Bombed quant, applying for quant related discipline

[LeoCrimson1]

Hi all, like the title says, unfortunately I bombed the the GRE, 152 verbal, 149 quant. 

I really thought I'd be fine since I aced my calculus courses in my undergraduate and only prepared 2 weeks. But unfortunately i felt this tested more of my test taking skills since I'm not great at standardized tests. And I did work with a tutor to improve on timed test taking, but I feel like it takes more time to practice out the skills learned to actually develop them.

 

I have a solid GPA, 3.7 and hold a degree in Computer Science. I have interned at top companies, and currently work for a forbes top 50 company as a software engineer and have research experience/1 publication at highly tanked conference. I've only been out of school since this past May.

 

I'm applying for a masters in computer science program and 3 applications are for joint programs, masters/PhD track. I have deadlines coming up, have I completely hurt my chances of getting into top tier schools? This is really unfortunate considering I did everything else right except improve on my standardized testing skills. Its not like I couldn't solve the problems, I ran out of time on the quant sections and had to guess on questions I know I could've solves if given a little more time.

 

Thank you for your help!

 

[elx]

Check the websites for whether they have GRE cut-offs or not for your school/programme. If it doesn't say anything, email admissions.

From all I've heard, the GRE will either be the first (weeding out low GREs from the start) or last (comparing two equally good applications and ditching the one with the lower GRE) thing adcomms look at, and you can't really predict which one they'll be. I've met no one who said the GRE was particularly important. Everyone kind of realises it shows very little about your actual ability.

In any case, try the websites, don't stress out over this too much, and good luck!!

[DiscoTech]

 

On 11/30/2018 at 12:35 AM, LeoCrimson1 said:

Hi all, like the title says, unfortunately I bombed the the GRE, 152 verbal, 149 quant. 

I really thought I'd be fine since I aced my calculus courses in my undergraduate and only prepared 2 weeks. But unfortunately i felt this tested more of my test taking skills since I'm not great at standardized tests. And I did work with a tutor to improve on timed test taking, but I feel like it takes more time to practice out the skills learned to actually develop them.

 

I have a solid GPA, 3.7 and hold a degree in Computer Science. I have interned at top companies, and currently work for a forbes top 50 company as a software engineer and have research experience/1 publication at highly tanked conference. I've only been out of school since this past May.

 

I'm applying for a masters in computer science program and 3 applications are for joint programs, masters/PhD track. I have deadlines coming up, have I completely hurt my chances of getting into top tier schools? This is really unfortunate considering I did everything else right except improve on my standardized testing skills. Its not like I couldn't solve the problems, I ran out of time on the quant sections and had to guess on questions I know I could've solves if given a little more time.

 

Thank you for your help!

 

There is a lot to unpack here. 

The point of the GRE (general) is to give universities a way to compare students from different undergraduate institutions (and/or majors). Is a student with a 3.85 from Middling State University (MSU) really as good a candidate as a student with a 3.45 from MIT? Well, if both students' GRE scores in the same ballpark, it does make reviewers feel more comfortable about the 3.85 from MSU. So if you aren't yourself coming from a top tier undergraduate school, a low GRE score will make it easier to overlook your academic achievements. Whether this is right or not, I don't know. 

I do not see what acing calculus has to do with the GRE. It is a test of quantitative reasoning. You are being asked to (quickly) draw conclusions based on quantitative information. 

"i felt this tested more of my test taking skills since I'm not great at standardized tests" - I am not huge fan of this cop out. Not because it sounds like complaining, but because it fosters a defeatist attitude. You sound like someone quite capable and who has worked hard through their academic career. Surely there were some classes where you had to work harder than others because the material did not come naturally to you. Why is the GRE any different? If your reasoning skills aren't sharp enough just yet, work on them. Why should this be the one thing where people get to throw their hands up and say - "I am not a great test taker and that is that"? It is not like getting into graduate school means the end of dumb exams (see departmental qualifying exams). 

As far as whether you have hurt your chances at schools, it is hard to say. If you graduated from Princeton or something, I am sure schools would treat your GRE scores as an anomaly and give it less weight. That said, a 149 is really bad for a sciences applicant. If you are applying to diploma mills (schools that trade on their brand name by handing out MS degrees for $100,000), your GRE scores are unlikely to hurt you. However, if you are applying to top tier (top 10-20) programs with the hope of earning financial support (through an assistantship of some kind) AND did not come from from a brand name school AND do not have a personal connection to the professor you want work for, your GRE scores will be a big drag.

My advice is to suck it up and take it again. A graduate education is a long term investment. 5-10 years from now, how will you feel knowing that you walked away from a chance to attend Stanford because you did not want to retake a very learnable standardized test 5-10 years ago? BTW, you do not absolutely have attend graduate school in the fall of 2019. You have a job - a great one it sounds like. You can always stay there a little longer and put together a great application next year.

This is probably not what you wanted to hear, but I hope in the end it is better you hear this now while you can still do something about your scores.