I've taken GRE tests three times, what's your take on my score report?

[lollipop]

well, it's not a proud thing to say, but the fact is I have taken it three times. It's worth mentioning that I never seriously prepared for it, or barely prepared for it, not because I didn't want to but because there were so many distractions in my life that constantly dragged me away from the course I was taking.

I'm Chinese and had already graduated from college. My major in college is computer science and technology. I want to apply for journalism, international politics or advertising programs. GPA back in college is like 3.5. Haven't taken IBT yet. Below is the score report:

07 6G V:430 (43% below) Q:620 (52% below) AW:3.5 (26% below)

07 10G V:350 (21% below) Q:640 (56% below) AW:4.0 (45% below)

11 6G V:480 (57% below) Q:660 (61% below) AW:4.0 (45% below)

What do you think? Am I still entitled to apply for top 50 U.S. grad schools or programs? Thanks in advance for your advice!

Edited August 18, 2011 by lollipop

[ivyhopeful]

I would imagine that journalism, international politics and advertising would all be most interested in your verbal score. Right now it isn't too hot. But an application is based on several factors. Try to give a bit more information.

1. Prestige of undergraduate institution?

2. Undergrad gpa?

3. Will you have good/great letters of rec?

4. Have you done anything spectacular? (Report in a war torn region/save a million babies/intern at the New York Times etc.

Right now your gre's are very low. You need to think about other ways to make your app stand out. Also, if you want to have somebody "chance" your admission to top 50 grad programs, you should include more info about your total application. If you have crappy gre's and absolutely amazing everything else, you could still make it into a nice school. If you have crappy gre's and mediocre everything else, well, things aren't looking too hot.

[ivyhopeful]

advertising might also be interested in quant now that I think of it

[dimanche0829]

Well, the good news is that you meet the 1000 combined minimum that many schools require. The bad news is that you're a small fish in a very large sea of applicants and adcoms will reject people over GRE scores if they are trying to decide between applicants.

If you had a number of "distractions" preventing you from studying for the test, I think you should really consider how you will be able to handle grad school. I don't know your specific situation, or the nature of your distractions, but if you took the test three times already, it seems to me that the issue is ongoing. Grad school requires so much more effort and dedication than undergrad and there is simply no way you will be able to keep up in your classes if you couldn't even find time to study for one test. I'm not trying to be rude or harsh, so I hope you don't take the above the wrong way; rather, I'm just trying to help you consider your options before making the life-altering decision to apply for grad school.

Edited August 18, 2011 by dimanche0829

[process chemist]

I would say take it again, but really buckle down. I am in a STEM field, and I got a 610 V, and I studied really hard for the verbal. The way I did it was to but the Kaplan 500 word list (available at any Barnes & Noble), and Barrons has a list of 2500 words available free online. I also purchased the Barron's 800 word book. All three of these are extremely adequate in preparing you for the vocabulary. The reading comp. comes from hard work, and practice. You have to make time to do this, your Quant scores are good, but you just need to get your Verbal up and you are in there.

[psyched for psych]

I think it all depends on the school you are trying to attend. As much as everyone would like to speculate here, it is best that you ask someone from admissions. Good luck to you

[lollipop]

Well, the good news is that you meet the 1000 combined minimum that many schools require. The bad news is that you're a small fish in a very large sea of applicants and adcoms will reject people over GRE scores if they are trying to decide between applicants.

If you had a number of "distractions" preventing you from studying for the test, I think you should really consider how you will be able to handle grad school. I don't know your specific situation, or the nature of your distractions, but if you took the test three times already, it seems to me that the issue is ongoing. Grad school requires so much more effort and dedication than undergrad and there is simply no way you will be able to keep up in your classes if you couldn't even find time to study for one test. I'm not trying to be rude or harsh, so I hope you don't take the above the wrong way; rather, I'm just trying to help you consider your options before making the life-altering decision to apply for grad school.

Thanks! And I actually appreciate honest opinions.

I don't have a supportive family and suffice it to say that I'm on my own, all alone, all along. That's the most serious "distraction" I meant.

[lollipop]

I would imagine that journalism, international politics and advertising would all be most interested in your verbal score. Right now it isn't too hot. But an application is based on several factors. Try to give a bit more information.

