Queens College Students who plan to apply to graduate school can get a heads-up on the Graduate Record Exam by taking the online course “Prep for the Win,” according to Christina Cover, a representative of Kaplan Test Prep, which offers a variety of test prep courses.
Cover touted the course at a recent presentation on the GRE sponsored by the QC chapter of The National Student Speech Language and Hearing Association
The GRE, which is required by many graduate programs, is similar to the SAT exam high school students take for college admissions, with three sections: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and analytical writing.
The analytical writing section consists of two essays, one analyzing an issue, the other analyzing an argument. The test is taken on a computer at a GRE test center, and is offered year round; however students can only take the GRE once every 21 days, up to five times a year.
Cover noted that the GRE is not cheap, as each exam costs $205. Because of the price, she stressed the importance of making sure students are prepared and feel confident before and during the exam, so they may do well and save on unnecessary retakes of the exams.
Introducing Kaplan Prep’s “Prep for the Win” campaign, Cover said students can register online to take the course, and that there are free live test prep sessions for the GRE, along with other graduate program examinations such as the Law School Admission Test and the Medical College Admission Test. All of the sessions offer virtual tutors and provide practice examinations. Once a student is registered and attends a session, he or she becomes eligible to win prizes such as Amazon gift cards and Spotify premium subscription.
“The GRE is a powerful computer-based test because it is the most widely accepted in the graduate application process,” Cover said. “Because it assesses general quantitative and verbal skills – and many QC students are very busy taking their major course requirements as undergraduate juniors – it is important for many to get re-familiar with test material. Kaplan’s ‘Prep for the Win’ online campaign is a great opportunity to do that.”
NSSHLA is open to students interested in communication sciences and disorders (CSD). Most of the members are CSD majors and intend to attend graduate programs in audiology, speech-language-pathology and other CSD related programs. However, most of these programs do require the GRE as an admission requirement.
“You’re never going to feel 100 percent prepared for the exam like you would for a test you would take for a class,’ NSSHLA President Jennifer Borghetti told the students at the session. “Just give yourself enough time to study the material enough so you are confident taking the test.”
Cover urged students interested in discussing their experience taking other graduate exams to email her at Christina.Cover@kaplan.com, and encouraged all seniors looking into graduate school to visit QC’s link for free preparation at bit.ly/PrepFTWQueensCollegeChristina
