Will an embarrassingly low Quant score hurt my chances?

[shaboomshaboom]

Hello!

I'm applying for a masters in History at Northeastern for January 2014.  I recently took the GRE and did okay on Verbal (161- 87%), pretty well on AW (5.0 -93%), but for some reason I just BOMBED the Quant (148...33%). I'm pretty upset by it, but I don't really want to retake the GRE unless I know I need to.

 

My GPA from McGill is okay :CGPA is 3.3 - but my first year  was horrible. My GPA for the last 3 years is 3.48, and last 2 years is 3.6

So I was just wondering, will a horrible Quant score really matter in the grand scheme of things? I'm hoping it won't matter for a masters in History application but I'm not sure.

Any comments or advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks!!!

[Monochrome Spring]

While the GRE is not the most important factor in admissions, GRE score minimums are often used to weed out applicants at first. If possible, I would retake it. Maybe ask your programs what their minimum cutoffs for the GRE are, and make that your goal.

[shaboomshaboom]

For Northeastern, they say they don't have a minimum GPA or GRE scores, which is encouraging. They take a "holistic" approach when looking at applications. So I'm hoping that since it's not a horrible score (besides Quant of course ) then I'll still have a chance.

I am emailing Northeastern just to see how much importance they place on the Quant score for history applicants.

Thanks for your reply!

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

I wouldn't call a 148 on quantitative "bombing" for a History degree. 

[Guest |||]

For what it is worth

 

According to this site

 

http://www.ncsu.edu/chass/philo/GRE%20Scores%20by%20Intended%20Graduate%20Major.htm

 

The average score for a history major is 556, though this is for the old GRE.  That said the math part has likely changed the least for the GRE, though I believe the addition of stat based question is somewhat new.

 

 

In either case, you scored about 5~ percent higher than the average, according to that site.

[GeoDUDE!]

Its important to note, that schools that don't list minimum GREs often do have "moving minimums" IE, they would only admit the top 30-40% of their applicants on the GRE. This is a way of weeding out the masses as well as making sure that all the students are somewhat competent. 

[guinevere29]

I wouldn't call a 148 on quantitative "bombing" for a History degree. 

 

When applying to English degrees (which I assume is somewhat similar to history), I was told that the quant score most likely wouldn't be taken into account. If it is taken into account, it will for sure be the least important aspect of your application, so wiegh that into the amount of time and money you spend on retaking it.

[shaboomshaboom]

Thanks everyone! I feel much better about my scores now. I don't think I'll retake it, since I'm okay with my verbal/AW scores