Do they score unanswered essay section?

[icah88]

Did my GRE today, everything went fine, got 161v and 162q with 160 needed.Didn't bother with the writign as I didn't need it.Or so i thought.Just now read that the university accepts test scores only if all sections are completed.Now my question: I didn't answer the essay just put in a joke sentence that I don't need it so I won't bother the poor person with having to read something and a smiley lol.Didn't answer anything on the second essay.Does this count as a 0 or as NS, anyone experience with that? Absolutely retarded from my side if I had read that earlier I would have at least copied the topic to get a 0.5.Would obv completely suck having to take it again bec of that...

[JISNEGRO]

Score Level 0

The examinee's analytical writing skills cannot be evaluated because the responses do not address any part of the assigned tasks, are merely attempts to copy the assignments, are in a foreign language or display only indecipherable text.

Score NS

The examinee produced no text whatsoever.

https://www.ets.org/...al_descriptions

Edited December 18, 2012 by JISNEGRO

[emmm]

Well...I have to say I agree with the university's stance. The test is partly a test of endurance, so it's not really a level playing field if you opt out of a section. I'd say do it over and make a proper attempt at it. My two cents.

[icah88]

Well I disagree with that.As I said they care only about the quant score so might as well get 130 on verbal and 0 on writing as it simply does not matter.So my question was simply aiming at whether someone has experience how this gets scored.

[iowaguy]

I agree with emmm, I don't think a NS or a 0 for AW will be looked upon very favorably. I debated doing that myself (so as not to be so mentally tired for the Q and V sections), but after reading some advice on here decided to give the AW my best shot...

Why do you think a 0.5 would count as "completed" from your university's standpoint? They would obviously know that you skipped over that section (therefore didn't "complete" it).

[icah88]

Well i didn't come for normative advice but to ask if someone has experience.I talked to the university and they simply do not care! about the other scores (don't ask me why they want them completed then though) so you can get a 0 and a 130 as long as you have the quant threshold it's fine.I see your point but it is completely irrelevant

[bamafan]

icah88, unless you spoke specifically to the grad ad com, you can't know for sure how they will look upon it. Did you ask specifically how they view a 0 or NS? Many schools will say in response to "is the AW important?" or "is it okay if i get a low score on the AW" with, "no, it doesn't matter that much for our admissions." But that question is very different than "What do you guys think if I get a 0 or a NS?".

I know that many adcom members at schools like MIT obviously do not care much about V/AW but if you have a glaringly low score, it could cause your app to be thrown out. In fact, your score might not even pass an automated screen.

It's not what you want to hear, but you really should have just done the essays. It's a silly mistake to make. If you can, I'd recommend retaking it.

[TakeruK]

I think JISNEGRO answered your original question ("how will this be scored?"). It sounds like your first essay is a 0 and your second essay is a NS. But I don't think anyone can really answer the other part of your question, which is will your university count this as "all sections completed". If the University said that you can score a zero on the writing and it won't matter, that's one thing. But if they said "we do not have any requirements on the writing score" or "there is no minimum cutoff writing score", that doesn't really equal "you can score zero or skip it".

I think the best thing is to contact the University and ask them if a score of "0" or "NS" will be accepted. If not, then you should probably redo it and ask permission to submit more scores later. If it is accepted, then you're fine and don't have to worry about it anymore

[obrera]

Whether or not they really take it into account doesn't offset the fact that they will most likely look at an abismal writing score and think you either didn't take the time study/complete or you don't care, both of which can negatively affect their perception of your application. I would retake it. For my applications, the quantitative score didn't really matter, but I still worked hard to get a good score so that I could prove to them I really wanted to get into the program and that I didn't rush through the test.

Edited December 18, 2012 by obrera

[icah88]

I think there's no further point discussing this, it might be different for the US but since I'm from not-English speaking Europe they simply don't care about it bec they just wanna see that you can do calculus.The program isn't even in English.Anyway, my question has been answered then (or rather not cause I looked up the official ruling myself) but thanks anyway.

On a side note, it's easy to say hey go and retake it but as I am used to not or barely paying for education paying 170$ every month for admission tests isn't something that I can afford on a regular basis.Not even mentioning that I'd have to keep investing time into it to not forget all the stuff and that it's not guaranteed I'd do well enough again esp if I would prepare and do all sections as most people here suggest.

[bamafan]

I think there's no further point discussing this, it might be different for the US but since I'm from not-English speaking Europe they simply don't care about it bec they just wanna see that you can do calculus.The program isn't even in English.Anyway, my question has been answered then (or rather not cause I looked up the official ruling myself) but thanks anyway.

On a side note, it's easy to say hey go and retake it but as I am used to not or barely paying for education paying 170$ every month for admission tests isn't something that I can afford on a regular basis.Not even mentioning that I'd have to keep investing time into it to not forget all the stuff and that it's not guaranteed I'd do well enough again esp if I would prepare and do all sections as most people here suggest.

Are you sure that's why the require the GRE? If I recall correctly, there wasn't any calculus on mine when I took it, and if that's what schools are concerned about, they can just check your transcript to see if you took calculus as an undergrad.

I still think you should check with your target schools just to be sure. This is one of those scenarios where you'd rather be safe than sorry, because if it does turn out to be an issue, you're not just wasting money here, you're wasting time.

[ridofme]

@icah88 - Just out of curiosity, to what kinds of programs are you applying? It does strike one as strange that they would make you take the GRE if they are only interested in your math abilities, and the program's not even in English. It seems like a subject test would be more appropriate.

Edited December 19, 2012 by ridofme

[Loseric]

I think there's no further point discussing this, it might be different for the US but since I'm from not-English speaking Europe they simply don't care about it bec they just wanna see that you can do calculus.The program isn't even in English.Anyway, my question has been answered then (or rather not cause I looked up the official ruling myself) but thanks anyway.

On a side note, it's easy to say hey go and retake it but as I am used to not or barely paying for education paying 170$ every month for admission tests isn't something that I can afford on a regular basis.Not even mentioning that I'd have to keep investing time into it to not forget all the stuff and that it's not guaranteed I'd do well enough again esp if I would prepare and do all sections as most people here suggest.

Just because you didn't receive the answer you wanted and don't like the "system" doesn't mean you can be snippy to the several posters who took the time to respond to your question with thoughtful, helpful answers.