Freaking out about the new gre

[BrianM]

Hey all,

I applied to my M.A in clinical and counseling psych at William Paterson and got in 2 years ago with an 840 total score.

Although I had integrated myself and been a teacher's assistant, researched, etc.

Now I am freaking out about the new gre...I am worried I will not do well even with the Kaplan class and studying with the book.

By the time I apply to Clinical PhD programs I should have a new GRE score, 4 researchs(1 presented at a conference that I helped a prof with, and one she is helping me with that will be presented hopefully) Also I plan to work with a highly renowned Schizophrenia researcher for the next year, so that would be 5 total.

My GPA should finish at about a 3.5 or a 3.6.

I am finishing my internship now also.

So I have a lot going for me, the only thing that would hurt me is the gres.

Any opinions?

What would be the equivalent of a 1200 on the new score?

Thanks!

[guttata]

http://www.happyschoolsblog.com/revised-new-gre-score-conversion-chart/

This should help. I scored ~320 on the new GRE and I'm told it converts to a bit under ~1400.

[Kitkat]

In most cases I would say that you should aim for a score as high as possible, but that you would be ok with ~1100, except for the fact that you are applying to a really competitive field(as I am sure you know). In that case, the GRE can still be seen as an important part of the application.

I am assuming based on your post that you are schedule/planning to retake the test before you apply (I am assuming this fall). To get ~1200 on the new test you would want to get around a ~310 total on the new test. Although, like I said before you might want to aim for more of a 320 on the new test.

I think some important things are (1) how much time you have given to yourself to study for it, and (2) how you spend your study time for it. It really depends on your needs. Some people are good at standardized tests, while other(who are otherwise very intelligent) have a bad time. I would recommend that you take a practice test or two and find where your biggest problems are and focus on those parts.

[BrianM]

In most cases I would say that you should aim for a score as high as possible, but that you would be ok with ~1100, except for the fact that you are applying to a really competitive field(as I am sure you know). In that case, the GRE can still be seen as an important part of the application.

I am assuming based on your post that you are schedule/planning to retake the test before you apply (I am assuming this fall). To get ~1200 on the new test you would want to get around a ~310 total on the new test. Although, like I said before you might want to aim for more of a 320 on the new test.

I think some important things are (1) how much time you have given to yourself to study for it, and (2) how you spend your study time for it. It really depends on your needs. Some people are good at standardized tests, while other(who are otherwise very intelligent) have a bad time. I would recommend that you take a practice test or two and find where your biggest problems are and focus on those parts.

Thanks, and you guess correctly!

I am planning on taking the Kaplan course but I don't know how helpful it is.

[TexasGuy]

it depends for instance a 316 could be a 1280

Math: 163/170 or 780/800 English: 153/170 or 500/800

But a 316 could also be a 1330

English: 163/170 or 650/800 Math: 153/170 or 680

thats an 50 point difference...

[CarlieE]

I guess it depends on your field.. but my GRE scores were meh and I got accepted into a tier 1 with full funding. It sounds like you have a lot going for you so I'm sure you will be fine One POI I was in email contact with outright told me not to worry over my GRE scores.

[BrianM]

I guess it depends on your field.. but my GRE scores were meh and I got accepted into a tier 1 with full funding. It sounds like you have a lot going for you so I'm sure you will be fine One POI I was in email contact with outright told me not to worry over my GRE scores.

What field are you in?

That would be amazing if I heard that lol. How did you hear that the gres wasn't such a big deal?

[CarlieE]

What field are you in?

That would be amazing if I heard that lol. How did you hear that the gres wasn't such a big deal?

Cultural Anthropology... My quantitative scores were dismal (I was in the lowest 20%) but my qualitative scores were good (upper 15%) and my analytical writing was 5.5. In one of the emails, the POI said my GRE scores hadn't come through from ETS yet (although I had requested them) and they wanted to know my scores. So I emailed what they were and made a little "joke" about how bad my math is... the POI replied that my application depended on other factors, rather than my GREs so I shouldn't worry too much about my GRE scores.

I've also heard from professors that GREs are the "most" important when it comes to nit-picking between candidates... ie. there are two or more that are neck to neck in other aspects of their application but they can only pick one.

I really think it depends on field and the school. Some of my friends have MUCH better GRE scores than me and they aren't accepted yet AND they applied with MAs under their belts (whilst I applied as an UG)