Total GRE Score?

[jhefflol]

I'm curious about the total GRE score that some schools require for a minimum for admission consideration. I've seen some schools ask for a 300 minimum score. I did absolutely terrible on the math portion, so I'm hoping the AW score is added in to this. Is that the case, or is it just Quant + Verbal?

[unræd]

My understanding is that that number is just made up of the quant and verbal scores, and that for all but the tippy-top schools, it's generally an admissions policy of graduate schools, not the English departments themselves, who care much more about the verbal than the combined score. I've heard vague rumors of departments going to bat with the administration for applicants they're keen on who don't have the threshold scores, but fellowship/funding decisions are often score-based, since that's an easier tool for departments to use to communicate applicants' strength to the grad school.

[Dr. Old Bill]

Yeah, from what I've read on GC and elsewhere, it seems like the AW score isn't factored in to the total. Complicating matters is that most programs don't overtly mention cutoffs. SUNY Buffalo posts 313 as the funding cutoff, but few other schools do the same. 310 or 300 are (admittedly apocryphal) scores to shoot for, and even those are typically (again, apocryphally) stipulations for certain state schools.

 

I'd suggest that if your combined V and Q scores are below 300, and/or if your V score is below 160, you should retake it while there's still time.

[jhefflol]

Ugh, okay. I was hoping to avoid retaking it since my V score was where I wanted it to be, but since my Q score was so low, I'm 2 points shy from 300. Thanks everyone!

[Dr. Old Bill]

It's pricey, but I'd say it's worth a retake. Others might completely disagree though. My total score is 310 (yep, I suck at math too!), and even though it should be a "safe" score, I occasionally consider retaking it.

[jhefflol]

Yeah I'm getting some mixed info about this. I just talked to someone that I know who just started his PhD, and he had the exact same score as I did and he got in to his top choice, top tier schools. Apparently he knows others who got the same score with admission offers as well (one is at UCB. Mind blown). I'm going to speak with my recommenders as well and see where to go from here. I'd hate to pay the $200 just for two Q points, when my V and AW are perfectly fine. 

 

I appreciate all of the feedback!

[jhefflol]

It's pricey, but I'd say it's worth a retake. Others might completely disagree though. My total score is 310 (yep, I suck at math too!), and even though it should be a "safe" score, I occasionally consider retaking it.

 

I wish for English we could opt out of the math portion. That would be nice.

[1Q84]

Checking in as fellow math sucker: I wear my 15th percentile badge with a strange sense of pride.

Edited November 5, 2014 by 1Q84

[smg]

The Quant destroyed me too.