Importance of taking the GREs multiple times

[Michael Schacher]

Hey all,

I just took the GREs about a week and a half ago, and I received very good scores back (162 verbal [89%], 166 Quantitative [93%], and 6.0 analytical writing [99%]). However, I have been told by others that schools value the idea of taking the GRE multiple times to make an attempt to improve your scores. I know that I will not be able to replicate my analytical writing scores, and it would be difficult to improve my verbal scores again, even though I could probably increase my score on the quantitiative. As a result, I am wondering what everyone thinks about the idea of meretaking the GREs a second time, simply to appease what vet schools like to see. Thanks in advance for your response on this matter .

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[StartingoverVet]

Hey all,

I just took the GREs about a week and a half ago, and I received very good scores back (162 verbal [89%], 166 Quantitative [93%], and 6.0 analytical writing [99%]). However, I have been told by others that schools value the idea of taking the GRE multiple times to make an attempt to improve your scores. I know that I will not be able to replicate my analytical writing scores, and it would be difficult to improve my verbal scores again, even though I could probably increase my score on the quantitiative. As a result, I am wondering what everyone thinks about the idea of meretaking the GREs a second time, simply to appease what vet schools like to see. Thanks in advance for your response on this matter .

You only take it multiple times if you need to improve your scores. I would think you don't need to, so you have nothing to gain.
It sounds like you have made a reasonable judgement that this is the best you can get. You have nothing to gain.

I think you are mis-understanding what schools are saying TBH.

 

[anesthtc]

Nope. You're good. Spend the effort on other parts of your application.

 

[jerseyshoregirl]

Hey all,

I just took the GREs about a week and a half ago, and I received very good scores back (162 verbal [89%], 166 Quantitative [93%], and 6.0 analytical writing [99%]). However, I have been told by others that schools value the idea of taking the GRE multiple times to make an attempt to improve your scores. I know that I will not be able to replicate my analytical writing scores, and it would be difficult to improve my verbal scores again, even though I could probably increase my score on the quantitiative. As a result, I am wondering what everyone thinks about the idea of meretaking the GREs a second time, simply to appease what vet schools like to see. Thanks in advance for your response on this matter .

i think that your scores are very high (high five!). generally for vet schools, above 70th percentile is competitive. i only took the GREs once and I got 81st percentile across the board. i was fine with that score and i didn't really have time to take them again anyway/the prospect of sitting through that test again kind of made me want to kill myself. vet schools seem to be content with my scores because i have 5 interviews so far. generally, the rule of thumb is that if you have a weak GPA, you want to get higher GRE scores to balance it out. But your scores are so high that even if you do have a really weak GPA (and I don't know anything about you), they will most certainly do the trick. as for vet schools liking to see you take them more than once, my understanding of standardized tests whether they be SATs or GREs has always been that you should take them only enough times to do really well. in my personal opinion, taking the GREs several times (like more than 2 or 3) would actually weaken your application. the fact that you only needed to take them once makes you look really good. and, like i said - vet schools haven't seemed to mind that i have taken them only once and my scores are a whole lot lower than yours lol.

 

[twelvetigers]

You only have to do well once. Worry about other stuff now.

Also, so much for anonymity, huh?

 

[jerseyshoregirl]

You only have to do well once. Worry about other stuff now.

Also, so much for anonymity, huh?

i guess superman really wanted everyone to know who's saving the world.

 

[Michael Schacher]

Thanks all for the responses. Not having to take them again is definitely a wonderfu thing to hear . And haha, yeah, I guess everyone knows my true identity now...

 

[twelvetigers]

Thanks all for the responses. Not having to take them again is definitely a wonderfu thing to hear . And haha, yeah, I guess everyone knows my true identity now...

Plus there's like a picture of you and stuff. And your girlfriend or whatever.

 

[LetItSnow]

Hey all,

I just took the GREs about a week and a half ago, and I received very good scores back (162 verbal [89%], 166 Quantitative [93%], and 6.0 analytical writing [99%]). However, I have been told by others that schools value the idea of taking the GRE multiple times to make an attempt to improve your scores. I know that I will not be able to replicate my analytical writing scores, and it would be difficult to improve my verbal scores again, even though I could probably increase my score on the quantitiative. As a result, I am wondering what everyone thinks about the idea of meretaking the GREs a second time, simply to appease what vet schools like to see. Thanks in advance for your response on this matter .

