Retaking the GRE just for the Quantitative Reasoning?

[colleenstock]

Hi everyone, 

This is my first time posting here. I'd appreciate any input! I just got my GRE scores back, I did well on the Verbal and very well on the Analytical Writing. However, my quantitative score was pretty terrible. I'm not even going to post it because it's kind of embarrassing. The thing is, I really, really, really do NOT want to take this test again. It's expensive, causes me a mountain of anxiety, and I just don't feel it's worth it.

I am planning to get my masters in clinical mental health counseling. My scores on the other two sections are good, I have 4 very strong recommendations, 3 years of research experience on two different projects, and volunteer experience in my field. I have a 3.902, and am graduating with the highest undergraduate degree my university awards. I have done well in my statistics courses and the other math course I had to take. I just am not very good at large math tests like this, and to be quite honest, I don't have a lot of time to drill math concepts into my head. I'm just a bit inept at math, lol. 

Do you all think it's worth it? Two of my top schools don't require the GRE in the first place. I just feel that the rest of my application is enough to overshadow it, but I do plan to address it in my SOP. I thank you all for your input. 

[DBear]

How low is low?

I'm in the same boat, but the program I'm applying to is not quantitative in nature so most of the feedback I've gotten is to focus on other materials. 

To give you some perspective, I scored

163 / 143 / 5

165 / 149 / 4.5

The feedback I've gotten is to go with the second set. I took the second test specifically because of the low quant score. Even after the first test, people were saying I should be okay, but I just was not comfortable leaving it like that.

For the few schools that have a quantitative research course requirement, I've decided to get an LOR from my old econ professor. So that's another approach you can take - choose recommenders who will attest to the fact that though your score may be low, you have enough quant skills to get through grad school.

Good luck!