GRE/admissions question

[Lele93]

I don't have the best gre score (Q: 154, V 155) from a couple of years ago but I have worked in a couple of research labs post-undergrad and my financial situation is making it hard for me to take the gre again before the December deadlines. I know I can do better though because I have studied more and my practice exams have been 158-162 for both. I currently work within the department I am wanting to get into and therefore I know someone within the program too (my PI). He really wants me to get in and possibly join the lab as a student. Is it possible I can still get in with these scores? Just worried about how they will affect my application even though I have experience.

 

Thanks!

[fuzzylogician]

Ask your PI. He can give you the best answer, since you're interested in this one particular school. All we can do here is speculate. 

[CoreyM]

Hey Lele93. It looks like your GRE score puts you right in the middle of the pack. Here's a table I found from ETS that gives GRE scores and the corresponding percentiles:

So with a quant score of 154, you're somewhere around the 55th percentile. The good news about being in the middle of the pack with your score is that with just a small improvement in your score, you'll leapfrog ahead of a LOT of people. For example, just a 6 point increase and you'll jump up 21 percentile points to be at the 76th percentile!

Another thing to consider is the program you're applying for, as some programs have higher quant averages than others. Here's a table I found from ETS that lists the average GRE quant score vs. program type.

So if you're going into Engineering or Physical Sciences, a low GRE quant score sticks out a bit more than if you're going into Education.

There's lots of great info out there about what scores you'll need for different situations. If you're interested, here's a blog that goes into a bit more depth about this. Hope this helps!

https://www.prepscholar.com/gre/blog/good-gre-quantitative-score/