Indians believe in group study, that too late in the night. This popular concept was once again proven right in a survey conducted by Educational Testing Service (ETS), which conducts the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), the scores of which are accepted by most universities for higher education in the United States.
The survey revealed that Indian test-takers showed a high degree of preference for online study groups. Forty per cent reported that group study was part of their preparation, compared to the global average of 21 per cent.
Friends were the universal winner, ranking highest as the favourite study-buddy among global test-takers. However, test-takers in India and China were nearly three times more likely to prepare with friends than were test-takers from the USA.
Indians reported the greatest number of people interested in late-night study, at about 29 per cent, while Chinese students led the group with the most ‘early-risers’ during their preparation for the test.
Interestingly, ‘home’ outranked all other locations as the favourite place to study across the globe, including India, where over 80 per cent students prepared at home, the survey revealed.
Indians love eating potato chips while preparing for the exam, with close to 32 per cent Indian respondents citing it as their favourite study-time snack. But, fruit too topped the list, followed by nuts, seeds or corn nuts, chocolate, potato chips and cookies.
Indians also appear to love ice-cream more than their American counterparts, with over 9 per cent citing it as their favourite study snack, compared to 4.5 per cent of U.S. test-takers.
“We conducted this survey so that GRE test-takers could tell us more about how they like to prepare for the GRE revised General Test,” said Dawn Piacentino, director of communication and services for the GRE Programme.
More than 18,000 individuals from over 150 countries responded and shared not only their study habits but how they celebrated after taking the test.
