UT Houston GRE Waived- should I send it anyway?

[drunkenduck]

I'd appreciate any input on my quandary.

UT Houston School of Public Health has made the GRE optional this season, and I'm not sure if my scores will help or hurt my application for the PhD in Behavioral Sciences program. Here's a bit about me:

Undergrad GPA: 3.3

Grad GPA: 4.0

No pubs yet but I have experience working on multiple research projects, including a couple that I hope to publish in the next year. I'm also a foster parent who is interested in maternal and child health.

GRE verbal: 92nd percentile, quant: 51st percentile, writing: 4.5 (80th percentile). On the website, they say a combined score of 308 and a writing score of 4 is required.

I know my quant score is kind of dragging me down. Is it better to submit my scores or not? Thanks in advance!

[drunkenduck]

Can anybody tell me if my GRE scores are competitive or not?

[CatMeow1234]

Hey Drunken Duck (amazing username btw!). I'm applying here too, so I have some familiarity with the program (how cool if we ended up at the same school!).

2/3 of your scores are really strong. Math scores are the most important section in my opinion. Therefore, I think the math section would harm your application more than your strong verbal and writing would strengthen it. I would take the waived scores as a blessing! That being said, you may have a very good reason for wanting to submit it. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on why you want to submit them - if you want to use them to demonstrate your strong verbal/writing skills, I think your statement of purpose will do that anyway. Your letters of rec can can also play up anything you feel like you need a boost in.

Good luck!

[CatMeow1234]

Also, which campus are you applying to? - I am applying to Austin!

[drunkenduck]

Hi Cat, thanks for responding! I wasn't sure if an average quant score would be seen as neutral or as a negative. You make a good point about my SOP being enough to demonstrate my writing skills. I think I will skip sending it, at the very least it will save me 27 bucks.

I'm applying for the Houston campus, so maybe we'll end up kind-of-neighbors. 

[CatMeow1234]

Awesome, DrunkenDuck! ? Others may have different opinions than me, but that is what I would do if I were in your shoes. Good luck on finishing up your applications - keep me posted on how things go with UTH!

[Aman_Ratta]

Hi. I am applying for phd in public health, population health sciences health policy and community health. When can we expect calls for interviews