just had a GRE general test scoring 154v and 158q.. need some advice

[hmss9245]

Is my score of 154 verbal and 158 quantitive too low to apply for a comparative literature phd program? If I can still apply, is there any suggestions? Must I apply for 100+ ranking schools?

 

Thanks

[GREMasterEMPOWERRichC]

Hi hmss9245,

PhD Programs tend to be highly competitive - since there are so few available 'spots', every aspect of each application is given serious consideration. Whether your GRE score is competitive for the Programs that you plan to apply to or not depends on the specific Programs themselves. You should be able to contact each Program/Department directly and ask questions though (including what type of GRE score is 'expected' from applicants), so I suggest that you start there. If you find that you need to improve your GRE score, then you should post back here and we talk through your studies going forward.

GRE Masters aren't born, they're made,

Rich

[hmss9245]

Oh thanks for the advice! I already registered for another test in October, paper delivered. Hope it'll be better!

[GREMasterEMPOWERRichC]

Hi hmss9245,

Since you've already registered to retake the GRE, you can use the next couple of months to study and improve. Before we talk about how best to do that, I'd like to know a bit more about how you studied the first time:

1) How long did you study?

2) What practice materials did you use?

3) Do you have a specific goal score?

GRE Masters aren't born, they're made,

Rich

[hmss9245]

On 8 August 2016 at 4:14 AM, EMPOWERgreRichC said:

Hi hmss9245,

Since you've already registered to retake the GRE, you can use the next couple of months to study and improve. Before we talk about how best to do that, I'd like to know a bit more about how you studied the first time:

1) How long did you study?

2) What practice materials did you use?

3) Do you have a specific goal score?

GRE Masters aren't born, they're made,

Rich

Hi, I studied two months, used one month magoosh, and another month the GRE official guide. My goal score for verbal is 158 or above... but only got it one time for preparation test, and the other time I got it 155. So 154 is like my worst score...

[GREMasterEMPOWERRichC]

Hi hmss9245,

Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so it's likely that you just have not put in enough time and effort yet. That having been said, there's still some question as to how high a GRE score you actually need for the PhD Programs that you're considering. Have you done any additional research to try to define what type of GRE score would be considered 'competitive?'

GRE Masters aren't born, they're made,

Rich

[hmss9245]

On 8/15/2016 at 7:29 PM, EMPOWERgreRichC said:

Hi hmss9245,

Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so it's likely that you just have not put in enough time and effort yet. That having been said, there's still some question as to how high a GRE score you actually need for the PhD Programs that you're considering. Have you done any additional research to try to define what type of GRE score would be considered 'competitive?'

GRE Masters aren't born, they're made,

Rich

Hi again, yes I've checked, and found their average GRE scores for the admitted applicants are around 160-161 verbal.. so the goal of 158 seems still not enough. But is it so big a difference between 158 and 160? 

Edited August 22, 2016 by hmss9245

[GREMasterEMPOWERRichC]

Hi hmss9245,

There actually isn't much of a difference between a 158 and 160 in either section (just a few correct answers), so you really have to 'nitpick' your Test results and determine WHY you got questions wrong. How often did you get questions wrong because of a silly/little mistake and how often did you get questions wrong because the question was just too hard?

As an aside, if you know how to calculate an average, then you know that an AVERAGE score at a School is NOT the same thing as a minimum score requirement. This is meant to say that you might be perfectly fine applying with a Verbal score under 160.

GRE Masters aren't born, they're made,

Rich

[hmss9245]

On 8/22/2016 at 10:56 PM, EMPOWERgreRichC said:

Hi hmss9245,

There actually isn't much of a difference between a 158 and 160 in either section (just a few correct answers), so you really have to 'nitpick' your Test results and determine WHY you got questions wrong. How often did you get questions wrong because of a silly/little mistake and how often did you get questions wrong because the question was just too hard?

As an aside, if you know how to calculate an average, then you know that an AVERAGE score at a School is NOT the same thing as a minimum score requirement. This is meant to say that you might be perfectly fine applying with a Verbal score under 160.

GRE Masters aren't born, they're made,

Rich

Thanks again:) That made me delighted! One more question about the delivery of the GRE transcript: if I send the score to the department (chosen as one of the four immediate recipients after taking the exam) and it will arrive before my application online is finished (or even started), will my score report be taken seriously? or the secretary just sets aside this transcript from nowhere if s/he doesn't see my actual application info?

[GREMasterEMPOWERRichC]

Hi hmss9245,

PhD Admissions Offices are generally NOT run in a sloppy fashion, so you likely have nothing to worry about in terms of how the components of your application will be handled. Until you send in the actual application, my guess would be that no one there would even look at your score report (since there wouldn't be any reason to look at it until they had all of the necessary information to evaluate your application).

GRE Masters aren't born, they're made,

Rich