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Hi Everyone, I will be conducting a free online GRE Argument Essay Workshop this Sunday, January 26th, from 8:00 to 9:00 am PST. The workshop will begin with a review of the scoring criteria for the argument essay. Then, working with sample arguments, I will be providing tips on how to effectively critique an argument. You can sign up using the link in the signature. Hope to see you there!

If accurate, I think these lower than expected averages help illustrate that GRE scores clearly are not as important as most people think and that low scores can easily be overlooked for candidates who show themselves to be exceptional in other ways (e.g., publications, conferences, awards, brilliant writing samples).

The prestige of the university you get your PhD from clearly matters in academia, but just as important is the prestige of the people in your field who will be mentoring you. For instance, if you're interested in posthumanism and none of the leading scholars in this field are at Harvard or Berkeley, then a PhD from either of these two "prestigious" schools wouldn't necessarily be as valuable as a PhD from a somewhat less prestigious school where your dissertation would be directed by the foremost scholar in your field. WHO you work with matters!

You need to work on constructing stronger counterarguments that you can then refute to showcase strong critical thinking skills. The counterargument you present in this essay is rather weak and there are certainly stronger ones. For instance, many would argue that that the effectiveness of the current leaders of a country can't accurately be assessed by examining the well-being of the citizens because the citizens' well-being is often determined by factors outside the present leaders' control. In their view, it would be inappropriate to blame the leaders of a country where the citizens are plagued by famine owing to climate or natural disaster or by systemic problems that precede the current leaders' tenure. It would be unfair, for instance, to hold President Obama accountable for high unemployment rates or the growing disparity between the wealthy and the poor when both problems are the effects of policies introduced by his predecessors. (Begin refutation.....) While it is certainly true that the citizens' well-being is determined by forces that exceed the present leaders' control, it is nonetheless possible to evaluate the present leaders' effectiveness based on the degree to which their policies help alleviate the various problems that affect the citizens' well being.... I would use the above counterargument early in your essay and use it to segue into the point you make in your first paragraph. Don't just toss a counterargument in in a perfunctory manner before your conclusion. Sometimes it is best to use the counterargument to lay the groundwork for your own argument. Your counterargument and response/refutation should strengthen your essay/argument. Your's weakens your essay.

Strictly in terms of admissions decisions: If you are coming from a good school and have distinguished yourself as exceptional in some way as an undergrad -- e.g., presented at conferences, won awards offered by your department, published, etc. -- then an MA is less important. An MA is helpful in making less than exceptional candidates more competitive at the best universities. Rather than getting your PhD at a second-tier school, it's worth taking the time to get an MA and making yourself a more competitive candidate for a top-tier program. I've seen several students rejected from PhD programs at second-tier universities get an MA and then get accepted in PhD programs at Hopkins and Berkeley. If you are serious about becoming an academic you need to get your PhD from the best possible school with the best scholars in your field. The MA can be a useful means to this end.

Hi everyone, I am offering a $25 discount to any Grad Cafe member who would be interested in enrolling in my live, online GRE Analytical Writing Prep Course starting this Thursday, January 9th at 4:00 pm PST. The course is 12 hours (4 3-hour live sessions) and includes personalized feedback on 8 essays (4 argument essays, 4 issue essays). The course is recorded, in case you can't attend during the scheduled hours. I have taught writing at the college level for more than 13 years and have helped many students who previously received a 3 or 3.5 on the GRE AWA raise their scores to 4.5 and higher. If you're looking to improve your writing and critical thinking skills, I can help you! For more information, just click on the link in the signature. To receive the $25 discount, use the coupon code GRE-01-14 during the final stage of the checkout process. 0

How relevant is math to the type of research done in your field? For instance, are there statistics courses required as part of your coursework?

It's not really clear what you're asking.... What type of programs are you applying to: Master's or Ph'D programs? What did you get on the AWA section of the GRE? What does the rest of your application look like? Any conference presentations? Any publications? What type of school are you coming from? What do your undergrad grades look like? Decisions don't boil down to GRE scores alone and it's impossible to tell you if you should apply to more or less schools without knowing how many schools you applied to last year.

I'm sorry, but how did you get your AWA scores back so soon? It takes more than 7 days to find out your AWA score!

Hi, The classes can be viewed through a link online, but not downloaded onto your own computer. They would be made available within a few hours of the class's completion each Tuesday. If you couldn't make the live classes and were only going to be able to watch online, I would be willing to set aside 3 hours -- 1 hr a week at a time that fits both our schedules -- for us to meet online to go over questions you had about the material covered in class and issues with your writing.

Hi everyone, I am offering a $25 discount to any Grad Cafe member who enrolls in my live, online GRE Analytical Writing Prep Course starting Tuesday, November 12 at 4:00 pm PST. The course is 12 hours (4 3-hour live sessions) and includes personalized feedback on 8 essays (4 argument essays, 4 issue essays). The course is recorded, in case you can't attend during the scheduled hours. I have taught writing at the college level for more than 13 years and have helped many students who previously received a 3 or 3.5 on the GRE AWA raise their scores to a 5 or higher. If you're looking to improve your writing and critical thinking skills, I can help you! For more information, just click on the link in the signature. Use coupon code GRE1112 when checking out for discount.

