GRE

[vivalaschwa]

I took the GRE recently and got a 630V/720Q. This is quite a bit lower than on my practice tests, in part because I was nervous on test day. I am trying to decide if it is worth the time and money to retake the test. Are these respectable scores? How important is the GRE for linguistics programs? By how much would I need to raise my verbal to make a retake worthwhile?

Thanks for your help.

[fuzzylogician]

I think your scores are very good, there's no need to raise them. In general, I didn't get the feeling the GRE was important for admissions decisions, certainly not for the schools I was considering. Some of the higher ranked schools didn't require GRE scores at all, and none of the others seemed to care too much as long as the scores were reasonably OK. As the saying goes, GRE scores can only keep ever you out of a school, not get you in. Once you've clear the cutoffs, the exact score doesn't matter anymore (and a 1350 should clear any cutoff). I suspect, though I don't have any confirmation for this except for common sense, that cutoffs are used in bigger departments that have so many applications that they have to weed some out initially so the adcom can divide its time more reasonably, concentrating on applicants who were likelier matches. Linguistics departments don't get much more than 100-150 applications and I'm pretty sure that all of them get looked at with some level of detail or other.

The only place that GRE scores *might* play a role is in winning university-wide fellowships, but since linguistics departments tend to fund all of their PhD students (in all of the cases I know of), it's not like you'll ever be left unfunded. In any case, I think that a score of 1350 is very respectable and shouldn't cause you any trouble whatsoever. Your time and effort will be better spend on the parts of the application that will really make the difference between a good and a great application - the SOP and the writing sample. If you have a chance to gain some research experience, either by joining a project as a research assistant, or by doing independent study, that will also be very helpful to your application.

Good luck!

[pangur-ban]

I second Fuzzylogician totally, but I'll also add that it's a good idea to see if the schools you're interested in mention anything on their websites. I think it was UPenn that had something like "if you don't have above 700 in both V and (especially) Q, you'll have a hard time getting in, and a much harder time getting in if neither score is above 700". So, if that was your dream school, it might be worth getting both scores over 700, but otherwise, I agree your score is good enough to get your application looked at anywhere (even UPenn!) and it would be better to work on the rest of your application.

The only other school whose website I looked at that mentioned specific GRE scores was Berkeley, but they said their average incoming score was 1400, and your scores put you safely in that neighborhood, so I wouldn't worry.

[vivalaschwa]

Thanks, I really appreciate your replies.

It is funny that you mentioned Penn and Berkeley, pangor-ban; both are schools I have been looking into over the last few weeks for their strength in both theoretical and sociolinguistics, and those were the very messages that have left me uncertain about the GRE. However, I do think that you and fuzzylogician are right--at this point, my scores are high enough to ensure my application is looked at, which is all that matters. I think I will take your advice and focus on the other parts of my application over the summer. After all, I'd rather be doing linguistics than practicing any more freaking antonyms!

Edited April 2, 2010 by vivalaschwa

[pangur-ban]

After all, I'd rather be doing linguistics than practicing any more freaking antonyms!

Ahaha, yes, I'm so glad I won't have to take the GRE (or any other standardized test) again!

Good luck with your application!

[ArcImpulse42]

Dear Vivalaschwa,

If it makes you feel better, I actually got slightly lower scores than you did (610V/720Q), and I was accepted at Berkeley (although I didn't apply to Penn). In addition, my GPA was slightly below average as well (3.7 compared to Berkeley's average 3.8).

At the end of the day, numbers just aren't the most important part of your application. From what I can tell, your statement of purpose and recommendations carry the most weight in the admissions process. So I agree wholeheartedly with what everyone else on this thread has said. Don't worry about taking the test again; it will just stress you out (or if you're at all like me, you'll just get really pissed off :-)

Hope this helps.

Edited April 3, 2010 by ArcImpulse42

[pangur-ban]

Ooh, ArcImpulse42, you got into UCLA's IE Studies program? Neat! May I ask what your interests are?

IE historical linguistics are an interest of mine, but I'd make a terrible Indo-Europeanist because I don't know Latin or Greek or Sanskrit, and really only like the obscure branches of the family. Alas.

[vivalaschwa]

Haha, ArcImpulse, you are so right. I would be hacked off to take the GRE again. I walked in saying, "This is the last standardized test of my life! Woo!" Only to see my score and feel immediately flummoxed about what to do.

Congrats on your acceptance to Berkeley. Are you going to attend? The program there seems to be holistic and the faulty's interests are well-balanced, both of which appeal to me. Also, some of the work coming out of the department on endangered languages, especially by Lev Michael and Alice Gaby, is fascinating. It seems like a place that encourages its students to mix sub disciplines in their work.

And congrats to you, Pangor-ban. MIT, right? You'll be joining fuzzylogician?

[pangur-ban]

And congrats to you, Pangor-ban. MIT, right? You'll be joining fuzzylogician?

Yep! I am looking forward to it. And having a hard time concentrating on my current schoolwork.

[Bumblebee]

I don't know about other schools, but Florida State asked a score of 1000 in the GRE for Hispanic Linguistics. I got 1250 and got admitted in very good schools. But, I'm international, so maybe their less strict with foreigners.

[Tunnel King]

I had 570v/740q/5.0. I was displeased with my Verbal score but all the percentiles for my test were above 80%. I ended up getting into 2 out of 4 schools so far, both PhD and both with full tuition + stipend. I also had a 4.0 GPA, coming out of an MA, grant funded research, etc, and I'm sure all that mattered a lot more than my GRE scores.

[The Wookiee]

I'm with Tunnel King. I got a 1470 (750V and 720Q) and have only been rejected so far. From what I can tell, it's way more important to have research experience and a strong statement of purpose than stratospheric test scores (not to say that mine are). :-)

Good luck with the rest of your schools!

[JoaniePanic]

I know many linguistics departments don't set a minimum score for the GRE, but I am considering an MA in Linguistics (with a concentration in Pragmatics/Sociolinguistics), and was wondering which section would count most (many linguistics programs give a lot of importance to quantitative score, but I think that was for the formal linguistics programs I've checked -they said nothing about sociolinguistics, though...). Anyone?

[PhDreaming]

JoaniePanic - when I was applying to M.A. programs and my interests were squarely in the pragmatics and socio side of linguistics I was told by a POI that the Q sections is WAY more important than the V section. Verbal was almost not even relevant.