Just wondering if it looks bad to have taken the GRE multiple times. I suck at standardized tests, so my scores are not stellar, but not terrible either. I have taken it more than once to try to improve, but I do not want schools to look down on that. I am just afraid that schools will not even consider my application if I do not meet a certain score. Thoughts?
GRE scores
- Thread starter jrwinsto
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Actually taking the GRE multiple times is not frowned upon by most schools. Most schools will take the highest combined score from one test or take the highest scores from each section regardless from what test. What will happen is that the admissions staff will put the files together of each applicant and take the highest scores recieved, so the faculty who make class decisions only see the highest scores you obtained.
The only school that I know of where that will hurt you is Purdue, which averages your test scores if you took it more than once. So if you did poorly your first time, it will be factored into your overall GRE score.
The only school that I know of where that will hurt you is Purdue, which averages your test scores if you took it more than once. So if you did poorly your first time, it will be factored into your overall GRE score.
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This really doesn't mean anything, unless you know the circumstances of the person in question..
For all you know, they were excepted from the GRE due to something like a death in the family or other accident..
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NCSU's admission pages don't mention anything about exceptions to their admission requirements other than under AE, so I will go ahead and assume there aren't. Do you have any reason to think otherwise?
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The GRE and MCAT are actually pretty different. The MCAT focuses more on science while the GRE is more reading/writing/math. I would say that the GRE is like the SAT for college students.
so the GRE scores aren't as important in getting into vet school as the MCAT to med schools im guessing?
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It depends on the school. K-state, for example, weighs the GRE pretty heavily. Mizzou counts it as 4 points in your overall academic score. I took it once, got an 1130, and was accepted into Mizzou and K-state (waitlisted at Kstate first).
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I don't know why people have so much trouble with the GRE. It's high school math and English, with some more advanced vocab. The hardest part of the math is recognizing the patterns that indicate the simple operations to be performed. It really measures just that - your problem solving ability, not your math skills.
NC has alternative eligibility. Our class has 3 accepted under it. Last year had none. I'm assuming you have to have some stellar performance elsewhere to get in under it. A low GPA and low GRE with the normal stuff expected from a Pre-vet student isn't going to cut it.
NC has alternative eligibility. Our class has 3 accepted under it. Last year had none. I'm assuming you have to have some stellar performance elsewhere to get in under it. A low GPA and low GRE with the normal stuff expected from a Pre-vet student isn't going to cut it.
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NCSU ended up accepting three wait-listed AE people last year /pedant
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Actually, if you consider it under the old rules, they had one OOS admitted outright under it. I wasn't considering wait listed people as there are a few more factors involved.
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Re: quantitative:
Part of it is problem solving ability, I agree, but you can't do much creative thinking on GRE quant questions without a basic math foundation. It's necessary to have both learned and retained the algebra, geometry, and arithmetic skills from grade school, high school, and/or early undergrad. For some of us (*coughcough*), it was in one ear, retained just long enough to scrape by, and out the other ear, and with little use as possible thereafter. 😉 I know firsthand that there is a required, solid foundation of mathematical concepts that are absolutely necessary to have memorized and easily recalled to at least get a passable quant score. I had to relearn many of those ... and sans calculator.
Holy moley, do you know how long it's been since I've added fractions, or fiddled with exponents without a calculator, or done long division by hand?! I was probably in fifth grade. And I wasn't even that good at it then! I also had to learn (actually learn! the nerve!) all those geometric formulas and special triangles that I've always just referenced on the inside cover of a textbook or on a formula sheet for an exam.
Yeah, I'm a little bitter about the GRE quantitative portion.
It's definitely not the strong point on my app!
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I felt like the math section largely consisted of testing whether or not you knew math shortcuts. One problem after another I felt I could solve it in 5 minutes doing it the 'long way', or 30 seconds if I knew the 'trick'.
I scored far higher than I should have, considering I've forgotten so many of those tricks. There were a number of questions where I settled for quickly ruling out a few answers and then guessing, only because I knew I didn't have sufficient time to work through the entire problem (even though I could see a path to arriving at the correct answer).
