paradigm

Hi, I just wanted to offer my two cents: I definitely would NOT retake the exam with your score. A 1580 is incredible, and only a 1 or 2 on the AWA would make me seriously consider retaking the exam. As far as a rescore goes, I'd probably do it, since you essentially risk nothing, and since your 1580 will remain intact. (I imagine either you'll be bumped up to a 4 or stay at 3.5). But even a rescore might be unnecessary if you've done well in your writing-intensive coursework in undergrad and submit a stellar SoP.

@jblsmith Thanks for sharing your experience and opinion with me. I certainly recognize that a 760 Q, 590 V, and 5 AWA are very strong scores, but I'm a perfectionist at heart and wanted better, especially on the verbal and AWA, since I've always been an extremely strong writer as well as very strong verbally. But I recognize that retaking the GRE is NOT a risk-free activity in that it certainly is possible that either or both of my scores could decrease, which I imagine would 'devalue' my first GRE score -- am I right? I think that it is reasonable to expect that if I were to retake the GRE, I'd score a 640 or so on V, but from reading your post I can surmise that the difference between a 640 V and a 590 V just isn't as big of a deal as I am making it out to be, and thus, doesn't warrant a retake, right? I also think that it is possible that I might see my 760 Q drop somewhat -- anything can happen, right? -- and the risk associated with a drop on my Q score unsettles me a great deal, so this is another reason why I'm viewing a retake as an unnecessary risk that I don't need to take. Would a decrease on my Q score alongside a possible modest increase on my V score be either damaging or unhelpful, or both? I think I'm done, since popular opinion on TheGradCafe and elsewhere is telling me that I'd be taking an unnecessary risk in retaking the GRE, and since I've already done a solid job on the exam. Please feel free to let me know if you think I'm on the right track or if I'm missing something. Thanks. @bloomquish Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences with me. I'm sorry to hear that you've not quite found your footing on the GRE, but it certainly sounds as though you're more than capable of doing well on it, so I hope that your next exam goes smoothly. Best of luck to you.

Hi everyone. I realize that I've already posted about retaking the GRE after a strong showing (760 Q, 590 V, 5 AWA), but I'm still agonizing over whether to retake it or not because I think I'm capable of slightly better. My main concern at this point, however, is risk: do any of you believe that retaking the GRE is NOT a risk-free activity in that a possible lower score on the retake could be frowned upon by admission committees and adversely affect my application? I'm applying for some MA in Economics programs and MPP (Public Policy) programs and may use my GRE scores for MBA applications a few years down the road. Most programs that I'm applying to say that they'll accept either the highest total score or highest score from each section, but I still wonder if a score decrease would factor into their admission or funding decisions. Some of my friends have suggested that if I were to retake the GRE I'd have nothing to lose, whereas others have expressed concern that an underwhelming score on the retake could devalue my scores from my first GRE and therefore have negative consequences on my applications. I don't know what to think or how to proceed. What do you think? If anyone has personal experience with either retaking the GRE or electing to not take it again after already scoring well on one's first exam, please let me know why you decided the way you did. Also, I'd be interested to know if anyone has regretted retaking the GRE (in the hopes of raising one's score slightly) after taking it once and scoring well. Thanks.

Hi everyone. I'm wondering what most of you think about the difference between a 5 and a 6 on the GRE's AWA. I earned a 5 on my GRE and am wondering if the difference between a 5 and 6 is enough to warrant a possible retake of the exam. I've always been an extremely strong writer and so I believe that I am entirely capable of a 6 on the AWA. I'd been worrying that a couple of spelling errors may have made the difference between a 5 and a 6 on my GRE, so part of me wants to take it again and try for a 6 on the AWA. I guess the question to ask now, though, is this: will a 6 on the AWA impress admission committees enough that it might yield an admission or funding (or additional funding) whereas a 5 wouldn't have? For the record, I'm planning on applying some MA in Economics and MPP (Public Policy) programs. Thanks in advance for your insights.

Gellert, We have similar conundrums. In your case, I'd probably go for it, if you feel very strongly like you will do better. It sounds as though your scores on practice exams were much higher than the score you received on the GRE. Have you been studying diligently since the last GRE? If you have, and feel really sharp right now with respect to your preparation, I'd probably retake it. I don't know that randomly guessing on the last few questions in your verbal section affected your score as much as you might think, because getting questions wrong late in a section has far less effect on your score than getting questions wrong early in a section. So that is also something to think about. Best of luck to you, and thanks for weighing in on my post earlier.

Hi everyone, Thanks very much for your insightful responses -- it was helpful to read them. Right now I am leaning towards not retaking the exam, but opting to not take it is difficult because I'd been studying very diligently in the weeks after my first exam and felt as confident as I ever had with respect to the GRE. However, I became very ill in the week leading up to my second retake and had to miss it. I'm still feeling very run down. Now I'm not so sure I can get back in shape for a retake, even though I think that I'd studied enough to increase my score by a fair bit. I guess my only questions at this point are: 1. If I decided to retake the GRE and somehow earned a mediocre or even dreadful score, would that devalue my first score (760 Q, 590 V, 5 AWA)? One of my friends who took the GRE claims that the "last thing you want is for your score to drop" on a second attempt on the GRE, so I'm wondering if retaking the GRE is risky in that admission committees might devalue your first score if you have a bad second outing. 2. It sounds as though the potential gain on my second GRE just isn't significant enough to make a difference to admission committees, is that right? Suppose I think I can score a 760 Q, 660 V, and 6 AWA (in the neighborhood of what I think I could score on my second attempt) -- would this score increase, in your opinion, make a difference in my applications to MA in Economics and MPP programs? Would it be worth it (in terms of cost, time, and stress) to you? Thanks very much for your help.

Hi everyone, I need some advice. I took the GRE for the first time in late May and had what I consider a strong outing: 760 Q, 590 V, 5 AWA. But I'm a perfectionist and believed that with a little more work I could raise my verbal score by at least 50 points and get a 6 on the AWA. Should I retake the exam, or is the risk of scoring lower too great to justify retaking it? For the record, I'm planning on applying to a few MA in Economics programs and a few MPP programs. I also might try to use the GRE in lieu of the GMAT a few years down the road for b-school applications. For some reason, I'd been convinced that if I scored a 6 on the AWA and raised my verbal score ~ 50 points, I'd improve my profile considerably, so that's why I'm agonizing over taking it again or not.

Greetings All, I am very interested in pursuing an MA in Economics. I was recently admitted to Johns Hopkins' Applied Economics program and am considering matriculating there, but I'm now interested in applying to several additional MA programs, as I'd like to pursue a more 'academic' MA experience and less of a 'part-time' one. I'm considering applying to the following schools: USC, Brown, Rice, Michigan, WUSTL, UC Santa Cruz, and UNC-Chapel Hill. Does anybody have any experience either attending or applying to any of the following programs? Specifically, I'm interested in each program's selectivity and criteria for admission (any info on whether certain portions of one's application -- i.e., GRE score, GPA, etc. -- are more important than others would be great). Also, if anyone can comment on the student bodies of any of these programs, that would be excellent as well. Are most MA in Econ students former PhD candidates who've decided against finishing their PhD? Or is there a significant amount of folks like myself who are primarily interested in getting their MA and then evaluating their career/academic path? Thanks in advance for the insights.