GRE quant percentile - am I being a baby?

[fuddy]

I was super proud of myself when I got a 740 on the GRE quant section and figured I'd be in the 90th percentile or so, but my score report says I'm in the 80th percentile. How is it feasible that 20% of people got above a 740? I know this is still a great score, it's just that some of the programs I'm looking at want a MINIMUM of 80th percentile and I was hoping to totally wow them. Oh well. Does this seem strange to anyone else or am I losing it?

[natofone]

Asia.

[purplepepper]

A perfect is only the 94th percentile.

You are being a baby!

[Serric]

I'd chill, man. The GRE is largely used as a cutoff, not something that will "wow" admissions committees--I'd say a 740 is perfectly fine for getting you past that initial cutoff point. To quote the oft-repeated phrase, "A bad score will keep you out, but a good score won't get you in."

[glasses]

I'd chill, man. The GRE is largely used as a cutoff, not something that will "wow" admissions committees--I'd say a 740 is perfectly fine for getting you past that initial cutoff point. To quote the oft-repeated phrase, "A bad score will keep you out, but a good score won't get you in."

This.

I studied my ass off, vocab and math, and still I ended up with a 700 verbal; a contributing factor likely was the miserable nicotine withdrawal that kicked in somewhere after the first hour had elapsed. Because I am a perfectionist who agonizes over any lapsed detail, I freaked out. It took a team of five professors, two friends, and my boyfriend to stop me from attempting a retake, but in retrospect, I'm glad I didn't. I have it on decent authority that my aggregate score and my verbal alone are sufficient to pass the threshold for the schools I'm applying to, including the top-10ers, and I don't think a higher score would have totally impressed anyone.

Not to mention, I have yet to take the subject test, which is way more important (and, still, not quite as important as the rest of the application). And I did learn a crazy important lesson: any study regimen I undertake from now till the end of time (read: when I quit smoking) has to involve regular practice tests taken while using nicotine patches. Cold turkey is not fun, folks.