is a bad quant score the death knell of one's grad school application?

[Nico Corr]

I am looking to apply to three or four graduate programs in International Relations for Fall of 2018 this winter. I took the GRE for the first time this June, and got scores of V:158, Q:140 and writing: 4. My verbal score is average or above average for the programs I hope to apply to, and my analytical writing score is more or less average. My Quant score however is of worry to me as the average score for those admitted to the programs I want into is around 150-155. I plan on taking the GRE again in Dec/Jan, just before most application deadlines, and plan to do a lot of studying to pick my scores up. Math has never been my strong suit, and I am worried I won't be able to pick it up more than a couple points, if at all. Assuming I'm not able to dramatically improve my quant scores, would such a low score keep me out of programs on its own?

 

Just for some background: I don't have much experience in the field, other than a few courses (I'm a sociology major), and writing articles for a professor's IR blog. I have over ten years work experience in Education. I can get somewhere between decent-great LORS. 

[_kita]

Quite possibly, but not always. You are definitely cut from schools with a minimum GRE score. However, other programs are more holistic. I was admitted to a top ranked school with a v (160) but q (140). I illustrated the quantitative skills else where on my application such as tutoring stats and acing other research/quant classes. But that only worked on a masters level.

 

Honestly, I suggest studying and investing time into retaking the GREs. It would cost less money than sending either more applications or a second year!

 

[Nico Corr]

13 minutes ago, _kita said:

Quite possibly, but not always. You are definitely cut from schools with a minimum GRE score. However, other programs are more holistic. I was admitted to a top ranked school with a v (160) but q (140). I illustrated the quantitative skills else where on my application such as tutoring stats and acing other research/quant classes. But that only worked on a masters level.

 

Honestly, I suggest studying and investing time into retaking the GREs. It would cost less money than sending either more applications or a second year!

Good points. Thanks, _Kita. I'm going to invest in the Manhattan Prepbook to up my quant scores. 

13 minutes ago, _kita said:

 

 

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

Since you mentioned retaking the GRE just before deadlines, I thought I should mention some schools have cutoffs for taking the GRE (in addition to within 5 years they say how close to the deadline you can take the test). Make sure that your retaking doesn't conflict with a "last by" date for any of your programs.

[samman1994]

I'm imagine for your major they probably care more about your verbal than quant. I've seen instances where low quant scores have been ignored due to high verbal scores (since that's all they were looking for), and vice versa. However, in your case, I'd say your verbal isn't high enough for that. I'd recommend retaking the test as others have stated above. Bring the math up a little, and bring the verbal up as well. Based off your major, I'd focus more on the verbal than the quant. If you can get your verbal mid 60s, then a quant in the low 50s and high 40s might actually be acceptable (for your major).