Balancing Verbal Reasoning and Analytical Writing

[ShadowFairy]

Hey guys,

 

I was wondering how well can the analytical writing score offset a mediocre verbal reasoning score - specifically 5.5 and 157, respectively. Those correspond to 97 percentile vs. 73 percentile ranges. How does the analytical writing score come into play for Ph.D. graduate programs in the first place? Is it subjective to the applications committee or is it usually considered equally along with VR and QR?

 

Main reason I wanted to ask is because I'm still deciding on whether I should retake the GRE. I want to get admitted into top Ph.D. programs for mechanical engineering. I do know that GRE isn't the deciding factor but it's always nice to show that at least you've got a strong competitive aspect to your application.

 

Thank you in advance for the discussions!

[SportPsych30]

Im curious as well, but for the opposite reason. I scored 162V (89%) and only a 4.0-AW (54%)...

[ShadowFairy]

I did hear that some graduate programs discount the analytical writing simply because it's not as great of an indication as the other sections in assessing critical reasoning ability.

 

I understand seeing as how a rushed timed essay under 30 minutes lowers the standards in the first place. But even so I'm still not completely sure how to gauge analytical writing and verbal reasoning together, as imo the two are interrelated.

[awells27]

     After getting my verbal score, I contacted admissions for three different PHD programs to which I am applying and asked if I should take the test over again.  In a humanities program, they wanted to see 90th percentile in BOTH verbal reasoning and analytic writing.  My admissions counselor advised taking it again if the writing score was below that.  My writing score turned out to be strong, so I am not retaking the test.  For mech. engineering, I would think the Quant score is more important, and the 5.5 AWA can only help you  I would email the admissions director for any school you are applying to and ask if your verbal score could jeopardize your application.  They are usually fairly aboveboard about admissions statistics.   

[ShadowFairy]

@awells27

 

That is a good suggestion to follow. Yes, quantitative reasoning is usually more important for engineering and the sciences, but verbal reasoning counts just as much, so I'm fairly disappointed in my results.

 

The standards for top graduate programs are usually 90 percentile for both verbal and quantitative regardless of academic field, though I don't know about analytic writing.

 

Perhaps, is there anyone whose strong analytic writing score made up for their verbal reasoning, and vice versa? I will probably be retaking the test once more, but I'm also curious.

[awells27]

@awells27

 

The standards for top graduate programs are usually 90 percentile for both verbal and quantitative regardless of academic field, though I don't know about analytic writing.

 

 

  Since the verbal section is easier than the math, it might not take too much to improve your score.

Edited October 6, 2013 by awells27

[clandry]

Hey guys,

 

I was wondering how well can the analytical writing score offset a mediocre verbal reasoning score - specifically 5.5 and 157, respectively. Those correspond to 97 percentile vs. 73 percentile ranges. How does the analytical writing score come into play for Ph.D. graduate programs in the first place? Is it subjective to the applications committee or is it usually considered equally along with VR and QR?

 

Main reason I wanted to ask is because I'm still deciding on whether I should retake the GRE. I want to get admitted into top Ph.D. programs for mechanical engineering. I do know that GRE isn't the deciding factor but it's always nice to show that at least you've got a strong competitive aspect to your application.

 

Thank you in advance for the discussions!

I'm an undergrad at Princeton's mech&aero program. I can tell you that verbal GRE scores are practically a non-issue for our grad programs. Same can be said for analytical, although you will find some schools (e.g., Cornell&MIT) do place quite a bit of emphasis on the analytical portion. The program here is on par with MIT in terms of selectivity. I'm tempted to say it's even more selective since the program is very small. The only other notable engineering school that is more selective is Caltech. I know for certain that GRE scores no matter how good they are will not get you into our program. 

 

 

What's strange is that our average GRE Verbal for admitted students in engineering is a 161, but I think it's just a coincidence that this is relatively high. 

Edited October 6, 2013 by doubled

[clandry]

@awells27

 

That is a good suggestion to follow. Yes, quantitative reasoning is usually more important for engineering and the sciences, but verbal reasoning counts just as much, so I'm fairly disappointed in my results.

 

The standards for top graduate programs are usually 90 percentile for both verbal and quantitative regardless of academic field, though I don't know about analytic writing.

 

You should tell us where you got that from 

[awells27]

You should tell us where you got that from 

    What I have noticed is that if one is applying to a verbal oriented program, often even in uper tier schools the quant scores for admitted applicants average in the mid150s.  Likewise, if it is a quant heavy program, the same holds true in reverse.  Yet when I checked the average GRE scores for admitted applicants in many Humanities fields at Duke, Princeton, Harvard, Yale, and a few other schools, I noticed that both verbal and math were in the 90th percentiles.  I wonder if in some schools, there is still a prestige element attached to combined scores.  

Edited October 7, 2013 by awells27

[clandry]

    What I have noticed is that if one is applying to a verbal oriented program, often even in uper tier schools the quant scores for admitted applicants average in the mid150s.  Likewise, if it is a quant heavy program, the same holds true in reverse.  Yet when I checked the average GRE scores for admitted applicants in many Humanities fields at Duke, Princeton, Harvard, Yale, and a few other schools, I noticed that both verbal and math were in the 90th percentiles.  I wonder if in some schools, there is still a prestige element attached to combined scores.  

Typically, the students that get into these schools are those that excel in all areas. For engineering, it's definitely quantitative heavy, verbal is largely ignored by most schools, but you find that the most selective schools tend to have higher averages for the reason I stated before. What that doesn't mean is that the most prestigious engineering schools are looking for students with a high verbal. It does help with the rankings (not sure how this works out), but I can't imagine it contributing that much.