Terrible at math- is grad school worth the GRE?

[placeinspace]

Hi everyone,

I've been studying via Khan Academy and the ETS site for 3 months now and I am still getting most math questions wrong. My diagnostic quantitative score was 143, and I don't think it would be much higher now. I'm starting to wonder if I should just give up on trying to get into a PhD program altogether since I'm not seeing any improvement (all my programs require the GRE). Anyone have any advice?

[E-P]

It greatly depends on what program you're applying to, and how seriously they take the GREs.  I don't think you should give up, but it is worth talking to the programs you're applying to to see what the average GRE of an admitted student is.

What field are you in?

[placeinspace]

9 minutes ago, E-P said:

It greatly depends on what program you're applying to, and how seriously they take the GREs.  I don't think you should give up, but it is worth talking to the programs you're applying to to see what the average GRE of an admitted student is.

What field are you in?

I'm in English lit.  I've had some people tell me my quant scores won't matter, but I'm applying to some competitive programs and I feel like they must look at the total score. None of the programs seem to publicize their GRE scores- should I just email the program and see if they'll tell me?

[E-P]

I'd request a meeting with the graduate coordinator.  Prepare a handful of questions for every program (acceptance rates, GRE score averages, funding opportunities, graduation #s, other things relevant to your discipline, etc.).

My gut feeling is that quant would matter far less than reading and writing.  It may also be worth posting the question over on the English forum, since they'll be able to share their GRE scores and which programs they were admitted to/rejected from.  You may also be able to data mine that information via forum searching.

[placeinspace]

1 hour ago, E-P said:

I'd request a meeting with the graduate coordinator.  Prepare a handful of questions for every program (acceptance rates, GRE score averages, funding opportunities, graduation #s, other things relevant to your discipline, etc.).

My gut feeling is that quant would matter far less than reading and writing.  It may also be worth posting the question over on the English forum, since they'll be able to share their GRE scores and which programs they were admitted to/rejected from.  You may also be able to data mine that information via forum searching.

Will do, thank you so much for your help!

[historygeek]

Not your field, but I’ve known of people who have gotten 140-ish on the quant and gotten into an Ivy League for history. 

[TheScienceHoney]

I'm in a STEM field (microbiology) and my quant score was in the 140s, I would imagine that your quant score won't be the most important part of your application and thus won't make or break an admissions decision

[placeinspace]

1 hour ago, historygeek said:

Not your field, but I’ve known of people who have gotten 140-ish on the quant and gotten into an Ivy League for history. 

Oh wow! That's awesome, I guess it really is subjective!

3 minutes ago, TheScienceHoney said:

I'm in a STEM field (microbiology) and my quant score was in the 140s, I would imagine that your quant score won't be the most important part of your application and thus won't make or break an admissions decision

Makes sense. Thank you!!

[Masters19]

Hi, I am international applicant! I am in a dilemma and desperately need your advice! I took GRE twice first I got following scores : Q159, V 156 and AWA 3.5

Since my AWA score was pretty low I decided to try it again, this time I got Q156, V155 and in AWA 4.5, my AWA score is much better now, but Quantitative and Verbal scores are little lower

My target schools are Harvard kennedy mpp, columbia sipa Mpa, tufts fletcher MALD, Georgetown MSFS Syracuse maxwell mpa, washington ewans mpa,  the average GRE scores of accepted candidates at these schools are in around 70 percentiles. So, now I don't know what to do, the Verbal and Quantitative scores of my first GRE exam are above 70 percentiles and therefore above average scores at my target schools, but my AWA is below average, whereas Q and V scores of my second exam are little lower than average but AWA is above average What should I do? Should I report both scores? Or the first one? Or the second one? Will scoring a little less in Q and Verbal section lower my chances of accepting at these schools?