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GRE retake advice. Thoughts?


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Posted this in "Applications" but it wasn't getting very many hits. Hoping to get a little more here.

 

I'm applying to schools this cycle. Looking to go for Theory. Took the GRE on Saturday and got a 170 V, 160 Q. Waiting on AW. I have a JD already from a top 20 law school (the plan was always to get the phd, but I opted to get the JD first for personal/professional reasons, which I'm happy to elaborate on via message). I have a decent writing sample I've been tweaking and getting insight on. And I have three good letters committed (one from undergrad prof, one from law school prof for whom I RA'ed, and one from another professor with whom I've worked on some poli sci research projects).

My question: is a retake for the GRE worth the time? Should I try to bump up that math? Or is the 170/160 combo enough to get me over the formula hump at the better schools?

Thoughts?         

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From my understanding, a 160 is absolutely fine to get you past initial cutoffs. I wouldn't retake -- especially since the rest of your profile seems great. 

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Thanks for the response, Gvh.

 

More broadly, does anyone have a sense for the quant cutoffs at some of the top programs? Magoosh publishes their own guesstimate, but I'm not sure how authoritative that is, especially since a mid-150s for quant seems a little low.

 

Any insight on this?

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160 for theory applications is probably upper range, no matter which schools you apply to. A 160 is solid for any Ph.D. political science applicant, whether theory or not. Ideally 163+ is the benchmark for no doubts, but 160 is perfectly fine.

Edited by victorydance
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Reviving this topic a little bit for my own purposes. I'll be retaking the GRE in the next month or two, and really need to beef up my quant scores (verbal was great). Are there any recommendations for study programs? Is it worth the couple hundred to invest in a tutor or study course, or are there web resources that would work as well on my schedule?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Take a look at Magoosh. I am preparing to GRE at that site now and so far it seems great. They have about 1000 exercises for both Q and V with a timer, so you can train your time management. There are also tutorials about strategies for particular types of problems on the test. You have to pay about 100 bucks, though.

Other than that you can use Khan academy. They don't have official GRE prep track, but some users compiled study lists for this test.

Edited by J.Makarov
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