How many times did you take the GRE?

[mckennahslp]

Hi everyone, 

How many times did you take the GRE? I really only want to take it once, but hear some people talking about how crazy it would be to take it once and needing it twice. It's expensive and I just want to take it once early November. If you only took it once, what helped you?

Edited August 28, 2019 by mckennahslp

[Dwar]

I took it twice, the first time last summer, and after a failed cycle I took it a second time this past summer. Did so much worse the second time. Honestly I think my decent score the first time was a fluke or a miracle, regardless I realized that it is mostly likely the one thing from my profile that I cannot change. 

To compensate i've made changes on other aspects, selected new/better LOR writers, completely rewrote my SOP, and selected a new set of five schools that have much better fit, as well as schools that are for the most part much more realistic given my GRE score. Although, I am including a one reach school just for the hell of it. 

My advice for you is to take it once and see how you do, then go from there. No point in speculating on needing to take it a second time. I would also suggest you look at the schools you want to get into and then set your target GRE scores based on that. ALSO, fun fact, when you buy the test with ETS they give you two free practice exams that you can use to study. 

[LaceySpeechie]

I took it once - I went in with the goal of taking it once and only retaking it if I absolutely bombed it. As you said, it's expensive, and it's only a portion of what factors into your application. Seconding Dwar's advice, look at the scores of the schools you want to go to (and find some schools in the lower GRE range too - at the end of the day, the school you attend doesn't matter because they all meet ASHA's standards and you'll get the same degree; of course a program that you'll be happy and successful in is important, but that doesn't have to be a "high ranking" school). Practice beforehand (know the test format, if there are areas you're especially worried about then practice/get some tutoring) and do your best, and I'd say unless your scores are really really bad, don't take it again. I didn't do anything to prepare apart from learning the format of each section - I've heard that your SAT scores are quite reflective for your GRE scores, and I found that to be fairly true for me.

[AlwaysaFalcon]

I took it 3 times. I don't recommend taking it that many times because for me it ended up being a waste of money since I only improved the verbal and quantitative sections by a couple of points. The one benefit it is brought up my writing score from a 3.5 to a 4. Ironically, I ended up attending a graduate program that didn't require the GRE lol. 

[futurespeechpath1]

I took the test twice! My writing stayed the same (4) but my overall score went up 4 points thanks to Magoosh.

[BioCook]

I took it twice, but only because I thought I could do better if I actually studied HAHA. Didn’t really make much of a difference and I wish I saved that money instead!

[swimbikespeech]

I took it once and didn't study at all and it was completely fine. The test is kind of designed so that you won't improve a whole lot even with lots of studying (maybe a couple points) so it's really not worth it to take it more than once.

[laura120]

I took it twice with the intention of improving my score the second time but I did worse. It's a general test so for the most part, it's difficult to improve your score by that much. Also, it's true that it is a small thing that factors into your acceptances/rejections if you have outside experiences to help boost you.

[Bookworm111]

52 minutes ago, laura120 said:

I took it twice with the intention of improving my score the second time but I did worse. It's a general test so for the most part, it's difficult to improve your score by that much. Also, it's true that it is a small thing that factors into your acceptances/rejections if you have outside experiences to help boost you.

Same here - I took it twice with the intention of getting a higher score the second time but did better the at my first try.

[mels3862]

I only took it once-it’s a standardized test, and the way it’s set up, retaking it won’t boost your scores a ton. Most schools really don’t look at the GRE, so you should be fine!