Awful GRE scores... I'm freaking out over here.

[pessimist1234]

My cumulative V and Q was 293 out of 340 so its decent but not phenomenal by any means. However, I got a 2.5 on the awa section. I do not know what happened. Normally I'm a pretty good writer. In my undergrad I wrote a 20 something page paper for my internship and got an A.

I think I will be fine. I don't think the schools I applied to really look at that section. I have good recommendation letters and a decent gpa.

Edited March 3, 2012 by pessimist1234

[marXian]

What field are you going into? If its a science, there probably isn't as much weight on the AW or V sections...although 2.5, as you know, is definitely not good. If there's time, I would retake it. If you're applying for Fall 2012 (which is what your profile says), then there probably isn't time.

Princeton Review has a free test you can take where real people grade your AW section and tell you why they gave you the score they did. It was really helpful for me.

The score may not completely destroy your app--it just depends on the schools you're applying to. For some the GRE is just a formality while for others, it's how they make their first round of cuts. Contacting programs directly (as someone in another post said, contact POIs or DGSs not program coordinators) can be really helpful in figuring this out. Most will be honest with you.

[pessimist1234]

Fisheries specifically. The programs I've applied to are the Fisheries and Allied Aquaculture program at Auburn, and the Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences program at Mississippi State and Texas A&M (where I did my undergrad).

[Cici Beanz]

This happened to me a few years ago. I guess I just kind of misunderstood what they were looking for...ended up with a 710 Verbal and a 2.5 or 3.0 AW...not to sound like an arrogant ass, but clearly something's not right there. I re-took the test just to be cautious and ended up with a 4.5...not stellar...I guess I just won't ever completely get what they're after...but decent enough that I didn't have to freak out about it. The key is that they are looking for the logic of the arguments/essays...not the right or wrong. It's not about editorializing, no matter how eloquently you go about it. It's about analysis. Whatever you decide to do, good luck and don't let this get you down. It's just one essay and certainly not a hard-and-fast indicator of your writing ability.

[isawstars]

Hey! If it makes you feel any better my total GRE scores are 291. And I took it 3 times! So obviously I suck at standardized testing. I got a 4.0 on the AW though, but I am applying to journalism programs. One of the schools I'm applying to asks for a minimum of 290 and 4.0 AW. So, like another poster said, it depends on your program. If you have time, I would retake the GRE again. You can easily bump up your AW, it's really just a formula.

Good luck

[Upasana Das Adhikari]

My cumulative V and Q was 293 out of 340 so its decent but not phenomenal by any means. However, I got a 2.5 on the awa section. I do not know what happened. Normally I'm a pretty good writer. In my undergrad I wrote a 20 something page paper for my internship and got an A.

I think I will be fine. I don't think the schools I applied to really look at that section. I have good recommendation letters and a decent gpa.

hey i have also the same score and still didnot hear from any uni...if u hav any offer,pls update

[Bhavin]

Any score below 300 is tough, because univ's see it as the lower 50%. I always recommend contacting the programs and trying to find out what average scores typically are for admitted students, but in the absence of that I'd suggest re-taking. I wouldn't worry too much about the writing. Because you can make up for that with your essays in the application. But try to be above 3.0.

Here's an article I wrote on the topic, there's a lot of profiles in the comments: http://magoosh.com/gre/2012/what-is-a-good-score-on-the-revised-gre/