Admission Tests

Admission Tests
Many graduate schools require an applicant to complete one of the common entrance tests. For business school, the test generally required is the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), for medical school, it is the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), for law school, it is the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), and for many other programs, it is the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). Check with your desired graduate program for its requirements.

Graduate Record Exam (GRE)  (www.gre.org)
The Educational Testing Service (ETS) administers the GRE.  The GRE General Test is a computer-based test and is offered at Sylvan Learning Centers (Thompson Prometric) around the country.  The center in this area is located at 2211 Mack Blvd, Allentown, PA 18103.

To register, call 610.791.5320 at least one week prior to your testing date.  PLEASE BE ADVISED that you must make an appointment to take the GRE and you must make payment with a credit card at the time you register.  You can also register for the GRE General test at: www.gre.org.
 
The General Test is computerized and measures your verbal, quantitative, and analytical abilities. The first questions are moderately difficult.  If you choose the correct answer, the questions get more difficult.  Questions that are more difficult are more heavily weighted.  You can receive a score on each section from 200-800 for verbal and quantitative reasoning and an analytical writing score of 0-6.   Schools will either take your total score or an average of your scores.  You lose more points for not answering a question than for getting the answer incorrect.

The GRE Subject Tests are designed to measure your knowledge of one of eight specific areas including: biochemistry, cell, and molecular biology, biology, chemistry, computer science, literature in English, mathematics, physics, and psychology.  GRE Subject Tests cost $130 per subject.  Each of these tests is 2 hours and 50 minutes long.  Prior registration through ETS is required.  Booklets are available in Career Services or on-line at www.ets.org.

Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT)  (www.mba.com)
Educational Testing Service administers the GMAT.  It is a computer-based test and is offered at Sylvan Learning (Thompson Prometric) Centers around the nation.  The center in this area is located at 2211 Mack Blvd, Allentown: (http://tutoring.sylvanlearning.com/centers/18103/index.cfm).
To register, call 610.791.5320 at least one week prior to your testing date.  PLEASE BE ADVISED that you must make an appointment to take the GMAT and you must make payment with a credit card at the time you register.

The GMAT measures your analytical skills.  Your score report includes four separate sections: Verbal with a range of 0-60 (below 10 or above 46 is rare); Quantitative with a range of 0-60 (below 10 or above 46 is rare); Total with a range of 200-800 (below 250 or above 700 is rare); Analytical Writing with a separate score report with a range of 0-6 (an average of 4 ratings based on the 2 analytical writing topics).  The test consists of 150 minutes of multiple choice questions plus two 30-minute essays.

Law School Admission Test (LSAT)  (www.lsac.org)
The Law School Admission Test is administered by the Law School Admission Council/Law School Admission Services (LSAC/LSAS) and is offered four times per year; twice yearly at Lafayette.  Check the Career Services Semester Calendar for the on-campus test dates.

The LSAT is designed with four 45-minute sessions, one of which does not count in the scoring of the exam.  It also includes a 30-minute writing exercise.  This is not scored but is sent to the law schools with your scores.  For more information on applying to law school and the LSAT, see the Legal Professions Advisory Committee website for more information http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~deanofthecollege/proadvis/legal.php.
Registration materials for the LSAT can be obtained in the Career Services Office.  You can also register at www.lsat.org.

Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)  (www.aamc.org)
The MCAT attempts to assess an examinee's knowledge of basic biology, chemistry, and physics. It also attempts to evaluate scientific problem solving, critical thinking, and writing ability.  Medical schools require MCAT scores before considering an application.  MCATs are given in April and August of every year.  It is strongly recommended that you take the MCATs in the spring of your junior year, unless you intend to defer your application until the following year.  For more information on the MCAT, contact the Health Professions Advisory Committee: http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~deanofthecollege/proadvis/health.php

Admissions Test Preparation Resources
Kaplan
GMAT, DAT, General GRE, MAT, LSAT, OAT, MCAT, and Subject GRE test prep resources.

PowerScore
LSAT, GMAT, GRE test prep courses available as well as a selection of LSAT and other preparation books.

Princeton Review
Courses and test prep resources for GMAT, LSAT, GRE, MCAT, TOEFL tests.

Test Masters
Courses available for LSAT, GRE, and GMAT prep.

A selection of test preparation resource guides are also available in the Career Services library.