Confused between my 2 gre scores. Which one to send ?

[Raul gonzalez]

I have just finished from my second gre exam and received the following score:

Q: 161, V: 143, AWA: bending

My first GRE score was as follow:

Q: 158, V: 148, AWA: 3.5

I feel I will receive higher AWA score in the second test (probably greater than or equal to 4)

I have already applied to the following universities for a Ph.D. Program in Electrical Engineering:

1- Columbia University, 2- University of California, San Diego, 3- University of California, Santa Barbara, 4-Univeesity of California, Davis, 5-University of Colorado, Boulder, 6-University of Arizona, 7-Arizona State University, 8- North Carolina State University, 9-Virginia Tech, 10- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

I have excellent research experience with 3 publications and my GPA is 3.5. I also have strong recommendation letters and good SOP and CV.

Please advice me on which GRE score should I report to the universities listed above. I would really appreciate your help. 

 

[avflinsch]

Send both sets, the school may just take the 'best of' for each test (I know that Rutgers does it this way). This way your stats would look like Q:161, V:148, and at least a 3.5 AMA.

[sjoh197]

If you can't send both... apply logic to which portion your degree program would value more. If it's math/hard science.... send the one with the higher Q. If it's english/social science... send the one with the higher V. If its something in between, well then, hopefully they do take both. 

[TakeruK]

I think you should send both sets, unless your pending AW score is really different (e.g. below 2 or above 5).

I don't agree that math/science programs care more about your Q score. I've heard repeatedly from faculty that, for native English speakers, the GRE V is a valuable metric. 

[sjoh197]

I agree that the V score is very useful and important in math/science... but if you are applying to a math intensive degree and have a crappy Quant score, that really doesn't look that great on you. Ideally, you can have a decent score on both. I have also spoken with faculty on this subject, and many people with math intensive interests would balk at a physics or engineering student sending in a crappier quant score.

 

Obviously sending both scores would be best, if they accept both. Not all applications allow that though. 

[TakeruK]

7 hours ago, sjoh197 said:

I agree that the V score is very useful and important in math/science... but if you are applying to a math intensive degree and have a crappy Quant score, that really doesn't look that great on you. Ideally, you can have a decent score on both. I have also spoken with faculty on this subject, and many people with math intensive interests would balk at a physics or engineering student sending in a crappier quant score.

 

Obviously sending both scores would be best, if they accept both. Not all applications allow that though. 

Definitely agree. What I meant is that if the Q score is "good enough", then a higher Q score won't mean much to the school. Here, a 161 Q vs 158 Q is ~80th percentile vs 70th percentile, both are "high enough", in my opinion for many programs. However, a higher V score, for native English speakers, does seem to carry more weight. But this is just one data point and of course there will be lots of variations between each committee and even each professor.

I'm not sure what you mean by "not all applications allow" sending both scores? I thought they just ask for the GRE score report and when you order the score report, you can choose to send one score or all scores. You'll have to send the entire set though, can't pick the best Q and V parts. But maybe my info on score reports is outdated---I sent my scores in 2011, before ScoreSelect, so every single report always contained all your scores in the last 5 years!

[sjoh197]

I know that my school allowed all reports to be sent in... but I've known other people who said that this wasn't even an option for them. Perhaps their online application navigation score wasn't high enough