oldster Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I'm getting 5s on the electronically graded writing test. Obviously 6 is better but has anyone heard of students getting into specific political theory programs (please name) with a 5? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chianti Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 As long as your other sections are strong a 5 on the essay should not be a problem. Professors I have talked to think very little of the GRE (a necessary evil if you will) and value the rest of your application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janaca Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Wait, is a 6 on the writing section a thing that is highly desirable in political theory, specifically? I've been talking to a political theory professor at my current institution (a middle-tier state school) who tells me that the AWA score doesn't even appear on the forms that the admissions committees see here. The university sees applicants AWA scores, I guess, but the adcoms only see Quantitative and Verbal--and this is the throughout our entire graduate school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chianti Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 It won't hurt, but I don't see why it would be "highly desirable." The kind of writing you do for the GRE is a joke and does not indicate your actual skill at all--it just shows how well you take the exam. The writing sample and statement of purpose give the adcom a better idea of where you stand in terms of writing. (Can you tell I think lowly of standardized testing? ) Page228 and ZebraFinch 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drownsoda Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 I don't know much about your field, but I've heard across the board that a 5 is a solid score for analytical writing. I scored a 5, and according to the ETS diagram, that score puts me in the 93rd percentile, which is pretty good. 6 is a perfect score, but 5 is considered high I believe. I was checking the stats at Fordham where I'm applying, and my writing score was higher than their average score for their PhD students, which I was really surprised by. I'm applying for English programs too, so I'd be surprised if a writing score of a 5 was considered poor for political theory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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