Retake GRE for AW?

[kiterp]

I've been browsing through this site for a while now and everyone seems so helpful that I thought I might get some good advice.

I took the GRE in August of 2008 (Summer before junior year) and scored 740Q 640V and 3.5 AW. Throughout my prep I figured AW would be my strongest score, which was probably my first mistake since I just skipped that section of the prep book. I'm planning to apply to GSE Masters programs like Sociology and Education at TC and Cultural Studies in Education at UCLA, and I'm concerned that my AW may pose an issue with adcoms. Is it worth retaking the test to raise my writing score? I've read on the site that the writing section is generally the least important of the three, and my SoP and writing sample should demonstrate that I am capable of using English, but I don't really know. Any opinions?

[rainy_day]

If you think it will considerably raise your score and/or give you peace of mind to retake it, then I saw go for it. If you think your score will stay the same and/or it's less stressful to leave it as-is, then do so.

At least, that's my take on it.

[rising_star]

If you have to submit a writing sample, I wouldn't worry about the AW score. All the AW shows is that you can write 5-6 paragraph essay in 45 minutes.

[jrpk]

If you have to submit a writing sample, I wouldn't worry about the AW score. All the AW shows is that you can write 5-6 paragraph essay in 45 minutes.

While I agee with the above assessment of the AW, I have the same question as I encountered similar issues. I'm also applying to ed programs and I didn't prepare much for the AW because writing is the only thing remotely associated with the GRE that I've actually been exposed to in a long time (I'm a returning grad student). I'd expected a 5.5 or 6.0 and wound up with a 4.5 (which I blame on the time limits -- it's a ridiculous exercise, at the very least it would be better served by shaving a 10th of a point of your score for every minute you go over, etc rather than cut you off mid-sentence). I'm fine with my other scores, but definitely feel that the AW doesn't reflect my ability. That said, I agree the writing sample should be a clearer indicator, but I'm curious if there's a scale they cut-off at. It just seems they'd be inclined to place much more weight on writing samples, especially at those two schools (both of which I'm also considering).

J

[fuzzylogician]

I'd expected a 5.5 or 6.0 and wound up with a 4.5 (which I blame on the time limits -- it's a ridiculous exercise, at the very least it would be better served by shaving a 10th of a point of your score for every minute you go over, etc rather than cut you off mid-sentence). I'm fine with my other scores, but definitely feel that the AW doesn't reflect my ability. That said, I agree the writing sample should be a clearer indicator, but I'm curious if there's a scale they cut-off at.

I had also expected go get at least a 5.5 and ended up with a 4.5. I was set on retaking but finally convinced myself it made no difference. I had a good SOP and writing sample, and a 120/120 TOEFL which I hoped would reflect my writing skills much more than the AWA score. I ended up being accepted to all my top choices (some of the more competitive programs in my field) so I guess at least in my case, the GRE score didn't matter. I think in most cases, schools know exactly how (un)accurate the GRE writing score is, and prefer to gage people's writing in other ways - through the sop, WS and recs. Do programs in your field put GRE stats on their websites? For all my programs that did, none even bothered to post AW scores. That was a strong indication that they didn't care. Two of the higher ranked programs didn't even require GRE scores.

[jrpk]

I had also expected go get at least a 5.5 and ended up with a 4.5. I was set on retaking but finally convinced myself it made no difference. I had a good SOP and writing sample, and a 120/120 TOEFL which I hoped would reflect my writing skills much more than the AWA score. I ended up being accepted to all my top choices (some of the more competitive programs in my field) so I guess at least in my case, the GRE score didn't matter. I think in most cases, schools know exactly how (un)accurate the GRE writing score is, and prefer to gage people's writing in other ways - through the sop, WS and recs. Do programs in your field put GRE stats on their websites? For all my programs that did, none even bothered to post AW scores. That was a strong indication that they didn't care. Two of the higher ranked programs didn't even require GRE scores.

Thanks! That's really helpful.

Yes, the majority of the programs post the minimal GRE score, with the caveat that they are the only a minimum for grad school acceptance (few distinguish between MA or PhD score requirements) Of them, maybe half include the AW scores, and none have been above my score of 4.5. In fact one of the top programs makes a point to state they do not even consider the AW scores. Your point makes sense and your experience is really a help. Thanks.

[Joel418]

Don't count on a school's ability to overlook your AWA score. I had a 3.5AWA along with a strong SOP and two major publications, and had a few schools where it made a BIG difference (one told me so directly). Here's why: if the program only admits students that it can fund, and the department must submit requests for funding from a school-wide pool, GRE scores are the only "standard of comparison". So ask the schools you're applying to if this is the case, and if so, retake the test.

Best of luck!

[jrpk]

if the program only admits students that it can fund, and the department must submit requests for funding from a school-wide pool, GRE scores are the only "standard of comparison". So ask the schools you're applying to if this is the case, and if so, retake the test.

Best of luck!

More great advice. That's really good point. Thanks!

Justin