DrFaustus666

Hi all, To all my friends, and anyone else interested, I took the GRE for my third and last time. It seems I can't break the 700 barrier on Quant despite six months' hard study. Hopefully it won't matter. Just as a matter of interest, my record: March 2005: V-800 Q-670 AW 5.5 (before beginning my on-again off-again, parttime MA in German Lit, still not finished, over 5-1/2 years later) Feb 2010: V-740 Q-690 AW 4.5 (after several months' intense quant work, my score only went up 20 points, and my V and AW scores went down) Today: V-720 Q-640 AW/no idea (after studying, literally every single day since Feb 2010 on quant, my Q-score actually went DOWN 50 points). I conclude that I am quant-challenged and will just have to live with that fact. Best to all, John And green with envy of all of you folks who breeze through the quantitative thing.

show down

Hi! I just checked ETS's statistics (year 2003). In that year, "Earth and Marine Science" majors scored a median of 610, and the 75th percentile was 700. Going on that, I'd guess that you probably ought to push your quant score just a bit, if you're shooting for top 10 programs. If you're looking at top 30 programs, again, just my guess, you probably do not need to improve your GRE Q. John

Vegas BillClinton (I'm being punny)

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shaileshdc: Though I'm not an engineer (I do have 30 undergrad credits in CS), I've been a technical writer for many years, and would be happy to look also, if you still need or want another set of eyes to go over your SOP. The offer is NOT completely altruistic. I'm in the process of writing my own, and I'd like to see the kinds of things other people write too.

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(virginia beach: my home town for real!) Virginia Dare

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The University of Maryland has a department-by-department policy. Some departments require it, others don't. I have no idea if they even offer a Ph.D in TESOL, but it's worth a look at their website.

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Hi Milestones, I advised the OP that the AW score didn't matter that much. My advice was under the assumption that the OP's other writing samples are superb --- and also, that he/she is NOT applying to a humanities program. You are absolutely on target, one must play the ETS rubric game at top humanities programs. Original Poster (Natsteel): ETS offers a service by which you can write an essay and have it graded immediately, online, by their supercomputer grading system. That's for a mere $12.00. HOWEVER: Don't rely on it too much. I used it last February, a few days before taking the REAL GRE. My $12-try-it score was 6.0, then less than a week later, when taking the real thing, I only got 4.5. I have no idea where I went wrong. (Five years ago, before starting the program I'm currently in, I received a 5.5 on the real thing BTW.) Good luck to all, John