Definitely retake the GRE. There is no excuse for an aspiring history PhD student to score less than 600V. As minor as the GRE is, a score of only 500 will get your application heavily marked down, if not thrown out.
Definitely could have done without the attitude, thanks. Needed advice, not someone with a complex insinuating that I suck at life. I already know that. SO thanks, but stfu.
There was no attitude. Look, not everyone is meant for a PhD. Am I saying you aren't? Of course not. I know nothing about you. However, if a PhD hopeful who speaks english as his/her primary language can barely crack 500V on the GRE after even a small amount of preparation, they may not be meant for advanced studies in the humanities. If not, so what? 99+% of people aren't.
Again, I know nothing about you. Things may have happened before or during your test that messed you up. I don't know. However, if you did study, and nothing too outrageous happened right before or during the test, I would suggest re-thinking your graduate school plan. Does not being able to get into a humanities PhD program mean you suck at life? No, it just means you're normal.
I never insinuated you suck at life, and I *DID* give you advice. My advice (retake the test) is what any other rational person would suggest.
My GRE verbal score was crap-tastic. I've had no problems getting in where I wanted. Granted, I'm not in some super-fantabulous uppity program, but I'm certainly qualified for "advanced studies in the humanities," despite my low GRE verbal score.
Look, there are enough low-tier schools that anyone who's not too dull has a good chance of getting into SOME graduate program. I would argue that one should not pursue advanced studies in a subject if the best they can do is a low-tier school. Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you should. If you're in a weak program, what you're studying obviously isn't your strong suit, and there must be something else you're better at.
To reiterate, you may be "qualified" for your subject at your weak school, but that doesn't mean you're "meant" (key word that I used in my post) for it. Read what I said in my previous post again, please.
well that's just flat out wrong. there are quite a few reasons for low scores that have absolutely nothing to do with ones ability as a historian. one very good reason being a LD.
OP study some more and take it again to see if you can up to verbal to 600+
The bulk of the verbal section is made up of reading comprehension and analogies. I would think that being able to comprehend written passages well and knowing the meaning of words has a LOT to do with one's ability as a historian. How can you argue otherwise?
By no means do standardized tests accurately measure anyones actual abilities to do anything other than take a timed multiple choice test. This is the reason there is the ongoing debate and campaign to get rid of them altogether
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Yup, the GRE certainly is no perfect measure of intelligence or preparedness for graduate work. However, anyone hoping to enter a PhD program in the humanities should be able to score > 500V in their sleep, learning disorder or not. If they DO have some sort of learning disorder that inhibits their ability to analyze the meanings of words and their ability to comprehend written passages, then they're going to have a REAL hard time in grad school!
Read what I said again, please. I don't know the OP, and I don't know what happened during the time she took the GRE. That's why I said:
"if you did study, and nothing too outrageous happened right before or during the test, I would suggest re-thinking your graduate school plan"
If she took this thinking she was prepared, that's a really, really bad sign.
Oh, and look, you gave her the exact same advice I did...
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Again, I know nothing about you. Things may have happened before or during your test that messed you up. I don't know. However, if you did study, and nothing too outrageous happened right before or during the test, I would suggest re-thinking your graduate school plan. Does not being able to get into a humanities PhD program mean you suck at life? No, it just means you're normal.
I never insinuated you suck at life, and I *DID* give you advice. My advice (retake the test) is what any other rational person would suggest.
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To reiterate, you may be "qualified" for your subject at your weak school, but that doesn't mean you're "meant" (key word that I used in my post) for it. Read what I said in my previous post again, please.
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OP study some more and take it again to see if you can up to verbal to 600+
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Read what I said again, please. I don't know the OP, and I don't know what happened during the time she took the GRE. That's why I said:
"if you did study, and nothing too outrageous happened right before or during the test, I would suggest re-thinking your graduate school plan"
If she took this thinking she was prepared, that's a really, really bad sign.
Oh, and look, you gave her the exact same advice I did...
Reply
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