I have heard this exactly never. I suppose it's possible for people with low scores that vet schools may look favorably on trying again (and doing better), but .... I think people wayyyyyyyy overthink some of this stuff. Vet schools are gonna take your information, plug it into an academic scoring formula, get your score for their particular evaluation strategy, and move on with life. They aren't going over your application with a microscope saying "A-HA! This person took the GRE twice! They're obviously a better candidate than this person who took it once, even though he scored quite well!"

What I *have* heard many times is that significant improvements in serial GRE test-taking are the exception rather than the rule.

If you have good scores - and you do - I'd sit back and find other things to do with your time. Best of luck with the applications!!!

 

[equineconstant]

Don't do it--it's not worth the money. I only took it once, and my scores weren't as good as yours. And I'm currently in vet school!

 

[Michael Schacher]

Plus there's like a picture of you and stuff. And your girlfriend or whatever.

It is simply linked to my facebook, it offered me to do so as soon as I signed up, and I simply thought it would be easier. Is that generally discouraged?

 

[that redhead]

It is simply linked to my facebook, it offered me to do so as soon as I signed up, and I simply thought it would be easier. Is that generally discouraged?

It's not a huge deal as many people end up friending each other on Facebook or meeting up anyway but I personally like a bit of anonymity on forums where I tend to express personal opinions in addition to advice. Plus ad com members can look you up - some poor pre med had an offer rescinded a while back but he was behaving badly, so if you keep yourself professional it's likely fine.

 

[ChittyBang]

It is simply linked to my facebook, it offered me to do so as soon as I signed up, and I simply thought it would be easier. Is that generally discouraged?

From a privacy/security POV, yes. We live in the age of Google and you divulged more info than you probably intended to with your SDN profile. I'd change a few things.

 

[anesthtc]

You have to assume admissions committees are aware of this site and read over things written about their schools. So if you want a decent amount of freedom to discuss things and raise concerns it's best to keep your real identity separate from your online one here. Not sure if the med student rescission was legit or not (certainly makes for a good scare story) but it's certainly within their capacity to do.

 

[twelvetigers]

I'm chuckling to myself a bit over the idea of me talking about anonymity... somehow I doubt I'm all that anonymous anymore. Haha.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

I don't think I am either......

 

[TooLove]

Someone could easily figure out who I am based on some of the things I've posted on SDN.

I think it's more a bit easier to do in vet med since it's such a small world.

That being said... If you find me on Facebook and don't say you know me from SDN I will not hesitate to send you to Facebook jail

 

[liz2015]

Does anybody have any suggestions on how to do well on the GRE? The first time I took it I got a 151 on quantitative 148 on verbal and 3.5 on writing and I don't think these scores are good enough how do I improve?

 

[anesthtc]

Does anybody have any suggestions on how to do well on the GRE? The first time I took it I got a 151 on quantitative 148 on verbal and 3.5 on writing and I don't think these scores are good enough how do I improve?

A lot of it is just going through practice problems, but the important thing to learn is the "logic" in the problem, not the actual answer.

In the math section, there are only a limited number of tricks that they use to try to trip you up. Most of them revolve around your knowledge of 0, negative numbers, and fractions.
In the verbal section I found it far more helpful to become good at elimination and learning affixes and common Latin and Greek roots. A lot of people recommend using flash cards and memorizing this huge set of words, but in my opinion it's an extremely circuitous method of learning affixes and roots. Also teach yourself the basic logical fallacies. This will help you answer passage questions and do better on the writing portion.
As for the writing portion, I think the biggest mistake a lot of people make is equating a high score with being a good writer. You have to think about who is scoring your essays and how many seconds they're realistically devoting to it. That means you should refrain from complex clausal structures, using an overly formal register, or using elements that slow down or burden the reader (lots of prepositions, commas, adverbs, etc.). So don't write like Charles Dickens or John Galbraith. If you keep to the 5 paragraph format (as lame as it is), chances are you'll get a pretty decent score.

I also found it helpful to start taking one full-length practice exam each day about a week before the exam date. Part of doing well is pushing through the mental fatigue.

