Business, engineering, natural sciences most favored disciplines.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: The number of India-based students taking the Graduate Records Examination (GRE) shot up by a staggering 70% in 2013, according to figures released by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), which administers the exam.
The figures indicate that more than 90,000 students in India took the GRE over the course of 2013, meaning that about 52,941 students took the exam in the previous year. The 70% increase is miles above the US, which only saw an uptick of about 5%, and is twice as much as the 35% increase recorded for student all across Asia.
The GRE was taken by 731,000 students around the world, making 2013 the second-highest year in the test’s 65-year history (2011 was the highest, with 800,000 examinees). Internationally, the test saw a 30% rise over 2012, and the three graduate fields of study with the highest amount of increase were business (36%), engineering (31%), and natural sciences (21%).
The high number of Indian GRE test-takers is attributable to ETS’ expansion in the subcontinent. The Service has gone to various educational institutes around the country to talk about the GRE and explain why it’s important that students hoping to go abroad for further studies need the exam to get into the best schools.
“GRE score acceptance around the world is also at an all-time high as programs focus on attracting applicants from the desirable GRE test-taker population,” said ETS in a press release.
“The number of international programs accepting GRE scores increased by nearly 12 percent compared to 2012 and the number of business schools accepting GRE scores for their MBA programs has risen to more than 1,100, up 8% over last year,” it said.
The upward surge in India’s GRE numbers falls in line with a report by the Council of Graduate Schools from last autumn, which showed a 40% rise in first-time graduate student enrollees from India between 2012 and 2013. Indian student applications to US-based graduate programs also increase 22% over the same time.
The GRE is considered the foremost exam in America for students pursuing graduate school acceptance. Started in 1949, the test was overhauled significantly in 2011, and requires verbal, quantitative, and analytical skills to do well on. While some schools treat the exam as more of a formality, an increasing number are using it as a critical factor in admissions decisions.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com