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Is there any chance with below 600 physics GRE score?

Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2014 7:37 am
by azoroth
Hi, I am International female and on my senior year of physics undergrad. I took physics GRE this April so that I can have a shot with the grad schools for 2015 fall, but I was shocked to see my results to be only 580(below25%)!!

I have a paper with my advisor and my overall gpa is quite good but with this low GRE score do I have a chance in any grad school? I have been roaming on the net and I get different opinions and GRE ranges for grad schools. can anyone give some authentic info if I really have a shot or not in grad school with this score? and which schools would be considered safe for me for astrophysics?

Re: Is there any chance with below 600 physics GRE score?

Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2014 10:35 am
by Catria
Look at astro depts... astro depts tend to put less weight on PGRE scores. Even top-10 ones, like University of Washington, average about a 700.

Re: Is there any chance with below 600 physics GRE score?

Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2014 10:58 am
by Aether73
Good advice from Catria. Have you considered taking a year off and retaking the test?

Re: Is there any chance with below 600 physics GRE score?

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 5:28 am
by azoroth
hi i will obviously go for a retake in April, but I want to have a test shot with some of the US universities next year , just to see if I am eligible even with this score or not. so can you suggest some safe schools that takes student within this range ?
I chose UT arlington, as one of my relatives is there, whats about it?

Re: Is there any chance with below 600 physics GRE score?

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2014 2:27 pm
by uhurulol
Hi Azoroth,

There are lots of schools in the US with decent grad programs that don't even require submission of a PGRE score. Even still, 25th percentile will get you into more than a handful of schools that do require it -- however, being international might put you at a disadvantage. The low PGRE scores I've seen get into programs are usually domestic, though I wouldn't say this is a hard rule, just an observation.

A few schools off the top of my head are Brown, Tufts, U Alabama, and Georgia Tech. I have more on my list, as I also did poorly on the PGRE, but most of mine are Astro and I'm not sure what your research interests are.

A helpful website is gradschoolshopper. Here is a link to their list, sorted by PGRE requirement. It will say yes - required, yes - recommended, or no. The "recommended" ones are typically schools where a strong PGRE will help a lot, but no PGRE won't "hurt" your application if you can prove yourself with your other credentials. You can also use the top bar to sort by "accepted" PGRE score, but I'd also take that information with a grain of salt. Hope this helps.

http://www.gradschoolshopper.com/gradsc ... ?q=3&cid=7


Cheers,

Dan