GRE scores have me clueless

[ioul]

I hate the GRE. I feel like no educator knows how to actually interpret them, they all just have some system they made up themselves that they stick to, that has no connection to the information ETS puts out. Few seem to believe they have much impact on whether you are a good graduate student, but they still feel more comfortable if they see high scores (at least that's the impression I get from reading this: http://science-profe...al-writing.html - a bunch of comments from grad school admissions people about how they judge GRE scores). Most don't know what to do with the writing score.

like, my scores are:

Verbal: 163 in the new score, 650 in the old score, 93rd percentile

Quant: 155 in the new score, 700 in the old score, 69th percentile

old score conversions I got from http://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/gre_guide.pdf

I've heard from my adviser that you just want above 600 to get into a good place. But looking at this scoring system I am better at math than verbal according to the old scale, while my percentiles I think are closer to my real skills. Like, what do the scores even mean? Do too many academics rely on the scores versus the percentiles (many talk about "I look for people with a score over x"? Tell me what percentile is good, not what score to be above. What does it all mean? GRE seems about as effective as a dousing rod.

I'm just frustrated because I want to know for certain whether my scores will hurt or disadvantage me in any way when I apply. If, as someone said, 155-160 is the new 600, then my math is just barely there or below. If the profs look at the guide ETS put out and judge based on old scores, then I'll be totally fine. I have no idea what percentiles they want, because no one talks about percentiles.

[George2248]

I hate the GRE. I feel like no educator knows how to actually interpret them, they all just have some system they made up themselves that they stick to, that has no connection to the information ETS puts out. Few seem to believe they have much impact on whether you are a good graduate student, but they still feel more comfortable if they see high scores (at least that's the impression I get from reading this: http://science-profe...al-writing.html - a bunch of comments from grad school admissions people about how they judge GRE scores). Most don't know what to do with the writing score.

like, my scores are:

Verbal: 163 in the new score, 650 in the old score, 93rd percentile

Quant: 155 in the new score, 700 in the old score, 69th percentile

old score conversions I got from http://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/gre_guide.pdf

I've heard from my adviser that you just want above 600 to get into a good place. But looking at this scoring system I am better at math than verbal according to the old scale, while my percentiles I think are closer to my real skills. Like, what do the scores even mean? Do too many academics rely on the scores versus the percentiles (many talk about "I look for people with a score over x"? Tell me what percentile is good, not what score to be above. What does it all mean? GRE seems about as effective as a dousing rod.

I'm just frustrated because I want to know for certain whether my scores will hurt or disadvantage me in any way when I apply. If, as someone said, 155-160 is the new 600, then my math is just barely there or below. If the profs look at the guide ETS put out and judge based on old scores, then I'll be totally fine. I have no idea what percentiles they want, because no one talks about percentiles.

Percentiles should definitely be the most important.

I agree with you that it doesnt make any sense when schools say they want scores over 1400. They are adding two completely different scores, regardless of their percentiles, I dont think an added score means anything. However, they fix a little bit the discordance between math and verbal with the new scale.