General Admissions & OTCAS Should I take the GRE Again?

[17Carat]

Hi everyone!
I just took the GRE a couple of days ago....and to be honest, I sort of bombed the quant section. I stressed myself initially and took too long doing the questions that I missed three questions in the first quant section, I just didn't have the time to get to them. Although I did get a hold of myself later, it was too late. Anyway, I scored a 146 on Quant and a 161 on Verbal. I want to take the exam again and do better, but I'm worried I'll ruin it if I scored lower Verbal. I was wondering I should just not risk it. If you guys have any experience going through a similar situation and have any advice to give, I would really appreciate it!
To give some perspective, my current cumulative GPA is 3.53 and 4.0 for prerequisites.
Thank you!

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[OThopefully183]

Oh your GPA was much better than mine so that is good. I had a 3.32 GPA and my verbal/quant was similar to yours. Honestly for the schools I applied they were more worried about Verbal than quant. As long as you meet the minimum requirement for quant you should be good. I would concentrate on Verbal/Writing.

Good luck!

 

[casseve2111]

If I remember correctly, you can choose which scores to use from each test. So even if you walked in to take the GRE again and only did the quant portion, and walked out leaving the rest incomplete or just skip through it all and finish early... You can still choose to send the old tests verbal scores, with the new tests quant scores (assuming you score higher).
But also I'd check if your school is requiring the GRE.. SJSU didn't require it last year due to COVID. I scored horribly on both sections, but I was still admitted because they weren't considering it that year. Good luck!!

 

[OTdreamer415]

If I remember correctly, you can choose which scores to use from each test. So even if you walked in to take the GRE again and only did the quant portion, and walked out leaving the rest incomplete or just skip through it all and finish early... You can still choose to send the old tests verbal scores, with the new tests quant scores (assuming you score higher).
But also I'd check if your school is requiring the GRE.. SJSU didn't require it last year due to COVID. I scored horribly on both sections, but I was still admitted because they weren't considering it that year. Good luck!!

Would you mind me asking what were your GRE scores? Did you show them your scores anyway? I'm also wondering whether to retake GRE or use my old scores that are a slightly below their required score for verbal. Thanks!

 

[casseve2111]

Would you mind me asking what were your GRE scores? Did you show them your scores anyway? I'm also wondering whether to retake GRE or use my old scores that are a slightly below their required score for verbal. Thanks!

My math score was 143, my verbal was 148 (?). Writing was a 4.
I did send in my scores anyway even though it wasn't required. I was nervous it would end up hurting my chances.. but I got in!
I thought I read on their website that they do appreciate if you retake the test and show that you tried even if they aren't taking the scores into consideration. I'd say if you have the time and money to retake it you could try... especially if you think other parts of your application aren't very strong. But maybe it doesn't matter? Haha, sorry... not sure if this was any help! But good luck!

 

[OTdreamer415]

My math score was 143, my verbal was 148 (?). Writing was a 4.
I did send in my scores anyway even though it wasn't required. I was nervous it would end up hurting my chances.. but I got in!
I thought I read on their website that they do appreciate if you retake the test and show that you tried even if they aren't taking the scores into consideration. I'd say if you have the time and money to retake it you could try... especially if you think other parts of your application aren't very strong. But maybe it doesn't matter? Haha, sorry... not sure if this was any help! But good luck!

Hi. First of all, congratulations on getting in! My old GRE scores are similar to yours and I was planning on retaking it in October before applying. I want to apply earlier(asap) but I have to wait to retake it... I'm curious when did you apply? Was it earlier or later in the cycle?

 

[sjtayl0r]

I think you should be okay! I scored a 147 on the verbal and 154 on the quantitative and 3.5 on the writing. As long as your other areas of your application are strong you should be okay. I have around the same GPA as you. I focused in on the other areas of my application.