Re: quantitative:
Part of it is problem solving ability, I agree, but you can't do much creative thinking on GRE quant questions without a basic math foundation. It's necessary to have both learned and retained the algebra, geometry, and arithmetic skills from grade school, high school, and/or early undergrad. For some of us (*coughcough*), it was in one ear, retained just long enough to scrape by, and out the other ear, and with little use as possible thereafter. 😉 I know firsthand that there is a required, solid foundation of mathematical concepts that are absolutely necessary to have memorized and easily recalled to at least get a passable quant score. I had to relearn many of those ... and sans calculator.
Holy moley, do you know how long it's been since I've added fractions, or fiddled with exponents without a calculator, or done long division by hand?! I was probably in fifth grade. And I wasn't even that good at it then! I also had to learn (actually learn! the nerve!) all those geometric formulas and special triangles that I've always just referenced on the inside cover of a textbook or on a formula sheet for an exam.
Yeah, I'm a little bitter about the GRE quantitative portion.
You said it! I despise the Quant portion of the test....certainly not my strong point and it is not because I am not intelligent.The GRE is not an accurate measure of intelligence, of course. I just do not want it to be the only thing keeping me from getting in!
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Same here. I'm not bitter about the GRE or anything, but I've never been fast at math. Good? Yes. Fast? Lord no. My brain just doesn't process the material that quickly. It wasn't the material that messed me up, it was the time limit. I ended up running out of time and guessing point blank on the last few questions. Admittedly, I could probably boost my Q score if I took it again and did some serious studying under a time limit. But knowing some shortcuts would have helped me to no end.
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Well this isn't necessarily true. I mean if people retained it from their early years, it's great! But the beauty of the GRE is that you can take it whenever you want, and the questions are very predictable (they only cover so many concepts). That means you have the opportunity to relearn it and practice it.
IMO, I don't think the point of the GREs is to test how "smart" you are or how good at English/Math you are (though people good at them are at an advantage), but rather that you're capable to learning and performing a set list of things reasonably well. That's why vet schools can be pretty forgiving of your scores unless you did atrociously bad. And if you do an excellent job, more power to ya.
I mean, you don't need to understand calculus to be a good vet, but you do need to be able to calculate dosages, proportions, etc... in a timely manner (if anything, using equations memorized from vet school). There are some people who just cannot learn basic math skills no matter how hard they try, and unfortunately vet med is not for them, and the GRE math can at least weed those people out.
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Completely agree with Minerbelle.
GRE math has nothing to do with retention of math from "years" ago. Hell, I hadn't thought about geometry, or factorials, or divisibility rules in many DECADES, and I acquitted myself quite nicely!
You study the material, you take the exam. Don't make it into something it is not.
It has many flaws, but, at least studying definitely can make a difference no matter how little you retain from years ago.
GRE math has nothing to do with retention of math from "years" ago. Hell, I hadn't thought about geometry, or factorials, or divisibility rules in many DECADES, and I acquitted myself quite nicely!
You study the material, you take the exam. Don't make it into something it is not.
It has many flaws, but, at least studying definitely can make a difference no matter how little you retain from years ago.
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The GRE has only math and verbal. There is no science (no bio, no chem, no physics) on it at all. Additionally, the math only goes up to geometry (no stats, calc, or pre-calc).
wow........that's all? thx for the info.............kinda was expecting it to be much much more.......
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The GRE does cover some very basic stats - SD, mean, etc.
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Eh, I didn't really consider those as stats, considering how I learned that stuff in 4th grade. But I do see your point 🙂
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An admittance staff member from NCSU told me they aren't generally super concerned about the GRE - you should be able to get a decent score on it, but they don't automatically disqualify someone who has a poor one and a strong GRE doesn't add that much to the application. She gave the "if the only thing different between the applicants" spiel as an example of an instance they might use it... but then said that applicants were so varied that she'd never head of that happening, haha.
