What's a good GRE score?

[historygeek]

9 minutes ago, urbanhistorynerd said:

You still have time to retake it! Applications aren't due until December. I would study some more and try again.

I've been testing 158 V on 2 diagnostic tests, but after a week and half of studying (vocab, vocab, vocab!) I got it up to 161! I plan to take it at the end of August. I'm aiming for 165 V+.

Here are some useful practices: http://web.csulb.edu/~acarter3/course-carterlab/1014-practice-questions.pdf

Honestly, I’m not entirely sure I want to take it again unless absolutely necessary. I emailed my top choices to make sure my score was okay. As long as they confirm that it is, I’m not going to put in the time or the effort! 

From what I’ve seen, history GRE scores don’t matter too much in the grand scheme of things. I know I can get my writing sample + SOPs to an incredible level, and I know I have three very strong LORs. I’m not gonna sweat it too much, I don’t think.

[urbanhistorynerd]

23 minutes ago, historygeek said:

Honestly, I’m not entirely sure I want to take it again unless absolutely necessary. I emailed my top choices to make sure my score was okay. As long as they confirm that it is, I’m not going to put in the time or the effort! 

From what I’ve seen, history GRE scores don’t matter too much in the grand scheme of things. I know I can get my writing sample + SOPs to an incredible level, and I know I have three very strong LORs. I’m not gonna sweat it too much, I don’t think.

That is also a good option!

[historygeek]

Just now, urbanhistorynerd said:

That is also a good option!

Good luck to you!

[psstein]

13 hours ago, historygeek said:

From what I’ve seen, history GRE scores don’t matter too much in the grand scheme of things. I know I can get my writing sample + SOPs to an incredible level, and I know I have three very strong LORs. I’m not gonna sweat it too much, I don’t think.

No, they don't. As I said, if they're "good enough," then they're not worth worrying about. Unless you're doing a specialized field like history of mathematics (a subfield of history of science), nobody cares about the quantitative score.

Nobody gets in because of his/her GRE score alone. It won't make up for mediocre LoRs, even if you're in the 99th percentile of everything.

[historygeek]

Just now, psstein said:

No, they don't. As I said, if they're "good enough," then they're not worth worrying about. Unless you're doing a specialized field like history of mathematics (a subfield of history of science), nobody cares about the quantitative score.

Nobody gets in because of his/her GRE score alone. It won't make up for mediocre LoRs, even if you're in the 99th percentile of everything.

Yeah, I’m not gonna sweat my score too much. My POI at Harvard said it’s the least important part of the application, so much so that they’ve considered dropping the requirement. 

[astroid88]

23 hours ago, historygeek said:

Yeah, I’m not gonna sweat my score too much. My POI at Harvard said it’s the least important part of the application, so much so that they’ve considered dropping the requirement. 

The only numbers that are somewhat important are the verbal and writing, and I'd argue more so for fellowships than for admission. 

The average (just from skimming departmental websites) seems to be about 160 on the verbal.

[historygeek]

5 minutes ago, astroid88 said:

The only numbers that are somewhat important are the verbal and writing, and I'd argue more so for fellowships than for admission. 

The average (just from skimming departmental websites) seems to be about 160 on the verbal.

That's relieving -- I got a 160 on the verbal, and I'm not sure what my writing score is yet.

[urbanhistorynerd]

My practice test scores so far:

• First diagnostic score = 158 verbal
• After two weeks of studying (mostly vocab, sentence equivalency questions, and text completion) 1st full length practice test score = 162 verbal
• Currently studying more vocab, doing sets of practice questions, and studying tactics to answer the questions. Lets hope two more weeks of studying = 4 more points higher?

It feels a lot like studying for the ACT in high school. But, expanding my vocabulary has helped a lot when it came to reading my more complicated and abstract based reading assignments this summer. Overall it is a tenuous and mundane process. Your thoughts?

[psstein]

2 hours ago, urbanhistorynerd said:

My practice test scores so far:

• First diagnostic score = 158 verbal
• After two weeks of studying (mostly vocab, sentence equivalency questions, and text completion) 1st full length practice test score = 162 verbal
• Currently studying more vocab, doing sets of practice questions, and studying tactics to answer the questions. Lets hope two more weeks of studying = 4 more points higher?

