To retake or go ahead?

[Tic_toc]

It's a pretty basic question but I wanted opinions on which of the options will better my chances at a grad school admit based on the experiences of different people.

I'm an Electronics and instrumentation undergraduate with about 72%, about 85-90 percentile. Definetly among the top fifteen of my class, with a few related activities through college. At the end of it, I got a software related job in an MNC.

I scored 309(156 quant, 153 verbal, 3 awa). Now I know my GRE score is average but what worries me is the Quant score. Since I'm going to change my stream into CS, I don't want a few marks dampening my chances at a better school. I have decent LOR and SOP.

The two options I have before me is to either retake GRE to improve my Quant, if possible AWA score and simultaneously work in the MNC or to simply apply with the same scores for fall 2016. Will the experience at an MNC really help? Or is it better to take my chances this year?

Thanks in advance for helping!

[med latte]

Well, assuming the application deadlines are Dec and Jan, you have several months to study and perhaps improve your quant score if you decide to do so. Do your target schools list info on their incoming classes? You may find that you're already on par with admitted students, or that some of your target schools only use the GRE as a minimum cutoff. Or you may find that some of your target schools use the GRE to make funding decisions, so it may be worth it to study for the next several months.

I'm not in your field, but I would assume that work experience is always a good thing! Your experiences and insights on the job will inform your SoP. 

[eeee1923]

If you're aiming for MS or PhD degrees in the US, you'll want to score higher, especially on the Quant and AW portions. I say this since competition for international applicants is quite fierce. However, as med latte mentioned you have plenty of time to improve your score before the next application cycle begins. 

[GREMasterEMPOWERRichC]

Hi Tic_toc,

 

Your AWA score is something of a 'red flag' - most programs will want you to score at least a 4 in that section. The good news is that it's relatively easy to do that, but you have to follow some specific 'rules' when you write your essays. With a 3, you likely went 'off topic' on at least one of the prompts.

 

It's also relatively easy to increase your Quant score in a short period of time, but you'll likely have to invest in some new resources and learn to "see" the GRE in a different way.

 

What resources did you use when you studied?

When are your application deadlines?

 

GRE Masters aren't born, they're made,

Rich