GRE scores needed for top public health PhD programs

[saheckler]

Hi everyone, I just took the GRE and I got 97th percentile verbal but only 67th percentile in quant (I don't have my writing score back yet). When I took calc and stats in college (almost 15 years ago now) I got a C+ and a C because I blew them off, but I retook stats at the local community college and got an A last fall and am doing the same with Calc this fall, hopefully also for an A. I realize that all together this really makes me look weak in quantitative skills. I also do not have a master's degree, but I have several years of clinical nursing experience, experience in health education program planning and implementation, and will have two years of experience doing research with a faculty member at a prominent school of public health. I'll have a book chapter as first author under my belt (on LGBTQ+ health policy within nursing), a couple of articles where I'm one of many authors, and an oral presentation at a conference. Is it ridiculous for me to even consider applying to PhD programs at Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Washington, Berkeley, Yale, BU, etc. without a master's and with a low GRE quant score and my poor initial grade in calc and stats? I know that applicants without a master's have to be highly qualified to get in. I'm planning to do a few weeks of working with a GRE tutor on quant to boost my score as much as possible, but I don't know if it's realistic to think I"ll go from 67th percentile up to 90th percentile. Thank you for your input!

[apex45]

My impression is that high quant scores are more important for epi and biostats than most of the other tracks. My target quant score for my upcoming second attempt at the GRE is the 70th percentile, and I'm applying for social/behavioral. But maybe I should be aiming much higher like you. Magoosh is predicting me between 155-160 (59%-76%), so hopefully I can get on the high end of that with a month's more work. Do you feel like you can put in the study time do better on a retake? If so, no harm in trying again. 

[saheckler]

59 minutes ago, apex45 said:

My impression is that high quant scores are more important for epi and biostats than most of the other tracks. My target quant score for my upcoming second attempt at the GRE is the 70th percentile, and I'm applying for social/behavioral. But maybe I should be aiming much higher like you. Magoosh is predicting me between 155-160 (59%-76%), so hopefully I can get on the high end of that with a month's more work. Do you feel like you can put in the study time do better on a retake? If so, no harm in trying again. 

Thanks for sharing your insight! I just bought 16 hours of tutoring to start in the end of August (two-hour sessions, twice a week, four weeks in a row) and will try to retake in the end of September. I'm just worried I'll spend all that money and put in all that time and will only gain a few points! My goal is at least 80th percentile, which should be about 162. Someone from admissions at Johns Hopkins told me that accepted applicants without a master's usually have GRE scores in the 90th percentile range. But I think that admissions staff are often quick to play up how competitive their admissions process is, so maybe I should take that with a grain of salt! I"m hoping that nursing experience is highly regarded by admissions and that it helps my case!

[ianmleavitt]

I think it's also going to depend on how much of a quantitative focus an individual program is going to have. For example, Harvard has a yearlong quantitative methods course for their Population Health Sciences PhD program and Brown recommends you do a Biostatistics self-analysis on their website before you even apply to their Social and Behavioral Sciences PhD. For programs with the greater focus, they might view the Q score on the GRE as more important. Without the Master's degree, I think getting that score up could be valuable. But remember, at the end of the day, it's how you justify yourself as a good fit for the program within your Statement of Purpose that is really going to sell (or not sell) a program on you.

Also, consider the fit for yourself. Do you think you want to be in a program that has a substantial quantitative focus? Or would you be a better fit for a program that puts less emphasis on it?

[saheckler]

1 hour ago, ianmleavitt said:

I think it's also going to depend on how much of a quantitative focus an individual program is going to have. For example, Harvard has a yearlong quantitative methods course for their Population Health Sciences PhD program and Brown recommends you do a Biostatistics self-analysis on their website before you even apply to their Social and Behavioral Sciences PhD. For programs with the greater focus, they might view the Q score on the GRE as more important. Without the Master's degree, I think getting that score up could be valuable. But remember, at the end of the day, it's how you justify yourself as a good fit for the program within your Statement of Purpose that is really going to sell (or not sell) a program on you.

Also, consider the fit for yourself. Do you think you want to be in a program that has a substantial quantitative focus? Or would you be a better fit for a program that puts less emphasis on it?

Thanks for your input! I don't think I have a preference yet on a program that leans more toward quantitative or qualitative as long as the program is a really good fit for my research interests (health equity, social determinants of health, and policy approaches to improve health, especially related to the LGBTQ+ community and to sexual minority women in particular). I think that I could do well in quantitative courses; I just likely need to better demonstrate that before applying... Does anyone have any insight on what percentile I should be aiming for in quant on my retake in order to have a reasonable chance? If I am able to write a statement of purpose that really shows my research interests are a great fit, then what kind of numbers would I need on the GRE to be seriously considered?

[ianmleavitt]

It's hard to spitball an actual number, as most programs will simply say that they want "competitive scores."

Again, to me, it's more about connecting with your potential mentor, having a well-written SoP, and letters of support that sing your praises. With that being said, if you can get your quantitative score in the 75th-80th percentile range, I would think that it wouldn't be a limiting factor whatsoever for programs. But I'm just guessing!

If you find yourself concerned enough, take the GRE again (if money isn't a limiting factor) with adequate quantitative prep that leaves you feeling you'll score in your desired range. Also, if you have a Biostatistics course available to you this fall, shoot to take that (if it's not too late).

[StuartLittle]

On 8/7/2018 at 6:22 PM, ianmleavitt said:

It's hard to spitball an actual number, as most programs will simply say that they want "competitive scores."

Again, to me, it's more about connecting with your potential mentor, having a well-written SoP, and letters of support that sing your praises. With that being said, if you can get your quantitative score in the 75th-80th percentile range, I would think that it wouldn't be a limiting factor whatsoever for programs. But I'm just guessing!

If you find yourself concerned enough, take the GRE again (if money isn't a limiting factor) with adequate quantitative prep that leaves you feeling you'll score in your desired range. Also, if you have a Biostatistics course available to you this fall, shoot to take that (if it's not too late).

Hi Ianmleavitt, my GRE score is in the 77th percentile. But this score with a very strong profile got me into Yale MA Statistics. Would you think this would likely get me into Harvard Biostats?

Is it true that admission committees across US school only consider top GRE scores among applicants for PhD? Thanks!