Will GRE retake help me to get into top schools?

[ramgorur]

Hi,

I took GRE for two times and could not get into any school this year - if I take GRE again will it increase my chances??

If I take CS subject test, will it help? since my undergrad is from a very insignificant school.

please seniors suggest.

[edvolkov]

If you will take something more than 95%, then yes. This topic was already discussed here - it's better to devote your time to research

[eklavya]

the dude above is basically right - you need to focus more on research, and apply to schools with similar research interests as yours. you can also contact professors at those schools ahead of the the application to see if they have any grad positions open for coming fall. however, gre is also important - if you bomb your gre, it definitely won't look good on your application resume.

[explorer-c]

Hi,

I took GRE for two times and could not get into any school this year - if I take GRE again will it increase my chances??

If your score is already decent enough, then no. If your score is absolutely terrible then retaking and getting a good GRE score will prevent your application from being tossed straight away but won't necessarily help you get in. Also, the higher the school rank, the lesser they care about GRE.

People can probably give you better answer if you specify the kind of schools that you're applying to as well as the rest of your profile.

If I take CS subject test, will it help? since my undergrad is from a very insignificant school.

If they don't know your undergrad school, then yes it will help if you get a good score for the subject test. But like I said previously, the higher the school rank, the lesser they care about GRE.

[ASDen]

given your profile here :

No, don't waste your time on the GRE, yours is already decent enough, and your research experience also, i think

I'm in the same boat here, and i'm most probably applying again next year (maybe after the last shot with the UIUC appeal )

the advice i got from a Berkeley professor, which i think applies to you as well, is to get a research intern at the US. yes, we *may* look good, full of potential on paper, but it seems guys there - in top schools - don't afford to be wrong and take their safe chances with people with recommenders they know / trust, it seems an intern at a distinguished place in US/Europe is the way to go for this . I don't know the specific effects of economy things this year, but it looks this year also was somewhat different (i.e. more competitive than previous ones).

the worst thing i felt this year is in most places i applied people didn't even take time to look at my papers,projects,..etc on my website, though my applications are filled with links to it, i received no visits at all (except, and i don't know why, from Berkeley), which strengthens my previous idea, i was rejected in the simple filtering round, not after *deepened* examining and consideration (i.e. didn't reach the *really* reading applications round)

it was shocking this year, but let's learn some lessons

[newms]

Hi,

I took GRE for two times and could not get into any school this year - if I take GRE again will it increase my chances??

If I take CS subject test, will it help? since my undergrad is from a very insignificant school.

please seniors suggest.

If you applied to only the schools you mentioned here: then I suggest you look at some of the other schools in the top 20 or top 30 that are good fits for your interests. Your GRE scores are ok - it might be worth something if you could bump your quant score up to a 800, but your scores are good enough as they are. I think your profile is strong enough for a top 20 school - what you should focus on if you're re-applying is to make sure you've got a very good SoP. Find schools that match well with your research interests and write a strong SoP that emphasizes your strengths and how well you'd fit at that particular school. As I've said before, your profile is definitely strong enough, so I'm not entirely sure why you weren't successful this year - perhaps you weren't a good enough fit at the schools you applied to? If you want, I could look over your SoP and give you some suggestions on how you could make it better. PM me if you'd like.

[ramgorur]

given your profile here :

No, don't waste your time on the GRE, yours is already decent enough, and your research experience also, i think

I'm in the same boat here, and i'm most probably applying again next year (maybe after the last shot with the UIUC appeal )

the advice i got from a Berkeley professor, which i think applies to you as well, is to get a research intern at the US. yes, we *may* look good, full of potential on paper, but it seems guys there - in top schools - don't afford to be wrong and take their safe chances with people with recommenders they know / trust, it seems an intern at a distinguished place in US/Europe is the way to go for this . I don't know the specific effects of economy things this year, but it looks this year also was somewhat different (i.e. more competitive than previous ones).

the worst thing i felt this year is in most places i applied people didn't even take time to look at my papers,projects,..etc on my website, though my applications are filled with links to it, i received no visits at all (except, and i don't know why, from Berkeley), which strengthens my previous idea, i was rejected in the simple filtering round, not after *deepened* examining and consideration (i.e. didn't reach the *really* reading applications round)

it was shocking this year, but let's learn some lessons

Thank you for your valuable insight. Regarding internships, I am not a student anymore and I am staying in Bangladesh, do you know how to get these internship opportunities?

and same case here, there were lots of links directed from my cv and other application materials and me too could not find a single hit.

moreover, does this "appeal" thing really work? I am also thinking about it.

[ramgorur]

If you applied to only the schools you mentioned here: then I suggest you look at some of the other schools in the top 20 or top 30 that are good fits for your interests. Your GRE scores are ok - it might be worth something if you could bump your quant score up to a 800, but your scores are good enough as they are. I think your profile is strong enough for a top 20 school - what you should focus on if you're re-applying is to make sure you've got a very good SoP. Find schools that match well with your research interests and write a strong SoP that emphasizes your strengths and how well you'd fit at that particular school. As I've said before, your profile is definitely strong enough, so I'm not entirely sure why you weren't successful this year - perhaps you weren't a good enough fit at the schools you applied to? If you want, I could look over your SoP and give you some suggestions on how you could make it better. PM me if you'd like.

thanx, I will PM you soon with my SOP.

