GRE combined 321:163V, 158Q--good enough for engineering?

[einalemjs]

Hi all, 

Do you guys think that any systems engineering MS program will admit me with these scores, even though they are the opposite of what is usually competitive in terms of sections? I have some research experience in my field but no publications. 3.56 GPA. I'm also a returning student that has great essays about what it's like to be a minority in STEM.

Thanks!

Edited December 11, 2019 by mjsharif

[Libra924]

For engineering, I think a 158Q is a little low for such a science/math-oriented field like engineering.  Try to get that to at least 160.  If your GPA was like 3.9+, then I would say you can easily get away with your quant score.  Hell, I'm sure a score in the 150s anywhere would be ok if you had a 3.8 or 3.9+ GPA.

[einalemjs]

37 minutes ago, Libra924 said:

For engineering, I think a 158Q is a little low for such a science/math-oriented field like engineering.  Try to get that to at least 160.  If your GPA was like 3.9+, then I would say you can easily get away with your quant score.  Hell, I'm sure a score in the 150s anywhere would be ok if you had a 3.8 or 3.9+ GPA.

I agree with you generally. Like, I would be a lot more comfortable right now if I had scored a 160, and that was my goal, but I hit a bit of a wall with studying, and now deadlines are upon me and I can't take the test again. I will mention that my score in quant went up from a 153 to a 158 in just a month, which could help me. I also have an A in my relevant math course.

I guess my best bet now is just to pour it all into my personal statement. Undergrad for me was difficult because I wasn't embracing where I was and what I wanted to do. Engineering for me is how I've overcome that. Studying for the GRE SUCKED but it felt right in every sense of the word for me to be out here pushing to change my career.

Last edit: Oh my composite score is also a bit higher overall, 166V and 158Q. So, I like to think that my test results show, overall, I'm critically-minded (Verbal DOES matter, in general), that I will work hard, diligently and quickly, to make up any initial discrepancies in my grades, and that once I get going I will be able to see success.

I think it's ridiculous how one score can be used to evaluate students, and some Universities do know this.The literature is not even 100% on this test predicting success. Some top programs are even starting to do away with the test, but I expect engineering will be one of the last to do that simply because it's so competitive.

A quote from a study that explores the GRE's limited predictive success for doing well in grad school, commenting on the effect of grad school on underrep'd minorities:

"Although underrepresented minorities had lower first semester grades, GPAs, and lower odds of graduating with a Ph.D., with academic and social supports, undergraduate science and engineering programs have been shown to improve minority graduation rates [29,30], a finding supported by preliminary data on our own graduate population. " (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5226333/) 

Edited December 12, 2019 by mjsharif

[Libra924]

I wish you the best!  I'd do the same exact thing...explain whatever needs explaining in your personal statement.  That's why it's personal, and don't afraid to get too personal either!  I have a very blunt and trenchant way of speaking and writing, and I'm certainly not afraid to lay it on thick in a personal statement.