Tdearr

NYluie is correct. You can only send whole test dates (i.e., you can't mix and match). However, you can send multiple test dates, and as Arezoo points out, each school handles multiple scores differently when receiving multiple reports. The best thing to do is to call the schools you are interested and hear how they handle them (you can do this anonymously so don't worry about it impacting your application). Here is a post I wrote explaining the all the ScoreSelect policies. http://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/index.php/2012/04/25/gre-news-scoreselect-and-how-it-helps-you/ It may clarify things for you a bit further. I hope that helps! Best, Taylor

Great! Glad I could help. If you have further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Hi Instigate, Thank you for purchasing our exams. Once you complete all 6 exams you can retake them. However, one your second time through the exams, you will see repeat questions. The adaptive nature of the exams makes it such that you may not see a completely repeated exam, but you will experience a number of questions you have already seen. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions. Best, Taylor

Hi SwissChocolate, Unfortunately, there is some score variance with all practice tests. Every test is slightly different and students tend to score slightly differently from test to test. A three point difference is within a reasonably small margin of error. I noticed that you scored higher on other practice tests as well; some students do see a drop in scores from test day jitters and don't do quite as well on their actual test as they do on practice tests. I don't know if this was a problem for you, or if it just happened to be that the test you got on test day didn't go as well as your practice test. That said, 160 is a good score placing you above the 80th percentile of quant scores and will be seen a acceptable for many political science programs. I hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if you have further questions. Best Regards, Taylor Dearr

Hi Everyone, I work for Manhattan Prep and I was hoping to weigh in on this thread. We do work to try and make our tests accurate predictors of student performance on the real GRE. We do this using an adaptive scoring system and a weighted algorithm similar to that of the real GRE. This algorithm can cause two different exams of ours, each with 9 missed questions, to be scored differently. However, as a few students speculated above, our tests can skew above the average difficulty of the real exam (meaning students will miss more questions on our exam than on the real exam). We like to include higher difficulty questions because our materials and courses are designed to help students achieve up to 99th percentile scores. The adaptive nature of the test allows us to create very difficult tests for high performing students without making our exams inaccessible to students scoring at lower levels. That said, we also value our exams as a diagnostic tool, so we don't want students to score lower on our exam because it is slightly harder. As such, our algorithm accounts for the extra difficulty (when high difficulty questions are missed). So while on the real GRE missing 9 questions may push you a bit below 166, a student who scores a 166 on our exam is truly capable of scoring a 166 on the real GRE. As some students mentioned above, they found the score on our exams similar to their score on real exams (although the number of questions missed was different). We periodically calibrate our exams by matching students performance on our exams to their performance on real exams. As such, we are confident that our exams provide accurate indications of a students true ability level on the actual GRE. I hope this information is helpful. If you have any other questions or concerns about our tests, please let us know! Best Regards, Taylor Dearr

Hi all, ETS has just released POWEPREP II version 2.0. This new software offers two free GRE practice tests (instead of just one as was the case with the old POWERPREP II software). At Manhattan Prep we just wrote a blog post with info on the new software, and some updates on the ScoreSelect program (which just went into effect this weekend as well). You can find all of our thoughts here: GRE News: POWERPREP II v. 2.0, ScoreSelect... If you have any questions, please let me know. Best, Taylor

That's mostly correct secondarydefinitions (although they haven't officially said July 1st yet, just at some point in July). But, after that time in July, you can pick and choose which scores to send including any scores earned before July (or you can just hide all scores pre-July and pick new scores). Best, Taylor

That's a great list. I have a few additions as well. I read the Song of Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones, etc.) last year and was surprised how many words in those book were straight out of the GRE word list we use here at Manhattan Prep. Those books are certainly page turners (the first three are better than the 4th and 5th in my opinion). I also recommend David Foster Wallace (The Girl With Curious Hair [fiction], and Consider the Lobster [non-fiction]); he certainly doesn't shy away from big words although I woudln't say his works are as GRE applicable as Game of Thrones. I hope that helps! Best, Taylor

Hi Lox26, Sorry for the delayed response. Schools cannot request all of your GRE scores directly from ETS. If schools institute this policy, it is up to the students to comply. While students should certainly be truthful in complying with application rules, it will be tough for schools to be 100% sure of enforcing this policy so it may prevent this requirement from cropping up in the first place. Whether or not schools will ask is just speculation on my part, but ETS has confirmed that they will only submit the scores that students ask them to (although they encourage students to follow the applicaiton rules of any isntitutions). Best Regards, Taylor

You're very welcome! Happy I could help.

