Chapter Five
Test Mechanics
The first year of graduate school is a frenzied experience for many students. It's no surprise, then, that the GRE, the test specifically designed to predict success in the first year of graduate school, is a speed-intensive test that demands good time-management skills.
So when you're comfortable with the content of the test, namely, the type of material discussed in the previous chapters, your next challenge will be to take it to the next level -- test mechanics -- which will enable you to manage an entire section at a time.
On most of the tests you take in school, you wouldn't dream of not making at least a try at every single one of the questions. If a question seems particularly difficult, you spend significantly more time on it, because you'll probably be given more points for answering a hard question correctly. Not so on the GRE.
You've got to develop a way of handling the test sections to make sure you get as many points as you can as quickly and easily as you can. The following principles will help you do just that.
Mechanics of the GRE CAT
The CAT is in some ways quite different from the traditional paper-and-pencil tests you've probably taken in the past. In fact, it's pretty weird at first. Here's how it works. You will only see one question at a time. Instead of having a predetermined mixture of basic, medium, and hard questions, the computer will select questions for you based on how well you are doing. The first question will be of medium difficulty. If you get it right, the second question will be a little harder; if you get the first question wrong, the second will be a little more basic.
If you keep getting questions right, the test will get harder and harder; if you slip and make some mistakes, the test will adjust and start giving you easier problems, but if you answer them correctly, it will go back to the hard ones. Ideally, the test gives you enough questions to ensure that scores are not based on luck. If you get one hard question right you might just have been lucky, but if you get 10 hard questions right, then luck has little to do with it. So the test is self-adjusting and self-correcting.
Because of this format, the CAT is very different structurally from a paper-and-pencil test. After the first problem, every problem that you see is based on how you answered the prior problem. That means you cannot return to a question once you've answered it, because that would throw off the sequence. Once you answer a question, it's part of your score, for better or worse. That means you can't skip around within a section and do questions in the order that you like.
Another major consequence is that hard problems count more than easy ones. It has to be this way, because the very purpose of this adaptive format is to find out at what level you reliably get about half the questions right; that's your scoring level. It actually makes a lot of sense. Imagine two students -- one who does 10 basic questions, half of which she gets right and half of which she gets wrong, and one who does 10 very difficult questions, half of which she gets right and half of which she gets wrong. The same number of questions have been answered correctly in each case, but this does not reflect an equal ability on the part of the two students.
In fact, the student who answered five out of ten very difficult questions incorrectly could still get a very high score on the CAT GRE. But in order to get to these hard questions, she first had to get medium-difficulty questions right. So, no matter how much more comfortable you might be sticking to the basic questions, you definitely want to get to the hard questions if you can, because that's where the points are.
First Impressions Count
One of the most important things to know is that the early questions are vital for a good score on the CAT. As in life, first impressions make a big difference.
Why? Because the computer doesn't have information about you at the start of the test, and its goal is to get an accurate estimate of your score as quickly as possible. In order to do that, the computer has to make large jumps in the estimation of your score for each of the first few questions.
It's a lot like how you would act if you were trying to guess which number a person had picked from one to 10, and the only thing you could be told was whether the number was higher, lower, or the same as what you guessed. To do this most efficiently, you'd guess five first, since if the right number were higher or lower you could eliminate about half the choices. If you were told the actual number was lower than five, you'd guess three next, since that cuts the possibilities down the most. If the number were higher than three, it would have to be four. If it were lower, it would have to be one or two. Using this method, at most you would have to take three guesses before you knew the answer, whereas if you just started guessing randomly, or started from one and worked your way up, you could guess as many as 10 times before getting the right answer.
Like the efficient guesser, the computer doesn't use intuition to find the right answer, but uses the most effective method. Instead of using numbers to "guess" your score, though, the computer gives you questions that have a precise difficulty level assigned to them. In effect, you tell it whether your score is higher or lower than this difficulty level by getting the question right or wrong.
What's the upshot of all this? Simple: Pay extra attention to the first few questions, and do all that you can to get them right! Feel free to spend a little extra time double-checking the first five problems or so, and make sure you try every elimination technique you know before guessing on one of these problems if you don't know the answer.
Three More Section Management Techniques
First, if you get a lot of mileage from the strategy of eliminating answer choices based on difficulty level, you can apply it on the CAT, though in a different and limited way. It won't be spelled out for you as it would be on a paper-and-pencil test, but as you progress through the questions, you should have a good idea of how you're doing. If you've practiced a lot on real questions, it's fairly easy to maintain a pretty clear sense of the difficulty level of your questions and to eliminate answer choices accordingly. For instance, if you're confident that you've been answering most of the questions correctly, then you should be seeing harder and harder questions. If that seems to be the case, you can safely eliminate answer choices that look too obvious or basic for a difficult question.
Secondly, if crossing off answer choices on paper tests really helps to clarify your thinking (using a process of elimination), you may want to consider making a grid on your scratch paper before you begin the CAT. Use it to mark off answer choices that you have eliminated, as shown below. That way you can tell at a glance which answer choices are still in the running.