Made me perfectly happy with my 1270. C:
Made me perfectly happy with my 1270. C:
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Hey, I resemble that remark! 😛
Kidding -- mostly. I truly do feel like a dummy when trying to remember a LOT of basic arithmetic (particularly when without a calculator, which is one of the points I'm glad they're changing with the new GRE). Like, memorizing square roots of numbers or how to add numbers with exponents -- I just relearned these for the GRE a few weeks ago, and I've already forgotten them. Retaining math rules and theorems has always been a problem for me, and I've struggled majorly in every math class I've ever taken; if there's such a thing as a math learning disorder, I have it. Thankfully, I didn't get below a B in any of my undergrad math classes, and I doubt I will ever be out of reach of a calculator, so I hope my career isn't quite doomed before it starts... 😀
I think I have that math learning disorder too🙂 I too hope my career is not doomed.... The funny thing is I did really well in Calculus, but I have trouble with the more basic concepts. Oh well. We all have to have our strengths and weaknesses!
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Re: quantitative:
Part of it is problem solving ability, I agree, but you can't do much creative thinking on GRE quant questions without a basic math foundation. It's necessary to have both learned and retained the algebra, geometry, and arithmetic skills from grade school, high school, and/or early undergrad. For some of us (*coughcough*), it was in one ear, retained just long enough to scrape by, and out the other ear, and with little use as possible thereafter. 😉 I know firsthand that there is a required, solid foundation of mathematical concepts that are absolutely necessary to have memorized and easily recalled to at least get a passable quant score. I had to relearn many of those ... and sans calculator.
Holy moley, do you know how long it's been since I've added fractions, or fiddled with exponents without a calculator, or done long division by hand?! I was probably in fifth grade. And I wasn't even that good at it then! I also had to learn (actually learn! the nerve!) all those geometric formulas and special triangles that I've always just referenced on the inside cover of a textbook or on a formula sheet for an exam.
Yeah, I'm a little bitter about the GRE quantitative portion.
Well, 5th grade for me was before most of those applying were born. I never had geometry, other than the odd version the Brits have in their high school. I managed to do pretty well on the math portion after a little study. Really, the best way to study is to find as many of the practice tests as possible and do them. I was doing 3 a night for the last two weeks before I took the test. Of course, the test looks much different than the practice questions. Some were down right scary.
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Three problems a night? Three practice tests a night? haha 😕.
Where did you get your practice material, if you don't mind me asking? I'd let to expand my selection of practice problems (right now I have a few books but I'm wondering if there are online resources I don't know about).
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Three tests. If you had asked me back in Aug for the material, I could send you about 12 links. I've long since deleted them. You might do a search here and come across the thread. Another helpful program is GRE Bible. You can purchase it online or you might find it free, depending on your skill. I also used the Kaplan book, a yellow book, and another book that I borrowed from my baby sister. The best tests have an explanation for each question, so you know what you got wrong or what shortcut you missed. It's all about conditioning or sensitizing yourself to the presence of a short cut. The big rule is that if you aren't doing simple math, you've done something wrong. They love to give you a huge string of numbers that needs divided by another huge string. Simplifying usually results in something like dividing ten by five.
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My experience was the practice tests they sent on the CD were VERY similar to the actual test. But I didn't find practice questions/tests on the Net like you did (or like it sounds like you did).
My approach to studying for it was to read through the math book they send you, and do those practice problems. Then I took the two practice tests they sent. I was glad I read the math book, because c'mon - I graduated from high school in the 80's; I've forgotten a lot of that.
I think if someone does those two practices tests and scores as well as they'd like, there's not much reason to work any harder at it - you may get an incrementally higher score, but probably not enough to make it worth hours a night. My test score was 1400 (780 quant, 620 verbal), which seemed sufficiently competitive. And I definitely do NOT consider myself to be a math person: I just narrowed my study focus to the 70-80-page 'book' they sent. I suspect the vast majority of people in this forum would rock my butt off in a math class.
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I had some weird diagram show up that looked really scary. The first few questions were pretty simple, but about 8 or so in, holy smokes. Maybe I was paranoid in studying so much, but then again, I was sitting in the middle of the desert with not much else to do for fun. Google will bring some really good study guides, which have quizzes.
