Terrible Quantitative, am I screwed?

[TwistedRiddles]

I'm an English Major and I'm applying to grad programs for next fall. Taking the GRE was one of the most stressful things I've ever done. It had me in a terrible state for weeks and I don't want to have to do it again. I was mainly concerned about my Verbal score because I didn't feel I was going to do as well as I should so I kind of neglected the quantitative section and, as a result, my quantitative is very very low. My final scores were 610 for Verbal and 380 for Quantitative. I know there are professors teaching at my school who did worse on the quantitative but that was like twenty years ago. I'm suddenly very scared that I just killed my chances of getting into grad school. I cannot afford not to be in grad school with an assistantship next year.

The rest of my application will be good. I have a 3.95 GPA in my Major and a 3.9 overall GPA. I've taken about 105 credits in English courses and I have an excellent writing sample and will write a great SOP, I'm sure. I also have letters of recommendation from professors who I know really like me and know me well. I'm very worried that my low quantitative score is going to ruin that, though. I know people say that the quantitative doesn't matter much in an English program but no one has said it doesn't matter at all and I'm starting to really freak myself out because I'm afraid a school will look at that terrible score and throw out my application. Anyway, does anyone have any advice or consolation?

[pea-jay]

English programs are probably the least likely to place emphasis on the quantitative. But I would suggest a retake to (1) further boost your verbal score (2) try and improve on the math and (3) get the overall score over 1000.

[JohnBom]

English programs are probably the least likely to place emphasis on the quantitative. But I would suggest a retake to (1) further boost your verbal score (2) try and improve on the math and (3) get the overall score over 1000.

I agree with poster above. I would retake it. Not because of the quantitative, which seems to matter little in English, but for the verbal. I think it is expected that you get closer to 700V as a prospective professor of English.

If you want to boost your quantitative score quickly, I would recommend taking a course. The instructors can show you simple tricks that make your score jump.

[cheesethunder]

i'd say just do math questions in the kaplan prep book over and over and over again

they ask the same math questions over and over so as long as you get the concept you should be able to solve it okay

i got 50 in math every year in high school i am mathematically incompetent

but i got my math score from a 430 to a 540 for my real test (which isn't good compared to most people!)

haha but the kaplan 200 most used......words in flashcard form are really useful for verbal! in a month i boosted my verbal score from a 440 to a 540! yay

[TwistedRiddles]

I don't test well on standardized tests in general. So 610 is actually a really good score for me on the verbal. It's 70 higher than I was getting in practice exams. And retaking the test is something I want to avoid unless I absolutely have to. The stress that I went through in order to take it was so paralyzing that I'm afraid if I have to do it again I may get seriously ill. If I absolutely have to take it again then I will, but if I can manage to get into a program and get an assistantship without retaking it then I really want to avoid it. My main question, though, was whether people thought my math score would hurt my chances of getting into an English program.

[socialcomm]

I'm sorry you had such a trying time with the exam -- it certainly is a nerve-racking experience. However, with a 380, I really think you should try to retake it. PP gave good ideas about studying -- courses/books/practice problems. It also might be a good exercise to figure out WHY it's causing you such distress that you think you'll get ill. Learning to control stress/anxiety will be good for graduate school!

[TwistedRiddles]

I actually talked to a few professors in my department today, and one who was head of graduate studies in the department and the general consensus is that schools will not care about my quantitative. The professor who was head of graduate studies actually said it doesn't matter at all to anybody. I'll never use math in my field and they don't care about getting well-rounded applicants. They care about my verbal and my SOP and WS and letters. So I can relax now and not worry about taking it again.

[jlee306]

I actually talked to a few professors in my department today, and one who was head of graduate studies in the department and the general consensus is that schools will not care about my quantitative. The professor who was head of graduate studies actually said it doesn't matter at all to anybody. I'll never use math in my field and they don't care about getting well-rounded applicants. They care about my verbal and my SOP and WS and letters. So I can relax now and not worry about taking it again.

That's lucky!! My programs have a required 500 verbal and 500 quant score. I wish my programs only looked at one side so I had only one thing to focus on!

[hamlet]

I would suggest you look at the program pages of the schools you are applying. but it is true that most of English programs will not even look at your math score. So, I wouldn't retake GRE just for math, which is useless at this point for an English student. Also I don't think your gre verbal score is low. I think it is quite normal, and will not be a problem for you. If I were you, I wouldn't think abouy GRE anymore. I beleive you are good at this point. good luck.