[ASDen]

Regarding internships, I am not a student anymore and I am staying in Bangladesh, do you know how to get these internship opportunities?

my approach here was getting in as an MS student in my current school(back during season), was super easy as people know me well (was Plan B, to improve my current profile, but surely not intending to really take degree if got a good offer, people here knows this of course) , it allowed me to apply to many of them (in companies and research labs, luckily no fees here ), but getting in any looks to be a totally different story , and not very less competitive.

moreover, does this "appeal" thing really work? I am also thinking about it.

absolutely no clue, but I'm defending it to the last hope, and really all i want them to do is to really consider me, read my publications and have a look at all projects, I'll fell satisfied if they reject me after doing so

[beanbagchairs]

absolutely no clue, but I'm defending it to the last hope, and really all i want them to do is to really consider me, read my publications and have a look at all projects, I'll fell satisfied if they reject me after doing so

Please dont get offended here. I am genuinely curious.

Dont you think appealing your case may pi*s 'em off? How did you go about it? Did you simply tell them that you want a re-evaluation after receiving a non-acceptance result (waitlisted, rejected, etc)?

[ASDen]

@ shashakoe: i didn't appeal yet (deadline 30 April), but i don't know why would they hate it ? (this is my right after all and i think I'm not misusing it here, I really feel injustice here, you can't simply judge a paper just given a title or a project without looking at results, worse is filtering without even looking at those)

[beanbagchairs]

@ shashakoe: i didn't appeal yet (deadline 30 April), but i don't know why would they hate it ? (this is my right after all and i think I'm not misusing it here, I really feel injustice here, you can't simply judge a paper just given a title or a project without looking at results, worse is filtering without even looking at those)

I see. Good luck!

[DamianD]

I don't think GRE matters at all for the top school, I have 660, 460, 4.0 and got into Stanford :-)

[nvseal]

I don't think GRE matters at all for the top school, I have 660, 460, 4.0 and got into Stanford :-)

So did you really use that SOP?

[edvolkov]

In the internet you can say anything

[DamianD]

So did you really use that SOP?

Yes

In the internet you can say anything

Yes that is probably, and it is quite difficult to prove that I send it in. If you are also accepted at Stanford I'll be happy to show you my GRE scores :-)

[BKMD]

I agree that the regular GRE is a waste. However if you're coming from an unknown school then I think the Subject GRE could help. If you have a high score (>90%) then it will bring attention to your application. As others have said, your research experience is ultimately more important, but it can help.

[DezB88]

I don't think GRE matters at all for the top school, I have 660, 460, 4.0 and got into Stanford :-)

how is that even possible???

is your GPA very high and from good school?

Did you do something noteworthy in your undergrad?

[DamianD]

how is that even possible???

is your GPA very high and from good school?

Did you do something noteworthy in your undergrad?

Yeah my gpa is alrighty, ranked 1st in the dept, I'm from a uni in europe. Got journal pubs as well :-)

Edited March 10, 2011 by DamianD

[Cevo]

Yeah my gpa is alrighty, ranked 1st in the dept, I'm from a uni in europe. Got journal pubs as well :-)

This is indeed great achievement. Just for my curiosity, did you receive funding from both schools?

[beanbagchairs]

This is indeed great achievement. Just for my curiosity, did you receive funding from both schools?

I am pretty sure for those two schools, an admit means funded, right DamianD?

Wow, journal publications! More than one! I bet you are the first author?

Those are indeed great admits Congrats.

[DamianD]

This is indeed great achievement. Just for my curiosity, did you receive funding from both schools?

Yessir, fellowships I shall add.

[DezB88]

A day has passed, I still cannot believe you got 660 GRE quantitative

and got in Stanford and Rice with Fellowship!!!

To be honest.. 660 is the kind of score that most of us here get when half of our brain is in a coma.

Would you care to give some explanation why you got that low score?

- Power went out in the middle of the test?

- the mouse stopped working in the middle of the test??

- the monitor was not functioning properly?

How did you explain the low score in your application?

[adinutzyc]

How did you explain the low score in your application?

Agreed. I don't think I could get a 660, as long as I was trying to get an 800. Maybe a 720, but not a 660... Stanford and Rice... uhm, did you have 20 first author papers? Or something? Also, did you apply for Math? Cause although that doesn't make it better, that means you are on the wrong forum .

[OH YEAH]

I got a 750, which I'm sure most on this forum would also think is awful. I also think I am pretty good at mathematics. What relevance do the math GRE questions have to advanced mathematics or computer science? I do very little calculation, and when I need to do calculations they tend to be intractable anyway, so I write a program to do the calculations for me.

PHD Comics says it better than I do: