- Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
- Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT)
- Law School Admission Test (LSAT)
- Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)
Many of the organizations that administer graduate admissions tests maintain online sites that offer a variety of information and help to aspiring students.
The GRE site (http://www.gre.org/) allows online registration for the test, offers testing dates and addresses of test centers, and includes sample tests.
The GMAT site (http://www.gmat.org/) offers a computer-adaptive test under typical test conditions and will score the verbal and quantitative portions immediately. You'll even be able to write two essays online - just like the real GMAT.
The LSAT site (http://www.lsat.org) will give you a complete sample LSAT for practice. The catalog of the school you want to attend will tell you which test you must take for admission. Find law school ratings and rankings at www.lawschoolratings.com
(GRE) - Graduate Record Examination is the "general" graduate admissions test and is required for admission to many university graduate programs. It includes a seven-part "general test" that tests you on verbal, quantitative, and analytical abilities as they measure your potential success on a graduate level, and a 14-part "subject test" that is designed to measure your knowledge of subject matter related to a specific field. Both tests are scored on a 200- to 990-point scale.
A new part of the test, introduced in October 1999, is a writing assessment, designed to measure your thinking and writing skills. The test was added to the lineup because writing and thinking are deemed essential for success in many graduate programs. For more information on the GRE, go to http://www.gre.org/.
(GMAT) - Graduate Management Admission Test is a standardized test used by 1,500 graduate management programs around the world to assess the qualifications of applicants. Scores are used to predict your academic performance in the first year of graduate management school. There are nine timed sections and two 3 minute essays to write. For more information, start at http://www.gmat.org/
(LSAT) - Law School Admission Test. The American Bar Association requires a half-day standardized test for admission to any of the 196 law schools that are members of the Law School Admission Council (LSAC or Law Services). The test measures reading and verbal reasoning skills. Many law schools require that the LSAT be taken by December, nine months before law school begins. The Law School Admissions Council recommends taking the test earlier - 15 months to a year before law school begins. Information on the LSAT is available at http://www.lsat.org/
(MCAT) - Medical College Admission Test tests a wide range of skills, including problem solving, critic thinking, and writing. It also tests the aspiring student's knowledge of science concepts and principles that are prerequisites to the study of medicine. Scores are given in verbal reasoning, physical sciences, a writing sample, and biological sciences. Almost all U.S. medical schools require an MCAT before admission. More information on the MCAT is available at http://www.aamc.org
