GRE worries, advice

[Wiscoguy]

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Hello all,

I will be taking the GRE in August and I am kind of stressed out about it. I have been studying and taking practice tests and will continue to do so up until my test date.

After taking three Kaplan practice tests I have scored in the low 150s for both V and Q. My first choice (UW- La Crosse) has average accepted student scores in the low to mid 150s for V and Q over the past couple years.

The problem is that I am worried about my writing score. I do not write too well under pressure. I am a lot better at taking my time while writing like most people are!

Will a low writing score hurt my chances of getting into my top choice program? The minimum required score is a 3.0 and the average accepted student score is between 4.0 and 4.3


Any advice/comments would be greatly appreciated!



Current stats after two years of undergrad:

GPA: 3.95
prereq GPA: 3.9
Observation hours: 27 (inpatient) but I will be getting more over winter break and next summer break.

 

[davidtheusername]

Some schools don't care about writing (I don't think mine even factored it in.) But even if yours does, both your GPA's are great and your GRE outside of the writing score is where it needs to be so a 3.0 in writing probably won't hurt you so much. The only real solution for writing under time pressure is to do it a lot. Set a timer and write on prompts regularly. Read lots of examples of 4 essays. 4 essays really aren't that amazingly great. It's a very doable score with practice.

 

[Wiscoguy]

Some schools don't care about writing (I don't think mine even factored it in.) But even if yours does, both your GPA's are great and your GRE outside of the writing score is where it needs to be so a 3.0 in writing probably won't hurt you so much. The only real solution for writing under time pressure is to do it a lot. Set a timer and write on prompts regularly. Read lots of examples of 4 essays. 4 essays really aren't that amazingly great. It's a very doable score with practice.

Got my scores two weeks ago! 155 V 154 Q and 4.0 writing! Thanks for the advice it worked. Pretty satisfied with my scores.

 

[steveyk]

yeah you have nothing to worry about. I think if you get some more observation hours and maintain your grades, you'd be a competitive applicant at many programs!