Hi Edgirl, It is hard to say. It is unlikely that percentiles would change this year so soon after the release of the scale. But, with a new scale, the percentiles will change over time as more data is collected. You won't probably be seeing big shifts, but maybe shifts of 3-4 percentile points in the next 5 of so years. I don't have any hard evidence, this is just speculation on my part looking at the patterns of score shifts in the last 5 years. Sorry I can't be more concrete, I hope this helps! Best, Taylor

Schools cannot see how many times you have taken the test. There is no indication of any tests other than the ones you choose to send. Unfortunately, no, you cannot mix and match quant and verbal scores from different tests; you have to send tests a whole units. Best, Taylor

Yesterday, ETS sent out this press release (http://www.prnewswir...-148665505.html) announcing a big change in score reporting for GRE test takers. Starting in July you will no longer be forced to report all of your GRE test scores to schools. Moving forward, test takers who sit for the GRE more than once will be able to choose to send only their best test scores with their applications. Here is a blog post from my company, Manhattan Prep, covering the specifics of this ETS announcement: http://www.manhattan...w-it-helps-you/ I hope this information helps! If you have any questions, please let me know! Best, Taylor

Thanks for recommending us, Secondarydefinitions! I work for Manhattan Prep (we offer test prep for the GRE, GMAT, and LSAT). We are often referred to as Manhattan GMAT as it is our oldest and most well known brand. You can find our GRE site here: http://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/ If you have any questions about our company or materials please let me know! Best, Taylor

The 13th Edition of the Official Guide for GMAT Review has finally been released publicly. Our sister company, Manhattan GMAT, has done an initial analysis of the OG13 book. Check it out: www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index.php/2012/03/20/manhattan-gmats-analysis-of-the-13th-edition-official-guide/ Best, Taylor

Hi Rowlf, These estimated scores almost never differ from your official score report. They are only estimates in the sense that a scoring error could be detected before the official reports are sent out, which would result in a score change. However, here at Manhattan GRE, we have never heard even one report of one of our students having an official report different from their end of test "estimate" on the real GRE. The chances of the official score differing are extremely slim. Best, Taylor

Hi Rowlf, Yes. The new scales were finalized in November of this past year and the GRE is now able to provide accurate "new scale" estimated scores at the end of your exam. Best, Taylor

Here at Manhattan Prep we are starting to analyze all of the new scores we hear about. Check out our first reactions to the scores released today: http://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/index.php/2011/11/02/revised-gre-scores-the-full-monty/ Best of luck to anyone who is waiting for their scores! Best, Taylor

The old test was a CAT (computer adaptive test) so you could miss questions and still get an 800. However, on the old test an 800 was the 94th percentile (six percent of test takers got a "perfect" score). ETS wants more differentiation at the top so they are allowing for room for 97th and 99th percentile scores by moving an old 94th down in terms of raw score. Essentially this is more of a signal that perfect on the old test was easier than perfect on the new test. It is a measure of difficulty more than a traditional score for number of mistakes. That is just our first take on the meanings of the new scores. We will have to see if ETS releases information to give more insight into this.

It will still be possible, just harder. And a "perfect" new quant will put you in a higher percentile than a "perfect" old quant. The "perfect" score will be less common. Best, Taylor

Hi everyone, We are starting to analyze the new data. Here is our early take: http://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/index.php/2011/10/28/friday-surprise-ets-releases-newly-converted-gre-scores/ And for the record My scores: V: 700 = 166 (97%) Q: 780 = 163 (89%) Best, Taylor

You're welcome. I'm glad to hear that you like it!

The folks from the mobile division of the GMAT Club forum built a GRE app called the GRE toolkit (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/g...). We helped them by contributing GRE practice questions written by our Manhattan GRE instructors. Currently it doesn't include any vocabulary, but in the next update they will add 100 vocab flashcards written by our instructors. The app is free through October 20th, so I'd recommend snatching it up now.

Hi emmm, I want to chime in on your comment about blank answers on the new GRE. The new GRE will treat blank answers the same way they treat incorrect answers; there is no extra penalty. The reason the old GRE penalized so heavily was that the adaptive scoring algorithm relied on you finishing the entire test to adapt accurately. (To somewhat oversimplify the idea, the old GRE assumed that if you didn't finish, you were using an unfair amount of time on the questions that you did complete and thus were beating the adaptive algorithm so they penalized more heavily to counterbalance that advantage.) The adaptation and scoring on the new GRE works differently, so they don't need to include a penalty for blank answers. I hope this information is helpful! Best Regards, Taylor

Hi George, I cannot go into the specifics of our scoring algorithm, but in terms of accuracy we are confident that it matches well to the old scale. That said, the reason for the range given by ETS is that they are going to be recalculating the percentiles, and that is something that MGRE cannot account for at this time. We are giving a score on the old scale to the best of our ability so that you know what percentile you would have been at in the old range. We cannot anticipate the new percentiles that will be laid out in November, but we hope our tests provide a good measure of your current ability. I hope this answers your question. Best, Taylor