Miskina Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Hi everyone! I'm a French student and I'm applying for several International Relations programs in the U.S.. In France most people don't know anything about U.S. applications, so I'm feeling a bit alone... I'm concerned with my GRE scores. I took the test 10 days ago and I got 160 Verbal, 146 Quantitative (it's low although I worked a lot on it), and 3.5 AW (I expected to get at least 4). I'm really disappointed. My GPA isn't extraordinary because I've studied in very selective schools, where the teachers are strict. One of my teacher is going to explain this in her letter of recommendation. But I studied one year in the U.S. during 2011-2012, and my GPA was 3.6. Regarding work experience, I interned in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs last summer. My TOEFL score is 103. What do you think my chances are? Thanks a lot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopGun Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 160V is really good, if English isn't your first language, however you should retake the GRE to increase your quant score, I think... Some grad schools have cut offs, and will reject you automatically if your cumulative score is under a certain value. It would help if you could tell me what school/uni you attended in France, and where you're applying to in the States. And your Toefl is just fine, they don't really care as long as you got a score above 100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miskina Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 Thank you for your reply! I wish I could retake the GRE, but I won't be able to retake it until February, and the deadlines fall on January... In France I've attended "classe préparatoire" (it's a selective school where we prepare for competitive exams) for 3 years, and since 2010 I attend "Sciences Po Rennes" (another selective school in Political Science). During 2011-2012 I was an exchange student at UMass Boston. The schools I'm applying to are University of Chicago, New York University, University of Texas, George Washington, Cornell University, and McGill in Montreal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnight Posted December 25, 2012 Share Posted December 25, 2012 Miskina, since you can't do anything about your GRE scores at this point, focus on making your SOP as strong as possible. Along with solid LORs, it will serve you well. Also your verbal score is very good, especially for an international applicant. I think your work experience will be a great asset as well. Bon courage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miskina Posted December 26, 2012 Author Share Posted December 26, 2012 Thanks a lot, this really helps. Merci! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridofme Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Yes, I agree - if there's nothing you can do, it's best not to dwell, although I have certainly been guilty of some unhealthy obsessing myself during this application process! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridofme Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Oh, and if it makes a difference, common wisdom on these fora suggests that the AW score is not very important, although I have no original sourcing on that information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiseofthePhoenix Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 I don't think your GRE score is bad at all. The way I understand it is that one low score and one high score kinda offset each other. What's more important is the percentile rank of your score. Your verbal score for a non-native speaker is pretty good. Your AWA is close to the 4.0 mark which seems to be the average for grad school students. Your quant is below average for sure but I think this might be offset by the fact that you are bilingual. Best of luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miskina Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share Posted December 27, 2012 Thank you all, I'm feeling much better now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulZ Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I have the same concern. I am an international student, but I have completed a MA degree in the US. Being a bad test-taker, I had a 152 verbal, and a 165 quantitative. It seems so lame for applying to a history PhD program. I feel really frustrated about my poor GRE performance. Should I continue my application? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now