Last Updated on April 28, 2023
When applying to graduate school, many students take the Graduate Record Exam, or GRE. In most cases, people who take the GRE do so within a year of their application deadlines. However, because a GRE score is valid for five years, you may choose to take the test several years before you are ready to apply to grad school.
So, if you’re still an undergraduate, it may be beneficial to take the GRE now, whether you plan to attend graduate school right after graduation or at a later time within the next five years. By taking the GRE now, you’ll avoid having to deal with the exam down the road.
In this article, we’ll discuss some of the advantages of taking the GRE while you’re still in college. Additionally, we will discuss some considerations in making the best decision for when to take the GRE.
Let’s begin by considering a couple of the major reasons why you might want to take the GRE while you’re still an undergraduate student.
- Reason #1: Studying Is Something You Are Already Doing
- Reason #2: You Can Get the GRE Off Your Plate
- Are You Certain That You’ll Be Attending Graduate School?
- Do You Know Your GRE Target Score?
- Should You Take the GRE While You’re Still an Undergrad?
Reason #1: Studying is Something You Are Already Doing
As a college student, your daily routine likely consists of either going to classes or studying for classes. Consequently, it is reasonable to conclude that you are in “study mode” while in college. Adopting a study-mode mindset is extremely important when you’re preparing for the GRE. Thus, already being in study mode can work to your advantage.
You’ll find much success in your GRE preparation if you look at the GRE as just another college class. For example, let’s say that you’re enrolled in five classes this semester. If you were preparing for the GRE, you would just consider the GRE your sixth class. In other words, you would approach your GRE preparation with the same vigor and dedication you bring to your regular college classes.
TTP PRO TIP:
Since you’re already in study mode as an undergraduate, treat your GRE preparation as if it were an additional course.
If you are apprehensive about adding GRE preparation to your current academic workload, don’t be! Consider how you might feel three years after graduating from college, working a 60-hour week, and not having cracked a textbook in years. Or let’s say it turns out that you decide to attend graduate school soon after graduation. How would you feel if you postponed your GRE prep until the last month or two of your senior year? Then, instead of making great final memories of college, you were bogged down with GRE studying? In either scenario, you can see why, mentally, you would be better prepared to study for the GRE now rather than down the road.
Reason #2: You Can Get the GRE Off Your Plate
If you know that you’ll be applying to graduate programs either during your senior year or a few years after you graduate, then there is no reason not to get the GRE off your plate as soon as you can. If you are a 19- or 20-year-old reading this article, I can tell you that, as you get older, your life will begin to fill up with new responsibilities that you do not currently have to deal with.
Based on that fact alone, my advice is to fit GRE studying into your life now. Do it while your everyday routine is much simpler than it will likely be years down the road. With the GRE out of the way, you can focus on improving other aspects of your grad school application. For instance, you can focus on keeping up a stellar GPA or getting extra work experience in your chosen field. These types of things will undoubtedly be important components of your application.
Although you may not realize it now, a lot of time and energy are needed to prepare for the GRE successfully. Some students need to study for months before they are ready to take it. So, if you wait to take the GRE until you have a demanding job or even a heavy class load, you will find it challenging to find time to do much else outside of work or class and GRE prep.
TTP PRO TIP:
Taking the GRE while you’re still an undergraduate will relieve you of the double stress after graduation of working in a demanding job and having to study for the GRE simultaneously.
If you are pretty certain that graduate school is in the cards for you right after graduation or soon after, then get the GRE out of the way, so you have time to improve your resume and candidacy for graduate school.
We have covered the reasons why taking the GRE as an undergraduate is a good idea. So, let’s now discuss a couple of questions you should ask yourself before you decide to take the GRE in college.
Are You Certain That You’ll Be Attending Graduate School?
While your level of certainty about attending graduate school may appear to be an obvious consideration, you must be fairly certain — before you begin your GRE preparation — that you will attend graduate school within the next five years. If there is a reasonable chance that your graduate school plans will change, you may want to postpone taking the GRE until you have a more solid idea of your future plans and goals.
As I’ve previously stated, the GRE will consume a significant amount of your time, energy, and concentration. So, putting all of that effort into your GRE preparation only to discover later that you no longer intend to attend graduate school and, as a result, do not need to take the GRE, is the absolute last thing you want to do! Remember, career goals can change. Who’s to say whether what you want to do today is the same thing you’ll want to do 3 to 4 years down the road? And what if your career goals change so dramatically that you no longer need to attend graduate school? I’m not saying that these things will definitely happen, but these are all things to consider before beginning your GRE preparation.
TTP PRO TIP:
Before you begin the arduous process of GRE preparation, make certain that you are committed to pursuing a graduate degree in the next five years.
Do You Know Your GRE Target Score?
Knowing your target GRE score may seem like a minor detail, but if you take the GRE without having a clear score goal in mind, you may be setting yourself up for disappointment and frustration down the road. So, apart from being certain that you want to attend graduate school within the next five years, you also need to have a general idea of the schools to which you’d like to apply. With those schools in mind, you’ll have an idea of your target GRE score.
Suppose you buckle down and study for the GRE for approximately six months, achieving a respectable 310 score, which is excellent for many graduate programs. However, what happens if you decide to apply to MIT (Engineering) or Columbia (English), both of which have high GRE score averages? More than likely, your GRE score of 310 will not be sufficient. Then you’ll need to retake the exam to have a good chance of being admitted to either of those programs or others of a similar caliber.
So, you can see why I recommend delaying your GRE preparation until you have a clear idea of the schools you wish to attend. Once you have a list of schools in mind, you’ll know what score to aim for when taking the GRE.
TTP PRO TIP:
Knowing which business schools you’d like to attend will help you determine your GRE target score.
So, with all of these factors in mind, should you take the GRE while you’re still an undergrad?
Should You Take the GRE While You’re Still an Undergrad?
The bottom line is this: If you are reasonably certain that you will attend graduate school within the next five years, and you have a realistic target score in mind, I recommend that you take the GRE while you have the opportunity, the time, and a study mindset. By doing so, you will be able to devote time and energy to improving the other aspects of your application package in the years that follow, while your peers who have waited until application deadlines loom to take the GRE are scrambling to prepare. Believe me, your future self will thank you!
