Need advice for PhD in Kinesiology

[tennis_girl87]

I would greatly appreciate some advice about my situation. My GRE score is atrocious and I really don't know what to do at this point. Here's a somewhat short low-down:

 

I have finished an undergraduate degree in Kinesiology with a GPA of 3.7 and am currently pursuing a Master's degree also in Kinesiology (GPA: 3.9) in Canada. I moved to Canada from Europe to study here. I was planning on pursuing medicine and in September, I took the MCAT and scored solidly (32T out of 45T). Currently, I have 15 conference presentations, 1 paper submission and have experience working as a teaching assistant, as well as a research assistant. 

 

Some time in October, I received a very good offer from an American university to pursue a Ph.D. with a professor who is really interested in having me as a student. The offer included a tuition waiver and a teaching studentship. I was not planning on applying to a Ph.D. program, but when I received this offer, I could not refuse. I had to prepare for the GRE and take it ASAP. After talking with some people here in Canada, they told me the GRE is very easy (don't think that anymore), so I scheduled to take it within 2.5 weeks. In the midst of my collections, teaching and studying for my Masters, I did not have almost any time to prepare. Stupidly, I went into the exam and scored QA: 143; VR: 148; AW: 5. So, knowing my weaknesses and realizing my stupidity, I decided to re-take the exam. I used the old Barron's textbook as well as the new one, enrolled in an online Barron's course, ETS textbook, PowerPrep, flashcards, etc. I studied for 3 weeks and received this: QA: 148; VR: 153; AW: pending. 

 

The deadline for the program application is approaching, so I cannot re-take the GRE (trust me, with these atrocious scores, I would if I could!) I don't really care about the VR (even though, I have no idea how in the world I score higher consistently), but my quantitative score is horrible. Right now, I am doing math in my Masters far more complex than the GRE math, so I really do not understand what is happening to me during the exam. I let my professor know about the scores, but I have not received any word as of yet (if I were him, I'd be out of comments too). 

 

I sent the scores in to the school, but I highly doubt they will admit me. What I was wondering is whether I can get some sort of feedback on how to improve my quantitative scores because they make absolutely no sense to me and I don't know what to do to fix them (yes, I will take it the 3rd time). Any advice would be truly appreciated. 

[midnight]

Practice. Tons of practice.

 

Buy the ETS GRE book and take Powerprep tests, do all the tests in Barron's Six Practice Tests, and read Princeton Review's Cracking the GRE for tips and tricks. You may want to invest in Manhattan's test materials, too; apparently they have some of the best math prep, but I don't have personal experience with it.

 

Also are you aware of the GRE free diagnostic service? It shows you the kind of questions you missed, how long you took per question, and other valuable information to know before going into a retake:

 

https://grediagnostic.ets.org/GREDWeb/gred/signIn.jsp

 

ETA: I see you already used the ETS and Barron's materials. That's what I get for skimming!

Edited January 10, 2013 by midnight streetlight

[Queen of Kale]

I agree with Midnight Streetlight about the free ETS diagnostic tool. The bright side of taking the test twice means you should be able to clearly see what sort of problems are most difficult for you and focus on learning those. I chose not to retake my exam in the end, but when reviewing my Quant section it became clear that the only problems I missed were the probability problems - which for me added up quite a bit. Focusing in the way should help you save time when you prepare as well. Last but not least, good luck!