Why No GREs in Description?

[Dialectica]

I'm just curious. For those of you that don't post your GRE scores in the description of your results, why? It's anonymous. And especially if you're accepted somewhere—and say your GREs are bad—that only makes your success that much sweeter, yeah? And, further, it's helpful for other prospective applicants to see these data points.

[meggied]

I agree. It takes two seconds to put them in and it's not like we don't all have our scores memorized. 

[WhereamI]

Agree! However, wonder how important is the GRE score - acceptance correlation? Especially if you got the research experience + GPA. Curious!

[753982]

10 minutes ago, WhereamI said:

Agree! However, wonder how important is the GRE score - acceptance correlation? Especially if you got the research experience + GPA. Curious!

What I suspected, or perhaps hoped, was that once you hit a certain level with your scores (what might be called the "acceptable scores range"), focus would shift to the other components of your application. Ian Faircloud said something like a 160+ V and 150+ quantitative probably makes the optics good enough. What I'm actually suspecting now that the app season is underway, though, is that your GRE scores probably, to some degree, color the interpretation of the rest of your application, especially with the applicant pool being as good as it is. With a 169 or 170 in verbal and, let's say, a 160+ in quantitative, they'll probably be more optimistic about the rest of your app. It gives you a way to stand out from the other applicants, which helps when there are often 250-300 people applying.

I could be wrong, and it could be the anxiety of waiting on decisions that makes me think that, but that's what I suspect happens in some cases. People with great GREs will probably be interpreted with rose-tinted glasses compared to those with "acceptable" GREs.

[matchamatcha]

I try to always put mine in, but I will admit, sometimes I'm feeling particularly lazy and those extra 3 boxes to tab and type through just get looked over.  It would be nice if more people consistently put it in.

[goldenstardust11]

I wish they were editable after the fact... I messed something up in my NW rejection listing while entering it on my phone and reversed my quantitative and verbal score  

[hector549]

2 hours ago, Dialectica said:

I'm just curious. For those of you that don't post your GRE scores in the description of your results, why? It's anonymous. And especially if you're accepted somewhere—and say your GREs are bad—that only makes your success that much sweeter, yeah? And, further, it's helpful for other prospective applicants to see these data points.

This is a reasonable point. I think I just subconsciously filtered out the nonessential form fields, which I likely do for online forms generally. Not a conscious decision on my part.

[menge]

5 hours ago, Dialectica said:

I'm just curious. For those of you that don't post your GRE scores in the description of your results, why? It's anonymous. And especially if you're accepted somewhere—and say your GREs are bad—that only makes your success that much sweeter, yeah? And, further, it's helpful for other prospective applicants to see these data points.

FWIW, I've not included mine in results because the specific combination of scores could be an identity marker. I think this is particularly a concern (even if minor) for programs that have given an informal acceptance very early in the season.

[goldenstardust11]

29 minutes ago, menge said:

FWIW, I've not included mine in results because the specific combination of scores could be an identity marker. I think this is particularly a concern (even if minor) for programs that have given an informal acceptance very early in the season.

I can definitely get/sympathize with this one. 

[The_Last_Thylacine]

32 minutes ago, menge said:

FWIW, I've not included mine in results because the specific combination of scores could be an identity marker. I think this is particularly a concern (even if minor) for programs that have given an informal acceptance very early in the season.

Why is it so bad if people know your identity?

[hopefulPhD2017]

I don't include my scores because I want to remain anonymous. I feel kind of like I'm betraying the trust of adcoms by posting. I'm probably too sensitive!

[majorshake]

I don't actually remember what my GREs are..

[Øieblikket]

I'm an international student. I don't enter my GRE's because I don't want to encourage taking them too seriously, i.e. paying to take the test again and again to perfect your stores. I realize this criticism may be about as effective as spitting in your customer's coffee. But my impression is that GRE's really don't matter that much. I'm sorry of this causes any inconvenience for people.

[Duns Eith]

I do, but every time I do, I think "What if this identifies me obviously?" AdComms check here too, ya know.

[menge]

13 hours ago, desolesiii said:

Why is it so bad if people know your identity?

