Minimum Requirements

[throwaway1213]

Wanted some advice regarding my GRE. My favorite program's dept. website lists a minimum for the V&Q sections, and while I am above the V threshold by 4, I am below the Q by just 1 point.

Background: I have an <3.0 cum GPA but a ~3.2 GPA for my last 2 years of study + some solid research + REU experience, a couple publications, and what I believe will be several strong letters from well-known faculty in my field.

I don't want to take it again as I've already taken it twice so far, but I wanted to see some opinions as I'm really fearing being denied admission at my favorite school. In other words, how harsh are schools generally with "minimum" GRE scores? I haven't contacted anyone in the department as I don't want to come across as desperate, but I'm open to suggestions. 

[fuzzylogician]

I think you have to contact the program and ask. Generally, some programs have strict cutoffs, but many others will make exceptions for otherwise suitable candidates. However, some schools have university-wide minimum requirements that all admitted graduate students must meet. These are dictated by the university, and are independent of what the program might want. If you are below the cutoffs, the program may be able to argue for an exception on your behalf. If that is the case, it is possible that the fact that both your GRE and your GPA might be below the cutoffs (where i am obviously guessing at a possible cutoff and have no concrete knowledge of one) will cause the program trouble and might make you ineligible for an exception, whereas if there was only one thing wrong then it would be easier. Mind you, this is a complete guess, none of us can know. It's also entirely possible that you'll be just fine. Only the program has the kind of knowledge that is required here, and all we can do is guess.

[throwaway1213]

Thanks for the reply. Assuming both my GRE and GPA are above the university-wide cutoff and my GPA is above the department-specific cutoff, the GRE would be the only thing holding me back as per the department-specific cutoff. I'm really hoping I'm not screwed.