embarrassing GRE score...

[jzhan118]

Hey guys, I took the GRE general test a couple of months ago, and got 160 on verbal and 167 on quantitive. Since I am an international student and hadn't taken any writing class by the time of the test, I got a pretty bad score, 3.0 on writing...  I am applying for the neuroscience phd program, I was wondering if the universities would really care about this because I am not applying for something like literature. Do I need to retake the test? I am applying for 2016 fall. Thanks! 

[lab ratta-tat-tat]

Your definition of "embarrassing" is very skewed. 

Edited January 5, 2015 by lab ratta-tat-tat

[jzhan118]

Your definition of "embarrassing" is very skewed. 

By embarrassing I mean pretty uneven. If I got an overall low score then I would definitely retake it. Most of the people I know don't really care about writing and tried to persuade me not to spend that extra 185 dollars... 

Edited January 5, 2015 by jzhan118

[hreaðemus]

I was wondering if the universities would really care about this because I am not applying for something like literature. Do I need to retake the test? I am applying for 2016 fall. Thanks! 

 

I think that with a 3.0 writing score you will need to show that you can, in fact, write well enough to produce papers in academia. Clearly you're an intelligent person, but you'll need to be able to express that professionally in the language of the institution you attend (which in the U.S. will be English, obviously). If your application materials are well-written and intelligent - if you come across as a fluent English-speaker - and your TOEFL or other international test requirements are met, I'm sure you'll have a good chance at acceptance! That said, you may want look at such a low writing score as highlighting an area where you need to improve, regardless of whether you're accepted or not... 

[drownsoda]

Since you're applying to neuroscience programs, I wouldn't freak over this. It's doubtful that most programs would hold your writing score against you, especially since your other scores were solid. Obviously a 3 is not the best score you can get, but it shows that you're capable of academic writing, and that's probably enough.

 

I scored a 159 on the verbal and a 5 on the analytical writing, but I tanked the quantitative with a 143— that said, I'm an English major, so it's not likely that most English programs will hold my bad math skills against me.

 

If you were applying to English or humanities programs, then a 3 on the writing would be rather low, but for a science major, I think they will be looking more at your mathematical capability over your writing. That's not to say that writing doesn't matter, as you're obviously going to have to have writing skills in any graduate program, but in neuroscience my presumption would be that quantitative reigns; which, you got a near perfect score on it, so good job! Seriously, thank God there are math-literate people in this world. I'm not one of them.

[lab ratta-tat-tat]

The Q and V scores are not bad, the writing score isn't great but I do know neuroscience students who got in with lower Q and V scores than you have and higher Writing scores. I think if your writing in your statement appears as intelligent as your verbal scores they may just look at it as a fluke with the writing score. 

While you are required to write in graduate school, they don't expect you to come in knowing exactly how to write a research paper or a grant, that is what their mentorship and program is for. 

 

Those are really good scores and not embarrassing by any means. 

Good luck!

[Applemiu]

Hey guys, I took the GRE general test a couple of months ago, and got 160 on verbal and 167 on quantitive. Since I am an international student and hadn't taken any writing class by the time of the test, I got a pretty bad score, 3.0 on writing...  I am applying for the neuroscience phd program, I was wondering if the universities would really care about this because I am not applying for something like literature. Do I need to retake the test? I am applying for 2016 fall. Thanks! 

 

I would suggest to retake the GRE (I am an international student myself). Your quant and verbal score are awesome, so I think it is worth it to retake, get a better AWA, and make your GRE score a true asset to your application. While it is true that you are applying to a scientific program, there are two issues that concern me. The first one is that the low AWA will distract from your other scores. The second one is that, if admitted, you will need not only to write papers, but also to work as TA and therefore to grade other students' papers (the vast majority of them American). If you were applying to a math program then a 3.0 would not matter, but in neuroscience there still is a lot of writing. So why taking the risk? Get a book on how to write a "five paragraph essay". I wrote a very simple essay and I got a 4.0 (not a great score itself). Good luck! 

[janaca]

Yes, I agree that you should retake if you think you can improve your AWA score. I once had a science professor tell me that in his department, the primary purpose of the AWA section was to weed out international applicants who might not be fluent enough to teach. It sounds like you are very fluent in English, based on your high verbal score, so I would just study a little and retake. Maybe look at some of the sample prompts on the ETS website and, if you can, try using their scoring service for your practice essays? (I forget what the service is called, but basically, you pay a few dollars and they grade a couple of practice essays for you....) 

[Applemiu]

I sent you a PM.