General GRE screw up

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PathIntegrals92
Posts: 190
Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2014 12:42 pm

General GRE screw up

Post by PathIntegrals92 » Sun Nov 16, 2014 10:50 pm

So I tripped up and didn't do as well as I hoped for. I took it last month but due to the 21 days thing...the next available date is December 10 =(

I think this would work for most of my schools with January deadline, but I have a couple of December 15 too. How much do schools care about General GRE reporting on time? I mean I would be able to fill it out on the app...

The thing is the school I am applying to, UCSD, explicitly states everything must be in on time for full consideration. I saw a similar thread for Harvard but that was regarding PGRE.

I have my pgre done and it holds more weight right?

One way to fix this is to not bother applying and save $80.

blackmass
Posts: 61
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2014 2:01 pm

Re: General GRE screw up

Post by blackmass » Mon Nov 17, 2014 12:42 am

If I were you, I would still apply and probably not bother retaking the GRE anyway. If you're really, very unhappy with it, you can retake it for those schools whose deadlines are much later. But in regards to UCSD, I would just send the scores you already have. I've seen schools explicitly say, "We understand that your GRE scores may arrive after the deadline," or, "You must have your GRE scores in by this extended deadline," and like Harvard, as you mentioned, "All scores must arrive by the deadline."

If UCSD doesn't reference the GRE deadline outside of "everything must be in on time for full consideration," I don't think they will accept a later score.

That being said, don't worry about it too much! I honestly don't think the general GRE (or even the PGRE) will be the biggest contributors to your application. Unless your score is alarmingly low, I think you'll be alright. It's worth applying, anyway. I'm still applying to many places despite less than impressive test scores.

PathIntegrals92
Posts: 190
Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2014 12:42 pm

Re: General GRE screw up

Post by PathIntegrals92 » Mon Nov 17, 2014 5:41 pm

Thanks for the reply blackmass! I realized that it was your thread I read regarding Harvard and physics gre.
blackmass wrote:That being said, don't worry about it too much! I honestly don't think the general GRE (or even the PGRE) will be the biggest contributors to your application. Unless your score is alarmingly low, I think you'll be alright. It's worth applying, anyway. I'm still applying to many places despite less than impressive test scores.
I really hope so! However, I am definitely taking the general gre again because I am looking into non-physics graduate programs too and I think it's more important for these. I am debating UCSD though, but mostly for research reasons.

nik
Posts: 47
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2013 7:10 pm

Re: General GRE screw up

Post by nik » Mon Nov 17, 2014 7:14 pm

Hi, last year, my GRE's were Q:164, V:142, AW: 3.0, Phy: 860 and my admission results were... catastrophic.

A good reason of the catastrophe was, I didn't have my Classical, Quantum and Statistical Mechanics courses completed when I applied last year (more info: I am doing BS in Physics in Germany and I didn't have many Physics courses complete at the end of 2nd year of a 3-years degree). Now I have those grades.

My target universities are 18-36 in US news. I registered again for GRE, but can't really exceed 150 in verbal.

If my Q improves and verbal remains <150, and AWA=3.0, do I have chances there? How important are the verbal and AWA's?
Should I put more time on Q to get a full 170 or try to improve Verbal and AWA?
Last edited by nik on Tue Nov 18, 2014 7:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

PathIntegrals92
Posts: 190
Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2014 12:42 pm

Re: General GRE screw up

Post by PathIntegrals92 » Mon Nov 17, 2014 8:24 pm

nik wrote:Hi, last year, my GRE's were Q:166, V:143, AW: 3.0, Phy: 860 and my admission results were... catastrophic.

A good reason of the catastrophe was, I didn't have my Classical, Quantum and Statistical Mechanics courses completed when I applied last year (more info: I am doing BS in Physics in Germany and I didn't have many Physics courses complete at the end of 2nd year of a 3-years degree). Now I have those grades.

My target universities are 18-36 in US news. I registered again for GRE, but can't really exceed 150 in verbal.

If my Q improves and verbal remains <150, and AWA=3.0, do I have chances there? How important are the verbal and AWA's?
Should I put more time on Q to get a full 170 or try to improve Verbal and AWA?
Your quantitative score is fine! I heard qscore >/= 165 is great! (Essentially 160+ is good) Since you are international , I would imagine your toefl score is more important than the verbal gre score. What percentage was 143? Honestly, I am still applying so I wouldn't really know. Take a look at the previous applicant files.
I am sorry that your results were catastrophic last year! I hope everything works out! Best of Luck!

nik
Posts: 47
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2013 7:10 pm

Re: General GRE screw up

Post by nik » Mon Nov 17, 2014 10:03 pm

@Path Integral: Q: 164(88%), V: 142(16%), AW: 3.0(15%), Phy: 860(80%)

P/S: Correction: I registered again for GRE, but can't really exceed 150 in verbal in practice tests. I have around 2 weeks in hand.
nik wrote:If my Q improves and verbal remains <150, and AWA=3.0, do I have chances there (US News 18-36)? How important are the verbal and AWA's?
Should I put more time on Q to get a full 170 or try to improve Verbal and AWA?
Last edited by nik on Tue Nov 18, 2014 7:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

PathIntegrals92
Posts: 190
Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2014 12:42 pm

Re: General GRE screw up

Post by PathIntegrals92 » Mon Nov 17, 2014 11:32 pm

nik wrote:Q: 166(88%), V: 143(16%), AW: 3.0(15%), Phy: 860 (80%)

P/S: Correction: I registered again for GRE, but can't really exceed 150 in verbal in practice tests. I have around 2 weeks in hand.
In my personal opinion, I think you should re-take only because of your verbal and writing score. Just practice ( or memorize vocab). You just have to practice with the writing. You don't have to write long elaborate essays, but you should you should have beginning and end (i think). My verbal score wasn't that great either (148 36%) and I am domestic! However I didn't study at all for the verbal part.

I really think your toefl scores will matter more and maybe your scores might only hurt your chances at top schools. You should maybe email some profs and ask them? did anybody from your school go to U.S for grad? Maybe you can find someone to get in touch with and ask him/her? I'm just not too familiar with criteria for international students.



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