1. Prestige of undergraduate institution?

2. Undergrad gpa?

3. Will you have good/great letters of rec?

4. Have you done anything spectacular? (Report in a war torn region/save a million babies/intern at the New York Times etc.

Right now your gre's are very low. You need to think about other ways to make your app stand out. Also, if you want to have somebody "chance" your admission to top 50 grad programs, you should include more info about your total application. If you have crappy gre's and absolutely amazing everything else, you could still make it into a nice school. If you have crappy gre's and mediocre everything else, well, things aren't looking too hot.

I have crappy gre's and mediocre everything else. Then what about top 80 or even top 100 schools? Oh, and I need to apply for scholarships.

[lollipop]

I think it all depends on the school you are trying to attend. As much as everyone would like to speculate here, it is best that you ask someone from admissions. Good luck to you

yeah, I know, things are not good but I just want to have a vague understanding of what kind of schools I can possibly get enrolled in, like top 80, or top 100. As caffeinated pointed out, I have met 1000 combined minimum that many schools require, so I don't want to easily give up and actually I can't afford to take it again since I'm already 27, when some "life-altering" decisions seem ever more crucial to me. I'm like standing at a crossroad, perplexed.

[lollipop]

advertising might also be interested in quant now that I think of it

yeah, especially considering the fact that I'm Chinese.

[grimmiae]

This is totally my opinion, if you really want to aim for getting into a more prestigious school, you need to make the commitment to really study for the GRE. If you study, you should do significantly better in my opinion. You mentioned that you "Got pulled away" by things in your personal life. This is understandable, but I think it would be worth it if you took time to think over when would be the most stress free time for you to study and get a good score. This way- if you get a far better score, then hopefully other institutions will realize that you are capable a high score, despite your previous low scores.

[Eigen]

I'll note that while you do meet the 1000 minimum, I know our Adcom's usually require higher scores from international applicants than domestic applicants, so you probably should aim for more like a 1200 to be reasonably competitive.

[Kitkat]

I have crappy gre's and mediocre everything else. Then what about top 80 or even top 100 schools? Oh, and I need to apply for scholarships.

I think that you would likely need to get a higher score if you are also looking to get scholarships. At lot of them look at GRE scores to decide who gets what scholarship and for how much. So even if the scores you have are good enough to get you into a program, they might not be high enough to get you a scholarship. Money seems to be even tighter then spots in a graduate program from the looks of it.

[lollipop]

... but I think it would be worth it if you took time to think over when would be the most stress free time for you to study and get a good score. This way- if you get a far better score, then hopefully other institutions will realize that you are capable a high score, despite your previous low scores.

I'm afraid this is the best score I can churn out for now and like I said, I'm already 27 so I really can't afford to take it again especially considering that we have revised GRE now, meaning different format(so different strategies for preparations), different scoring schemes and possibly different interpretations by institutions. What I'm trying to know is what sort of grad schools I'm at least having opportunities of getting in with my current scores.

Yeah I heard of that before. If you take GRE more than once, you'd better have a "significantly" higher score than previous ones. But, what constitutes a "significantly higher" score? say, a 200 increment on each part?

[lollipop]

I'll note that while you do meet the 1000 minimum, I know our Adcom's usually require higher scores from international applicants than domestic applicants, so you probably should aim for more like a 1200 to be reasonably competitive.

yeah, I know that but unfortunately I didn't make it. In some Chinese forums on GRE preparation, they always talk about a "decent" score like 1200 and a "competitive" score like 1300. But make no mistake, when they talk about these overall scores, they consider their math score to be 800! not everyone(obviously not me), but most. So basically they're saying they'd be satisfied with their 400 or 500 verbal score. I'm always curious about this single question: faced with a V:500 Q:700 and a V:400 Q:800 score reports, how would admissions officers interpret these two scores and which one do they prefer?

And I've done some Google research about GRE scores and found this.

http://www.askdeb.com/blog/education/what-is-an-average-gre-score/

surprised to find 450 – 500 on each part of the tests is "often" acceptable.

[lollipop]

I think that you would likely need to get a higher score if you are also looking to get scholarships. At lot of them look at GRE scores to decide who gets what scholarship and for how much. So even if the scores you have are good enough to get you into a program, they might not be high enough to get you a scholarship. Money seems to be even tighter then spots in a graduate program from the looks of it.

