Should I retake the GRE??

[SLPgirl95]

Hi everyone,

I have been going back and forth on whether or not to retake the GRE and would love some advice! I took it about a month ago and these are my scores:

Verbal: 159

Quant: 156

Analytical Writing: 4

I am pretty concerned about the analytical writing, because from what I've heard, it is quite important to the application. I know 4 is not great but not horrible either. Do you think the analytical writing is too low? I'm applying to a couple fairly high-ranked schools, so I know the more competitive my scores, the better my chances will be...

Thanks!!

[DogsArePeopleToo]

That depends on several factors: what is your GPA like? Do you have strong recommendations? Do you have any work experience? If so, how important is work experience to speech language pathology programs? Are you applying for a master's or a PhD? Do you have enough time to dedicate to preparation for a GRE retake? (The conventional wisdom is that if your application is in good shape, you could dedicate more time to the GRE)

In my opinion, it's generally harder to improve on the analytical writing than verbal or quant (it is not about memorizing more vocabularies and doing more math problems). Having said that, it is very much possible with enough dedication.

All in all, I'm inclined toward a retake. Imagine if the difference between your application and someone else's were nothing but a one-point difference on analytical writing...

[SLPgirl95]

Wow, thanks for the quick reply!

My overall GPA is 3.82 and in-major GPA is 3.9; I think my recommendations will be fairly strong and I have been working as an ABA therapy assistant for the past year. I am applying for a master's program, so I'm hoping that they will look more at work/volunteer experience than at grades/research. 

I agree that it is harder to improve on analytical writing...My mistake was not realizing how it important it was to the application! I focused most of my efforts on studying for the Verbal and Quant. sections and now regret not spending more time prepping for analytical writing.

Do you think that with the above info, I should still consider a retake? I can try to study but if a retake won't be productive I don't see the point in putting in the effort

[slpmayb2123]

6 hours ago, SLPgirl95 said:

Wow, thanks for the quick reply!

My overall GPA is 3.82 and in-major GPA is 3.9; I think my recommendations will be fairly strong and I have been working as an ABA therapy assistant for the past year. I am applying for a master's program, so I'm hoping that they will look more at work/volunteer experience than at grades/research. 

I agree that it is harder to improve on analytical writing...My mistake was not realizing how it important it was to the application! I focused most of my efforts on studying for the Verbal and Quant. sections and now regret not spending more time prepping for analytical writing.

Do you think that with the above info, I should still consider a retake? I can try to study but if a retake won't be productive I don't see the point in putting in the effort

On thing I would do is ask the schools you are applying to how they weight the AW score. Perhaps both of the schools I asked were just smaller, but.... One of them weights AW first in their admissions process. Another said they don't consider it at all so long as it is not dismal. 

[Crimson Wife]

FWIW, I've heard that as long as it's 4+, the AW score plays almost no role in admissions. I've heard they look at the verbal score first since that is most relevant to SLP, then V+Q, and as long as the Q is >150 and the AW is 4+ those don't matter.

I would only retake if you think you can improve your verbal and V+Q.

[SLPgirl95]

Oh, that makes sense. I talked to the University of Washington advisor, and she said about the same. As long as analytical writing is above 4, they aren't too concerned. 

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

[DogsArePeopleToo]

Best of luck!