Low quant blues

[honeydewthis]

Hi everyone. Feeling pretty discouraged right now & could use a chance to vent.

Yesterday I took the GRE. Despite relearning math from scratch, months of studying w magoosh & taking 2 practice tests, the timed conditions got to me and whole test turned into a incomhrehensible jargon-filled nightmare. I'm bitterly disappointed with my quant score and resent all the time I put into learning math & the nuances of the gre. I didn't expect to do great, but I wanted to least get the 150. I got a 149.

More than anything, I'm disappointed I didn't meet my own goal but I'm also concerned that this score will hurt my chances. However, I have seen many people on the admission results section get accepted with similar scores.

Am I being overdramatic here? Is a low quant score really that much of a barrier? What have y'all heard from schools besides what's on edfind? 

It it would be nice to have a frank discussion because I know a lot of people are in the same boat & this subject seems to be shrouded in mystery.

[YaketyYak]

I think it depends on the programs that you are applying to as well as how high your verbal and analytical writing scores are. From my understanding, all the schools that I applied to didn't really focus that much on the quantitative scores as long as you meet the school's minimum GRE requirements. I had a higher verbal score and a really low quantitative and every admissions person I talked to said it didn't matter very much. Hope this helps and isn't too confusing. I'm cutting down my coffee intake which apparently makes me ramble haha!

[Kanga]

Unfortunately, no one really knows the answer. But, I will say that a 149 isn't horrible. Not strong, but a lot of people post here with lower scores.I think there are a couple of of things to consider....

1. How strong is your verbal score? A stronger verbal score seems to be more important. It seems that a total score of 300 matters to some schools, and for more competitive schools it may be more like 310.

2. How are your scores in relationship to the average range of previously accepted students? In other words, the more your scores fall in the middle to upper end of the range, I would imagine the better.

3. What is your GPA like?  A better GPA shows skills over time. Is it in range, above or below?

4. What is the acceptance rate of the schools you are applying to? I think that this factor is often underestimated.  Here are three examples, with info current from EdFind as of today. You can see that a 149 quantitative score is in the range of all of these schools. But, TCU accepted 6%, Dallas 18% and North Dakota 33%.

Texas Christian University:

GRE:  Verbal reasoning: 143 - 155    Quantitative reasoning: 145 - 158          Analytical writing: 4.0 - 5.5

GPA:  3.5 - 4.0

Number of Applications Received:  310             Number of Admission Offers:  20  (6%)

 

University Texas Dallas

GRE:    Verbal reasoning: 139-170          Quantitative reasoning: 141-161

GPA:   2.30-4.00

Number of Applications Received:  854       Number of Admission Offers:  157  (18%)

 

U of North Dakota

GRE:    Verbal reasoning: 140-161     Quantitative reasoning: 141-155    Analytical writing: 3.50-5.00

GPA:  3.20-4.00

Number of Applications Received:  151       Number of Admission Offers: 50  (33%)

 

I strongly urge you to look on the websites of schools you are applying to (some post info) or on Edfind. Look at all three factors: GPA, GRE and acceptance rates.