Yeah, I'm aware of it but voila this is the score I have now. Plus, I don't think institutions have already got comfortable with how to interpret and compare scores and percentiles from old GRE and revised GRE, so taking revised GRE might not seem an attractive option to me.

I haven't taken TOEFL ibt, could a high TOEFL score somehow offset the impact from my relatively low GRE score? And if I do want to get a scholarship with the current score, what tiers of schools should I be looking at?

[Eigen]

I don't think the TOEFL will offset a low score.... But from what I've heard, the TOEFL is a lot harder than the GRE verbal, so take that for what it's worth.

Candidly, I don't think there are really any tiers you'll be able to shoot at for a good shot at a scholarship with your scores. There would be options if the rest of your application was very solid and it was just low/mediocre GRE scores holding you back, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. Add that to the fact that US admissions are usually harder for international students (it would be difficult for a domestic student with your portfolio), and I don't know how it would go. I'll temper this statement with the fact that I'm not as familiar with your proposed area of study compared to others.

I'd say for your best shot you should look at second tier state schools (not the big name in the state, but one of the other still respectable schools), and probably somewhere that offers the MA as the highest degree. Those will have a combination of being less competitive, and having lower tuition/expenses if you don't get a scholarship.

I'd certainly try to apply to some higher tier schools, but if you want to get a scholarship that's where I'd look.

As to whether a 400/800 or a 500/700 is more preferable, it depends on the discipline. For STEM fields, I'd say by-and-large the former is the better score- a 700 is a pretty low Q score for those areas. For the humanities, the 500/700 is more preferable, as a 400 is a really low verbal score. That said, I know a lot of STEM programs that would shy away from a 400 in verbal, so I'm not sure.

[wtncffts]

I would concur with Eigen, and even go a little further. I hope this isn't too harsh, but I don't see in any of your posts any compelling reason why you're even considering graduate school. First, the programs you express interest in are quite different. What exactly is it you're interested in? What intellectual questions are you passionate about? Your undergraduate background doesn't seem very well related to what you want to do; do you think you have the preparation and background for grad studies in these fields? You say yourself that your profile will be "mediocre"; why would admissions committees think otherwise, then? There is competition everywhere. There's no graduate program that is looking for 'mediocre' students, and if there is, it's probably one you don't want to go to. I know it's not my place to say, but just going from this discussion, I think you need to give a little more hard thought to why exactly it is you're pursuing graduate education and whether you have the profile for it.

[adollarninetynine]

OP, you don't make any sense at all. you studied computer science but now you have the urge to go study journalism? do you have any experience in this field at all? also, i am going to be brutally honest and say that your scores are a complete joke. it is obvious you did not spend the minimum time to study for this exam considering you took it a whopping 3 times. your english scores are understandable since you may not be as proficient as other candidates, but there is no excuse for your math score. honestly, the math section is basic algebra and geometry you learn in middle/high school. if you want to get into a decent graduate school, please try to put in some effort to get there. no one is going to give you a free pass especially if you are a below mediocre applicant.

[lollipop]

I'd say for your best shot you should look at second tier state schools (not the big name in the state, but one of the other still respectable schools), and probably somewhere that offers the MA as the highest degree. Those will have a combination of being less competitive, and having lower tuition/expenses if you don't get a scholarship.

okay, then what about fellowships? I'd still like to get enrolled in private schools.

[lollipop]

I would concur with Eigen, and even go a little further. I hope this isn't too harsh, but I don't see in any of your posts any compelling reason why you're even considering graduate school. First, the programs you express interest in are quite different. What exactly is it you're interested in? What intellectual questions are you passionate about? Your undergraduate background doesn't seem very well related to what you want to do; do you think you have the preparation and background for grad studies in these fields? You say yourself that your profile will be "mediocre"; why would admissions committees think otherwise, then? There is competition everywhere. There's no graduate program that is looking for 'mediocre' students, and if there is, it's probably one you don't want to go to. I know it's not my place to say, but just going from this discussion, I think you need to give a little more hard thought to why exactly it is you're pursuing graduate education and whether you have the profile for it.

well, thanks for your very insightful and helpful comment. Yeah, it sounds a little harsh, but maybe that's exactly what I need to hear right now.

