UCLA

[luna210]

Just checked the ETS website and although scores aren't supposed to be officially released until Nov 17, somehow my scores are up...

164 V (670 on old scale)

153 Q (680 on old scale)

4 AW

I'm really surprised at my low AW score... I was expecting at least a 5. Also, the ranges they gave me after the test were 650-750 Q and 690-790 V so I'm pretty surprised that my verbal ended up 20 points below the projected range. Anyway, my GPA is 3.9, very strong letters of rec (one from a professor I'm co-authoring a paper with), and my statement or purpose and writing sample are very good as well. I'm applying for Comparative Politics, and I really want UCLA!!!

Do I have a shot, or do my low AW and Q keep me out of the running??? Also applying to Columbia, MIT, Chicago, NYU, Northwestern, and a few other lesser ranked schools.

Edited November 12, 2011 by luna210

[luna210]

Anyone?

[maeisenb]

Your GRE is fine. The only reason it might matter more is if UCLA links it to some kind of funding based on GRE scores due to state requirements.

[RWBG]

Low AW won't harm you at all, but the importance of the quant score is dependent a lot on what kind of comparative you want to do. NYU, for example, is very quant focused, and may want a higher GREQ. Depending on what you're studying, I wouldn't expect UCLA to be as much of an issue. I would, however, generally caution against becoming overly fixated on a particular school, given the fairly large stochastic component of graduate political science admissions.