Is my verbal simply too low?

[dm141]

I just took my GREs this evening and am quite disappointed. I got a 760 Q and a 460 V, and I would assume a 5 or so on the AW. I did better on virtually every one of my practice tests on verbal, (I was averaging around a 520 and scored as high as 600) but I totally bombed it today and have no time to re-take the test (application is due November 1st). I know that the GREs are pretty much pass/fail and that the other components of my application are more important, but is my verbal simply too low to be considered? Here is a rough overview of my situation:

Program Applying for: MS in Scientific Computing -- NYU

Education: BA in Statistics (minor in Math) from Hunter College with a 3.83 GPA (3.95 professional). I've transferred a few times due to personal reasons but have never had a cuml GPA below 3.8 or a professional GPA below 3.95 at any of them.

GRE: 760 Q, 460 V

Research: I was a research assistant to a social work professor and am currently collaborating on a publication but it will not be ready by the time of my application. I was also a research assistant as part of a summer internship for the national center of education statistics but no publications.

Work: For the last 9 months I have worked at NYU in a studio that provides statistical support to researchers across the campus (both student and faculty). Patrons are typically from more qualitative backgrounds seeking lower level assistance but I have been involved with a few bigger projects as well. I also have a little statistical article submitted for publication for their next issue of Connect (the school's ITS-supported magazine). I will stay a full-time employee if accepted and be a part time student.

Recommendations: They should be solid. I used most of them for my position at NYU and HR raved about them after I was hired, and the other is from my supervisor at NYU who fully supports me.

Overall I feel like may have an upper-hand on some applicants because I am only applying to be a part-time student with no funding (I get tuition remission) and because if I am enrolled in the program it will have a direct effect on NYU's research community due to my job (ie: it's basically career development), however it is hard not to be skeptical. Clearly my GRE verbal score is my biggest concern so I hoping that someone may be able to shed some light on how low a native english speaker can get away with.

Thanks!

[cheesethunder]

well i had a 440 v and 580q and im retaking it for the verbal, i wanted it to be at least mid to high 500s. when i talked to my gre prep teacher he said anything in the 400s is bad, 500s are average and 600 and up are competitive. guess it just depends on how compeittive you want to be but if you have the oppurtunity to bring it up then why not

[fuzzylogician]

I know this is much easier said than done, but if you can't retake the GRE there's no real point in worrying about your current scores.

Since you're at NYU now, couldn't you talk with someone in the program and try to find out if there's an (un)official cutoff score? I would think, though, that since a) your overall score is good, you're applying for an unfunded MS and c) (I assume) the Q part is more important than the V in your field -- that you should do ok.

[svm]

A 460 verbal is 49th percentile. Considering your field, I wouldn't worry about it at all.

[dm141]

Hey guys, thanks for you input.

cheesethunder:

Well I can't really re-take them in time for them to get the scores for the Spring semester. I'm sure that if I do not get in this semester that I will retake them in time for a fall application, but I am hoping that it will not be necessary. However since the program is math/computer science I know that they are not looking verbal scores that high; something in 500s would certainly suffice as long as quant is in the mid-to-high 700s.

fuzzy:

I know that I shouldn't worry about anything because I basically can't do anything about it, but I was just hoping to find out if anyone knew of some unmentioned cut-off. I know they want a high quant (above 750) and don't need that high of a verbal score, but I mine is embarrassingly low so I don't know where the cut-off actually stands for it. I also manage a few grad students and the one who is in courant said that quantitative is really all that matters but he didn't tell me what he actually got on his verbal. I pretty skeptical that a student would know if admission had an unmentioned cut-off though.

svm:

I hope so! Do you know of any native english speakers who have been accepted to top program(s) (specifically NYU) with a verbal score that low? I know it's possible, but I was hoping to get some reassurance that it won't be the thing that breaks me.

[svm]

Unfortunately, I don't.