Ph.D Dreams Shattered !!

[Saman]

Hi folks,

 

Hope you are doing fine. Today, I have given my GRE and finds myself totally unhappy with the scores, especially verbal. My profile looked pretty much strong for the admission in IO ph.d this fall, but now I guess, GRE Verbal score has ruined everything I have accumulated for the years to build my profile. My profile is so far-

 

UnderGrad GPA - 3.87 (WES Evaluation)

GRE scores- V-146, Q-157, AWA- not available yet

Research Exp.- 2 publications (One in peer-reviewed journal and one in non-peer reviewed), along with approx. 1 year of work as an RA

Toefl- 87

Extracurricular Activities- There are lots of them I have dealt with.

 

 

Provided my profile so far, I don't think that I have a shot at any ph.d program I aimed to apply. So I will definitely chuck out the universities I shortlisted for Ph.d and will aim to apply to only Master's program.

 

But still if there is any way I can compensate the lack of verbal score, please let me know, it would be a big help for me. Although I saw on the results page where some applicants were wait-listed with the score of as low as 144 in the verbal, i wonder if I can still make it   

 

Please let me know your thoughts, I appreciate your time in advance  

 

Thanks and Regards 

[Gvh]

If you are applying for the Fall 2015 cycle you still have plenty of time to retake the GRE. Given this flexibility, you should absolutely retake it. No need to "give up" your dream of  PhD if you can work hard to improve your GRE score.

[Munashi]

I agree with Gvh.  Study hard and get your verbal score up.  You have enough time and with dedication, it is very possible.  If you have the money, apply to a few PhD programs anyway.  Sometimes you just never know.

[biisis]

Just retake it! The verbal is just route memorization and test-taking finesse- this is easily learned.

[Lisa44201]

Your verbal is not too terrible when considering the fact that you have a TOEFL score to go with it: I'd guess English isn't your first language. Apply to more than one Master's program, though (I'd tell that to anyone, not just someone with a 144 Verbal).

[VioletAyame]

I would say you shoud try to improve your TOEFL score too, especially the listening & speaking section which the GRE doesn't measure, just so you'd have a better chance receiving TAship. Some programs are concerned with international students' ability to verbally communicate in English, so I think a good listening & speaking score would put their mind at ease.

[Saman]

I appreciate your quick responses guys. I would like to tell people who are recommending me to retake it, that I had already memorized lots of weird words from "Most casual words to Magoosh's words", and trust me I didn't come across any question in the test where I found the memorized list worth using. There were very few questions, may be one or two, where I needed to use those weird words. All the memorization of words was a futile effort,nothing more.

 

 

Your verbal is not too terrible when considering the fact that you have a TOEFL score to go with it: I'd guess English isn't your first language. Apply to more than one Master's program, though (I'd tell that to anyone, not just someone with a 144 Verbal).

 

I would say you shoud try to improve your TOEFL score too, especially the listening & speaking section which the GRE doesn't measure, just so you'd have a better chance receiving TAship. Some programs are concerned with international students' ability to verbally communicate in English, so I think a good listening & speaking score would put their mind at ease.

 

The TOEFL would compensate for the lack ? If so, I can significantly increase the score, may be around 105. I had 23 in each section except listening where I received only 18, no doubt, this low score was caused by the poor testing conditions. If TOEFL can probably make up for the low GRE, I will definitely go for it.

 

Anyway, thank you all of you for putting your thoughts on the forum. It really helped      

[PsychGirl1]

I used the Kaplan flashcards and many of the words from their flashcards were on the GRE test I took.

[gradchaser]

Memorizing words actually will help you, so don't give up! You have to memorize a lot of words though, I would recommend close to 1000, maybe more. I used Manhattan Prep's 500 essential words and 500 advanced words set and it helped my score a lot.

[bsharpe269]

I used magoosh's app flash cards to memorize 250 words and many of them showed up on the test. I recommend magoosh's program to study. My score improved 12 points after 4 months of studying with their program. The more questions you practice, the more familiarity you get with what type of answers the test takers are looking for.

Edited August 9, 2014 by bsharpe269

[YoungR3b3l]

Shatterd with those "Average" GRE scores? Are you serious my friend? You sir are maybe overconcerned.

Your scores are average generally for a PhD applicant. And are kind of strong for MA studies. Your dreams with such scores -May- be shattered If you had intentions to be a student in Harvard, Yale or MIT. But for many other -Good- universities your profile even with such GRE scores is competitive.

Your GPA is more than excellent, and can somehow compensate your -Average (not bad at all)- GRE scores. Many universities find a combined score of GRE portions of 300 is competitive, yet you are going way too far by stating such things which ruins your comfort.

Take a deep breath, I know many friends with less GPAs, less work experiences, and of course less GRE scores whom got into PhD programs in good schools. You can retake the test its up to you of course its always better to achieve higher scores, however i really think you can get into many good schools with such a profile.

[PsychGirl1]

Also, per your OP, there is no harm in applying to both master's and PhD programs.

[HermoineG]

Your dreams haven't been shattered. Retake the GRE. Also work on TOEFL, its not a really good score. Write to professors, your possible future mentors. Write a great SOP. GRE is just a component of application process. You have other good things to show, polish them. Good luck

[Saman]

Thank you YoungR3b3I, PsychGirl1 and PsychChick for your comments. I would like to say that I spoke to some of the admission coordinators about my profile and asked them if my increased TOEFL score can compensate for the low verbal, they said that they don't look at TOEFL, beyond the minimum requirement so improving Toefl won't be fruitful.

 

Anyway, I am gonna apply to all the ph.d programs I have shortlisted, in the hope that my research work and GPA will compensate for the low GRE.

 

Thanks again all of you for putting your thoughts and helping me.     

[Munashi]

I still think you should try to retake the GRE after studying some more.  You have time, and it can't hurt (worst case scenario: you do worse, but it won't matter - you pick which test score you want to send).

[+Whiskey]

Agree with everyone else that this "dreams shattered" narrative is a little dramatic. You just need to retake the GRE, and as you study for it, focus more on how to learn the test than a list of words. Understanding the ins, outs, and consistencies in every verbal section of every GRE will boost your score more than memorizing hundreds of new words. It's also the easier and more entertaining strategy for test prep. Princeton Review books are the best for this route.