HELP!! Am I totally screwed? Really need advice!!!

[SunsetRodeo]

Oh man, I am so incredibly disappointed with myself. I just don't know what to do. Two years ago, I took the GRE and received a 1230/5AW. Back then, I only applied to one program and got waitlisted so I decided to postpone grad admissions for another year or so. I knew my Verbal score was low, though, and decided to retake again this year.

Fast forward, and I retook the GRE today, and it was much harder than anticipated - despite the many MANY practice tests I took! I decided to cancel the scores because I couldn't take the risk of getting less than a 700Q, and while I do think I got higher this time around, I'm not sure if I did by much. I know for a fact that I got more than 4-5 questions wrong on the quant, as well as a few questions wrong at the beginning of the Verbal (and I know those questions count the most).

I did notice that there is an option to reinstate the scores within 60 days, so I can still find out what I got and have them added to my score report. But I'm just not sure I did much better. What should I do?? Should I take the risk and reinstate the scores or retake again in November?? Or should I stick with my 1230 - is it THAT horrible of a GRE score?? My GPA is around 3.7 at a top 20 university, 4 yrs solid work experience, solid LORs & I'll make sure to write a stellar essay. I'd like to apply to schools on par with NYU Wagner, UW Evans, CM Heinz, UCLA, USC, Humphrey, and CIPA.

I would appreciate ANY AND ALL feedback, I am completely stressed out about this. Am I totally screwed if I keep my old GRE score? Ugh, the thought of retaking this AGAIN in another 3 weeks or so is just awful...

Edited December 4, 2010 by bgk

[policy_wonk_18]

That's a tough call. My general feeling is that you should just go ahead and apply with those scores. 700 is solid for Quant, and while 530 may be below average, your GPA and a stellar SOP will eliminate any doubts in the minds of the ad coms. At this point, I'd focus all of your efforts on polishing the other parts of your application in time for the fall deadlines. After all, the effort required to increase your verbal is time taken away from the SOP -- which, frankly, is the more important part of the application anyway.

A 1230 total score won't be a "wow factor", but it also shouldn't raise any concerns. I think you're squarely within the range of reasonableness for the schools you've listed. Assuming your four years of experience are quality ones and the rest of your app is solid, I think you'll be fine.

Good luck!

[adaptations]

I don't know how relevant this is, but when I took the GRE I finished the test and thought very seriously about canceling the scores. As opposed to my many practice tests, I didn't feel confident. I felt like the math was much harder than I anticipated, and I was really worried it would be well below my expectations. That said, I sucked it up, submitted the scores and they were the highest aggregate score I had ever had.

My point is, at the end of hours of high stress testing, you are in no position to objectively judge how you did. If something really out of the ordinary happened, there are reasons to cancel the score, but I don't think "feeling good" or "feeling bad" about how it went is a good measure of what your actual score will be.

[carpecc]

I'd say definitely reinstate the scores, they're probably ok. Unless something really serious happened, like illness or complete lack of sleep or something, there's no reason to cancel them. They're probably better than you think.

I took the test and considered cancelling the scores, thinking I did really poorly on the math and medium on the verbal. Turns out my math score was better than any practice test, and my verbal score was way worse than expected. But it was still in an OK range, and I got into my target school.

Reinstate it, if it really is far off the mark, you have time to retake it. If it's fine, then you don't have to worry about the GRE at all and you can concentrate on other things.

[SunsetRodeo]

I'd say definitely reinstate the scores, they're probably ok. Unless something really serious happened, like illness or complete lack of sleep or something, there's no reason to cancel them. They're probably better than you think.

I took the test and considered cancelling the scores, thinking I did really poorly on the math and medium on the verbal. Turns out my math score was better than any practice test, and my verbal score was way worse than expected. But it was still in an OK range, and I got into my target school.

Reinstate it, if it really is far off the mark, you have time to retake it. If it's fine, then you don't have to worry about the GRE at all and you can concentrate on other things.

I appreciate your feedback! The problem if I reinstate the scores and then retake if lower is that it takes 2 weeks for the reinstatement process, so I won't know until the end of October. That gives me November to retake, and will that be enough time considering the essays, letters of rec, etc. I will have to prepare? Also, I'm afraid three sets of scores may look bad to admission committees. What are your thoughts?

[carpecc]

I appreciate your feedback! The problem if I reinstate the scores and then retake if lower is that it takes 2 weeks for the reinstatement process, so I won't know until the end of October. That gives me November to retake, and will that be enough time considering the essays, letters of rec, etc. I will have to prepare? Also, I'm afraid three sets of scores may look bad to admission committees. What are your thoughts?

Relax! Relax! I think you're over thinking these things. First, you current score isn't bad. The verbal isn't great, but it isn't horrible. I'm will to bet that your verbal score on your most recent test is better. Also you're making a lot of assumptions, you assume you got those questions wrong, you assume that you weren't able to bring your score back up in the later part of the test. The truth is you really don't know for sure. It was harder than you anticipated? That's a good thing: probably means you were scoring way high and they threw on the tough questions.

Second, the GRE is only part of the application. You've got a great GPA, good work experience and other things going for you. The GRE is only part.

Third, you can go ahead and register now for the Nov GRE, you can always cancel your registration. Since your first set of scores is from two years ago, I don't think two more now would be that bad.

The other parts of the app you should go ahead and begin preparing right now, cuz that stuff takes time. Besides, you only need to study for the verbal part, which is just memorizing vocab words. Just my thoughts.

[mppgal55]

Many MPP/MPA programs value work experience extremely highly. Seeing as how you have a lot of WE, and a seemingly solid application in general, these scores should be more than ok. Relax! Focus on letting your passion show in your essay - make the adcom understand why you want to pursue this degree, and how their program can specifically do that, and you'll be good to go. If that passion and knowledge shines, the standardized scores won't matter nearly as much.

Oh man, I am so incredibly disappointed with myself. I just don't know what to do. Two years ago, I took the GRE and received a 1230/5AW. Back then, I only applied to one program and got waitlisted so I decided to postpone grad admissions for another year or so. I knew my Verbal score was low, though, and decided to retake again this year.

Fast forward, and I retook the GRE today, and it was much harder than anticipated - despite the many MANY practice tests I took! I decided to cancel the scores because I couldn't take the risk of getting less than a 700Q, and while I do think I got higher this time around, I'm not sure if I did by much. I know for a fact that I got more than 4-5 questions wrong on the quant, as well as a few questions wrong at the beginning of the Verbal (and I know those questions count the most).

I did notice that there is an option to reinstate the scores within 60 days, so I can still find out what I got and have them added to my score report. But I'm just not sure I did much better. What should I do?? Should I take the risk and reinstate the scores or retake again in November?? Or should I stick with my 1230 - is it THAT horrible of a GRE score?? My GPA is around 3.7 at a top 20 university, 4 yrs solid work experience, solid LORs & I'll make sure to write a stellar essay. I'd like to apply to schools on par with NYU Wagner, UW Evans, CM Heinz, UCLA, USC, Humphrey, and CIPA.

I would appreciate ANY AND ALL feedback, I am completely stressed out about this. Am I totally screwed if I keep my old GRE score? Ugh, the thought of retaking this AGAIN in another 3 weeks or so is just awful...

[carpecc]

I did notice that there is an option to reinstate the scores within 60 days, so I can still find out what I got and have them added to my score report. But I'm just not sure I did much better.

So Sunset Rodeo, I gotta ask: did you reinstate your scores?