Importance of Balance of GRE Scores

[irish80122]

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Yet another GRE prep question, I know. My advisor told me to shoot for a 1300 but never mentioned the breakdown on quantitative and verbal that I should have. I have been studying both and have realized that my verbal is weak but that I think I can do pretty well on the quantitative. I just got a 740 on the quantitative and a 560 on the verbal which would give me the 1300 I desire. How would graduate schools look at this with the discrepency, however? I am definately going to study for the verbal more, no doubt, but should I also keep trying to push up the quantitative or at some point does the combined score not really matter so much since it is lop-sided, you know? I just don't know if a 560/740 break would be an acceptable score to a school that has an average of about 1300 or so. Thanks!

 

[Psyclops]

I think those score ain't a problem. Although 1300 is a general goal, I would say the real cutoff tends to be somewhere around 1200, with a 600 minimum on each. That isn't always the case. Minnesota told me that they throw out anyone below a 625 on either, unless all the faculty agree to take the kid. I suppose ideally you want both scores to be above 600 if possible. But this, isn't to discourage you. A 560 and 740 or whatever should be fine. Scores on verbal tend to be lower, but even so, the percentile scores (arguably more important) are always lower on quant. It's the damn engineers that skew the kertosis.

 

[irish80122]

I think those score ain't a problem. Although 1300 is a general goal, I would say the real cutoff tends to be somewhere around 1200, with a 600 minimum on each. That isn't always the case. Minnesota told me that they throw out anyone below a 625 on either, unless all the faculty agree to take the kid. I suppose ideally you want both scores to be above 600 if possible. But this, isn't to discourage you. A 560 and 740 or whatever should be fine. Scores on verbal tend to be lower, but even so, the percentile scores (arguably more important) are always lower on quant. It's the damn engineers that skew the kertosis.

I know there are some programs that are looking for 600's on both, and luckily I am not in love with that many of the insanely selective programs (though I know everywhere is kind of insanely selective). My problem is even with studying I am not sure that I can get there; my vocabulary just honestly isn't all that strong. I am hoping that everything else can make up for it, however, but we will see. Thanks again for your help!

 

[joetro]

Focus more on your Quant scores; it is easier to get a higher score on this section anyway, and it's one that programs will be paying more attention to. obviously, if you can get your verbal scores up, that's great, especially in terms of being competitive for fellowships.

 

[Psyclops]

Quick question, what makes you think programs will be looking at quants more?

 

[LM02]

Agreed with the other posters - you want to have a minimum 600 on each, with an ideal combo of 1300+.

You might be able to squeeze by with a sub-600 verbal, but it will most likely limit the number of schools that will consider you for an interview. Not knowing the specific criteria for each school up front, that puts you in a tough situation.

As for the quant section, the issue is that engineering, math, and science people take the GRE - as such, the scores are terribly skewed to the right, so that even a score in the 700's will not always garner such a high percentile score. As a result, the Quant score has lost a little bit of meaning over the years. So as long as you are over 700, I wouldn't worry. And instead, I would spend a lot of time working to bring up your verbal.

Yeah, quant is important for grad school in clinical pscyh, but so is your language ability. After all, all the statistical analysis in the world is going to mean nothing if you can't fluently present and organize your research in a written manuscript.

 

[Psyclops]

On another note, wouldn't that be skewed to the left?

 

[irish80122]

On another note, wouldn't that be skewed to the left?

Then I guess the question returns to being about two weeks out what is the best way to get there. I have been able to get up to 560 so I am not too far away, I just need to get lucky. I am good with the reading, that is not a problem, it is just vocabulary. That is why I have worked on the quant; it is much easier for me to study for because I know what to expect. I am definately studying as much vocab as I can between then and now but is that all I can do and then just pray that a couple of those words come up and push me to where I need to be (I will only need a couple).

The question is how big of a disadvantage will I be at if I am over 1300 but not over 600 on the verbal, even if I am just a bit below it like even a 560?

 

[Psyclops]

I really don't think that it would be that big of a deal. Here is how it generally works. Each school has an equation that it uses to decide whom to keep after the first cut. One I've seen looks like this: [(Q + V)/2] + (GPA x 100) > 1000 you stay in the running. So in that case it wouldn't matter what the breakdown was.

Overall, just keep studying those words and maybe you will get lucky, either way, it won't hurt, but worrying too much will. So good luck.