 

[equineconstant]

As for the writing portion, I think the biggest mistake a lot of people make is equating a high score with being a good writer. You have to think about who is scoring your essays and how many seconds they're realistically devoting to it. That means you should refrain from complex clausal structures, using an overly formal register, or using elements that slow down or burden the reader (lots of prepositions, commas, adverbs, etc.). So don't write like Charles Dickens or John Galbraith. If you keep to the 5 paragraph format (as lame as it is), chances are you'll get a pretty decent score.

I've yet to find any evidence that the writing score matters at all. But if you care...make sure you're answering both prompts correctly. When I started taking practice tests I thought they were both about making an argument, but one prompt actually asks you to analyze someone else's argument--point out their assumptions and why they may not be correct. Don't quote the prompt in your essay. Use clear topic sentences, and, yeah, five paragraph format totally works.

 

[anesthtc]

I've yet to find any evidence that the writing score matters at all. But if you care...make sure you're answering both prompts correctly. When I started taking practice tests I thought they were both about making an argument, but one prompt actually asks you to analyze someone else's argument--point out their assumptions and why they may not be correct. Don't quote the prompt in your essay. Use clear topic sentences, and, yeah, five paragraph format totally works.

Although several schools completely ignore it I know there are some that compute a percentile average across all three scores. I think I also read somewhere that Texas weights writing above verbal or something along those lines, but don't hold me to that.

 

[epivetlove]

Although several schools completely ignore it I know there are some that compute a percentile average across all three scores. I think I also read somewhere that Texas weights writing above verbal or something along those lines, but don't hold me to that.

Yep, A&M weighs the writing section more than verbal and equal to the quant section (20 points each for A and Q and 10 points for V).

 

[ShiningCat]

A lot of it is just going through practice problems, but the important thing to learn is the "logic" in the problem, not the actual answer.

In the math section, there are only a limited number of tricks that they use to try to trip you up. Most of them revolve around your knowledge of 0, negative numbers, and fractions.
In the verbal section I found it far more helpful to become good at elimination and learning affixes and common Latin and Greek roots. A lot of people recommend using flash cards and memorizing this huge set of words, but in my opinion it's an extremely circuitous method of learning affixes and roots. Also teach yourself the basic logical fallacies. This will help you answer passage questions and do better on the writing portion.
As for the writing portion, I think the biggest mistake a lot of people make is equating a high score with being a good writer. You have to think about who is scoring your essays and how many seconds they're realistically devoting to it. That means you should refrain from complex clausal structures, using an overly formal register, or using elements that slow down or burden the reader (lots of prepositions, commas, adverbs, etc.). So don't write like Charles Dickens or John Galbraith. If you keep to the 5 paragraph format (as lame as it is), chances are you'll get a pretty decent score.

I also found it helpful to start taking one full-length practice exam each day about a week before the exam date. Part of doing well is pushing through the mental fatigue.

I agree with everything anesthtc says here but I'll add that for the Verbal section memorizing a few of the top 50 words (or some variant of) helped me out quite a bit as well. I only tried Kaplan as a prep book and their practice tests were really useful. I found them a lot harder than the actual test itself too although that may just be me. The last thing I have to add is get used to the format of the test itself for sure. Know what the different buttons do and get really familiar with the calculator so you can use it easily when you need to.

 

[MetroBus]

Hi everyone!
I'll try to keep it succinct. I applied last year (unsuccessfully) with a GRE score from a couple years ago, Q was high 40th percentile, V mid 70th, W 4.5. I retook it this year and bumped my Q up to high 70th percentile with everything else pretty much staying the same. I'm about to submit my GRE scores to all my chosen programs, but I'm wondering if it's best to just show my strength (new score), or to show improvement (both scores) to the new schools I'm applying to who aren't aware of my old score. My cumulative GPA is on the lower end (3.3), but my post-grad GPA based on a good deal of credits is fairly high (or I guess average for those accepted!) at 3.6. I'm having trouble finding a real consensus on the multiple GRE forums I've read. I'm kind of thinking along the lines of LetItSnow's "They aren't going over your application with a microscope saying "A-HA! This person took the GRE twice!", but if it comes down to me and another individual, I need any slight advantage I can get. Any opinions?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[orca2011]

