How do these GRE scores compare?

[Harvey]

I've taken the GRE twice in the past two months, most recently this past weekend.

My first set of scores were 540 in verbal, 680 in quantitative, and 5.0 in writing. The second time I took the test, both my verbal (590) and quantitative (740) scores improved, although they could be higher, and I expect my writing score will be in the same ballpark.

At risk of sounding like every other poster who comes into this forum, are these scores good enough? How important are these scores in program acceptance, anyway? To fill in the details, I'm looking at programs in film studies, the schools I am looking at being:

USC

University of Texas at Austin (I have my eye on a dual Masters program in Public Policy here)

University of Wisconsin at Madison

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.

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NYU

Columbia University (doesn't require GRE scores; I was wait-listed to this program last year)

UCLA

UC San Diego

UC Berkeley

[alexis]

I have really similar scores compared with your second set--600 verbal, 730 quant, 5.0 writing. To be honest I feel pretty comfortable with these scores since I'm about in the top 20% of test takers, though after reading how well some people do on these forums, it makes me feel a little less confident.

I'm applying to completely different types of programs & schools, but I feel like the rest of my application is strong and I should at least be competitive. Any cutoffs I've seen are 1100 or 1200-ish, and we're over the 1300 mark, which I think is probably the highest unofficial cutoff I would think a school could have. Even one ivy league school (and top program) I'm looking at has average acceptance of verbal- 616, quant- 780-ish (and that includes accounting/finance phd folks who have to be super good in math). So, I'm below average there, but above average for the second-tier schools. I imagine you're probably in the same boat, though I don't know anything about your field of study.

Like everyone seems to say on this forum, GRE scores don't matter *that* much. You don't have low scores that would hurt you or send a red flag. When I told my advisor that I had a combined score of 1330, he was impressed and felt as though that score was plenty good for PhD apps. (Granted, I go to an R2 school for my master's, but still in a good program & I feel he knows what he's talking about.) Perhaps, yes, they aren't super-high scores either, so maybe they won't help at the top-rated programs, but if the rest of your app is strong, that's what is going to matter.

[jlee306]

I wish I could get my scores that high!! I have taken the test twice now and have studied and studied and I'm not getting the payoff. I don't know what I am doing wrong. While I'm taking the test, I feel like I am doing sooooo well and then I get my scores and almost have a stroke! I HATE THE GRE!!!!!!

[Harvey]

I wish I could get my scores that high!! I have taken the test twice now and have studied and studied and I'm not getting the payoff. I don't know what I am doing wrong. While I'm taking the test, I feel like I am doing sooooo well and then I get my scores and almost have a stroke! I HATE THE GRE!!!!!!

It's weird. Both times I've taken the test, especially this last time, I've just felt awful about it during the test. I feel like I'm taking too long on some questions and guessing on far too many. And then the results pop up, and are rather good. I've never had that level of dissonance between how I felt I was doing on a test and how I actually did. I suppose it is possible that the immediacy of the results has some effect on me. Still, it's weird, and truer words than I HATE THE GRE could not be written by this poster.

I'm happy to hear that these results are acceptable, because I really need to move forward on the rest of the application process (and I really need to put this test behind me).

jlee306, how have you been studying for the test? I had a practice booklet for the math section (the Princeton Review, IIRC), self-made flashcards for the vocabulary (culled from an online source), and beyond that, I just took as many practice tests (or practice questions) as I could get my hands on. That seemed to work for me.

[jlee306]

jlee306, how have you been studying for the test? I had a practice booklet for the math section (the Princeton Review, IIRC), self-made flashcards for the vocabulary (culled from an online source), and beyond that, I just took as many practice tests (or practice questions) as I could get my hands on. That seemed to work for me.

I studied all summer long for the GRE using a Princeton Review book and made 1,000 flashcards and memorized all of them. I used PowerPrep and the online practice that came with the book. Then I took the GRE at the end of August the first time and thought I was doing great on the verbal and poorly on the math. However, my scores reflected just the opposite...good math score, bad verbal. Then I began studying again and I also took a free GRE crash course. This time around (took test yesterday) I thought I was doing great on both parts. All the words were words I had memorized and knew and for all of the math questions, I was solving them on paper and my answer was always present on the screen. But I did awful on both sections. I just don't get it!!

On a slightly happier note, the director of the program I am most interest in just told me that they consider everyone who turns in a completed application and that some of their best students this year didn't even make their GRE preference score. Another school I am interested in doesn't even require the GRE...so I guess there is still hope!