I know it may sound absurd to you guys but I do feel that I have some kind of "bond" with the U.S. and quite a few events in my life somehow convince me about that. I'm considering grad schools because that is, for now, the only viable way for me to set my feet on U.S. soil, decently. Besides, I still think I feel like acquiring more knowledge and earning a U.S. degree. and I'm still able to achieve those goals.

I've heard that the US academia is quite liberal so I'm not sure if the following comments are unpalatable to some but I'll just go ahead. I may not have a competitive enough profile now but I believe in destiny (sounds ridiculous from someone in China huh?). And my friends always joked with me that if I had been born in the U.S., I would've been a conservative already. Subconsciously, I think I'm trying to pursue graduation education as a way to see if my supposed bond with the U.S. really exists. Ironically, if such a bond does exist, it's unlikely that human behaviors would influence it, right?

[lollipop]

OP, you don't make any sense at all. you studied computer science but now you have the urge to go study journalism? do you have any experience in this field at all? also, i am going to be brutally honest and say that your scores are a complete joke. it is obvious you did not spend the minimum time to study for this exam considering you took it a whopping 3 times. your english scores are understandable since you may not be as proficient as other candidates, but there is no excuse for your math score. honestly, the math section is basic algebra and geometry you learn in middle/high school. if you want to get into a decent graduate school, please try to put in some effort to get there. no one is going to give you a free pass especially if you are a below mediocre applicant.

I'm not sure if you're also Chinese (considering the use of words and your tone, I think you are), but what makes you clueless may not be the same case to others, especially there's something conspicuously missing here. I always think I have a flair for languages and as a matter of fact, I have systematically learned English, French and Japanese and have a pretty robust command of them. I used to be thinking of pursuing languages-related graduation education, but as I age, the "intellectual questions that I'm passionate about" evolve as well. Plus, if I were to stay in the States after my graduation and find employments, wouldn't it be better for me to major in journalism, international politics or international relations? In short, my real passion lies in languages and anything "international" or "global". Besides, professionals in journalism, international politics or international relations usually command more than one foreign languages other than their mother tongue, n'est-ce pas?

It's true that I haven't spent a decent amount of time to study for this exam but I think I still have decent, if not competitive, results, despite the fact that I took it three times.

I don't know what makes you think there's no excuse for my math score. Maybe the stereotype that Chinese, or East Asians, for that matter, are usually excellent in math? I've never been good at math since the moment I received elementary education in China. However, I've always been good at English throughout my academic progression in China. Maybe that's one of the reasons why I say there's a bond between the U.S. and me. As you may know, almost everyone in China now learns English but I think few would have a comparably good understanding of the language if the same amount of time and efforts were spent in learning the language. In other words, as far as I know, very few have a command of 3 foreign languages at my age. And I think that's a manifestation of the flair for languages that I'm always proud of.

[kaykaykay]

^^ you sound very confused to me . It is ok I do not want to judge you, but if you think that higher powers will help you get into grad school I am not sure why you ask people here anything. I am not sure why you had to take the GRE 3 times, I am not even sure why did you have to take it even once (they might take you if this is your destiny without them, hey!) Anyways probably you are very young and if the universe does not want grad school to work out this time, next year you will take the whole process more seriously. And who knows, there are people who win the lottery too.

[lollipop]

^^ you sound very confused to me . It is ok I do not want to judge you, but if you think that higher powers will help you get into grad school I am not sure why you ask people here anything. I am not sure why you had to take the GRE 3 times, I am not even sure why did you have to take it even once (they might take you if this is your destiny without them, hey!) Anyways probably you are very young and if the universe does not want grad school to work out this time, next year you will take the whole process more seriously. And who knows, there are people who win the lottery too.

Obviously you didn't read my previous posts carefully. Or perhaps you don't even want to waste your time reading them?

[kaykaykay]

I read them all. You want to do "something international" and you did not really make an effort to do your best on the GRE. You think that your destiny is to study in the US despite the lack of directon and/or serious effort on your part.

you: a.may indeed get lucky (because of your destiny) b. can retry next year when you are a little bit more focused

In any case you believe very strongly in something so I am really unsure that you need this forum. good luck I hope everything works out for you!

Edited October 4, 2011 by kalapocska