Grad School Admissions- GRE?

[rbargiel]

Hi All,

 

 

I'm entering my senior year of undergrad and I'm getting ready to apply to Ph.D programs in cultural anthropology with an emphasis on environmental anthropology. I recently took the GRE and scored 159 verbal, 147 quant, and 6.0 writing. I was wondering if these will generally be good enough to get me admitted?

 

I don't have any formal experience in anthropology from my undergrad; however, I have a lot of background in courses in biology, sociology, history, and other closely related fields. My course of study consists of a major in sustainability and minor in urban studies, so a lot of these courses have been focused on environmental issues, which I feel is a plus. I've also corresponded with one professor at the University of Texas who seems to really feel I am prepared based on this. My undergraduate GPA is 3.8 and  I have done primary research of my own. I also anticipate pretty strong letters of recommendation, as I have great relationships with several faculty members, and I am confident in my ability to write an excellent personal statement, especially given my consultation with professors I'd like to work with.

 

My overall questions is whether or not these GRE scores, especially the quantitative, will help or hinder me in admission? I know that a lot of cultural anthropology programs say flat-out that they ignore the quantitative score, and I've had trouble finding this on a couple of program websites- specifically, University of Texas and University of Georgia do not have it anywhere (trust me, I've tried).

 

If anyone has some input or advice, I'd really appreciate it!

[eidzmo]

Hi there! I actually posted a similar question here about a week ago (). Since then, I've been asking a few friends currently in Anthropology programs and they've all suggested to directly contact the department (to  gen. inquiry) to ask about the program's feeling about GRE scores. I've done a bit of research and 1200 on the old GRE score seems to be the suggested minimum, which you can try calculating with your new GRE scores via the ETS score reports. 

[rbargiel]

Haha thanks. I think I'm just freaking out over this more than is necessary. I'm prone to anxiety, and so I keep worrying that I won't be good enough.

[radiomars]

In my experience, your research fit, GPA, and letters of recommendation are far more important than the GRE. I think being in the 75th percentile and above is great, if you're falling below 50%, maybe consider retaking. Not sure what percentile your scores fall into, but as I recall, there is a table that tells you that.

Edited August 16, 2013 by radiomars

[bioarch_fan]

I think this is the table that radiomars is talking about.  I found it and it does help break down your score a little better.  And it gives you the score as it would have been on the old GRE as well because I know some schools still have the old GRE score up as what they are looking at.  Though as people have pointed out, it's not the biggest thing that they'll look at.  Talk to professors at those schools and see what they say.  I know a professor that I know said that when she was on the admissions committee they usually used those if they were trying to decide between two people and they usually use those scores to give out any aid that is available.  So the best bet is if you want to get any type of GA position then I would suggest asking the professors what score they usually suggest for students that are applying for assistantships and fellowships.  If it's not at a specific score or percentage then I would suggest taking it again, but only if you really think it will help.  Taking it more than twice looks just as bad to the admissions committee, again that's what I was told by that same professor.  http://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/concordance_information.pdf

[WhiteSage]

Usually the Quant score is ignored. You scored over the 75th percentile, and I've seen anthropology departments state that 160sh is fine and to apply anyway if your score is a little lower. GRE is a way to weed people out. By the way, you got a rock solid writing score. So, that should help too.

[Mirabilis]

I'm nervous that my AW score (4; 54% below) might get me weeded out from many top ranked programs--most seem to indicate that the avg score for accepted students is 5. I scored in the 96th percentile on Verbal, so I can't really tell if retaking the exam to raise my writing score is worth it. Thoughts anyone?

[NoSleepTilBreuckelen]

Mirabilis, I am in the same boat. Happy with my verbal and quant scores, but got the same AW as you. I'm hoping that since a lot of the programs I'm applying to ask for a writing sample, that they'll judge my writing based on that rather than the AW score...

[anthropologygeek]

No sleep- they do value the AW score though. My understanding most programs want at least 4.5

[eriatarka]

I recently spoke to a few faculty in my home school's department and the consensus seems to be that a combined GRE score of 300 is a common cut-off point for determining funding. But again, admissions seems to be so subjective... I wouldn't get hung up on the GRE.