Plan on applying for a MS in Stats at top school, low GRE Verbal/AWA (domestic student)

[going to grad school]

Hello, I will be completing my MS in Math at Fairfield University this Fall and I have a 3.95 GPA. I was an Honors Scholar as a Uconn grad with a 3.64 GPA in Economics. I was going to apply for a Masters in Statistics at Harvard, Stanford, UCB, Columbia, and Yale. However, my GRE scores are kind of low: 790Q/450V/4.0AWA. Do I have any chance at getting accepted to any of those schools with my resume? I was surprised I didn't get an 800 on the Quant section, but I don't know if I'll be able to bring up my Verbal score. I've always been awful at verbal tests (lack of vocabulary, find it hard to stay focused during the reading comprehension section).

[Icydubloon]

Yes the verbal score will be an issue. Have you thought of retaking? For a lot of the top places, the actual department doesn't care much about the verbal score but the graduate school does. It is quite possible for a student to get the "accept" from the department but the graduate school to say "reject" due to strict GPA/GRE cutoffs.

[cyberwulf]

No, that verbal score probably won't be a big issue; a 450 isn't good, but seeing as you got a 4 in the AW nobody's going to doubt your ability to construct a sentence. Speaking ability just isn't a big factor in MS stat admissions, as evidenced by the fact that a high proportion of students in these programs are from overseas, particularly China. The bigger issue I see for you in terms of getting into a top MS program might be your solid-but-not-amazing undergraduate record at a solid-but-not-elite school. You will obviously speak and write English better than almost all Chinese/Korean/Indian applicants (though they will likely get higher GRE verbal scores through diligent preparation; another reason adcoms typically don't pay much attention to verbal scores), but a lot of them will have stronger academic credentials than you.

 

Also, in response to Icydubloon's comment, most schools have GPA but not GRE cutoffs. And if they *do* have GRE cutoffs, I can guarantee you they will be way, way lower the OP's score (which was in the 45th percentile, roughly).

Edited May 4, 2014 by cyberwulf

[bsharpe269]

I feel like its boarderline... could be an issue, could be fine.

 

Memorizing magoosh's "common words" (via their app) helped me raise my score alot. I recommend spending a month memorizing vocab and retaking. Also, did you study for the writing? I found reading examples of perfect essays really helpful. You can see exactly what they are looking for.