Finally, the timer in the corner can work to your advantage, but if you find yourself looking at it so frequently that it becomes a distraction, you should turn it off for 10 or 15 minutes and try to refocus your attention on the test, even if you lose track of time somewhat. The CAT rewards focus and accuracy more than it does raw speed.
Navigating the CAT: Computer Basics
Let's preview the primary computer functions that you will use to move around on the CAT. ETS calls them "testing tools," but they're basically just boxes that you can click with your mouse. The following screen is typical for an adaptive test.
Here's what the various buttons do.
The Time Button
Clicking on this button turns the time display at the top of the screen on and off. When you have five minutes left in a section, the clock flashes and the display changes from Hours/Minutes to Hours/Minutes/Seconds.
The Exit Button
This allows you to exit the section before the time is up. If you budget your time wisely you should never have to use this button -- time will run out just as you are finishing the section.
The Help Button
This one leads to directions and other stuff from the tutorial. But beware: The test clock won't pause just because you click on Help.
The Quit Button
Hitting this button ends the test prematurely. Do not use this button unless you want all of your scores canceled and your test invalidated.
The Next Button
Hit this when you want to move on to the next question. After you press Next, you must hit Confirm.
The Confirm Button
This button tells the computer you are happy with your answer and are really ready to move to the next question. You cannot proceed until you have hit this button.
The Scroll Bar
Similar to that on a windows-style computer display, this is a thin, vertical column with up and down arrows at the top and bottom. Clicking on the arrows moves you up or down the page you're reading.
CAT: The Upside
There are many good things about the CAT, such as:
x There is a little timer at the top of the computer screen to help you pace yourself (you can hide it if it distracts you).
x There will be only a few other test takers in the room with you -- it won't be like taking it in one of those massive lecture halls with distractions everywhere.
x You get a pause of one-minute between each section. The pause is optional, but you should always use it to relax and stretch.
x You can sign up for the CAT just two days before the test, and registration is very easy.
x The CAT is convenient to schedule. It's offered at more than 175 centers three to five days a week (depending on the center) all year long.
x You don't have to take it on the same day as a subject test, which can greatly reduce fatigue.
x You can see your scores before you decide which schools you want to send them to.
x Perhaps the CAT's best feature is that it gives you your scores immediately and will send them to schools just 10 to 15 days later.
CAT: The Downside
There are also not-so-good things about the CAT.
x You cannot skip around on this test; you must answer the questions one at a time in the order the computer gives them to you.
x If you realize later that you answered a question incorrectly, you can't go back and change your answer.
x You can't cross off an answer choice and never look at it again, so you have to be more disciplined about not reconsidering choices you've already eliminated.
x You have to scroll through reading comprehension passages, graphs, and some games, which means you won't be able to see the whole thing on the screen at once.
x You can't write on your computer screen the way you can on a paper test (though some have tried), so you have to use scratch paper they give you, which will be inconveniently located away from the computer screen.
x Lastly, many people find that computer screens tire them and cause eyestrain -- especially after three hours.
Kaplan CAT Strategies
Using certain CAT-specific strategies can have a direct, positive impact on your score:
x At the beginning of the section, each question you get right or wrong will rapidly move the computer's estimate of your score up or down. A key strategy for doing well on the CAT is to get the computer's estimate of your score up to where you are handling the hard questions, because getting a hard question right will help your score a lot, but getting a hard question wrong will hurt your score only slightly. Thus it pays to spend more time on those early questions, double-checking each answer before you confirm it. Getting to the hard questions as quickly as possible can only help your final score.
x As you progress through the middle part of the section, try to avoid getting several questions in a row wrong, as this will sink your score on the CAT. If you know that the previous question you answered was a blind guess, spend a little extra time trying to get the next question right.
x The CAT will switch from one question type to another within a section (going from Reading Comp to Antonyms, for example) WITHOUT automatically showing the directions for each new question type. Knowing the format and directions of each GRE question type beforehand will save you a lot of time and avoid possible confusion during the exam.
x The CAT does not begin with really easy questions that gradually get harder, as do many paper-based tests. Because the order of difficulty will not be predictable, always be on the lookout for answer-choice traps.
x Because each right or wrong answer directly affects the next question you get, the CAT does not allow you to go back to questions you've already answered to double-check your work. So be as certain as possible that you have answered a question correctly before moving on.
x The CAT does not allow you to skip questions. So if you are given a question you cannot answer, you'll have to guess. Guess intelligently and strategically -- eliminating any wrong answer choices that you can spot and guessing among those remaining.
x Don't get rattled if you keep seeing really, really difficult questions. It just means you're doing very well on that section. Keep it up!
x At the end of the section, you are penalized more heavily for not getting to a question at all than for answering it wrong. So if you only have a minute or two left and several questions remaining, you should guess at random rather than leave anything unanswered. And if you're down to the very last question and have almost no time left, make sure to dick on a response first and then attempt to answer the question. You can always change your answer, and you're allowed to confirm whatever answer you've clicked after the time has run out.
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