The GMAT is the first of the major standardized tests to abandon the pencil-and-paper format. At various speeds, the other tests - the GRE, the MCAT, the LSAT, and the grand-daddy of them all, the Scholastic Assessment Test - are moving in the same direction.
``Oh, no. I had no idea,'' said Cunha, 22, a tax-compliance specialist at Ernst & Young in Center City. Though she works on computers daily, Cunha - whose first language is Portuguese - isn't so sure she'll be able to handle reading comprehension and complicated math problems on-screen.
On the upside, Cunha can schedule the test at her convenience - ``just as you do with a doctor or dentist,'' GMAT executive David Wilson said - and will learn her unofficial score just minutes after finishing.
On the downside, she can't skip around, change answers, or leave any questions blank. And if she screws up on the early questions, the computer will punish her. It will start serving up easier questions, but her score will suffer. And the test fee will increase from $84 to $125.
``I'm not very good at standardized tests to begin with,'' said Cunha, a Drexel University graduate. ``This is probably going to hurt me.''
People in the testing business say this is only the beginning. They say the GMAT, for instance, could eventually include interactive spreadsheet problems that get tougher to decipher if you answer the early questions well. The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) could be better tailored to its wider range of students, from engineers to English majors. The Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) could include point-and-click, 3-D human-anatomy questions.
The College Board, the nonprofit organization that developed and owns the SAT, is proceeding slowly and cautiously, but envisions going to computer screens sooner or later.
Of chief concern: how to build a system that can administer two million tests a year, would be fair to both computer-trained kids and novices, and won't break the bank.
