Graduate and professional school entrance examinations differ from other tests in several ways. These high-level exams require students to demonstrate sophisticated thinking and reasoning skills rather than relying primarily on the memorization skills often used to succeed in high school and undergraduate courses. These exams include the Dental Admission Test (DAT), Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), Graduate Record Examination (GRE), Law School Admission Test (LSAT), Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), and Optometry Admission Test (OAT).
Students should prepare rigorously for a graduate exam. Those who are most familiar with the test will most likely perform at the highest levels. Familiarity with a test leads to comfort and success for test takers and can be gained through repeated exposure to practice examinations and intense study of the test’s format, question types, and final assessment goals. Student success on standardized tests depends largely on ensuring that the test taker understands all areas of the test. A student taking a graduate school entrance examination should know all he or she can know about the test-from the time limits for each section, to the types of questions asked in certain parts, to the graduate schools’ expectations. Through diligent practice and preparation, a graduate school candidate can perform well on entrance examinations.
Graduate Test Directory