GRE Test Taker Volume Falls to Lowest Level Since 2008: What Does it Mean For Your Advisees?

Recently, ETS released 2012 GRE test taker volume, and there was certainly a fall-off in testing volume globally, down to 655,000 tests taken, the lowest level since 2008, and an 18% drop from the highs of the test change year of 2011. 

GRE test takers tend to be counter-cyclical with the economy and this may be a leading indicator that the economy is improving for recent college grads and young professionals.  Still, there are a lot of prospective graduate students out there.

Additionally, here are some interesting trends related to the 2012 GRE test taker volume statistics just released by ETS:

• During the peak testing period from August through December, the greatest increase in test administrations was in international markets – China and India saw a 30% increase in test volume over the same period in 2011. The press release speculates that “This trend may impact upcoming admissions cycles as the globally diverse GRE test-taker population applies to graduate and business schools in 2013.”  This meshes well with our most recent Graduate School Admissions Officer Survey, where the majority of admissions officers from 100+ of the top graduate programs in the US believe that this upcoming admissions cycle will be even more competitive than the 2012 cycle.
• As more and more business schools accept GRE scores, b-schools seem to like what they’re seeing. Says an admissions officer at the Thunderbird School of Global Management, “The candidates who take the [GRE] are extremely diverse which provides the opportunity for us, as an institution, to work with candidates from a wide array of backgrounds and undergraduate focus areas”.  Clearly, the GRE continues to grow in prominence as an alternative to the GMAT for b-school admissions, with Top 100 business schools reporting between 5% and 20% of applicants are now submitting GRE scores rather than GMAT scores.
• We at Kaplan still advise that for a student who has their heart set solely on b-school, the GMAT is the best exam to take, but for those considering their options between b-school and engineering or public administration programs, the GRE can be a good alternative.
• International test takers should continue to grow in 2013, but US and Canada will likely be flat to down slightly.  However, prospective GRE test takers in the US shouldn’t read too much into these numbers.  Overall testing volume isn’t nearly as important as are the numbers of applicants in a student’s target field and programs. While for some programs, the drop in GRE takers may lead to a less competitive applicant pool, what we’ve heard from admissions officers from top graduate programs is that they expect this admissions cycle to be as competitive as ever, with more highly qualified international applicants.
• And of course there’s still the merit-based aid component: more than 2/3rds of admissions officers use GRE scores to decide who gets the grants, scholarships and fellowships at their programs.  On top of this, all of the research reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics speak to the majority of high growth fields over the next 5-10 years – in allied health, information technology, business specialties, education and other growth fields — requiring a graduate degree.

Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions you have about GRE test taker trends.