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How do you go about taking the GRE in that situation? Does ETS role in and set up shop in Balad and/or other places? Do they make arrangements for the military to 'host' the test taking?
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I took it when I got back. I looked around while there. The Army has free testing for almost every test except the GRE. There were rumors of it being available in Balad, but no one there seemed to know anything about it. Given the stability of the commercial computer network, I don't think it would have been a good idea anyway. Besides, it could take a week to go from Al Asad to Balad and back - my boss would not have gone for that one. We got back in July, and I took it at a local college in Fayetteville, NC.
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Hi,
I have taken GRE on 25th May, 2011. I scored 1310(Q - 780, V - 530, AWA - 4.0). I was just wondering if this score is good enough to apply for a Phd in Computer Science in the top 25 Universities in US. I have done my masters in Software Engineering from Jadavpur Unversity and have a high GPA(8.51 in 10) and have a consistently good academic record(90.4% in 10th standard, 79.9% in 12th and 79.58% in B.Tech). I also have 8.5 years of work experience in IT industry. Can anyone please suggest if I need to retake the test or this score will suffice. Also suggest the universities which I can choose to apply(At least 10 of them would be of great help for me)..
Thanks in advance..!!
Regards.
I have taken GRE on 25th May, 2011. I scored 1310(Q - 780, V - 530, AWA - 4.0). I was just wondering if this score is good enough to apply for a Phd in Computer Science in the top 25 Universities in US. I have done my masters in Software Engineering from Jadavpur Unversity and have a high GPA(8.51 in 10) and have a consistently good academic record(90.4% in 10th standard, 79.9% in 12th and 79.58% in B.Tech). I also have 8.5 years of work experience in IT industry. Can anyone please suggest if I need to retake the test or this score will suffice. Also suggest the universities which I can choose to apply(At least 10 of them would be of great help for me)..
Thanks in advance..!!
Regards.
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You've posted this twice now. If you'll note, this is a board for students trying to get into veterinary medicine. We're unlikely to know anything about the standards for computer science, so you might want to Google some computer science forums. Good luck, but this isn't the place for you.
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Highest is an 800Q, 800V, 6.0W. There's not a magic number for any school. It will vary based on how the school calculates the scores, what percentage of points the score makes up, and of course... the rest of your application will have a pretty big effect on it too.
But if you want a number to aim for in practice tests, I'd say a 1200 or over is a decent goal. Something like 60th %ile in each section. If you can do better than that... well, good.
But if you want a number to aim for in practice tests, I'd say a 1200 or over is a decent goal. Something like 60th %ile in each section. If you can do better than that... well, good.
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I've seen it suggested in a number of places that a score averaging above the 70th percentile is considered "competitive"... but looking at the accepted stats for the schools you're interested in is probably the easiest way to get an idea of what to aim for.
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Hey, yes, the highest scores are 800 for the Verbal and quantitative both...and 6 for the Analytical writing. But the scores by themselves don't mean much, without taking the percentiles (percentage below) into account.
I got a 1530 : Verbal 740 and Quant 790.
Even though it looks like I did better in quant, the percentage below me were: Verbal 99%, and Quant 91 %....so technically speaking my Verbal scores were better than the Quant scores compared to the average test population.
Also, I hadn't done Math since like 10-11 years....but I found that after going through various books and figuring out the basics - you apply the same to all the questions that come to you. So its the basic formulas/how to go about a prob that one needs to understand. Thats the beauty of Maths! One thing you wouldn't find in the books is the statistics part - there definitely are a few (in the minority - but hey, they still count) questions from Stats (e.g. those based on the standard deviation, medians, modes, etc).
The verbal on the other hand was more of a challenge. I had a decent vocabulary to begin with, but most of the words you're supposed to mug up for the GRE aren't all that commonly used in your daily vocab...so mugging them up was a bit of a challenge. And then there'r soooooo many words you need to learn. Barron's has like almost 3500 of them. Add to them Princeton's or Kaplans, etc etc. And - the passages! The passages are definitely easy to read in most cases, but the questions are based on tiny little nuances as the difficulty of the test increases...so one really needs to practice on those too. And if you look at most GRE scores you'll realize that in most of the cases, its the Verbals which have a lower score than the Quant.
