GRE advice....

[ScottieGirl]

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Hey everyone...so I am reapplying to vet school for the 2nd time, and I am wondering whether or not to retake the GRE. I scored in the 80th and 70th percentile for verbal and quantitative last year, but only scored a 3.5 on the written 🙁 Writing is not my strong point, but I think I could do better. I have an ok GPA (3.6). Should I retake the GRE or let my personal statement and essay questions reflect that I can write better than my GRE score shows?

 

[shelterURIgirl]

Do you know why you were rejected? Did you get any sort of feedback from any of the the schools you applied to?

The writing section of the GRE is the (IMO) easiest section to prepare for and improve on. Every prompt is listed online, so there shouldn't be any surprises when your topic choices pop up. Each prompt falls into categories like science, education, humanity/society, technology, government, etc. I copy/pasted all the topics into a word document and then arranged them in groups by topic theme. Then I went through each section and made sure I had 3 examples/references to support my view on the matter. For example, the prompt:

"Many people know how to attain success, but few know how to make the best use of it."

I decided I would show 3 examples of people who did not make the best out of their success: robert koch, kurt cobain and heath ledger. I would then demonstrate a few people who DID: donald trump, steve jobs...

It may seem like a lot of work, but once you start thinking of specific examples to support your position, each prompt gets easier and easier.

So if you think preparing like this for the written section will improve your score, I would definitely retake it. However, I would also look into improving other areas of your application because with your GPA and other two GRE scores, I cant imagine the writing section being the biggest reason you were not accepted.

 

[nyanko]

The writing section of the GRE is the (IMO) easiest section to prepare for and improve on. Every prompt is listed online, so there shouldn't be any surprises when your topic choices pop up. Each prompt falls into categories like science, education, humanity/society, technology, government, etc. I copy/pasted all the topics into a word document and then arranged them in groups by topic theme. Then I went through each section and made sure I had 3 examples/references to support my view on the matter. For example, the prompt:

"Many people know how to attain success, but few know how to make the best use of it."

I decided I would show 3 examples of people who did not make the best out of their success: robert koch, kurt cobain and heath ledger. I would then demonstrate a few people who DID: donald trump, steve jobs...

It may seem like a lot of work, but once you start thinking of specific examples to support your position, each prompt gets easier and easier.

This is so the exact opposite of how I feel about the writing section. I can improve my verbal score by chugging though wordlists, I can improve my quant score by correctly pacing myself during the test, but how in the blue hell am I supposed to know what I should be writing like for the AW part, even given the prompts ahead of time? I'm sorry but a list of prompts does not prepare me at all for it!

Disclaimer: I am very bad at getting across ideas that are in my head, especially given a time limit. It isn't really that I couldn't think of ideas and concepts on the fly when I was taking the GRE writing part, it's that I just am not good at expressing exactly what I want to say, and eventually I run out of steam and my trains of thought collide with each other and I spit out some meaningless generic drivel instead of the great thoughts I just had.

edit: For reference, my verbal & quant scores were both 90+ percentile. My AW both times was a 4.0.

 

[bunnity]

Look into how much the schools you want to apply to count the writing section. Penn did not count it at all (thank goodness).

If you're having trouble with the "analyze this argument" one, try googling "logic fallacies" and reading about them a little. It helps you pick out false logic in arguments. Or just pretend the person making the original argument is someone really annoying you that you totally want to prove wrong (I should have imagined my father on the writing section... would have gotten a 5 for sure!).

 

[randylrohm]

My biggest question is whether or not I should re-take my GRE. I took it for the first time last august and did not do as well as I had hoped. I have over 4500 hours of animal experience in various fields (both large and small), research, honors and awards, and a strong GPA (3.7). Do you think they they will see that I have dedication and motivation even though I did not score as well on the test?

I need to sign up soon if I am going to re-take it so I need some help!!!

 

[david594]

How bad did you do, and how much of that 4500 was hours Veterinary experience and not just animal experience?

 

[randylrohm]

Well, I did not do great at all. I finally got all of my hours totaled together and it comes to 4800 hours and all of it is predominantly in a small animal setting being a technician. I am not working one on one with a horse chiropractor getting some large animal experience so that should help. But, I just do not know whether to apply to 3 or 4 schools to see if I have a chance or just apply to Purdue and Western as I was anticipating.

I guess I should just call each school and ask them what their opinion is, but the general comments I get about whether I should re-take it or not is to just retake it. But unfortunately, I am running out of money to apply to the schools I want to and to also retake the test... Is anyone else having the same issue???

 

[twelvetigers]

Okay, bad like under 1000? If you got over 1000, I wouldn't worry so much... if you got under 1000, you might try to clear four digits.

That's just my opinion.

 

[DVMorBust]

It also depends on where your deficiency was. A lot of schools weight the quant higher than the verbal, so if you got lower than a 500 on quant even if your combined score was higher than 1000, might be worth looking into. But do NOT retake it if you have to rush to study and don't feel prepared by test day. Just retaking it will probably not improve your score too much!

 

[susiewaits]

I wouldn't say that you have to retake it. I had an even lower written score and not one school mentioned it. When I went to tufts after my waitlisting my first time around (got in to vet school 2nd time) they told me that my GRE quant and verb could be higher (i had a 1300), but that I was a very good applicant. They never mentioned the written score. That is also something very hard to improve on. Honestly, the topics are a bit of a crap shoot.

If you look at the veterinary statistics book 70-80th percentiles is what they are looking for. If you feel like you can improve your written score, why not. But do you think you can reach those same percentiles as well?

I decided no. I prepared a lot for the first go around, and I would not have the same kind of time for the second one..so I decided to take my chances with the low written.

 

[randylrohm]

My combined scores did not come to 1000...I am really worried because I know my application is very strong with my references, honors courses, research, work experience, and volunteer hours...but the test is the only thing that is making me worried...
Guess I will find out if I am accepted or not and may have to retake the test and apply again next year...But all I can do is try at this point. You are right, I shouldn't just take it again if I haven't prepared because if I do just as bad, then that will look even worse...ugh