CQE

I already sent the 308 off to UPenn. Would it look bad on my part to send off a second score, even if the second score is better?

154 in V equates to 520 on the old scale. 154 in QR equates to 690 on the old scale. That puts me at a 1210 total. UPenn's averages were 547 V and 653 QR - 1200 total.

Because, as I said, I'm not sure that an improvement to a 157/158, for example, is going to make an ounce of difference based off of the way that GSOEs weigh the GRE relative to other application components.

I studied about 5 weeks for the GRE. It was sort of spur of the moment that I decided to take it, so I hadn't done a lot of research on it beforehand (as far as best books, good study strategies, etc.). I'm a pretty calculated person, but because I wasn't able to do my due diligence this time around, I kind of went into the GRE head first. Because of this, I ended up going with a similar strategy that I used for the ACT. That particular strategy consisted of doing countless practice tests from the "best" (as deemed by both myself and the consensus on collegeconfidential) resources available and reviewing BOTH right/wrong answers following each timed practice test. However, I don't think you can do that with the GRE, at least not initially. The GRE has too many types of tricks to get you with no matter what problem type we're talking about. With QR, I recommend using a site like Magoosh or some other resource to learn the fundamentals of each and every type of math problem. From there, do countless problems on different problem types (like exponents, for example) until you have "mastered" it to the point that you're getting at least 8 or 9 out of every 10 of that specific problem-type right. Then, move on to the next one. Wash, rinse, and repeat. After you have become proficient at each of these problem types, I would then advise that you begin taking full-length, timed QR practice sets and reviewing both right and wrong answers after doing so to reinforce what you already know and to learn from your mistakes. If you go into it like I did and think you just need to take countless PTs, you will get nowhere and see only minimal improvement because you're not doing enough of any one type of problem to become proficient in it. You may take 4 practice sets, but you might only do 7 or 8 exponential problems. That's not enough to be "great" at any one area. Such a strategy will only make you "mediocre" at any one area because you're not doing enough practice with respect to that type of problem. As far as Verbal goes, that's something that has to be improved over the long term to see a drastic score increase. You could probably study a few thousand words over, say, an 8-week period and do well on the vocabulary parts of the sets. But, if reading comprehension is what you have issues with, then you are unlikely to make significant strides in a short time period. That kind of thing takes a lot of time to improve upon, in my opinion.

I hope you fare better than me! I was thinking about taking it again over winter break, but I've read that the GRE isn't as big of a deal as, say, the ACT/SAT was for undergrad. I'm confident that I could definitely raise my score, especially since I figured things out near the end of my study "regimen", but I'm just not sure that the return on (time) investment is really worth it.

I'm expecting around a 5 on my AWA based off of past essays I've read. I have a 3.93 GPA at a state school in the Business Honors Program and University Honors Program, so I'm hoping that makes up for my "average" GRE score at GSOEs. FWIW, my "dream school" is UPenn. I'm also looking at Lynch (BC), University of Florida, and my current school (which would be a 'safety').

I posted the following in another thread and it got me thinking about my chances: With that being said, does anyone have an idea of my chances at UPenn or Lynch? FWIW, I attend the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and am in the Business Honors Program and University Honors Program. I know UPenn aims for a diverse student body, so hopefully the fact I'm from Alabama helps me in that respect.

Thanks for the insight, patient. I just took the GRE on Monday and scored a disappointing 154 V and 154 QR. I mean, my score is OK, but I was hoping for more along the lines of 160/160. Fortunately, I know I did very well on the AWA, so I'm expecting around a 5-5.5 on it based off of essays I've read in the past. I have a 3.93 overall GPA (4.0 major) and decent experience. I've tutored/mentored student-athletes at my school, been a self-employed ACT tutor, and tutored rising high school juniors this summer for their upcoming year of AP English. This fall, I plan on volunteering to help low-income parents on how to rear their child(ren) from an educational standpoint and helping a low-income/urban high school with their football program. I'm a business major that realized teaching was what I wanted to do relatively late into my college career, so my experience/resume is probably not as extensive or impressive from an educational standpoint relative to students who always knew they wanted to teach. Hopefully my "OK" experience, "OK" GRE score, and solid GPA prove to be enough to get into UPenn. If I get in, I'm going to pull a Mia Hamm in my front yard. ...no, really. I am.

This. I mean, there's no reason to make excuses in a supplemental essay. You'd look absolutely ridiculous.

ANDSI, May I ask how many you got right/wrong to get your 161 on V?

The unofficial scores are based off of a large sample size. Therefore, it should be very accurate. I was doing some googling earlier with respect to practice test accuracy and I ended up stumbling across a thread in which someone posed a similar question to yours (though it was when the old GRE was still in place). People responded by saying that if it does happen to change, it'll only be a difference of 10 or so, which was the point increments on the old GRE. Considering the new scale is on 1-point increments, logic tells me that if your score does go down, it'll only be to a 169. 168 at worst. In other words, congrats on a terrific score - either way! I'm taking my GRE on Monday for the first (and hopefully last) time. Might I ask what you did to study for the verbal section?