Hi Everyone, I will be conducting a free online GRE argument essay workshop this Saturday, November 2, from 10:00 am to 11:00 am PDT. To sign up, go to: https://peaktestprep.com/gre/events/free-gre-awa-analytical-writing-workshop-09 Hope to see you online!

Are you going to be doing quantitative research in your field? If so, I would postpone -- but only if you have a clear sense of some tangible steps you can take to boost your quantitative score in the time remaining and you are sure your scores will arrive before the application deadline.

In response to Doubled's post above.... It depends on what the person's writing and critical thinking skills are to begin with. A score of 3 suggests that there is not just one but rather a number of significant problems that need to be addressed: reasoning skills, development of ideas, organization/structure, mastery of language. Many "good" writers may do poorly on the AWA because of the time constraints; others may have the mechanics of writing down well but lack strong critical thinking skills. The very fact that there are "good" writers who do poorly on AWA would support that it is not necessarily that easy to raise one's AWA score: if "good" writers are having a hard time doing well on the AWA, what makes you think it is so easy for weak writers to do well?

What do you plan on doing with your degree? If you want to be a professor, I would not rush into a Ph.D. program at a mid-level school. I would consider getting a Master's Degree first and then applying to a top-tier Ph.D. program. If you want to be an academic, your pedigree matters. If you get a master's and present at conferences and perhaps publish something during that time, you will be in a far better position to get into a first-rate program and better positioned to get an academic job down the line.

I would consider not mentioning the second program in your application or including the transcripts. You don't want to look unfocused or create worries that you're a dilettante who is unlikely to finish their PhD. PhD completion rates in some fields are incredibly low: of the 30 or so students in my PhD entering class at the University of Iowa, less than 5 ended up completing the program. I would be sure to explain the reason why you didn't finish the first program as well as why you switched fields and are now switching back.

I would only consider retaking the GRE if you had 4 weeks time to seriously work on your writing and you were going to work with a tutor or take a course. Writing is one of the most difficult areas to raise your score, in part because weak writers do not necessarily recognize and understand the weaknesses in their own writing. You need good feedback on your own essays from a qualified tutor/instructor and you need good samples/models.

Hi Yuki, If you're looking for some help on the Writing Section in particular, you might check out the online course I teach. I also do online tutoring for the Verbal section and could work out a package deal if you're interested (Writing course and so many hours of tutoring for a fixed rate). I taught critical reading and writing skills at the college level for more than 13 years and feel confident I could help you improve your scores on the writing and Verbal sections.

Hi everyone, I am offering a $25 discount to any Grad Cafe member who would be interested in enrolling in my live, online GRE Analytical Writing Prep Course starting Thursday, October 17th at 4:00 pm PDT. The course is 12 hours (4 3-hour live sessions) and includes personalized feedback on 8 essays (4 argument essays, 4 issue essays). The course is recorded, in case you can't attend during the scheduled hours. I have taught writing at the college level for more than 13 years and have helped many students who previously received a 3 or 3.5 on the GRE AWA raise their scores to a 5 or higher. If you're looking to improve your writing and critical thinking skills, I can help you! For more information, just click on the link in the signature.

If the question tells you that you should consider a statement as true that contradicts the evidence in the passage, you should consider it as true.

Do you already have a Master's in Psychology? Have you presented papers at conferences? If the answer is yes, your GRE may be less important. From what I understand, though, psychology grad programs are extremely competitive and the GREs do matter -- especially for students pursuing a PhD. Finally, it can actually be harder to get accepted to PhD programs at schools where you received your undergrad degree -- unless, of course, you're a superstar! But most schools recommend that you go to another school and get exposure to new professors, etc. Good luck.

If you are an international student who is planning to study in the U.S., your Writing score can make a difference. A lot of schools look at the Writing score to assess students' English skills. Good luck.

I would not approach the essay as you're suggesting. Yes, you will need examples, but the examples should be introduced to support a reason/idea that supports your thesis. If you approach the essay like a middle/high school essay where you have 3 examples that work to support the whole thesis you will not do well -- this model does not allow you to develop a complex point or to show strong critical thinking skills. It is better to have each paragraph address a reason that supports your position or a reason why the position in the prompt is problematic. Examples should then be introduced to help support the reason/idea. Good luck.

If you are applying/want to be considered for the special fellowships that programs usually give to 3-5 of the top candidates then often they go by overall GRE scores.

Hi, It is not a matter of taking extremes -- you need to be able to justify your position, to present an argument that renders your main claim logical and convincing. The claim is that the government should fund a free education for those in need. So you need to have REASONS why the government should do this. Those reasons can connect to the role of the government, the benefit of funding individuals' education to the nation, etc. But there is nothing in your essay that says WHY the government should fund private individuals' education. If you were to argue that the individuals would then have to give so many years to the government in service -- teaching in underprivileged areas, serving in various capacities, etc. you would have a more convincing argument which would show that the government's funding individuals' education can be beneficial to the country and the individual.