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University services prepare students for graduate tests |
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Thursday, 06 March 2008 |
by JILLIAN SWORDS
News Reporter
For graduating seniors hoping to continue their education, the time to take upper-level exams has come.
Appalachian State University is one of only four universities in the state to have a certified testing center where students can take the online portions of graduate entrance examinations, Associate Vice
Chancellor for Student Development Susie L. Greene said.
“I think that it’s a wonderful service to have this here so people don’t have to drive off the mountain to
take the test,” Greene said. “The closest [other] place to take a test is an hour and 45 minutes away in
Winston.”
Greene said many students don’t know about the campus’s Testing Center, located in room 245 of
John E. Thomas Hall, until they are seniors.
According to the results of past senior surveys, the number of Appalachian State undergraduates
planning to go straight to graduate school full- or part-time increased from 14.7 percent in 2005 to 19.7
percent in 2007.
Director of Testing Services Susan B. Morgan said the number of computer-based tests given on
campus has increased slightly from about 2,500 in the 2000-01 school year to over 3,000 last year.
Although prep classes are not offered directly through the university, there are several options for
students hoping to prepare for the exams.
Kaplan, a company that produces test preparation material, gave free
practice tests for the GRE, GMAT, LSAT and MCAT Sunday in the Plemmons
Student Union.
Other free events are sponsored periodically throughout the state and can be found and registered for
at Kaplan.com.
Senior sociology and criminal justice major Stephanie M. Collins completed an eight-week Kaplan
review course last year at East Tennessee State University. Last Saturday she took the GRE for the first time.
The course cost about $1,200 and was grueling in addition to her regular class schedule, but Collins
said the course, which taught Kaplan’s eight strategies for answering the types of questions on the
GRE, was definitely worth it.
“I think if I had taken the class and then taken the test right after, I would have been fine, but I waited
and that killed me,” she said.
There were only five students in her review class, so the instruction was individualized and very
one-on-one, Collins said.
Undertaking something like studying for such an intense test on her own would have been completely
overwhelming, she added.
The course came with a review book and a guarantee that if the students
did not score higher on the actual GRE than they did on a practice test
taken at the first session, they could retake the classes.
Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute also offers two-part review classes for $55, said
Merrill G. Hibbs, the manager of testing services.
For further information on these classes, e-mail
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
or call (828) 726-2472. The next
series of classes begins March 19.
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the Metro Higher Education Center in Hickory both
offer GRE general classes for $849 and GMAT test prep classes for $999.
Classes in Hickory are held on Saturdays and more information can be found at ContinuingEd.uncc.edu
or by calling (877) 741-0134.
Morgan said that few students are aware the testing center even exists.
It has the capability of administering 150 different graduate-level examinations, from the PRAXIS-II
exam for education majors to strength and conditioning tests for health, leisure and exercise science
majors.
For undergraduate students who are not seniors, the university’s credit by examination policy through
the College Level Examination Program, or CLEP, is another little-known service.
For an $80 fee, students can take exams in a variety of subjects from Principles of Accounting to
Western Civilization I to gain college credit for corresponding classes.
More information on CLEP exams, call (828) 262-6801.
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