LMAO Just send an email to the coordinator/director of the program you're interested in. Perhaps ask in the email if a current or former student of the program could contact you via email to answer questions?

Ah, so you're a Terp! Well, I go to UAB - hence the "Blazer" in my username. But yeah, I get what you mean. If I ended up going to UPenn and coming back to Alabama, which I plan to eventually do regardless, then I think that'd bode well for my future down here. Not to say that a UPenn degree doesn't go a long way wherever you wind up, but I'd imagine it'd go even further down here in Alabama where there's not a lot of alternatives to state schools. Most people are SEC grads (excluding Vandy) or a graduate of some small unknown. As far as getting into UPenn goes, I'm hoping that being from Alabama will help me out from a diversity standpoint. *crosses fingers*

Indeed. Anyway, feel free to PM me if you have any questions or want an unbiased reader of your SoP. I'm still working on mine, but I'll probably want a handful of random readers' thoughts on it when finished.

I'm from Alabama, but I hate hot weather. So, I, too, am partial to the cold. FWIW, I'm looking at UF, Boston College, my current school, and UPenn for my Master's. My current school is "meh", so I'm not too interested in staying here. I was one of those kids that was competitive at top schools coming out of high school, but opted for the in-state school due to $$$. Point is, I still have a nagging itch to go to a top grad school to somewhat appease my competitive nature. UF isn't necessarily a "top" school, but I have other reasons for seriously considering it.

LOL To be honest, I'm not sure what I was implying either. You can look at it in multiple ways, IMO, so I really wasn't trying to say one thing or another. If you're looking to do research, though, Miami looks to have a slight edge.

I'm a subscriber to US World News, so here's a little info for you: Rutgers: #49 overall education graduate school ranking 14.6k in-state vs. 23.7k out-of-state tuition 76%/24% Female to Male 2.7:1 - Student-faculty ratio 443 full-time vs. 599 part-time 48 full-time vs. 52 part-time faculty members Only 1% of students are specializing in "Educational evaluation, research, and statistics" 6.3% of full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty received awards or were editors of educational journals during 2009 and 2011 $8.5 mil in research expenditures 29.2% of full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty engaged in externally funded research Miami: #53 overall education graduate school ranking $1600 per credit, full-time or part-time 67%/33% Female to Male 3.1:1 - Student-faculty ratio 208 full-time vs. 69 part-time 32 full-time vs. 25 part-time faculty members Only 4% of students are specializing in "Educational evaluation, research, and statistics" 9.4% of full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty received awards or were editors of educational journals during 2009 and 2011 $7.2 mil in research expenditures 48.5% of full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty engaged in externally funded research

I took it easy yesterday. I only did 100 vocabulary words and read through the math appendix of Kaplan 2011 to refamiliarize myself with the basics of all the problems I may see. I'm going to get back at it (math) today. I plan on reviewing the basics, then focusing solely on one area at a time (say 10-20 problems per math question type) until I'm comfortable with that type of problem.

That's discouraging to hear. I was hoping 35/40 and 36/40 would net you around a 164. Damn. ...just another day in the 'hood.

34/40 or 35/40? What about for verbal?

I'm taking the GRE on Monday, so I'll also let you know how I do relative to these damn practice scores. LOL

That's how I had been doing, albeit not QUITE as good. I was missing in the range of 5-8 per test on the last 3 Kaplan tests I took (which is a range of 162-165 according to the aegedu link). BTW, aegedu's conversion table seems to be based off of a -1 curve, meaning for every problem you miss, your score decreases by 1. Therefore, 40 right = 170, 39 right = 169, 38 right = 168, and so on. I would imagine that most of the time the curve would be -1 to -1.5. -2.0 seems too harsh, but I suppose it's plausible every now and again on supposedly "easier" math sets.

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I absolutely HAVE to think that the aegedu link is closest to accurate of all that I've looked at thus far. To me, it does not logically make sense for a 35/40 to only result in a 159-160. The drop off, or curve, is too much, in my opinion. I mean, these are difficult questions and to only miss 5 is pretty solid considering these questions are more logic-based and "tricky" than actually being "hard" with respect to the actual MATH behind the problems. Even if you know every rule there is to know, math wise, it is likely you're going to get tripped up 3, 4, or 5 times due to the trickiness of the questions. Therefore, I would HAVE to think that a 34 or 35 out of 40 is closer to a 164 than 159.

Anyone else (in addition to swisschocolate) have any evidence that their Princeton Review score was on par with the real thing? If so, the scoring chart I linked in my last post would appear to be one of the more precise scoring charts available.