3 Important Exams for International Students You Must Know
Welcome to another blog! Today I am posting about the most important part of the Masters Abroad process known as the Entrance Exams.
As you might have already gone through my 1st post, you might be very familiar to the terms I use.
If you haven’t read my earlier post then I bet you will not understand the depth and certain terms I mean.
Please go and just have a scroll on my 1st blog post of this GRE TOEFL and MS in US series. It is just about the terms used by aspirants and their meanings.
So you have read my earlier blog?
Now we are on 3 Important Exams for International Students You Must Know ,highly requested or searched question.
Alright, lets proceed then. I believe we are good to go. You can also Follow this blog for regular updates. Every time I post a new blog, you will be notified first.
Grab a mug of coffee or a bowl of chips because it is going to be a lengthy post.
Without wasting, must of your time, let’s go.
Wait! I forgot to ask one important question?
Are you seriously ready for this?
If yes, lets go ahead. If no, do reconsider your choice and decide what’s best. Because it is going to be an expensive deal once you start preparing for your exams. The exam fees are in Dollars.
I don’t want anyone to be mentally unprepared or emotionally not ready to go through this. Like I have already mentioned earlier, the whole Masters Abroad journey isn’t a cake walk or a bed of roses.
It is a path full of thorns and stones with a blend of sweet and bitter memories.
Here we go. Let’s get started with it.
[themify_box style=”red announcement”]3 Important Exams for International Students You Must Know[/themify_box]
As part of 3 Important Exams for International Students You Must Know ,Let’s proceed.
[themify_box style=”red highlight”]GRADUATE RECORD EXAMINATIONS (GRE)[/themify_box] is an examination for graduates for entering Masters course. It is a basic requirement needed for almost majority of US Universities.It is criteria for filtering students. And a criteria for students to filter the universities based on their scores.
The score validity is for 5 years from the day you take the test. For example, If my batch is Fall 2021, I must ideally take my GRE in Mid or in the 2/3rd of 2020 as the entire procedure will take around 6 months.
The ideal time to give GRE exam is in vacations after the even semester of 2nd or 3rd year.
A majority universities in my state give vacations in June and July. You can even prepare for it in these holidays and give the exam in August. The earlier you give exam, the more time you get to think and apply for universities without a rush.
Don’t drag it till November or December because university deadlines begin in December. Let’s just proceed to the main exam. There will be another blog soon on timeline for the entire process. So I was talking about the exam. The GRE exam structure consists of 2 things.
Verbal and Quant. The verbal section consists of English and vocabulary and the quant section consists of Mathematics.
The Verbal Section -: Consists of Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning and Vocabulary usage. It is scored on a scale of 130-170. This part consists of 2 sections.
Each section is of 30 minutes and 20 questions each. Each section consists of 10 critical reading questions, 6 text completion and 4 sentence equivalence questions.
That brings us to 20 Critical Thinking, 12 Text completion and 8 sentence equivalence questions to be completed in one hour with a 1 minute break between each section and a 10 minute break after the 3rd section.
The Quantitative Section-: Consists of 2 sections again. Each with 20 questions to be answered in 35 minutes.
The score is between 130-170 again. Majority universities are considering and made it mandatory to have a really good Quant score like 160 and above. It’s just the High school level math involved.
This section has 9 problem-solving items, 8 quantitative comparisons and 3 data interpretation questions per section. Total Duration of the quant section is 1 hour 10 minutes for 40 questions.
3 Important Exams for International Students You Must Know
Analytical Writing or AWA also consists of 2 sections with time 30 minutes each. One is an Issue task and another one is an Argument task. The grade scale for this is 0-6 with half point increments.
You have to write an the answer on computer itself using a software designed by ETS which has only basic functions. Both Issue and Argument are given from selected topics from a pool of questions by the GRE program which is accessible to the students on ETS web page.
In issue task, write an essay on given topic. In argument task, you will be asked to write an essay that critiques the argument given.
We must consider the logic of the argument and give suggestions on how to improve the logic. Not giving a personal opinion here. Just have to address on the logic of the provided argument.
There is also an Experimental section of 30 minutes which may be either Verbal or Quant but is not considered for score.
Let’s just sum up the above section.
- Verbal has 2 sections with 20 questions with 30 minutes each. 1 minute break after each section.
- Quantitative has 2 sections with 20 questions to be answered in 35 minutes each. One minute break after each section.
- The 6 sections sequence may appear in any given order. 1 minute break after each section and 10 minutes break after 3rd section.
- Scoring for both Verbal and Quant is 130-170 range.
- Can be taken any day during the year.
- AWA contains issue topic essay writing and Argument task. The scale is 0-6 for scoring. We must type the things in a computer on a software designed by GRE.
- The total duration is 3 hours 45 minutes. Fees is 195$
3 Important Exams for International Students You Must Know
Want to continue?
Let’s add some more points on 3 Important Exams for International Students You Must Know.
Below is an image depicting AWA score..
Image Source -: Google GRE Website
- [themify_box style=”red highlight”]TOEFL Examination[/themify_box] is an important admission requirement for most of the graduate schools in the US. The fees is between 160$ to 250$ depending on country.
- The score is valid for 2 years from the date of exam. This exam is for 120 points. Each section is for 30 points. And time taken is around 3.5 hours depending on the number of questions per section. TOEFL exam is only conducted on weekends as per my knowledge.
Structure of TOEFL exam
- Reading 3-5 passages each with 12-14 questions. Time given is 60-80 minutes.
- Listening 6-9 passages each with 5-6 questions. Tine given is 60-90 minutes.
- Mandatory 10 minutes break.
- Speaking 6 tasks Time given is 20 minutes. Contains 2 Independent and 4 Integrated.
- Writing 2 tasks Time given is 50 minutes 1 independent and 1 integrated task.
Below is an image about the detailed information on TOEFL Examination
TOEFL detailed structure
Image Source -: Google TOEFL website
- Protip for the TOEFL Exam is to go to the 10 minutes break as soon as possible. Empty your mind, have some water and eat a little snacks, use the washroom if needed. Finish the job and return back to your computer soon. Don’t wait until the entire break is over.
- Ask the invigilator to start your speaking section. They will enter the password and unlock you PC. Request for a fresh scratch paper. Start your speaking section. So you save a lot of time here.
- Because others are still on their break or still struggling with Listening section. There is less chances of disturbances to your current section. So you will score much better rather than being disturbed by the fellow test takers when they start their speaking sane as yours.
- When others are starting their speaking section, you should be half or 2/3rd way through the section. Your voice will be recorded without any disturbance and mind will be calm.
3 Important Exams for International Students You Must Know
- Never start your Listening section when students nearby and beside you are taking their Speaking section. It will hamper your performance. Wear comfortable cloths and don’t have too much water before and during the test. Have some light food before leaving for the exam. Don’t carry anything except the required documents, water bottle and snacks.
- [themify_box style=”red highlight”]IELTS[/themify_box] is an exam for German and Canadian universities instead of TOEFL. The scoring system is band wise. The score system is between 0-9. The fees is 11,600 rupees and score is valid for 2 years.
Below are three images from the IELTS website to help you understand better.
Image Source -: Google IELTS and Carrer360 websites
Wow! That was little too longer than I expected. I didn’t really know how the time just passed away until I completed the above paragraph and its the end of 3 Important Exams for International Students You Must Know article. Did the coffee go cold or the chips bowl empty?
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Will catch up again tomorrow with another exciting topic on MS in US and GRE TOEFL series. Until then keep studying.
