low GRE, high GPA- what are my chances?

[Anna Hernandez]

Hi all!

I just took the GRE and scored a Q-138, V-148, AWA- 6. I don't know why happened, I studied with a prep book and used Magoosh for a month. I felt confident going in but I guess I froze. My GPA is a 3.7 and my major was Cognitive Science and Spanish Linguistics.

I have experience as an undergraduate research assistant in: a Speech Processing lab under the cognitive psych department, the Human Computer Interaction lab under the cognitive psych department, and the Bilingualism Lab under the linguistics department. My duties included meeting and training new research assistants how to audio and video code, running experiments, and other data work.

I also volunteered at 2 different hospitals for a total of almost 200hrs in the perinatal unit and post-anesthesia care units. I've worked as a content writer/researcher for an important attorney and notable blogs. Most recently I interned at NASA, where I got the chance to write a paper and do a branch and poster presentation.

Will my GRE score overshadow my research and experiences? Should I talk about my GRE score somewhere in my application? Are there any schools I should apply to that are more lenient on GRE scores?

Any advice would be helpful! Thanks!

Edited September 30, 2016 by Anna Hernandez

[wcslp]

I would absolutely retake the GRE no matter what. I know this isn't a primarily "math" field, but 138 is really low. You definitely want to get a 150 on each, at least. Your writing score is excellent, so I'm sure it was just a fluke or your nerves. You still have time to retake it, so try to make that your priority. Unfortunately (I'm not saying this to be mean), a 3.7 in today's admissions process isn't really considered very high anymore. It's definitely a solid GPA, but it's not really high enough to offset a sub-300 combined GRE score. Everything's just gotten way too competitive. 

I think your experiences are very intriguing and diverse; that said, some of them aren't really related to speech and language pathology as a whole, so I'm not sure how much weight ad coms would give you there. For instance, I've had the chance to collaborate with multiple faculty members on admissions, and the consensus seems to be that putting irrelevant experience on an applicant's resume has no great impact on their chances. This is why applicants in sports, sororities, working odd jobs, unrelated internships, etc don't put this info on their applications. So I'd definitely place much more emphasis on your actual related experience (such as your bilingualism work), than your attorney/blog/etc work. 

You seem like a great, very motivated candidate. I strongly encourage that you try your best to up those GRE scores, because 300 combined seems to be the benchmark for most programs today. I would hate for you to be rejected because you didn't meet the cutoff before they even looked at your application. Your writing score is, again, amazing, so I definitely do think it must have just been your nerves. Best of luck!

[Crimson Wife]

If math is a weakness, you might want to give the Miller Analogies Test a shot. I have heard of people doing much, much better on the MAT than the GRE and there are a number of schools that will accept either.

[futureSpeechLP]

Also, there are some grad programs that don't require GRE - I know Loma Linda University is one. 

[Jolie717]

Cal State Northridge also accepts MAT, at least when I applied in 2016.