GRE woes (PhD Math)

[hartshorneBoy]

Hey all,

Hope the waiting game is going alright. I'm applying for '09 admissions for Math PhD's (Algebraic Geometry) and I took the GRE last year. I'm getting my BS/MA in Math, and an AB in Romance Languages (Spanish/French/Italian) at a mid-ranked Large Public University. Here are my stats

800q/580v/5w

(11/20/2008 EDIT:770, 81%) subj Math

3.90 GPA

Will have 3 years of Research, Have 1 classified publication, 1 publication (to appear) and 1 preprint (now submitted... waiting...)

I'm hoping to apply for the big schools (See Signature)

Main question: Should I take the GRE over for the 580v to improve? How hard do I have to nail the subject GRE? I took it halfway through my sophomore year so I could do the joint Masters with my Bachelors over my four years because I was taking grad classes anyways. What are my chances?

[Fiddler_Crab]

I don't think that your verbal score is low, especially considering that you are going into math. I would not retake the exam...if you do, you risk getting an imperfect score on the quant. section. Now THAT would look bad. Jut my humble opinion

[hartshorneBoy]

I don't think that your verbal score is low, especially considering that you are going into math. I would not retake the exam...if you do, you risk getting an imperfect score on the quant. section. Now THAT would look bad. Jut my humble opinion

Thanks (the comment on the quant section is exactly my worry: I didn't get a single 800 on my SAT when I took it three times. Gah!!). The one issue I'm worried about are cutoffs. I think my soft factors are really nice and my LoR's are pretty (three Algebraic Geometers =] ). If I don't get knocked out by cutoffs, then I feel like I will be happy no matter the outcome. Too bad I won't ever find out. It's just that Harvard is my top choice, and Joe Harris fits perfectly with what I'm doing now (esp. since my thesis advisor works/talks with him).

[studentfromLA]

If I were you, I would not retake the GRE to improve your verbal score if you are going into a math-related field, with an 800 math score.

If you look at some of the data on the GRE website, including breakdowns of scores based on intended graduate area of study (see link below), you will see that many applicants who intend to go into math-oriented fields score much lower on verbal than quantitative. Your quantitative score is so good, I wouldn't risk it if I were you.

http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/GRE/pdf/ ... able_4.pdf

[firecolon]

Your 3 years of research, the classified publication, and the preprint that you have is incredibly important. Also, your GPA is outstanding. The GRE is the most overrated portion of your application (even the subject test). And in your field, the Verbal GRE can almost be ignored (especially if you are a native English speaker). I did horrible on the GRE Verbal test - unheard of on this entire forum, and I still got into strong programs at the "big schools" (and my research and GPA, while good, is not nearly as good as yours). You should have no problem getting into big programs, maybe even a couple of absolute top ones like MIT or Wisconsin.

[firecolon]

You will get into Utah, at the very least. I promise.

[sigh]

I was told that the only time you might want to think about retaking is if you're applying to big fellowships (like NSF, if that applies to you), because they're more likely to have an absolute cutoff. I ended up being too busy over the school year to retake the test and try and surpass my pathetic 550V, though, and I won't know about the fellowships for at least a few more days...but in terms of getting in to grad schools, it definitely wasn't a problem.

[hartshorneBoy]

Your 3 years of research, the classified publication, and the preprint that you have is incredibly important. Also, your GPA is outstanding. The GRE is the most overrated portion of your application (even the subject test). And in your field, the Verbal GRE can almost be ignored (especially if you are a native English speaker). I did horrible on the GRE Verbal test - unheard of on this entire forum, and I still got into strong programs at the "big schools" (and my research and GPA, while good, is not nearly as good as yours). You should have no problem getting into big programs, maybe even a couple of absolute top ones like MIT or Wisconsin.

Thank you. I feel like I have a lot working for me, it is just the Verbal score that may throw up a red flag as well as a W in one of my math courses (Note: 2 PhD prelim courses, research, and 9 other hours in other departments, while being a TA DOES NOT WORK!!). Also, Utah is kind of a place I don't really want to go, but may go if that's the only place I get in. The social climate in Utah is not what I desire per se, since I am LGBT identified. Thank you for the information!

I was told that the only time you might want to think about retaking is if you're applying to big fellowships (like NSF, if that applies to you), because they're more likely to have an absolute cutoff. I ended up being too busy over the school year to retake the test and try and surpass my pathetic 550V, though, and I won't know about the fellowships for at least a few more days...but in terms of getting in to grad schools, it definitely wasn't a problem.

I will be applying to NSF, so that makes me feel cautious. Thank you for the information!!

Thank you all!!

[bobwhoops]

Of the schools you applied to, I got into Stanford, Yale, and Stony Brook's CS PhD program with a 600v and a 4.5a. I mean 580v should still be 80th+ percentile which is fine.

[firecolon]

Also, Utah is kind of a place I don't really want to go, but may go if that's the only place I get in. The social climate in Utah is not what I desire per se, since I am LGBT identified. Thank you for the information!

The University of Utah is not a place you should be worried about. The social climate that you are referring to is far more prominent outside of Salt Lake City, especially at Brigham Young University.

If you're interested, I believe Berkeley will be accepting more students that usual for 2009.

[hartshorneBoy]

The University of Utah is not a place you should be worried about. The social climate that you are referring to is far more prominent outside of Salt Lake City, especially at Brigham Young University.

If you're interested, I believe Berkeley will be accepting more students that usual for 2009.

Okay. That is good to know about Utah because Christopher Hacon is amazing! I'm really looking more around NE and Boston since my boyfriend of 2 years (kinda almost partner) is going to (EDIT: He changed his mind, Stanford now!) Law next year. Where did you apply for school, if you don't mind me asking (pm is okay if you prefer!)?

And I am very happy to hear that about Berkeley because they do some awesome computational Alg. Geom!

[kdilks]

If it makes you feel any better, the other day my teacher was talking about when he was studying for the GRE verbal section, "because he was over in Europe, and he didn't have anybody to tell him it was worthless". He was talking about how difficult it was to do the analogy section because he only knew maybe 3 of the 10 words listed . I have a feeling you did better than him, and he still managed to get into Princeton, so you should be fine...

[dans595]

Firecolin: I don't think that Berkeley will be taking an exceptionally large class this year. In fact, we might take fewer applicants than normal.

I'd still apply. The program still takes larger classes than many of the schools on Hartshorneboy's list, and it's a great place to pursue his specific interests.

[skibum1981]

This is the truth: No school cares about the standard GRE beyond getting scores that look questionable. What does "questionable" mean? Questionable means below 750 on quant, below 450 on verbal, and below a 4 on the analytical writing. The same is not true of the math subject test, but it's definitely true of the regular GRE.

Don't believe me? I was an EECS undergrad, top of class, and got rejected from MIT EE with high GREs. My friend, ranked lower but still ranked high, who had a publication (I didn't), scored a 710 on the quantitative section, and got in. MIT's EE department accepts about 2% of its applicants...