Risk it, or retake?

[firstsight]

Hello all! First-time poster, long-time lurker here.

I'm planning on applying into social psychology programs for the upcoming fall, and I'm very torn over one part of my application -- my GRE scores. I was satisfied if not pleased by them last year; 680V (165 estimate, 95%ile [the score I *am* pleased with!]), 580Q (147 estimate, 31%ile [the problem score]), AW5.0/92%ile.

As a bit of background: I have supervised teaching experience, I've TA'd, and I'm working on my honors thesis currently. I don't have a tremendous amount of research experience, aside from some applied I/O-ish projects and my thesis, but I'm wrapping up my bachelors at nontrad campus that doesn't offer much as far as research labs go. My undergrad GPA is 3.8 and my last two years are 3.98.

So my question is: should I risk it and go with what I have, or retake the GRE? I have an ungodly amount of anxiety on testing about anything with algebra, which is reflected by the only C's on my transcript being algebra classes! Notably, I've aced all statistics or research methods classes I've ever taken! Initially, I was very relieved when I originally got that 580-- it was a little over 50th percentile at that point in time, but it's plummeted down after the new GRE was implemented and those scores started rolling in.

So... what do you guys think? Any thoughts would be deeply appreciated.

[Sshaw9]

You can always try to apply with what you have, but there are some schools (I've heard) that can't get past lower GRE scores unless the rest of the app is stellar. However now you can chose what scores to send in the GRE I believe, so if you don't do as well they don't have to see those scores.

P.S. I'm not a super math person either but i was able to hit the high 80's with a practice book by princeton review, and 2 weeks before the test just did a practice test a night. The more you practice, the more you will get comfortable with the test, hopefully the better you will do!

Good luck

[psychsquirrel]

It sounds like you are a very qualified candidate! I am in the same boat..I really don't want to retake the GRE, but if I have the opportunity to make my application stronger, I'm going to do it! If you retake it, you will know that you are doing all you can to improve your application. Hope that helps!

[ILuvPsych2013]

Same boat here! Good verbal and AW, disappointing quant scores. According to my adviser, there are some schools who use the GRE as their first cut point, so if you don't hit their cutoff they don't even look at the rest of your app. Other schools take a more hollistic approach, which would work in your (and my!) benefit. Ultimately, I am going to retake, but I am not excited about it at all.

[_kita]

It will all depend on the specific programs. Some only look at one score, some neither, some all. Are you planning on masters or straight to PhD? The PhD typically only wants the top-tier research heavy, so while you'd have a shot make sure you have backups as well.

Over all, your other qualifications do make you a solid candidate. I would suggest contacting the programs and specifically asking the administrative department how much the quantitative matters to them. You really should have no difficulty getting into a program as long as you choose the right ones.

[firstsight]

Just to give everyone a follow-up, especially for those who are still considering / will consider similar situations in the future: I registered for the GRE at the beginning of this month, took it today, and got a raw score of 160V/156Q, which is roughly approximate to a 1330 on the old scale; for schools that use "best scores in either section, across tests", I'm now approximately a 1400 candidate. I studied using khanacademy.com and Princeton Review's Cracking the GRE, and I think I could have bumped that quant (68 percentile is still "eh", but TONS better than my last test!) if I had focused more on practice tests. /Timing/ yourself is key: I found myself running out of time on all three of the quant sections I had, mostly because I didn't give myself time restraints in practice. The psychological aspect of a time limit is, well, limiting -- and something to control for. So that's my advice for anyone who is/was in the position that I was/am: thirty days and even halfassed study habits (I finished developing a research prospectus and submitted for IRB, along with working 40~ hours a week and taking 12 hours including thesis and additional self-directed study, not to mention the insanity of homecoming committee concurrent to GRE studying, which kind of hampered my time-- the ideal time investment is probably closer to 2 hours a day for significant improvements) can... not to sound cheesy, but: change your life. Do it. I hated every minute of it, but even if my scaled score is 10-15% lower than my raw score, it's still a significant gain so long as schools vet "best of either".

PS: start figuring out functions of lines /now/ if you're unfamiliar. And triangle rules. And arcs. Arcs were totally underrepresented in my prep and over-represented on the test!

[_kita]

I'm glad you were able to make such a drastic change in your scoring. Congrats!

[BeingThere]

Firstsight, that was what I needed to hear. 

 

I had a sneaking suspicion I'd have to retake the GRE in order to be able to sleep at night and know I've done all I could to make my app the best it can be.  My first scores (prelim, according to the report the day of my test) were 170 V and 155 Q. 

 

I'd like to get the quant score higher.  I've always done well in math, but I haven't been in a math class in 15 years.  Most of the studying I did was just refreshing my memory on algebra/geometry.  Now that I've remembered some math I wonder whether, if I spend another month or two practicing timed tests, I can do better.  I don't know if I can spend two hours a day as you suggest, but I can surely spend some time.

 

My biggest concern was whether studying more in hopes of improving would be worth the time and money.  Like all of us, I have coursework, research, and other app requirements to complete in the coming months.  Additionally, I hadn't heard of many folks who substantially improved their scores the second time around.  Your second-round improvement gave me hope.  Looks I'm going to take the darned thing again. 

Edited June 30, 2013 by Bren2014

[talkinghead]

For what it's worth, I scored similarly to you when I applied to Social Psych PhDs -- 92* verbal, 87* Analytic, and a mediocre 72* Quant (which later dropped to a 69* as time went on more testers brought up the average). I was pretty disappointed with that low Quant, but still ended up getting in to 5 fully funded PhD programs and 2 fully funded masters. Assuming you have good research experience and a 3.5+ GPA, I believe you would be competitive. I would guess you could get in to the mid-tier programs (MSU, UConn), but I would aim for a few "backups," too, just in case.