GRE: Some Unfinished Talks

Hello readers, I hope you guys enjoyed week like I did. This weekend I visited some great places in hill-tracks of Bangladesh, so now I am in a really chummy mood!!

In my last two articles, I made an effort to make the readers understand about how exactly the universities in USA actually evaluate GRE. We all have heard that the universities in USA take admission decision only on the basis of the score of GRE and TOEFL. This is, or more particularly was, true before 2010 or in the similar time range. Over the past decade or so, a lot has been changed. The admission board has recognized that only GRE cannot be, in many cases, the only criteria of admission. They have also realized that there are a lot of ways to evaluate a particular student and many of them does not concern any standardized test in the first place.

A recent perspective to carry on forward:

The admission criteria, due to sheer competition, has been so much retrograded that, a student with a high CGPA cannot say for sure that he or she is going to have an offer-letter in his or her hand form his or her chosen university. An interview can be more than enough for admission, while on the other hand a great CGPA and GRE score may not be sufficient to deem a student worthy of admission.

Nevertheless, a good score in GRE has never disappointed its contenders so far. Whoever has got a good (or even a great) score in GRE, has, no-doubt, been selected in any of his or her intended universities with or without full or partial scholarships. There are many universities that still exist who grant scholarships only on the basis of GRE. For instances, UT-Tyler, they will offer any contender a “New Graduate Fellowship” if that contender has a solid score of 307 – in GRE (General) test. Not only in UT-Tyler, many universities such as Texas-Tech, UC-Irving and so on are so much hang on to GRE score that it may surprise you (as per my knowledge, which may change with time). In many universities now-a-days, GRE happens to be a criteria to prove one’s worth not only as a student but also as a contender who, in future, will make a great name for himself and thus will make a great name for the institute as well. Because the score in GRE screams out not only analytical but also the leadership potential of any candidate.

Today I was supposed to write about the evaluation of GRE in universities outside USA, especially in Europe, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Before I do that, we need to learn some obvious facts, which is this article is all about.

Some Obvious Facts:

Universities in USA accepts GRE and other universities outside USA does not accept it; this is completely wrong and exaggeration. GRE now-a-days is a criteria of testing candidate in all over the world. Even country like Bangladesh, where English is not even the official language, accepts SAT/GRE/GMAT for admitting foreign students, specially in Universities like BUET, IBA, DU, SUST and so on where a lot of students from Nepal, Kashmir, Afghanistan etc – come for education.

Universities outside USA do not accept GRE because this is not originated in their country; this statement is also somewhat wrong. I have to admit though, a German institute, in many instances, may prefer German language course (up to level – B2 from Goethe Institute from anywhere in the world). But that is completely subjective and has nothing to do with GRA not being a product of Germany. The main reason behind it is that the university rarely has courses which are taught in English, most of the courses there are designed in German language. So, it is mandatory to present a substantial level of German language skill to even get admitted there. On the other hand, in states like Stuttgart and Aachen in Germany, English language is very much frequent all over that only English will suffice to get admitted in either Stuttgart University or RWTH Aachen University. And in those universities, GRE is considered in a positive light. In university like TUM (Technical University of Munich), most of the students who are admitted have a GRE score as a mandatory requirement.

In universities outside USA, scholarships are not available for students with GRE score; this statement is also wrong. For example, if we notice the announcements of Erasmus Mundus Scholarship Program, where each course is designed with each semester in different countries all over Europe, we will see that there is extra mark for GRE score. One time a course was offered based on Delft, Netherlands – which was named IMIM (International Masters in Industrial Management), there for a score of 600+ on GMAT, 1000 EURO scholarship was offered. Also, I (the writer of this article) got the offer letter of that course, where my GRE score played a vital role. Therefore, GRE can be considered a panacea for all.

The above was important to know before I proceed to my next article. Because in my next article, I am going to write about how GRE is being evaluated in Universities outside USA. Many of the readers already know (or they think that they know) that GRE is not that mandatory for universities outside USA, and in many cases, that is also true. But the current scenario is somewhat different. Many universities like Uppsala or Helsinki – still does not consider GRE as an admission criteria; still they are admitting or unofficially prioritizing students with GRE scores along with CGPA and other criteria, more on which should be the discussion of my next article.

That’s it for today. If the readers can grab today’s article’s objective, then I guess we can start our next article where I will discuss many facts and stats regarding acceptance of GRE in non-US universities.

Till then, happy reading!!!