Hi everyone!
I'll try to keep it succinct. I applied last year (unsuccessfully) with a GRE score from a couple years ago, Q was high 40th percentile, V mid 70th, W 4.5. I retook it this year and bumped my Q up to high 70th percentile with everything else pretty much staying the same. I'm about to submit my GRE scores to all my chosen programs, but I'm wondering if it's best to just show my strength (new score), or to show improvement (both scores) to the new schools I'm applying to who aren't aware of my old score. My cumulative GPA is on the lower end (3.3), but my post-grad GPA based on a good deal of credits is fairly high (or I guess average for those accepted!) at 3.6. I'm having trouble finding a real consensus on the multiple GRE forums I've read. I'm kind of thinking along the lines of LetItSnow's "They aren't going over your application with a microscope saying "A-HA! This person took the GRE twice!", but if it comes down to me and another individual, I need any slight advantage I can get. Any opinions?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Unless things have changed, pretty sure all scores are sent out on the same report, so they'll see both scores no matter what you select. At least that's how I recall my reports looking (even included Subject GRE scores) but I did take the test back in 2010 so there's that. And aren't you required to input all scores in VMCAS anyways?

 

[LetItSnow]

Hi everyone!
I'll try to keep it succinct. I applied last year (unsuccessfully) with a GRE score from a couple years ago, Q was high 40th percentile, V mid 70th, W 4.5. I retook it this year and bumped my Q up to high 70th percentile with everything else pretty much staying the same. I'm about to submit my GRE scores to all my chosen programs, but I'm wondering if it's best to just show my strength (new score), or to show improvement (both scores) to the new schools I'm applying to who aren't aware of my old score. My cumulative GPA is on the lower end (3.3), but my post-grad GPA based on a good deal of credits is fairly high (or I guess average for those accepted!) at 3.6. I'm having trouble finding a real consensus on the multiple GRE forums I've read. I'm kind of thinking along the lines of LetItSnow's "They aren't going over your application with a microscope saying "A-HA! This person took the GRE twice!", but if it comes down to me and another individual, I need any slight advantage I can get. Any opinions?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Did you follow up with the school(s) to which you didn't get accepted to ask why? I know that's not what you were asking us, and I think it was a great idea to redo the GRE, but the first step would be to talk to them about what their overall opinion was and see if there are other areas to improve. I guess that's a bit late for this year, but.....

In regards to the specific question, if orca is right it doesn't matter. If not, I think I'd still go with my original answer from way back when. But honestly, I don't think it's a big deal either way!!

Best of luck!

 

[MetroBus]

Hmmm, I can't tell if you're required to input all the scores from the entry page, or from a school's page (for the most part). ETS now has a "scoreselect" service that lets you just release the score(s) you want to when you send your report, so it is an option. I think I'm just going to send both because I'm assuming that's what the schools want, and improvement is a good thing. I just hope the reaction isn't like, "well THAT wasn't very good the first time! What an idiot! He must've tried real hard to bring that up!" (in less severe terms, I'd hope).

 

[LetItSnow]

Hmmm, I can't tell if you're required to input all the scores from the entry page, or from a school's page (for the most part). ETS now has a "scoreselect" service that lets you just release the score(s) you want to when you send your report, so it is an option. I think I'm just going to send both because I'm assuming that's what the schools want, and improvement is a good thing. I just hope the reaction isn't like, "well THAT wasn't very good the first time! What an idiot! He must've tried real hard to bring that up!" (in less severe terms, I'd hope).

I'm obviously not a final authority of any sort, but I wouldn't worry for a second that they'll think negatively of including both. Don't worry about it. Just because I'd personally only send the more recent ones doesn't mean it's bad to send both.

 

[orca2011]

Yeah, I wouldn't worry about sending both. Some schools even take the best section from each test. So say you did better on the verbal the first go round, they'd take that score and the new Q score. Other's just look at best overall score. The only way them seeing both scores would really hurt you is you dropped a ton the second time in a section. I'm speaking from personal experience on that one.

 

[MetroBus]

Ok, thanks for the advice g-(uys/als). Hopefully none of this actually does matter in the long run and I'll have one of those "c/o of 2019" in my signature, as well!