Need help about GRE

[icedance]

Hey all

I need advice for my GRE test grades.

I have just taken it last month and got 680 (V) + 800 (Q), but the AW is only 3. I feel so surprise the moment I saw the grades. I am an international student from China. But after 2 years master studying in US, my academic writing has improved a lot that I can write a long paper without many grammar mistakes. Some of the professors also think there is no big problem when read my papers after consultation. I also put a lot of efforts to prepare for the writing and asked help from native speaker. Never such bad case happen on any of my practice.

Do I need to retake it? Does it really matter that much as I am an international student? I think my Verbal part is no space for any improvement and I am even not sure I can get the same high grade in the new test. If I don't want to retake it, is there any way that I can make something up? Like asking some professor to mention my writing ability on the letter? Or? Please give me some advice~~~~~ Please!!! I feel so desperate now.

I want to apply some top 20 programs with my master GPA 3.6 and under GPA 3.6. My under college is the best in China and I have my master in UCSD. Is it possible for me to make it based on such low AW grade?

Thank you so much

[wordup]

Depends what kind of programs you're interested in. If you are applying to an econ program, for example, they don't really care. The only thing that matters is that quantitative score. Hell, most econ professors are bad writers, speakers and communicators...even ones at top schools. At the end of the day, and this is especially true in the US, they will just torture you with mathematics. That's why they want to see a high quant score. All you do is math at top programs, you don't need to worry about writing..

If you're talking about Political Science, or any of the other social sciences, they yeah they care about it. However, most top schools make exceptions for people with english as a second language if the rest of the GRE is strong.

[icedance]

Hey Wordup, thank you for your advice! Unfortunately, Polisci for sure, and CP or IR for the subfield.

╮(╯▽╰)╭sad, what else could I do

[Zahar Berkut]

I have heard very often that many political science admissions committees ignore the GRE writing score because they can see your writing themselves in your writing sample. While I have also heard that low AW grades "look bad," and that the "average" student at a top 10 department has a 5.5, they also insist that all candidates are evaluated on an individual basis. Given that you are an international student, that your math score is perfect (the most important number), and that your verbal score is actually EXCELLENT for a non-native English speaker, I expect you to still be competitive.

Just make sure you put in a lot of effort drafting the personal statement and really proving to the admissions committee why your background and your interests match the department well. If you are planning to do more quantitative or formal theory work, the writing score probably matters even less.

Be sure to clean up the tiny little grammatical errors that you might have in the documents you submit in your application. I can see a few verb tense and preposition problems in the writing above-- having studied a few languages myself, I totally empathize with these difficulties. Most native English speakers don't realize what a nightmare our verb system can be, even if we're blessed not to have real conjugations.

[emmm]

I would not advise retaking the GRE. Your Q and V scores are fine, and based on the writing sample you have provided here, I don't think you will improve your AWA score that much, if at all, given the high-pressure, time-constrained format of the GRE. Your grades in your master's program have already shown that you are capable of doing graduate-level work in the US. Good luck with your applications -- you seem like a strong candidate!

Edited August 22, 2011 by emmm

[Penelope Higgins]

Just to echo what has already been said: we don't care about the AW score, since we can read a personal statement and see how you write for ourselves. But one piece of advice: based on your post here, I think you'll need to do some extra careful revision and editing of your personal statement before you send it out, since the post does display some difficulty in writing that would make me, as an admissions committee member, wonder about your English skills.

[icedance]

Thank you for all of your kind advice and suggestions. The most important thing is that your feedback inspires me to realize I need to put more efforts on writing. Thanks again