The Interdisciplinarian

Thanks, folks. I feel a little better. I just wasn't really sure how much weight to put on the whole thing and think I assumed it was expected that programs needed the writing to be a perfect score if the Q was low.

Hey, all. I've applied for a liberal arts-based interdisciplinary PhD program. Just got my official GRE scores today, and I'm bummed about getting a 5.5 on the writing. Normally, that would seem pretty great, but even though my verbal is pretty high (165), my quantitative is EXTREMELY low (148). When I visited my target program a few months back, the director literally told me, "We do NOT care about your quantitative score." Yet I'm still a little scared because I had perhaps stupidly assumed I'd get a 6 on the writing, which I'd done years ago when I took the GRE in its previous incarnation. My graduate GPA is 3.75, but my undergrad is only 3.1-ish. I look good on paper in some ways, but I'm an older student (I'll be 41 when I start this program), and I'm scared that they might not want to accept someone who would be seeking tenure in their 50s, most likely, without having all other elements be pretty much stellar. The other consideration is that this program will only accept students they can fully fund, so while I might be a good academic "risk," maybe I'm not a good funding risk for some reason. I do have plenty of time that I could retake the GRE, but there's always a chance I'd do worse, I suppose, and taking it the first time was incredibly stressful.

Thanks! Good luck on your MA comps! Some folks I know in PhD programs already just did those and the whole process sounds very stressful. I'm so thankful my MA program didn't require that, but I know my target PhD program does. Oof.

Got my GRE done this weekend! My target program claimed quantitative was basically ignored, so I put all my study eggs in the verbal basket and got a 165! Still waiting on essay scores, obviously, but I feel like this is pretty good. Still nervous, though! Anybody get all their stuff submitted?

Hi everyone, I'm applying to the American Culture Studies program at Bowling Green State University; I'm exploring back-ups but am only applying to this program this year (I know, not the greatest idea, but I'm employed FT so delaying a year to pursue Plan B schools isn't a big deal). I'm taking the GRE next week and stressing about it.