natofone

You should score in a higher percentile on the GMAT than the GRE. That makes sense given who takes each test. That being said, try the PowerPrep computer-adaptive version of the exam to get a good idea of where you are at. Some of exams in the test prep books are either much harder or much easier than the real thing.

As someone with an MA in IR from that tier of school (Chicago), I say yes, without a doubt, retake it. Is English not your first language? If so, then maybe your low verbal score will be excused...but then you'll want a much higher quantitative score to balance you out. You should be able to improve your scores on both sections considerably with some study.

Everyone seems to like Barrons, and their practice tests seem to be harder than the real thing. It seems that the consensus choice for the most accurate practice exams are the ones on the Powerprep software put out by ETS.

Strange. I've found the exact opposite to be true. I found that the paper ones are MUCH easier than the real thing or powerprep. I used the exact ETS book that you describe and got 780-800 on all of them, but then when I tried the powerprep software I only got a 720 (which is essentially what I got on the real thing when I took it 4 years ago).

Policy schools are like business schools in that real-world experience is quite beneficial and only a minority of students enter without any. I would guess that most applicants at the top schools have several years of experience working in policy before applying. If you're planning to enter right out of undergrad then you won't be able get much real-world experience, so be strategic with where you end up and think about who could write your letters of recommendation at your internship.

Plisar is correct - that isn't how things work. The GRE will include your score on their score report for five years, but the school won't keep them for that long in the hopes that you'll apply later. You might have one that randomly keeps them, but this isn't a common practice. To be safe you need to send the reports again. It is only like 20 bucks per school, and with the amount of time and money you'll be investing in graduate school, that isn't a big deal. I used to work at a graduate business school (I programmed the web application) in the top 25 and we didn't keep anything from year to year.

No. Especially if you don't apply.

They are all cash cows. That is the nature of those programs. Schools don't have much incentive in terminal MA programs outside of making money. They are a ton of work for faculty and don't provide the same payoffs that PhD programs do. In regards to one year programs, I did the CIR at Chicago (http://cir.uchicago.edu/) and loved it. It is great for IR and comparative people. I believe that Yale and Stanford have something similar.

You're doing exactly what you need to do by majoring in political science and economics with high grades. Make sure to take plenty of statistics, linear regression, and calculus. The more the better. Picking up a relevant second (or third) language is always helpful. I wouldn't worry as much about academic conferences and publications and what-not, because MPP programs are generally less interested in that type of thing than they are real-world policy experience. A congressional internship sounds great to help you in that process. I believe (look this up to confirm it) that MPP programs want real-world, policy-oriented recommendations, so always consider who might write you letters when you apply. (keep in mind that I'm not in an MPP program so I might not be the best person to answer this question - I've just taken some classes from a policy school as part of an interdisciplinary MA)

I am guessing that this response was for PhD programs because I doubt that any of these require greater than 3.7 for an MA program. MA programs generally are not particularly selective. I have an MA in IR (with some funding) from a school in this tier and my GPA was only 3.5 or so from a total crap undergrad. MA programs want you to go because you will be a source of income for them.

Tip: One of my prep books states that you don't need to reduce fractions to their lowest form.

I'm not sure, because I believe that most schools separate the admissions decision from financial aid decisions. That being said, I've read stories on here where schools have emailed candidates asking them if financial aid is required and then admitting them when they say no.

It sure wouldn't hurt and your chance for funding would likely go up because many schools use the GRE to systematically determine which students get the stipends (but I have no idea how computer science graduate programs work). You can raise your score considerably by just memorizing the top 500 or so vocabulary words. You could easily do that in a few weeks.

Did you study the vocab? If you already put effort into it, then I'd forget about it and work on other things. If not, it is really easy to raise your score with some study. Just memorize those word lists. Make flash cards (or use a cellphone application). There are a few strategy things to worry about, but really it is all about the vocab.

Probably true.

I got a 6.0 on the writing my first try (610v, 720m) and didn't take it the second time (720v,730m). I also went 0 for 13 in phd applications (but I got into 2 MA programs at top 10 schools 3 years ago with these scores). I am retaking them in September to apply again this year just in case schools used my crappier scores instead of the better ones because I avoided the writing section on the second one.

MA programs aren't terribly competitive. You'll be fine.

Asia.

I got a 720 V on the GRE several years ago and I'm in the upper 40s on this.

No, but the calculations themselves are usually very simple, especially if you know fractional equivalents like 1/6 = .166 and 1/8=.125. Converting to fractions and canceling/simplifying makes your life considerably easier.

There are some ok GRE math iphone applications. One called GRE Math by Indiram was especially good. It has explanations and formulas for some problems that the gre math books just suggest that you use intuition. For example, they have a formula for 'Combination with selection' [m!/(n!*(m-n)!)] that works great on all of those pesky combination problems. I looked through most of the books for a good explanation and couldn't find any. I also suggest really learning the tips in the kaplan/princeton review/barrons books. They save you time and make things really easy. As another suggestion, I made a ton of flashcards with all kinds of random rules (side lengths of a 30-60-90 triangle are the ration 1:square root of 3:2) and common math figures (the square root of three is 1.71) so that I really have these ingrained in my thick head.

Thanks everyone. I'm trying to figure out exactly how much effort I'll need to hit 780-800. All of my practice tests are in that range, but I'm concerned that the practice tests will be considerably harder than the real thing.

What are some of the other tricks? I know to plug in the answer and for quantitative comparison with variables to try plugging in 0, 1, -1, 2, -2.

Dudkin - How much time have you spent studying? I started off in a position very similar to yours with no math exposure since the 11th grade and hitting around 500 on the practice tests to start off. I bought one of the GRE math books and went through it, doing the practice problems and tests, and was able to raise my score to 730 when I took it a few years back before my MA. I'm taking it again and scoring around 780 on the practices. You should be able to raise your score considerably by just learning all of the geometric formulas and how to handle each kind of problem (weighted average, distance = rate X time, permutations, combinations, etc.).

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