barth-man

The only one I know off the top of my head is Cornell.

GusterT: Hey, thanks for your thoughts and for taking the time to respond. I was thinking along the same lines, but I wanted to make sure that I'm not just deluding myself. It's always nice to have a second opinion.

Hi, everyone. First post here. I would appreciate some input as to whether I should re-take the GRE. I was hoping to do really well on the GRE to offset my mediocre UGrad GPA and the fact that my BA is from a state school (I didn't have strong academic ambitions as an undergrad, which was several years ago). So, while this isn't the typical "what are my chances" post, I should probably give some background to my question. I'm applying to PhD programs in systematic theology - some top tier schools (Duke, Yale, etc.) and some not quite top tier, but with decent funding and a good fit for my interests (Dayton, SMU, etc.). I'm finishing up my MAR here at Yale Divinity, and I know I'll have glowing recommendation letters from my professors. I've had a handful of publications, book reviews, and conference papers in the last couple of years, and I think I can articulate a very clear trajectory of my interests in my SoP. I have a couple of published papers that I'll use as my writing samples (tailoring which ones I submit based on the program I'm applying to). Here are my stats: GPA: 3.3 Undergrad (major [philosophy] GPA: 3.8) 3.9 Grad (MAR) Languages: French (advanced), Latin (intermediate), Greek (beginner) GRE scores: V 168 (98%), Q 152 (52%), AW 5.0 (92%) [note: I'm still waiting to receive my most recent AW score] My two obvious weak spots are my UGrad GPA (which I can't do anything about) and my GRE Quantitative score (which I could potentially do something about). The thing is, I've already taken the GRE twice, and I don't know for sure that I can improve my math score (it's been forever since I've had a math class, and it was never my strong point). Besides, at this point in the game, I really feel like I need to turn my attention to fine-tuning my SoP's. I suppose I could take the GRE again in early December and still have the scores reported on time for most of my programs, but is it worth it? It would mean more time prepping, more money, and no guarantee that my Q score will improve. Yet, I realize that 152 is pretty bad, especially for top tier programs. So, what do you think? Should I just buckle down and take it again? Or should I focus on other things and just remind myself that an overall score of 320 isn't too bad and that my V and AW scores are more important, anyway? Thanks for your help.