Another retake question (sorry about that)

[wumblebee]

Hi, I'm hoping to apply for history phd programs this fall. I just took my GRE today and got 710 (V) and 690 (Q). Math has been my mortal enemy since forever, so I'm pretty satisfied with the Quant. score. What I'm worried about is the Verbal score, which I felt was quite low for an English and History double major. Do you think these scores are good enough to get into decent doctoral programs in History? My GPA is is near 3.9.

Thanks in advance.

[dimanche0829]

Yes, that is good enough. While most schools claim they don't have "bottom lines" when it comes to GRE scores, they will compare scores of candidates who are neck and neck before deciding on which one to accept. I'm an English major looking to do PhD programs in California and most of the better schools have outlined that their accepted students typically show V scores of mid to high 600s. To be honest, though, analogies and word definitions aren't the best measure of a candidates ability to do doctoral work. If you're truly concerned about your very good score, be sure to really clean up your SOP and writing sample, if you haven't already, and obtain letters of recommendation from the best of the best at your school. It might even be helpful to have one of your professors look over all of your materials - especially if said professor serves on the admissions committee for graduate education at your school.