The New ETS Diagnostic Service, and Other Ways to Get Personalized Feedback
You may not be aware of the new GRE Diagnostic Service, available to any test takers who have already taken the Revised exam. Did you know that you can actually see how many questions you missed, the difficulty level of each question, how long you spent on each question, and the categories of the problems you missed? (You can’t see the actual questions, though).
Of course, this information is mainly helpful to those who have taken the real exam and intend to take it again. Here’s a screenshot of a small portion of my results:
Of course, we all want to avoid having to retake the real exam. One way to do that is to make sure you are practicing with serious computer-based practice exams. Studying on paper, without time limits, is just not the same!
- ETS offers two free computer-based exams via the PowerPrep II software. These exams are delivered through a standalone software application (not Mac compatible). When you finish these practice exams, you will receive limited statistics — you’ll see which questions you got right and wrong, and you’ll be able to click on each question and see it again.
- Manhattan GRE’s six Online Section Adaptive Exams are delivered online, in your web browser, and are thus compatible with all operating systems. These exams are already included with any of our live or online classes, tutoring packages, or guided self-study. One-year access may also be purchased here for $30.
Manhattan GRE’s Online Section Adaptive Exams give the most detailed feedback of any online GRE exams. For each question, you’ll see difficulty level, time spent, cumulative time spent, and category, and you can click on each problem for a detailed explanation. Once you’ve taken a few exams, you can also generate detailed reports (screenshots here) about your weaknesses so you can study in a more time-effective way.
(Was this post a bit dry? Here’s something fun: an old post about Vocabulary in The Princess Bride, complete with Youtube video!)