GRE death

[The Pedanticist]

I did Magoosh and Kaplan and took practice tests from Magoosh, Kaplan, Manhattan, Barron and ETS, all with those same higher practice scores! That's why I was absolutely incredulous at my results! And if there had been some extenuating circumstances that I knew explained the scores then fine, but there werent. I've always done awful on standardized testing- timed tests are not my forte, nor are tests that aren't essay tests. Quant is easy to explain- I am terribly challenged with math and simply need copious amounts of time so succeed, and as far as verbal goes- I overthink. I did poorly on the SAT as well. However, I'm baffled as to why I didn't get the mediocre scores I at least thought I would receive. I believe I am capable of a 160. I am retaking this monster again. One last time because of the score select option so I have nothing to lose. If I yet again don't improve then it is what it is. 

 

I took the test yesterday and scored lower than my practice tests were predicting by around 5 pts in each area.  (I was hitting 170 easily on the practice tests).  I think that it is very likely that the actual test is tougher than the practice tests.  I think another significant cause of lower scores is that people don't take the "extra" section when they are practicing.  

 

For whatever reason the people at the test center were also clueless.  I had to remind them how to do some of the procedures.  They ended up costing me time on the test because of incompetence.   

 

I'm going to retake and kick this test's ass or die trying.

[Nastasya_Filippovna]

this is slightly off-topic but I see on your list of tentative programs to apply you have UC Boulder. They have a spectacular program for my particular interests as well, but do you think they will end up taking apps for Fall 2015? I have the fantasy that if they do, perhaps they will receive fewer apps following their recent scandal but I know in my heart that this is a pipe dream given their illustrious reputation.

[The Pedanticist]

this is slightly off-topic but I see on your list of tentative programs to apply you have UC Boulder. They have a spectacular program for my particular interests as well, but do you think they will end up taking apps for Fall 2015? I have the fantasy that if they do, perhaps they will receive fewer apps following their recent scandal but I know in my heart that this is a pipe dream given their illustrious reputation.

 

I believe they will.  Hopefully, people get put off by waiting to November to see and don't apply.  

 

Best of luck.

Edited September 7, 2014 by The Pedanticist

[Nastasya_Filippovna]

Insightful point, let's hope for the best! Good luck to you as well!

[Hopephily]

I applied last year and am happily at a fantastic program now. I struggled a lot with whether I should retake the GRE's or not, given my scores were unimpressive (note while my verbal score was in the high 80's my math score was less than the 50th percentile). My general advice, to be taken with a grain of salt, is that, if you think you can do much better by retaking it then you should, provided that you are not compromising other core parts of your application (e.g., improving your sample, spending more effort and time showing your letter writers that you really rock, etc) in the process. You have limited time and resources. If you can do it all, great! But if not, focus on beefing up other parts of your application. 

 

Of course, some programs may have cut offs based on GRE scores and so a low score might exclude you out of those, but there seem to be at least some programs (or perhaps more accurately, some ad comms) that are not this way. But of course, for all sorts of reasons, you should be applying to a wide range of programs and this is just another one. Now my impression is that, at least at some programs (ad comms), excellent letters and killer sample can override weaker scores (you might even ask your recommenders to mention in their letters that your GRE scores are not representative of your ability). I'm basing this off of not only my experience, but a few others I know that didn't rock the GRE's and yet got into solid programs. I'm not sure I've provided any novel advice, but FWIW, this may be a useful reiteration. 

Edited September 25, 2014 by Hopephily

[Nastasya_Filippovna]

I applied last year and am happily at a fantastic program now. I struggled a lot with whether I should retake the GRE's or not, given my scores were unimpressive (note while my verbal score was in the high 80's my math score was less than the 50th percentile). My general advice, to be taken with a grain of salt, is that, if you think you can do much better by retaking it then you should, provided that you are not compromising other core parts of your application (e.g., improving your sample, spending more effort and time showing your letter writers that you really rock, etc) in the process. You have limited time and resources. If you can do it all, great! But if not, focus on beefing up other parts of your application. 

