I.....don't know what to think

[northlandz]

V570 Q580

I want to pursue a PhD in either Sociology (my undergrad major) or History. Obviously I am below the cursed "1200 line". Most SOC and HIST programs seem to put a greater emphasis on Verbal, and a 570 places me around the 80th percentile--not bad but not stellar.

Any advice on retaking this cursed exam would be greatly appreciated.

[JohnBom]

I would first decide whether you want to do sociology or history. You might be surprised to hear that many sociology programs require pretty high math score. I think that history people care quite a bit less about the quant. If you want to do sociology, I would advise you try to raise both.

[socialcomm]

Do you have the time and drive to study for and take it again? If so, go for it!

[captiv8ed]

If it makes you feel better, I got a 600 V and a 590 Q (on my second try, my first Q was much worse) and I am applying to sociology programs.

[jacib]

I teach the SAT and the GMAT and the GRE and the verbal section is ALL about vocabulary. Try to find a good list of words (princeton review had a good list of like 293 words for the SAT that was really good). Don't remember what supercilious means, remember that supercilious means vainglorious means cavalier means haughty means insolent. There are shades of difference between all of them, but that doesn't matter. Remember that they all mean "bold (-)/ arrogant" and that "meek/humble" group is probably going to be their opposite. I have my students, especially the female ones, cut up the different sections of the list and put them around their room so they can passively study while they're looking in the mirror, picking out an outfit etc. and associate all the words on the list together and with a specific place. With some time and a thesaurus you can probably make your own lists like that. That's the best way to learn words fast. If you have more time, (like a year), check out the damn near comprehensive barron's list. Barron's is also really good because it give you all the possible relationships in the analogies section.

Math... work on timing and short cuts, I guess.