New grads have one more year to take the old version of the Graduate Record Exam. Originally slated to go into effect this year, the newly remodeled GRE has been pushed back to the fall of 2007, which is a relief for many prospective graduate students.

“This is a good thing because it gives students the ability to take the old exam, the exam students are used to taking,” said Matt Fiddler, GRE program coordinator at Kaplan Test Preparation. Many students are familiar with the old version and have taken pre-tests to get ready for it.

The GRE is a test required by all graduate students who plan to pursue masters’ degress. Although the new version is complete, Fiddler said the delay is due to distribution problems to the more than 400,000 students nationwide who will take the exam this year.

Fiddler said Kaplan Test Preparation recommends that students who prepared to take the re-vamped GRE this year not wait until 2007 to take it. Students who graduate this year or who will return to graduate school after taking some time off should also take the GRE before moving on.

“Think about taking the exam before you leave school,” Fiddler said, “while you’re still in ‘test-taker’ mode.”

According to Fiddler, the changes to the exam are significant. The allotted time for the exam will increase from 2.5 hours to four, the math and verbal sections will be restructured to include more elements of critical thinking, and the fee, currently $115 in the United States, will go up. The amount of the fee increase has not yet been announced.