Let me know if I can help you prepare for the test 🙂 Its not all that tough to crack....one needs to study systematically for it.
I got a 1530 : Verbal 740 and Quant 790.
Even though it looks like I did better in quant, the percentage below me were: Verbal 99%, and Quant 91 %....so technically speaking my Verbal scores were better than the Quant scores compared to the average test population.
Also, I hadn't done Math since like 10-11 years....but I found that after going through various books and figuring out the basics - you apply the same to all the questions that come to you. So its the basic formulas/how to go about a prob that one needs to understand. Thats the beauty of Maths! One thing you wouldn't find in the books is the statistics part - there definitely are a few (in the minority - but hey, they still count) questions from Stats (e.g. those based on the standard deviation, medians, modes, etc).
The verbal on the other hand was more of a challenge. I had a decent vocabulary to begin with, but most of the words you're supposed to mug up for the GRE aren't all that commonly used in your daily vocab...so mugging them up was a bit of a challenge. And then there'r soooooo many words you need to learn. Barron's has like almost 3500 of them. Add to them Princeton's or Kaplans, etc etc. And - the passages! The passages are definitely easy to read in most cases, but the questions are based on tiny little nuances as the difficulty of the test increases...so one really needs to practice on those too. And if you look at most GRE scores you'll realize that in most of the cases, its the Verbals which have a lower score than the Quant.
Let me know if I can help you prepare for the test 🙂 Its not all that tough to crack....one needs to study systematically for it.
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I have international friends with similar GRE scores at Stanford in engineering PhDs - the schools don't generally care all that much about the verbal and writing scores other than you show that you can speak english. Also important of course are that you've gotten good grades in the past and you have excellent references. My German ex-bf got into ME PhD programs at Yale, Princeton, and Stanford with similar scores to you and he had what were considered to be really good grades for the German system, and my French and Belgian friends were all pretty similarly scored as well. I'm sorry I can't help with the grades - ours aren't done like that. You might try contacting some alums from your university in MS and PhD programs in strong computer engineering programs at Stanford/MIT/Princeton/Carnegie Mellon/Illinois/Rice/GA Tech and seeing what they got in with. If you contact some professors at the schools about your research interests and whatnot, you should get a pretty honest answer out them as to if you fit their research needs and if they're interesting in having a word with admissions about your application.
You might also think about joining the IEEE for networking purposes in order to find other people with your similar sort of background to talk to and ask questions of.
(You might be surprised at different vet student backgrounds, coquette, not that I disagree about this board being a sorta strange place to post that...but I'm assuming it was the result of a random google search 😉 )
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I'm not surprised, actually. I know we're diverse, I was just pointing out that there's probably a bazillion other forums more suited (and I did say we were unlikely to be able to help them, not that we totally couldn't). Twelvetigers made the same point to this person. *shrugs*
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Hey guys,
Sorry..it was my mistake..I didn't notice before posting it..😛..I was searching for some forum where I could get my queries addressed..
@quantized - Thanks a lot for your valuable suggestions..
Cheers..
Sorry..it was my mistake..I didn't notice before posting it..😛..I was searching for some forum where I could get my queries addressed..
@quantized - Thanks a lot for your valuable suggestions..
Cheers..
i got the ETS test book that has some strategies in the front and then 4-5 full length tests that are the actual test that were given prior to going to the CAT system. also Kaplan has some really good test books, i also took the Kaplan course online before i took the test the first time, i think it helped my a lot. just be aware that if you are applying this year they are changing the test august 1st and you wont be able to get your score until i think (dont quote me on this) november. for a lot of school they need the scores sooner, so just make sure to check up on that before scheduling your test. Some schools, Iowa i believe is one of them, wont recognize the current test type after the switch to the new test type. just FYI sorry if i am repeating something you have already heard about the test
