Is a score of less than 800 in GRE quant frowned upon by admission boards of MS CS programs?

[finknottle]

Hello all,

I'm a prospective international applicant. I recently wrote the GRE and got an overall score is 1400, which is probably not too bad, but my math score is 730, which is a tad low. Got a couple of ambiguous questions, and couldn't finish the paper either. Just a bad day. The 670 in verbal is certainly not an issue, and from my own assessment, I did pretty well in the writing component too. Haven't got the score for it yet though. Would the quant score be a serious issue? Should I write it again? It would be in the new format though if I write it again, which is a deterrent due to the additional investment of time, energy and money. The scores would also reach pretty late, and unless I block my current score from being sent to the universities, the four universities that I had selected after the test would anyway get my current score. It would be a while before they get the new ones if I do write it again. On the whole, the prospect isn't very inviting, and I wouldn't want to go through it unless it really makes a difference. I've heard widely varying opinions about this. Most people have told me that it shouldn't matter much, but at the same time a few friends of mine, notably one from GaTech, believe that it is an issue. If you have any insight regarding criteria for specific universities, please share it with me. From what I understand, the GRE score is just a small component of the evaluation process, but can it become a deal breaker at any stage?

Regards,

Prasun

[newms]

I would do it over if I were you. 730 is on the low end for a CS applicant so that may be a disadvantage for you (even though the GRE scores shouldn't matter that much, the fact is that some schools, particularly mid and lower ranked schools, do pay attention to them). Many CS applicants will score a perfect 800 and while schools will not expect an 800 from every applicant, 730 will be at the lower end of the scores that applicants would report, so I would encourage you to re-do the GRE and try to score as close to 800 as you can.

[finknottle]

I would do it over if I were you. 730 is on the low end for a CS applicant so that may be a disadvantage for you (even though the GRE scores shouldn't matter that much, the fact is that some schools, particularly mid and lower ranked schools, do pay attention to them). Many CS applicants will score a perfect 800 and while schools will not expect an 800 from every applicant, 730 will be at the lower end of the scores that applicants would report, so I would encourage you to re-do the GRE and try to score as close to 800 as you can.

Thanks for the inputs. Yes, I suppose it can't hurt as long as I don't do worse than my previous attempt. The only remaining issue would be ensuring that the new scores reach the universities while they are evaluating the applications. Any idea how that would work? Like I said, my current scores will anyway go to the four universities that I had mentioned (unless I try calling ETS to block them). If I write it again,and apply to those four universities, they would have my current score in their database. The new scores would reach only around November. If they already do some sort of filtering of applications before that with my current scores, any potential advantage that I would get with the new scores would be lost. What are your thoughts?

[newms]

Thanks for the inputs. Yes, I suppose it can't hurt as long as I don't do worse than my previous attempt. The only remaining issue would be ensuring that the new scores reach the universities while they are evaluating the applications. Any idea how that would work? Like I said, my current scores will anyway go to the four universities that I had mentioned (unless I try calling ETS to block them). If I write it again,and apply to those four universities, they would have my current score in their database. The new scores would reach only around November. If they already do some sort of filtering of applications before that with my current scores, any potential advantage that I would get with the new scores would be lost. What are your thoughts?

You're applying for Fall 2012 right? If so, they won't be evaluating your application until after the deadline, which I'm guessing would be sometime late this year or early next year. So don't worry about them filtering out your application (which even though your 730 is on the lower end for a CS applicant, it's not so low that they would filter out your application because of it). What will happen is that they will see all your GRE results including the one you just did.

[starmaker]

Less than 800 isn't a big deal - anybody can screw up one question - but you probably want at least a 750.

[finknottle]

Alright. Thanks guys for your advice. I suppose I should write it again after all. It would require some nifty time management, so that preparing again for the new format doesn't eat into the rest of the application process.

Edited July 7, 2011 by prasun