lukasodb

Thanks for clearing that up lth.

Thanks hector549, that's reassuring. As a follow-up question, I was wondering, can departments see that your GRE score was your first time you took the test?

I spent two months drafting it, and then another two-three weeks revising it. Hope that helps! I can send you my sample if you want. I could use a second opinion. (Of course, I would look at your sample too, if you'd want that.)

Hello all, I'm looking to apply to a top 20 department (but not Chicago and not UCSD) in the US. My interest lies in applied ethics and political philosophy, specifically the ethics of immigration. Also, I'm Dutch and English is my second language, though I should add that I have a master's from the University of Edinburgh. So, here's my issue. I scored a 168/148 on the GRE, which I feel ambivalent about. I'm happy with the verbal score, but I think I could have done better on the 148. On the first math section I kind of lost track of time and I was a bit flustered, and I think I left at least 6-7 questions open because of that. I know, rookie mistake, but it happened. I think I could have scored maybe a 150 if I hadn't left those questions open and if, mor generally, I had adopted a more calculated strategy (roughly, skip to the easy questions like data analysis and then tackle the harder ones). My prep time was also quite short, about two weeks. To be sure, I realize that something like a 152-153 is probably the highest I could get—I'm just not a math wizard. However, that's still that's a lot better than a 148, which is the 30th percentile. Now, my question is, is there a chance some departments will overlook my poor quant score in virtue of my very good verbal score? I've heard people getting into MIT with a 48 on quant. On the other hand, I know the average applicant scores about a 153-155 on quant. What do y'all think? Your input is much appreciated! (Note that I have browsed through other topics, but since I only found one guy in a somewhat similar situation—'somewhat' because although he scored 166/146, he was a native speaker— I thought I'd start a new topic.)

Guys, I'm in the same boat as you. I got a 168/148. I'm going for PhD in a philosophy.

That's really good, congrats gregmat!

Hello all, I'm looking to apply to a top 20 philosophy department (not Chicago and not UCSD) in the US. My interest lies in applied ethics and political philosophy, specifically the political philosophy of immigration. Also, I'm Dutch and English is my second language, though I should add that I have an Msc from the University of Edinburgh. So, it appears I scored a 168/148 on the GRE, which I feel ambivalent about. I'm happy with the verbal score, but I think I could have done better on the 148. On the first math section I kind of lost track of time and I think I left at least 6-7 questions completely open. I know, rookie mistake, but it happened. I think I could have scored maybe a 150 if I hadn't left those questions open and if I had adopted a better strategy (skip to the easy questions like data analysis and then tackle the harder ones). My prep time was about two weeks. Of course, I immediately avow that something like a 152-153 is probably the highest I could get, given that I'm just not that good at maths. But still that's a lot better than a 148 or 30th percentile. Now, my question is, will these departments overlook my poor quant score in virtue of my very good verbal score? I've heard people getting into MIT with a 48 quant. On the other hand, I know the average applicant scores about a 153-155 on quant. What do y'all think? Your input is much appreciated. (Note that I have browsed through other topics, but since I only found one guy in a somewhat similar situation—'somewhat' because although he scored 166/146, he was a native speaker— I thought I'd start a new topic.)