 

Of course, some programs may have cut offs based on GRE scores and so a low score might exclude you out of those, but there seem to be at least some programs (or perhaps more accurately, some ad comms) that are not this way. But of course, for all sorts of reasons, you should be applying to a wide range of programs and this is just another one. Now my impression is that, at least at some programs (ad comms), excellent letters and killer sample can override weaker scores (you might even ask your recommenders to mention in their letters that your GRE scores are not representative of your ability). I'm basing this off of not only my experience, but a few others I know that didn't rock the GRE's and yet got into solid programs. I'm not sure I've provided any novel advice, but FWIW, this may be a useful reiteration. 

can I ask you if you came from a masters program or straight from undergrad? And if you came from undergrad, were you from a very "prestigious" or well-known institution? Just curious!

[philstudent1991]

No reason to retake it. Those scores are just fine.

[Hopephily]

can I ask you if you came from a masters program or straight from undergrad? And if you came from undergrad, were you from a very "prestigious" or well-known institution? Just curious!

 

Masters. My undergrad was not in philosophy. 

[The Pedanticist]

I retook the GRE and scored 13 points higher than my already "decent" score.  So I'm definitely of the opinion that retaking is a good idea.

[Infinite Zest]

I retook the GRE and scored 13 points higher than my already "decent" score.  So I'm definitely of the opinion that retaking is a good idea.

 

Yeah, I almost think the ideal scenario to retake the GRE is if you have a "decent" score. In my case, a decent score allowed me to relax a bit while retaking the GRE.

[The Pedanticist]

Yeah, I almost think the ideal scenario to retake the GRE is if you have a "decent" score. In my case, a decent score allowed me to relax a bit while retaking the GRE.

 

It really does.  I kept telling myself that I was just going to be putting icing on the cake.  

[philpos]

oh man, dont get me excited like that. with a title of that i thought you meant most or all the graduate philosophy programs said screw you GRE this year.

 

165 an 160 is very solid. i wount retake.

 

sorry for the downvote, wasn't sure what that button did and now i can't rescind it. have a upvote on a different post.

 

 

 

Hey online friends,

 

I just finished taking the GRE. Ughh, I'm feeling exhausted and a little bit let down by my scores:

 

165 verbal and 160 quant.

 

I know they aren't BAD scores, but I was doing a lot better on ETS practice tests, especially in math.

 

Do you guys think I should retake the test? I really had a miserable time studying for it, but I may retake it if I have to. Do you think these scores will hurt me when applying to top philosophy programs?

 

 

and yeah, that GRE score isn't going to hurt you anywhere.

Edited November 29, 2014 by philpos

[lantedodo]

I took it today and got a 168v/150q. I'm seriously considering a retake three weeks from now, even if just to get the quant up to average. On the other hand, maybe I should just work on the writing sample. Hmmm... A 150 just seems unacceptably low, and was much lower than I got on the diagnostics I took. Hmmm...

[lantedodo]

Do you still think it's a good idea to retake if the scores won't be officially reported until after application deadlines? I'm fairly confident I can boost my quant, and maybe even my verbal (I didn't study for that, and didn't do anything to prepare for the AW). I got a 168v/150q/(don't yet know AW).

[overoverover]

There's a chance that any scores reported after the deadline won't be taken into consideration. If that's the case, why bother taking the test again? Honestly, while your quant is a little lower than you'd probably like it (it wouldn't hurt for it to be at least a few points higher), your verbal is really excellent. I'd say don't worry. Look over your sample again or something.

[Infinite Zest]

There's a chance that any scores reported after the deadline won't be taken into consideration. If that's the case, why bother taking the test again? Honestly, while your quant is a little lower than you'd probably like it (it wouldn't hurt for it to be at least a few points higher), your verbal is really excellent. I'd say don't worry. Look over your sample again or something.

 

Agreed. Maybe use the money to apply to another program or two.

[lantedodo]

Thanks for the feedback. I suppose you're right. It is certainly disappointing to score 10 points lower than I did on the ETS practice exams, but I guess it'll do (this time around).