Hey guys,
I hadn't seen a PTE post here before I took my test so thought I'll put in my perspectives. I took the test on 3rd Sep in Delhi. I am an Indian applicant, born and brought up here and working in Delhi itself.
I didn't study at all for the test - like I didn't even look at the practice content. The first time I saw how the test looks like was at the test center - I know not a good thing, but I am kind of getting sick of taking so many tests! Anyways, I had taken the TOEFL (got 113) in 2009 and as my scores expired + dates weren't available in a center nearby until November, I chose to take the PTE.
With the PTE, test dates are easily available + I got my score report in 1 day - Yes 1 day. Also, score reporting is free to as many schools as you want. so its a bargain compared to TOEFL.
The test itself was pretty standard for anyone who's taken an English test. speaking, reading and writing. What I liked a lot was the novel approach - eg: a lot of speaking was involved, more than TOEFL and the filling the blanks with drop down options OR finishing a spoken sentence by choosing an appropriate word - very nice ways of asking questions. I messed up a bit in my writing - I believe on the essay question I was editing and the time ran out. hence a couple of my sentences were COMPLETELY random and wouldn't have made any sense in any language. Rest everything was smooth. I didn't take the optional break and everything was over in 2 hours
The next day I got my report. As I hadn't acquainted myself with the test AT ALL, first I went and saw what the scoring scale looked like
the maximum in each section is 90 and overall maximum is also 90. I opened the report and saw a big red 90. I thought that must be the maximum mark and searched all over before noticing that that was actually my score. Got happy as I got the perfect score even though writing was 63 onyl all other sections were 90
All in all a good experience and would recommend everyone to take this. Its tougher than TOEFL, but both the tests on an absolute basis aren't tough. however, score processing time is almost nil and free reporting to any number of schools.
Cheers!
P.S. - Do not correlate this post to my score
Wrote this in a major hurry.