tpat Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 (edited) I'm new to the community, but I've recently found myself in straight up panic about what to do. My GPA is a 3.4 and I've just come off a rough semester due mostly to a student government campaign. My campus job also happened to be my work with our university's student government. Between work, school and the campaign, I simply stretched myself thin and will likely make a D in an economics course necessary for my major. I will absolutely grade replace this course over the summer (where I am confident in my ability to make a B or even an A), but with the new GRE test format, I'm pretty concerned. I know there was no way to fit in a prep course for the "old" GRE between last fall and this spring. I know I can explain away a bad semester in my applications, but with the new format and delayed score reporting, I'm terrified that my acceptance into grad school could be negatively affected or even potentially be pushed back. With that, my main concerns are: 1) The new GRE will negatively affect my score. 2) Delayed score reporting will either force me to apply late in the cycle or push my grad school plans back a semester. Guidance anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much in advance! Edited May 1, 2011 by tpat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neuropsych76 Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 I'm new to the community, but I've recently found myself in straight up panic about what to do. My GPA is a 3.4 and I've just come off a rough semester due mostly to a student government campaign. My campus job also happened to be my work with our university's student government. Between work, school and the campaign, I simply stretched myself thin and will likely make a D in an economics course necessary for my major. I will absolutely grade replace this course over the summer (where I am confident in my ability to make a B or even an A), but with the new GRE test format, I'm pretty concerned. I know there was no way to fit in a prep course for the "old" GRE between last fall and this spring. I know I can explain away a bad semester in my applications, but with the new format and delayed score reporting, I'm terrified that my acceptance into grad school could be negatively affected or even potentially be pushed back. With that, my main concerns are: 1) The new GRE will negatively affect my score. 2) Delayed score reporting will either force me to apply late in the cycle or push my grad school plans back a semester. Guidance anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much in advance! I'm not sure I understand your concerns... Why is the new GRE going to negatively affect your score? How do you know it won't help you? Does the new GRE take longer to send out scores? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwellington Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Does the new GRE take longer to send out scores? I think it will at first because they need enough people to take it so they can set percentiles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpat Posted May 1, 2011 Author Share Posted May 1, 2011 (edited) I'm not sure I understand your concerns... Why is the new GRE going to negatively affect your score? How do you know it won't help you? Does the new GRE take longer to send out scores? I'm concerned the new GRE may negatively affect my score because it will be longer and have a more difficult quantitative section, which was already going to be the most challenging section for me. Scores from the new test, if taken in August/September, won't be reported until November at the earliest. Edited May 1, 2011 by tpat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lottesnk Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 I'm concerned the new GRE may negatively affect my score because it will be longer and have a more difficult quantitative section, which was already going to be the most challenging section for me. Scores from the new test, if taken in August/September, won't be reported until November at the earliest. As I understand it, the revised GRE course will be more difficult than the current version. I am studying for the current exam and am scheduled to take it next month. And the quantitative section is most important to me as I am applying to public policy programs. So here ya about wanting to get a high quant score. In general, the GRE math isn't hard, it's tricky. And the revised test gets even trickier e.g., pick all that apply, fill in the blanks, etc. Basically, the new test gives more room for error than taking a basic multiple choice exam. (Plus, there will be two quantitative sections instead of one...). The only redeeming hope is that maybe test takers, who are completely unfamiliar with the new version, will score lower raw scores, thus raising your percentile ranking if you score relatively "high". It's a horrible thing to wish for, but in reality there is always a dip in test scores whenever there is a substantial revision to a standardized exam. When the SAT was revised, there were a dip in scores for the first batch and eventually scores were "normalized" as I've been told. People who take the revised GRE August-September 2011 will essentially be ETS's guinea pigs. I'm hoping I get at least a 700 so I won't have to take the new exam. Fingers-crossed! Good luck! P.S. If you're rusty on math, I say spend AT LEAST 3-4 months studying. Wish I had known this before started studying a month ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazedandfazed Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 hey i have the same concern but since preparing for the new GRE its not all that bad and considering you are thinking of public policy I'm sure you are decent at Math. Just make sure to not use princeton review for math. Barrons is really good and kaplans vocab is proving useful Just out of curiosity are you an aggie? because I am! and its not to know some Ag out there is applying to the same programs as me! I'm concerned the new GRE may negatively affect my score because it will be longer and have a more difficult quantitative section, which was already going to be the most challenging section for me. Scores from the new test, if taken in August/September, won't be reported until November at the earliest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissJ Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I'm concerned the new GRE may negatively affect my score because it will be longer and have a more difficult quantitative section, which was already going to be the most challenging section for me. Scores from the new test, if taken in August/September, won't be reported until November at the earliest. I feel you man! If I've got to take the current one that would only give me about a month to prepare,which isn't a lot since I'm working full time.And I'm planning on applying to engineering programs(cse/cs) I'll be needing a high quant score. Has anyone already tried taking the tests on powerprep II ? I havent been able to access the ets website today,I was thinking of trying a sample test to see how I'd really score on it. Ive got a question....If i probably take the current one next month,would I be able to take the new GRE in august? And would taking the GRE mutiple times be an important factor during admission decisions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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