question: how the admission works?

[mimster]

Hi, everyone,

this is my first time applied for grad school. i was never prepared for the past three years until last spring break i finally changed my mind, and i got a real crappy internship the following summer. so i decided then to go to grad school.

i didn't really spend lots time on the GRE (i had three jobs back at that time) so i did really bad: verbal 410, math 790, and writing 3.5

im a math major and a political science and finance minor, and trying to get into math phd program. i didn't really put that much expectation on myself based on my gre score. i applied nyu(that's the one i really i wanna go to), CUNY, BU, Northeastern, and University of connectitcut(actuarial master) i dont really care about how the school ranks, i only care if i could get into any program, bc i dont wanna go back to work in that restaurant or that daycare center im working currently

ok, enough said, my question is, how do the admission work? since i have a bad GRE, is it possible that they wouldn't even want to review my profile just by first looking at my GRE score. I think I have very good recommendations and resume (b/c i worked a million jobs and i'm very involved in school, and im a very good worker and student to my boss and professors). i dont wanna miss my chance just b/c they think a bad GRE would be a legit reason to not be passed on.

i called CUNY last week and the guy checked my status saying mine is "pending", idk what that means, can anybody answer me that's be great! i was too scared to ask the guy over the phone b/c i dont wanna him to be annoyed by me.

thanksss a million.

[ExeterRiceNowwhat]

If you are applying to a math program I'm pretty sure your math GRE score is all that really matters. I wouldn't worry about the V score because yours wasn't too bad and it doesn't really apply to the program you are going for.

[mimster]

thanks for answering my question.

i forgot to mentions that i have a pretty bad GRE subject too, that's the one im really concernecd about. i dont remember exactly, i either got 380 or a 38 percentile. either one would hurt me in my application.

do you think they wouldnt pass me on board just after taking a glimps at this?

[ExeterRiceNowwhat]

Well was the subject test in a math/science? If so, then yea that might set you back a bit. If it's in something like not left-brain (or right brain is it? can't remember) then wouldn't worry.

[ebaronov]

Don't worry about the general GRE. The only important thing in the general GRE for math applicant is scoring near 800 at the quantitative section and you did that. The AW score is completely irrelevant, I got into a top program with that same score - 3.5.

I am afraid that the subject test is important. Especially if it is that low, both 38% and 380 sound low to me. It is a clear red flag and you will need something to make up for it. If you don't get in this year and plan to apply again in the future definitely retake the test. Spend some time to prepare and do some practice tests.

Unfortunately your job experience will not help your application much. Unless of course it is somehow related to doing math research.

I don't want to sound negative, but this is what I've learned about this process. One more thing, each school weighs different parts of the application differently (and high GPA can make up for low GRE, especially if you've taken some advanced math classes) so you have a shot.

[thekidd]

I know a girl who got into Princeton applied math department with something like a 15 percentile score on the subject test. She had a good recommendation letter tho

[lily_]

The GRE really isn't everything on your application, at least that's what I've been told (however I am trying for social sciences rather than math so perhaps this isn't the best advice). I would assume that your quantitative score would be enough to get you at least considered. If you have good UGPA, your work has been in some way math related, and you have good LORs and a strong SOP I would imagine that score would make you a competitive candidate.

I've heard things from the departments I applied to that they only use GRE as a cut-off for people who scored extremely low (below 1000) or as a means to decide which candidate to admit when all other things are equal. I have also heard that sometimes GRE scores can affect which applicants receive funding the first year, but I think that is something that is falling out of use (I'd strongly recommend only applying to departments that will fund everyone upon acceptance, I worked in a department for awhile where funding was extremely competitive and it was kind of scary - grad school is hard enough without that stress).

Best of luck!

[cpu90]

for most schools that are decent, they tend to have very many applications every year, and they use GRE as a pre-screening process. Because the department is not able to review every application in detail, they cut people out by GRE, undergrad GPA and/or TOEFL for international applicants. For more competitive schools, the cut off is around 1250 to 1300. For ok schools, cut off if about 1000 to 1100, for less reputable schools (or schools who think they're so awesome such as MIT, not that they're not awesome but you get my point), they don't require GRE at all.

With that said, you can say that GRE is either a huge part of the application (because if you don't score higher than their threshold, you're thrown out by the secretary and no matter how impressive the rest of your application is, it won't even be seen), or you can say that GRE is just a small cut-off part of the application (you don't need to score 1600, as long as you're over their cut-off, you'll be reviewed.)

I agree with ebaronov that your working experience unfortunately will not help, if at all, because they are not research related. Usually research experience is for decision of funding opportunities anyway, so it is a little different from the things they review for admission. The important thing is you MUST raise your verbal GRE.

English is my 2nd language and I took the GRE 3 times...(or maybe 4? I can't even remember exactly lol) all I know is my first and 2nd time my verbal was like 350 and 360, it's horrible. And I got rejected across the board for MS (math has always been around 770, and AW around 4 to 4.5). I managed to get into 1 school from waiting list and now I'm finishing my MS here, applying to PhD (computer science). I studied verbal over the summer last year and I managed to get 630 this time, so as long as you put time to it, you can do it. Memorize words after words, it's a no-brain labor type of thing but you just have to do it. You may get lucky by getting admitted with verbal at 410 but seriously don't count on that, be realistic and give yourself a better chance by taking it again..