Can I get in with this GRE Verbal?

[tskinner]

I just got back from my GRE test and got the following score. The percentiles are taken from Wikipedia...I won't get the actual numbers until later:

V: 600 (85%)

Q: 780 (90%)

I am pretty sure I'll get a 6.0 on the AWA (I did when I took the GMAT, and I know that my essays were good).

My other stats are:

Concurrent Degrees:

BA International Affairs and Commerce

BS Applied Economics

GPA: 3.6 (with a strong upward trend )

Study Abroad in Japan for a Semester

Nothing less than an A in all of my ECON courses.

Will have taken all three calculus courses offered (I've gotten an A in calc 1 and probably will in calc 2 too)

My school is a small private known pretty well in IR (University of the Pacific: School of Int'l Studies) but isn't the most prestigious institution.

My advisors are telling me to apply to the top programs (Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, UCSD, UCLA). They think I can get in, but now I'm worried about my Verbal score. Should I cram and take the GRE again, or is my time better spent focusing on my SOP?

[cogneuroforfun]

Focus on your SOP.

[cckrspnl56]

Can you get in what?

[natofone]

I wouldn't worry about it. The math is the most important part and you did great on it.

[readeatsleep]

really? math is more important than verbal? i kind of doubt it. maybe if you are going into quantitative analysis, but i think verbal is at least equally important.

...or am i wrong?

[Penelope Higgins]

Both GRE scores matter, but the cutoff (at a top 10 ish department) for using the GRE to weed out applications is higher for math (700ish) than for verbal (600ish) So the OP is above the bar on both fronts, and a higher math score can - in most places - make up for a lower verbal score more easily than vice versa.

[natofone]

The math is definitely more important than the verbal almost everywhere. I talked with a few profs at my MA institution (good theory/qualitative place - weak quant) and they all said that when they are on adcoms, the math is really what they're looking at when it comes to the GRE. You met the minimum cutoff and your verbal score isn't low enough to raise any flags.

[tskinner]

Thanks for all the advice! Sorry I didn't post that I was looking for programs in International and Comparative Politics with a focus on conflict and security. I'll be working on my SOP this weekend, and I'll probably share it here for some more feedback!

[polisciphd]

Your scores are solid, focus energy on other parts of your application.

[Ziz]

really? math is more important than verbal? i kind of doubt it. maybe if you are going into quantitative analysis, but i think verbal is at least equally important.

...or am i wrong?

I'm hoping that maybe us theorists are exempt! :S Mine was far from terrible (720) but it's also not a tip top score.

[Penelope Higgins]

Ziz, a 720 is quite a solid score. And it is less of an issue at the non-US schools you list. I wouldn't lose sleep over the GREs if I were you.

I'm hoping that maybe us theorists are exempt! :S Mine was far from terrible (720) but it's also not a tip top score.