It feels a lot like studying for the ACT in high school. But, expanding my vocabulary has helped a lot when it came to reading my more complicated and abstract based reading assignments this summer. Overall it is a tenuous and mundane process. Your thoughts?

It's very tedious. I believe the GRE's verbal section is not only designed to test verbal acuity, but also work ethic.

[TMP]

19 hours ago, urbanhistorynerd said:

My practice test scores so far:

• First diagnostic score = 158 verbal
• After two weeks of studying (mostly vocab, sentence equivalency questions, and text completion) 1st full length practice test score = 162 verbal
• Currently studying more vocab, doing sets of practice questions, and studying tactics to answer the questions. Lets hope two more weeks of studying = 4 more points higher?

It feels a lot like studying for the ACT in high school. But, expanding my vocabulary has helped a lot when it came to reading my more complicated and abstract based reading assignments this summer. Overall it is a tenuous and mundane process. Your thoughts?

Developing work ethic, stamina and tolerance for tedious tasks is the key to getting through your doctoral exams.  After 75 books, things do become a bit.... dare I say it? Mundane.

[dhg]

21 hours ago, urbanhistorynerd said:

My practice test scores so far:

• First diagnostic score = 158 verbal
• After two weeks of studying (mostly vocab, sentence equivalency questions, and text completion) 1st full length practice test score = 162 verbal
• Currently studying more vocab, doing sets of practice questions, and studying tactics to answer the questions. Lets hope two more weeks of studying = 4 more points higher?

It feels a lot like studying for the ACT in high school. But, expanding my vocabulary has helped a lot when it came to reading my more complicated and abstract based reading assignments this summer. Overall it is a tenuous and mundane process. Your thoughts?

My tips for the GRE Verbal (don't ask me about Quantitative):

Go through the the Magoosh flashcard app and create a personal list of words you don't know. This should probably take between 1hr-2hrs, depending on how many words you don't know. It is tedious; do it anyway. Once you've created your list, go through about three words each day. I would to add to that https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9oqR-C-E_E&list=PL0BE1A07536688372. Watch about three videos a day. Finally, to further strengthen vocab, read some articles on aldaily.com each day. 

For the text completion and sentence equivalencies, I used to cover the answer options, fill them in with my words, then reveal my possible choices. I'd then match the word options to the words I came up with. Once you expand your vocabulary with your list, this method should lead you to the correct answer about 90% of the time. 

For the RC questions (the toughest in my opinion), I would read the article first and take notes. The simple act of taking notes forces you actually work with what your reading, rather than just sitting there and taking it in passively. They don't have to be fancy notes. Most of my notes were just jumbles of several words. Once you get to the questions, it's basically process of elimination. If you see anything slightly wrong with an answer, chuck it. If you see something wrong with all your choices, the correct answer is the one that is least wrong.

Finally, timing is key. Those who do well on the GRE usually do the sentence equivalency questions and text completion first within about 10 minutes (give or take a few seconds), leaving the rest of the time to be spent on RC. Covering your answers will help you get to that point with SE and TC.

This strategy led me to a 98% (168) score in Verbal.

 

Edited August 9, 2018 by dhg

[samaasl]

I concur with dhg regarding the Magoosh Flashcards and covering the answers at first. It was the best tip I got out of Cracking the GRE. That textbook helped me the most out of the material I used. Simply because it allowed me to understand the test. In the end, I believe, it’s not about how smart you are (though it certainly helps), but how well you tackle the intricacies of the test. 

I am not a native speaker - far from it - but I just gave exactly those answers the exam wanted and I got 170 (obviously I think some luck was involved, too).

This is very obvious when looking at my AWA score, which is...bad.

 

 

[dr. t]

6 hours ago, TMP said:

Developing work ethic, stamina and tolerance for tedious tasks is the key to getting through your doctoral exams. 

As an old adviser says, the defining characteristic of a historian is that they are congenitally immune to boredom.