Comments | applyingtograd: To retake or not to retake

filmfanatic09 in applyingtograd

To retake or not to retake

Jul 20, 2009 22:45

I’m going to be applying to MA/PhD programs in the Humanities at schools of varying levels of prestige: mostly state schools whose programs are ranked in the top 30, along with a few schools like Northwestern and Berkeley that carry a little more cachet. That being said, my GRE scores are woefully less than stellar: 500 quantitative, 580 verbal ( Read more... )

gre woes, gre retake, gre

Comments 18

embarrassedrose July 21 2009, 03:42:24 UTC

I'm really glad you asked this question. I'm in a similar boat, although I scored marginally higher on the GRE (sorry if this sounds smarmy :-/ ). As an addendum to your OP, it'd be nice to hear what regulars think the chances of an app like the one described would have of getting a fellowship, given social competence and, you know, them liking you and stuff. :)

For what it's worth... seashell3686 July 21 2009, 04:53:16 UTC

Last year I applied to psychology PhD programs with a 1130 GRE, 5.5 writing, a high GPA, years of research experience (including several conference presentations), two internships, an honor's thesis, three strong letters of recommendation, etc. I didn't get in anywhere. Afterward I contacted the programs asking if there was anything I should work on, basically everyone that responded said I should raise my GRE score...

bulby01 July 21 2009, 05:01:09 UTC

You seem to have the opposite problem I do. I have a pretty good GRE score, but everything else about my college work generally sucks (grades, activities, and such, apart from the name of my school).

From what I've heard repeatedly, test scores are really a rather unimportant part of a school's impression of a prospective student. I'd say that, in contrast to it looking potentially bad, your scores might just suggest that you're not good with standardized tests (and heck, your essay score is disproportionately higher compared to your multiple-choice-based scores anyway).

I can't really give much advice on the subject, but I'll say (take this with as many grains of salt as needed) that if you feel you'd do substantially better (e.g. at least a hundred points better), then go for it.

bloodyeuphoria July 21 2009, 05:11:17 UTC

I am in pretty much the same boat as you are :-(

I keep telling myself, "you broke 1000, be happy"..but I know I need to bring it up a bit to be competitive.

I just don't want to go through all the studying again and not do much better. But I feel like I have no choice.

shaydlip July 21 2009, 13:51:05 UTC

Have you tried to take a course? They're expensive, but if you've already tried studying and it doesn't work, having a higher GRE score can pay off in the long run (you're more competitive for univesity fellowships, NSFs, you're getting into more programs with higher funding etc....)

bloodyeuphoria July 22 2009, 18:20:25 UTC

Thanks for the advice :-) I will have to research them a bit more, but the ones I have seen are gosh awful expensive.

aonde July 21 2009, 06:42:59 UTC

You seem like a strong candidate. First of all, be thankful that your GRE score at least reflects your ease with writing ( ... )

filmfanatic09 July 21 2009, 11:24:04 UTC

You’re absolutely right; to address the blind spot in my original post: I did a very minimal amount of study the first time around (essentially only some practice tests, on which I did better than on the actual one). I hope this doesn’t come across the wrong way, but there was a large part of me that didn’t want to buy in (literally) to the whole GRE “game” and devote time/money to preparation materials, classes, etc. I still have one semester left of undergrad and am in the throes of a major research project (a second honor’s thesis) and hated the thought of time being taken away from that to study math (which is essentially irrelevant to my future interests) and English in the form of multiple choice questions ( ... )

shaydlip July 21 2009, 13:58:08 UTC

I barely studied the first time I took the exam and got an 1180. I studied a little bit more (some vocab, but mostly a couple weeks beforehand I got a book and studied the trikcs) and my score jumped to a 1350.

Are the tests still computer adaptive? Don't forget that if the questions seem really hard and you aren't doing well, that's actually a good thing because you are getting them right. The first time I took the GRE I thought I did really well, and the second time I was considering not even keeping my scores. I got to that screen, sat there for a minute or two, said **** it in my head, and I got the high score. It always freaks me out a little to remember back to that day and I wasn't going to keep those scores...

greekdaph July 21 2009, 20:03:25 UTC

Given what you say here, I'd add my voice to the chorus of those advising you to retake. I know exactly what you mean about not buying into the rationale of the GRE--ETS is an awful monopoly that tricks you out of your money at every turn, and it's far more intellectually fulfilling to focus on projects that actually mean something to you. But (and I've said this before on this forum, so forgive me if I sound like a broken record) the that test is one of the few elements of your application that you can at least somewhat control. You don't know for sure how your SOP, your writing sample, and your LORs will be perceived, but you do know that with some flashcards and vocab drills, you have a good chance of improving your score. In the midst of application season--and especially in the midst of waiting-anxiously-to-hear-back-from-programs season, you'll be grateful that you've done all you can to improve your application: it'll save you all that time you might have otherwise spent asking, "What if ( ... )