Are my GRE scores good enough for Humanities programs?

[Hecate]

Hi all,

I just got back from taking the GRE and I'm not really sure how I feel about it. My unofficial score is 162 V, 151 Q.

I was shooting for a 165 Verbal and 155 Quantitative, as it was pretty much my average on every practice test I've taken. I'm a little disappointed with my 162 but, objectively, I think it is a good score. I wasn't expecting much as far as my Quantitative score. I'm not good with Maths but I worked really hard and managed to grasp a lot of the basics, but the time limit gets me every time... I had to guess on a lot of questions that I could have answered correctly with a bit more time. :/

I will be applying to a range of American Studies/Cultural Studies programs at top schools, mostly 10-100 schools and two "top ten" schools. I've been looking through the Magoosh GRE blog, and my Verbal score is just fine, but apparently top ten schools want you to have at least 153 on your Quant section, which I'm shy off by just 2 points. I'm not really sure if I should trust this data completely though, and I'm hoping that Quant doesn't matter that much for American Studies. I've looked for additional sources online, but norms for American Studies are extremely difficult to find, as it is such an interdisciplinary program. No school I'm applying to is giving any information on minimum scores, but most say that there's no minimum score required. Not sure how much to trust that either.

I also got a 116/120 on the TOEFL, which I'm hoping will further attest to my verbal ability (even though I know it is a completely different approach, and nearly not as hard as the GRE Verbal Section). Not sure how relevant that is, but it might save my application from ending up on the "not good enough" pile based solely on test scores.

Should I retake it or are my scores okay as they are? I'm not sure what to do. I'm a little worried over my Quant score but I'm not positive that I could get a much better score if I took it again. And I can't exactly afford the money, and especially not the time, to take it again. I was hoping to dedicate all of my time to other aspects of my application starting tomorrow.

In any case, whether or not I retake it may largely depend on how well I did on the AW. If my score there is also bad, I will retake it. I think I did all right but I honestly have no idea.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

Edited August 31, 2015 by Hecate

[NeuroBatman]

I would say that it depends on the other components of your application.  My guess would be that most humanities programs are not going to weigh your quant score very much and 162 verbal is pretty darn good.  What is your GPA?  If you submit a stellar writing sample and personal statement, have a solid undergrad GPA, and your letter writers say good things about you, you should have a pretty good chance of getting in.  I am in the same boat as you, applying to graduate programs (albeit in cognitive science rather than the humanities), but I spoke to my wife's boss the other day, who used to serve on an admissions committee, and he told me that the golden ticket to getting into a good program is a publication.  What he told me is this: if you can get a prof at your school to support you in submitting a paper for publication, even if it doesn't get accepted, it will look great on your application.  I totally understand where you are coming from, having scored a 155 Q and 162 V (cog sci programs typically want to see around 158 Q, 158 V).  But everyone I've talked to says the same thing: bolster the other parts of your application rather than wasting time studying to retake the GRE.  I think this is especially true of your circumstance, given that you are only 2 points off.  Another thing that will help you immensely is writing to potential graduate advisers and selling yourself.  As my admissions guy told me, if you have a faculty member advocating for you when the admissions committee is looking over apps, you are much more likely to be accepted.  Here is a good link explaining how to write to potential advisers:  http://theprofessorisin.com/2011/07/25/how-to-write-an-email-to-a-potential-ph-d-advisor/  

I hope this helps.  Good luck--'may the force be with you.' 

[Hecate]

Thank you very much, that does help a lot! I've also stalked the Internet and found out that many people in the Humanities also have weak Quant scores - and got into top programs regardless- so I feel a little better about my own scores.

My GPA in my MA is good so far, 3.85 I believe. If I keep this up this year I should be just fine. I did an interdisciplinary program for my Undergrad and had excellent grades in all subjects that matter most for American Studies (overall GPA is really good as well, I do have a couple embarrassing grades but they didn't really affect my overall GPA - can't give any real numbers since I did it in France and the conversion is a little confusing, but I was in the top 10 to 5% of a very large class - I'll have to have my transcripts translated, that's on my to do list, although I don't think my grades need to be converted, adcoms understand our grading system. Well, hopefully they do because it's a lot more severe than US/Canada, and a lesser number is actually an amazing grade - sorry, rambling). I'm not overly worried about my grades, that part should be okay.

I'm a little worried that I may not be able to swing publication, but that is very good advice and I will try! I am lucky to have amazing teachers with whom I have built good relationships, and I know they will want to help me any way that they can. I will be meeting with them to discuss all of this in the next couple weeks when school starts up again.

That link is great. I can't believe some people actually write things like "Hi please help me. Thanks, bye" to professors. I would never think of doing that, but it's helpful to have a template nonetheless. I was a little shy about writing professors, but I actually wrote a Department head the other day because I thought I may want to apply to 2 fairly similar PhD programs at the same school and I wanted to make sure that this wouldn't be deemed inconsistent by admissions. She replied straight away and was really nice and helpful and urged me to apply to both programs. She was pleased that I had researched both programs thoroughly and was asking "the right questions". So that really boosted my confidence and I think I will definitely be writing to some of my POI's in the next month!

Thanks so much for all your help and best of luck to you!

[NeuroBatman]

Well, the good thing about writing to PI's is that you don't have to talk to them face to face right away.  So, I would encourage you not to sweat it too much.  Almost everyone I've written to has been kind and punctual.  Plus, like my undergrad adviser said, "if a professor sees something they like about you, they will want to snatch you up before other programs get you."  I actually obtained a research assistant position at Dartmouth after reaching out through email, which I NEVER would have expected.  In all honesty, I wrote to that particular professor thinking it would be a long shot for him to even get back to me, but lo and behold, not only did he get back to me, but after a brief Skype interview, he offered me a position.  The moral of the story: you never know what will happen until you put yourself out there.  

[Hecate]

Oh wow, that's amazing, good for you!  You're absolutely right. I figure, as long as I'm not being rude or harassing anybody, I have nothing to lose by writing to POI's. And I suppose that if they don't want to write me back, well then they won't, and no harm done. I will most definitely reach out to some professors as soon as possible.

[Hecate]

I just got my scores back and only got a 4.0 in AW. I'm super disappointed in myself and I don't know what to do...  

So my final scores are 162V, 151Q, 4.0 AW. Is it a bit naive to hope that I can still get into a top program? Is the fact that English is a second language going to somewhat "excuse" this poor score in AW? I can write papers in flawless, beautiful English. But I do make little mistakes when I don't have sufficient time to check and re-read.

I'm very confused. Should I retake the test? Problem is, I did pick 4 schools on test day and they are gonna see those scores either way. I'm really worried and would love some opinions on this. Thank you very much.

[stillalivetui]

I think you're putting too much weight on the significance of the GRE, as justinhayes stated, focus on other parts of the application, which are much more decisive in admission than the GRE. 

Sure, your AW could be better, but they're going to read and pay much more attention your SOP and writing sample. That's where they'll gauge your writing ability, not on the GRE.

[Hecate]

Thank you! You're absolutely right, I know that. I'm very prone to freaking out - and turning to Grad Café with my doubts before doing proper research. Sorry about that, I just panicked a little bit after seeing my score. After doing some research though, my understanding is that the AW is not that big of a deal, and that a poor score can be offset by an excellent TOEFL score for international applicants. I do have an excellent TOEFL score and a very good Verbal score, so I will try to relax about this and instead focus on the more important parts of my application.