My son is a rising college senior. He will take one year after graduating in 5/25 to take a couple of additional classes he needs, work/make money, and apply to DPT school. The school he is planning/hoping to attend is affiliated with his current university and he has great grades and great internships. The DPT school affiliated with his university doesn’t require the GRE. He has looked into it and it looks like some DPT programs require it, many don’t. His grandparents told him he should take the GRE this summer and they’ll pay for it. They said if doesn’t take it this summer, they won’t pay (it’s their money/their choice, I guess). He is doing two internships this summer, shadowing a PT, and working, so he is literally burning the candle at both ends. The thought of taking the GRE in the next 6 weeks is stressful for him right now and historically standardized tests are not a strength for him (applied TO to colleges). We told him not to stress and if he decides to take it NEXT summer, we’ll pay. My in-laws rational for telling him to take it now is that the relevant info./coursework is most “fresh” for him right now. (IF he needs to take it, I can’t imagine there’ll be much of a difference next summer, right after graduation, right?)
It seems as though the GRE has been increasingly obsolete, but will more schools begin to require it again, like we see happening with the ACT/SAT? Is that more likely to occur at top schools/programs? He’s not looking at top ranked programs due to cost. Thoughts?
This is program dependent. Some programs require the GRE and some don’t. If your student isn’t apply to grad school now, he can wait until after the summer to take the GRE. No rush.
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Yes, that’s exactly our thought too. If the schools you end up applying to next year don’t need it, don’t take it. If they do, take it then. We see no point in him taking it now. I think he feels pressure from my in-laws. He does quite a bit of work for them(so has a lot of opportunity to see them 1:1), and my well-meaning, former guidance counselor MIL gives him A LOT of well-intended, but perhaps outdated “advice”…
I took the GRE not long after I graduated undergrad back in the Stone Age. I didn’t apply to masters programs for another two years. I was happy to have the test out of the way as I was then working full time.
Since some programs require it, I would suggest taking the test. But it doesn’t have to be this summer. It can be in the fall. That way, your kid doesn’t have to scramble to take the GRE if he identifies grad programs that require it.
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This is a question for your son’s academic advisor AND the U’s health careers advisor in the Career Development office. If there is a rumbling that the grad programs your son is interested in are about to move to “test required”, they should know.
He can learn to ignore the loving and well meaning advice from his grandparents starting NOW.
Yes, he has asked and they say there are no plans to make it a requirement. That’s why he (and we) don’t feel it’s worth the stress of taking it this summer, despite in-laws wanting to pay and urging him take it now. I just wanted to get feedback from others to be sure I wasn’t missing something/some compelling reason he should take it now. If somehow it ended up being needed/mandatory at a school he ends up applying to, he could take it anytime senior year or the summer after, if he needs to. He has a very strong GPA, internships, and shadowing experience, so if a school is GRE optional, I don’t think he’d choose to take it and submit it, because it’s highly doubtful it would help him.
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It is not a hard test to prep for… so if his advisors don’t think he’ll need it, he should feel comfortable kicking the can down the road.
Not sure what’s up with the in-laws but that can’t be your problem, right? 
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Not sure why the pressure to take it now. GRE can be taken multiple times per year, at an independent test center. The cost is pennies in comparison to a DPT program. No need to take a course per se, bcos the student has to do all the work anyway (flash cards, practice tests…)
Agree with the others: if his top program doesn’t require, no need to take it.
That said, are DPT programs in competition with each other for top students? (Serious question since I don’t know.). My point is that taking the GRE and getting a merit scholly from a competitor program might get his favorite program to cough up some merit money to entice him to stay home.
For example, at my D’s grad program, which is TO, GRE can be a decider for Fellowships.
My daughter used magoosh to prep. Did he recently decide to apply to DPT programs? My daughter graduated undergrad in 3 years, started test prep at least a year before graduation, took the GRE’s at least twice (probably 3, she’s very type A). She was accepted at all 10 she applied to, she ended up at BU which doesn’t require it (but some did). She did take 18 credits each semester and worked PT, full time summers.
Decided just recently, with certainty, of DPT route. Ideally would have done a 3+3 program, but at that time, was not sure of which way he’d go. I feel fairly certain that, for him, the GRE would not help him/maybe hurt him, so he would not take/submit unless absolutely necessary.
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My daughter was thrilled when her masters program dropped the GRE requirement because of covid and there not being enough testing centers offering it. She is not very good at math and was afraid that would give her a low score.
I don’t know if the school has re-institituted the requirement.
It doesn’t sound like he will take it this summer/fall anyway. While he’s waiting, have him research which schools require it and whether he likes schools that don’t require it just as much as those that do require it.
Yes, he looked, and there are plenty that don’t require it, including the one that is his best option. I was just trying to be sure we/he weren’t missing some compelling reason to take it now, and it doesn’t seem like we are.
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If he has a list of schools that do not require it…and there are enough schools on the list (whatever the recommendation is)…then I cannot think of any reason to take it.
He can always take the GRE down the road if he changes his mind.
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