 

[Psyclops]

As for the quant section, the issue is that engineering, math, and science people take the GRE - as such, the scores are terribly skewed to the right, so that even a score in the 700's will not always garner such a high percentile score. As a result, the Quant score has lost a little bit of meaning over the years. So as long as you are over 700, I wouldn't worry. And instead, I would spend a lot of time working to bring up your verbal.

Sorry, not to be a jerk LM02, just one of my pet peeves. It would be skewed to the left. Here's a little on skewness:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skewness

 

[irish80122]

I really don't think that it would be that big of a deal. Here is how it generally works. Each school has an equation that it uses to decide whom to keep after the first cut. One I've seen looks like this: [(Q + V)/2] + (GPA x 100) > 1000 you stay in the running. So in that case it wouldn't matter what the breakdown was.

Overall, just keep studying those words and maybe you will get lucky, either way, it won't hurt, but worrying too much will. So good luck.

Thank you very much, I appreciate it. I hope quite a few schools use that equation because that would bode well for me 🙂. Yay, finally a bit of good news. Thanks Pysclops for all of your posts on this topic, I really appreciate it!

 

[LM02]

Sorry, not to be a jerk LM02, just one of my pet peeves. It would be skewed to the left. Here's a little on skewness:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skewness

Yeah, that's right - just typing quickly and not thinking. Though my point is still the same - recently, my friend decided to quit her job and go to Vet School. She got a 730 on her math GRE, and it was something like the 72nd percentile.... It's just not that great a barometer for admissions committees.

Otherwise, I would recommend that you cram some vocab. Although some schools use a formula like the one described above, others do not. The problem is that these admissions criteria are rarely made public - so you just don't know as an applicant if you are wasting your time applying. For example, with the exception of non-native English speakers, my program would not interview anyone with a verbal below 600.

 

[Psyclops]

You could always ask specific professors when you e-mail them to find out if they are accepting new students. You could include a little about yourself such as your scores, etc. In fact I think it would be a great idea to include as much as you can, but not expect them to read it all and comment on it.

 

[irish80122]

You could always ask specific professors when you e-mail them to find out if they are accepting new students. You could include a little about yourself such as your scores, etc. In fact I think it would be a great idea to include as much as you can, but not expect them to read it all and comment on it.

I definately plan on doing that a bit later in the summer. First, however, I want to read over their recent research to make sure that I am in fact interested in them (sometimes what they are working on now differs a bit from their bio) and also so I can comment on that and how it matches my interests. Does that sound like a good idea? I definately will include my scores, GPA and course load (or I could put together a vita) if you think that would help.

 

[JatPenn]

indeed, as I recall my 680 on verbal was 95th %ile while my 710 on quant was 76th.

 

[Psyclops]

I definately plan on doing that a bit later in the summer. First, however, I want to read over their recent research to make sure that I am in fact interested in them (sometimes what they are working on now differs a bit from their bio) and also so I can comment on that and how it matches my interests. Does that sound like a good idea? I definately will include my scores, GPA and course load (or I could put together a vita) if you think that would help.

I think a vita would work nicely, yes you want to let them know you are interested in thier work and why, but you want to know where they see their program going during the time that you would be there. So ask them a few question, that encourages them to give a resposnse, naturally be very courteous and offer to send them any more info they might want to see.

 

[joetro]

I just think that the Quant is a bit more important because it might be a bit more directly relevant to the kinds of things you'd be doing ... i.e. all of the statistics ... and as a way to assess your mathmatical reasoning. Of course, language skills are essential in terms of writing well and publishing, but the GRE verbal doesn't really test those things in the verbal section (not, of course, that the Quant asks about statistics).

Good luck; just think how nice it will be when you no longer have to worry about this silly test! On top of that, think of how great you'll feel when you aren't doing this during the school year (like I did!)

 

[irish80122]

I just think that the Quant is a bit more important because it might be a bit more directly relevant to the kinds of things you'd be doing ... i.e. all of the statistics ... and as a way to assess your mathmatical reasoning. Of course, language skills are essential in terms of writing well and publishing, but the GRE verbal doesn't really test those things in the verbal section (not, of course, that the Quant asks about statistics).

Good luck; just think how nice it will be when you no longer have to worry about this silly test! On top of that, think of how great you'll feel when you aren't doing this during the school year (like I did!)

Joe, if I could get the score you got, I would do it on Christmas Day or whenever the least convenient time to do it would be, lol. I am very much looking forward to having it done, I just hope that I do well enough on it the first time that that will be it! Keep your fingers crossed!