Should I Apply?

[AdilB990]

I have a simple query: I really want to apply to Purdue. However, for my Department, the average Quantitative score of last year's enrolled students was 162! Mine is 158 unfortunately. The rest of my credentials (academic record, SOP, LOR's etc) are not exceptional but they're not too bad either.

 

Should I apply?

[thegirldetective]

Unless you are extremely tight for cash (and can't get a fee waiver) you should definitely apply. It's an average, not a hard cutoff, so unless they give you some form of range or standard deviation you have no way of knowing how your scores compare to the entering class as a whole. Just make sure you make a really good case in your SOP for why Purdue is a great fit for you (but you would want to do that even if you got a 170).

 

If you are tight for cash, you could try asking the program coordinator or director if someone could be competitive with your score. But more likely than not they'll give you the unhelpful "Our average is 162 but we review applications holistically" which doesn't really tell you much.

 

GRE quant scores can be GREATLY improved with studying, so you could also try retaking it for the next application cycle. A few months of hard studying could probably bump you 4 or so points.

[AdilB990]

Unless you are extremely tight for cash (and can't get a fee waiver) you should definitely apply. It's an average, not a hard cutoff, so unless they give you some form of range or standard deviation you have no way of knowing how your scores compare to the entering class as a whole. Just make sure you make a really good case in your SOP for why Purdue is a great fit for you (but you would want to do that even if you got a 170).

 

If you are tight for cash, you could try asking the program coordinator or director if someone could be competitive with your score. But more likely than not they'll give you the unhelpful "Our average is 162 but we review applications holistically" which doesn't really tell you much.

 

GRE quant scores can be GREATLY improved with studying, so you could also try retaking it for the next application cycle. A few months of hard studying could probably bump you 4 or so points.

 

Thanks a lot for the feedback, thegirldetective!

 

You're absolutely right about the SOP, I should be very convincing as to why Purdue is a great fit for me. I've already asked them about my score and got the exact response you've quoted. Doesn't help at all! Sadly, I don't have time to reappear otherwise I definitely would - 160 in quant is the minimum to be competitive in engineering fields.

 

I should add, I'm an international applicant and a non-native English speaker, and got a 157 in Verbal which is much higher than Purdue's average of 151. So, my overall score is 315. But the whole process for applying to US grad schools seems so complex that its difficult to assess where one stands.

[iphi]

Try anyway. Most programs look for a "range" and really, 4 points is not that much! Besides, as the person above me said, it is totally possible for you to retake the GRE and raise your score in the next 9 or so months!

[juilletmercredi]

YES!  You never know what will happen!  Don't shut yourself out of programs because you're slightly lower on one indicator if you're an otherwise competitive candidate.  Graduate admissions are holistic, and they look at everything.  Furthermore, a 158 is not terribly lower than a 162.  Go for it!

[AdilB990]

Thank you for the push, iphi and juilletmercredi! I'm a bit more confident about applying now.