her test's specific difficulty level. Is that true? The test I just took was NOTHING like the practice test, and was about 1,000 times more difficult!

Best Answer:

Glad to know someone else found the Nov 8th test utterly perplexing b/c it was so different from the ETS practice test. It seemed oddly skewed to the Middle Ages-17th century and had way more long passages than ids than the practice test did. Not to mention that the test had very different theory questions than the practice materials indicated it would have. I wonder if this test is undergoing some sort of transition and the Princeton Review, REA books and various websites haven't caught up to that yet. According to ETS, there are slightly different versions of the test that vary in difficulty and are scored accordingly. However, from what I have found on the ETS website, it looks like they try to keep them within a pretty slim margin (i.e. a 700= a raw score of 188 or so on one that's easier, and of 170 or so on a more difficult one). But that isn't a huge difference. I am worried that no matter what my score is just going to be lower than it was for the practice test. ETS (and Princeton Review, etc.) should really change their materials to reflect this change! What did you find made the test very different from the practice test?

Answers:

Glad to know someone else found the Nov 8th test utterly perplexing b/c it was so different from the ETS practice test. It seemed oddly skewed to the Middle Ages-17th century and had way more long passages than ids than the practice test did. Not to mention that the test had very different theory questions than the practice materials indicated it would have. I wonder if this test is undergoing some sort of transition and the Princeton Review, REA books and various websites haven't caught up to that yet. According to ETS, there are slightly different versions of the test that vary in difficulty and are scored accordingly. However, from what I have found on the ETS website, it looks like they try to keep them within a pretty slim margin (i.e. a 700= a raw score of 188 or so on one that's easier, and of 170 or so on a more difficult one). But that isn't a huge difference. I am worried that no matter what my score is just going to be lower than it was for the practice test. ETS (and Princeton Review, etc.) should really change their materials to reflect this change! What did you find made the test very different from the practice test?