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General GRE score--advice please

Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 12:21 am
by twinb87
I took the general GRE today and I just want some opinions on how my scores will affect me. I got:
Q: 700
V: 720

I am not happy with my quantitative score at all. I am a slow test taker and ran out of time. However, I have research experience, currently a 4.00 GPA and I am pretty certain I can obtain good letters of recommendation. If I study like hell and get a good Physis GRE score, will I still be able to get into decent graduate programs like University of Wisconsin: Madison, University of Maryland, University of North Carolina: Chapel Hill. Any advice is appreciated.

Re: General GRE score--advice please

Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 5:26 am
by nathan12343
Well, you can always take it again. On the other hand, 700 isn't that bad. If you get good PGRE scores I doubt that your GRE scores will hurt you very much. If you don't, the good thing about the general GRE is that you can sign up for it on very short notice, even after you get your PGRE scores back.

Re: General GRE score--advice please

Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 11:58 pm
by sirius
take it again if you know you can do better. if that's your average practice test score, then keep it, and dont waste the money. youre going to have to have at least mid 700s on the PGRE with that score. excellent job on verbal! that definitely makes up for it a bit, if you choose not to try again on the the GRE.

Re: General GRE score--advice please

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 4:18 pm
by grae313
700 is crap and assuming you get a decent score on the PGRE, with your GPA and research it will stand out like a red flag. According to an admissions prof that posts to this site and various other blogs from professors, even at top 50-30 ranked schools the average applicant is close to maxed out on the Q section. If it is at all possible, retake the PGREs. This is my opinion.

Re: General GRE score--advice please

Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 12:16 am
by excel
Congrats on the 720 verbal -- that's a strong score. Well, a strong PGRE score would compensate for the low QGRE score. However, 700 may be below the cutoff of several schools for all one knows, and it would certainly be a red flag of sorts. I am sure you can do much better than 700 if you, say, practised from Barron's book to get the timing down and retook the exam.

Re: General GRE score--advice please

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 3:28 am
by twinb87
Thank you all for the advice. I retook the general GRE and went through at much more steady pace and brought my quantitative score up to a 790. It's not the perfect 800 but I am still happy with it. Also, the average for most of the schools I am looking at is 780. My verbal went down to 670 but its still in the 95th percentile. Hopefully my 700 won't hurt me too much now.

Re: General GRE score--advice please

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 11:55 am
by grae313
Excellent! People won't view a 790 any differently than an 800, and 670 is still an extremely respectable verbal score. With a decent score on the PGRE I'd bet money that you'd get into at least 1 of the three schools you mentioned, but of course you never really know. Don't forget to apply to some "reach" schools as well, and good luck.