Retake GRE?

[controlc]

Hi all,

 

I just took the GRE test today and it didn't go as well as I had hoped. I got 164 Q and 158 V, not sure about the writing portion yet, but I think I did ok on the essays.

 

I'm planning on applying to the top 10 schools (PhD) and was wondering whether these scores (especially the Quant) are acceptable for places such as Stanford, Berkeley, CMU, etc? For reference, other components of my application are relatively strong (3.9 GPA Math & CS major, 2 years research experience, 2 second-author publications).

 

I'm worried about the quantitative being too low for Top 10 schools... Given that I'm applying to top schools, would it be worthwhile for me to retake the GRE in hopes of improving my scores? Or are these scores sufficient to get me through the door?

Thanks in advance

 

Edit: Forgot to mention that I am applying to PhD programs

Edited October 16, 2014 by controlc

[Hopeful678]

I think you are fine. It's rare to have 2 second author publications and your gpa is well above average even at those schools. The Quant is still 88th percentile and when I was talking to professors at both Princeton and Harvard they are looking for 80th percentile or higher.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Hopeful678

[StatsG0d]

I think you are fine. It's rare to have 2 second author publications and your gpa is well above average even at those schools. The Quant is still 93rd percentile and when I was talking to professors at both Princeton and Harvard they are looking for 80th percentile or higher.

 

164 is 88th percentile for quant. It's 93rd for verbal.

[Hopeful678]

Irregardless, he needs to focus on other parts of the application not GRE at this point.

[controlc]

I think you are fine. It's rare to have 2 second author publications and your gpa is well above average even at those schools. The Quant is still 88th percentile and when I was talking to professors at both Princeton and Harvard they are looking for 80th percentile or higher.

 

Thanks for the advice! I just feel bad because I think I could have gotten a lot better on the Quant if I was more prepared and more rested on test-day.

 

 

164 is 88th percentile for quant. It's 93rd for verbal.

 

Yeah it's unfortunate how a couple mistakes drops you below the 90th percentile for quant. Would you recommend retaking it?

[dat_nerd]

The top-5 schools do note on their application website that they are looking for GRE scores in the 90th percentile. However, I don't know how much weight this truly holds, and I would imagine your publication record to hold much more weight than the GRE. At this point, I think your effort would be better spent on other parts of the application, rather than focusing on earning a couple more points on the GRE.

[Hopeful678]

Hey,

I'm just throwing this out there, my background is in Psychology, but I went to two Ivy's so far, applying to phd's this term. However, I've done a lot of research in what it takes to get into programs, just know computer science is not my area. From the people I've talked to on admissions committees, along with professors and admissions advisers, being barely under a certain number like 90th percentile isn't going to make or break you. They are looking at the full application not 1 score. I can tell you that one number being the average means that many people get in below and above that number it’s just a baseline. The most important thing is having good letters writers, research, conferences, awards, personal statement, and decent gpa, from my experiences 3.5 neuroscience (9% acceptance) 3.7 clinical psychology (2% acceptance), average again. Besides that point, I also wanted to stress to you that I work with PhD students at a top Ivy and some of these students have gotten in at 65th percentile in math, and 94th in verbal, I even had one person tell me they had a 80th in verbal and 60th in math. So really, it depends on a multitude of factors.

Best

Edited October 18, 2014 by Hopeful678

[controlc]

The top-5 schools do note on their application website that they are looking for GRE scores in the 90th percentile. However, I don't know how much weight this truly holds, and I would imagine your publication record to hold much more weight than the GRE. At this point, I think your effort would be better spent on other parts of the application, rather than focusing on earning a couple more points on the GRE.

 

 

Hey,

I'm just throwing this out there, my background is in Psychology, but I went to two Ivy's so far, applying to phd's this term. However, I've done a lot of research in what it takes to get into programs, just know computer science is not my area. From the people I've talked to on admissions committees, along with professors and admissions advisers, being barely under a certain number like 90th percentile isn't going to make or break you. They are looking at the full application not 1 score. I can tell you that one number being the average means that many people get in below and above that number it’s just a baseline. The most important thing is having good letters writers, research, conferences, awards, personal statement, and decent gpa, from my experiences 3.5 neuroscience (9% acceptance) 3.7 clinical psychology (2% acceptance), average again. Besides that point, I also wanted to stress to you that I work with PhD students at a top Ivy and some of these students have gotten in at 65th percentile in math, and 94th in verbal, I even had one person tell me they had a 80th in verbal and 60th in math. So really, it depends on a multitude of factors.

Best

 

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. I think I'm going ot take it again just because I did a lot better on the practice tests.

 

Also I just got my final scores, and I'm not sure whether this holds any merit, but I got a perfect 6.0 on the writing portion. Maybe an incentive to not retake the GRE?

[Hopeful678]

You can retake and just send the writing score from your previous test if you don't get another 6.

[sisyphus1]

164 Q is fine (they don't care about V, unless it's something ridiculous like 140). This may be different from other schools but one CS professor I talked to at a top department said he pretty much ignores GRE scores and only looks at (in the following order) Research, Letters of Recs, and GPA.

 

Your 3.9 GPA in Math/CS will assuage any doubts they have about your true quantitative abilities. With two second author publications (venue will be important), I think you will have a good shot at all schools, including the top 4.

 

Best of luck!