Because, as @hopefulPhD2017 and @Turretin said: 

 

13 hours ago, hopefulPhD2017 said:

I feel kind of like I'm betraying the trust of adcoms by posting. I'm probably too sensitive!

 

1 hour ago, Turretin said:

I do, but every time I do, I think "What if this identifies me obviously?" AdComms check here too, ya know.

I think this is especially pertinent if the informal acceptance comes, say, before the application cutoff. 

[maxhgns]

Bear in mind, also, that not everyone is applying to American programs (or to American programs that require the GRE).

[Nichi]

Is there some unwritten rule about not sharing admission information? I see people posting about admissions with their real names but then others taking anonymity measures.

[menge]

6 minutes ago, Nichi said:

Is there some unwritten rule about not sharing admission information? I see people posting about admissions with their real names but then others taking anonymity measures.

I've had requests from POI's to keep the information they have shared with me confidential, to varying degrees. Personally, I've simply held off reporting anything at all until given the OK. But even then, I've tried to respect their sentiments by keeping results as anonymous as possible. 

[The_Last_Thylacine]

5 hours ago, Nichi said:

Is there some unwritten rule about not sharing admission information? I see people posting about admissions with their real names but then others taking anonymity measures.

If someone asks me to keep my information private, and I subsequently assent to keep my information private, then I will keep my information private; otherwise, I'm not really sure why "adcoms" knowing my personal information is such a bad thing. 

[Duns Eith]

30 minutes ago, desolesiii said:

If someone asks me to keep my information private, and I subsequently assent to keep my information private, then I will keep my information private; otherwise, I'm not really sure why "adcoms" knowing my personal information is such a bad thing. 

I can think of a few reasons, but they apply more to the GradCafe's forum more than the database. But these are easy to connect. The most salient reasons:

Suppose you've made your offers public, and have been identified.

1) There is a little bit of a negotiation that can occur (or not occur) when they know their direct competition. Like, if you don't have any other offers, they have no reason to sweeten the pot. They have no reason to offer you something very competitive, because they have no competition. You're showing your cards, which is more than they are doing. We, of course, are willing to share "Hey, this other school is offering me a fellowship for my first year", which is more apropos to contact directly. I'd rather they hear it from me via email than via grad cafe.

2) You may also have made your offers public and ask advice about the program, the pros/cons of the offers, and strategies on making a decision -- or even how to negotiate. Of course these conversations happen and should happen with your letter writers, DGS, and by communicating with their program's liaison. But in a public forum, this can backfire if your comments about a program may be interpreted negatively. It can also look inappropriate, if it is clear your goal is "How can I get one offer to up the ante?" I imagine an AdCom might be annoyed by that.

[Nichi]

Interesting. I haven't even thought of the process as a negotiation. Just offers to be taken or left, and standardized throughout. 

Wrt private information, I assume they'd assume most people will at least go on FB and post their good news. And this forum isn't new. So if they wanted secrecy, they'd ask..

[xypathos]

On 2/1/2017 at 4:26 PM, goldenstardust11 said:

I messed something up in my NW rejection listing while entering it on my phone and reversed my quantitative and verbal score  

This has been a known bug on GC for a while now that the devs have never gotten around to fixing, so it's not your error! System just always swaps Q/V.

[goldenstardust11]

36 minutes ago, xypathos said:

This has been a known bug on GC for a while now that the devs have never gotten around to fixing, so it's not your error! System just always swaps Q/V.

Oh! Good to know! So in the future I should switch the score when I enter it? Is that true on desktop too?

[maxhgns]

35 minutes ago, goldenstardust11 said:

Oh! Good to know! So in the future I should switch the score when I enter it? Is that true on desktop too?

 

But if it's generally known that the scores get swapped, then swapping them yourself beforehand will end up misleading people who read your scores expecting them to have been swapped by the system. Plus, if it ever gets fixed, then they'll be re-swapped.

[xypathos]

1 hour ago, goldenstardust11 said:

Oh! Good to know! So in the future I should switch the score when I enter it? Is that true on desktop too?

The bug exists on desktop as well. I would just enter as is, if they ever get around to fixing it, hopefully the swap them as well, as @maxhgns noted.