Low Verbal Score on GRE

[ktachiba]

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Hi everbody,

I just took the GRE today, and got a 1170 total. However, my verbal score was only a 410 (my math score was a 760). Would you recommend taking the GRE again? I heard some schools want 500 on both sections while others want a 1000 total.

I'm pissed because I memorized 800 words and not one of them showed up. I feel like the vocab section is kind of lucky in the sense that if the words you memorized show up you will score higher. I'm a little hesitant to retake the test however, because I never scored higher than a 650 on math in my practice tests, so the 760 was a great suprise. I feel that even if i retake the test and improve the vocab score, I will have a hard time matching the 760 in math.

What do you guys recommend I do?

 

[ktachiba]

I'm applying to most of the schools in Southern California (Western, USC, CSLB, St. Augustine, Chapman, and CSUN). And my undergrad gpa was a 3.49, and I'm just beginning to take my pre-req courses

 

[DPTforme2]

I had a similar situation with my GRE scores. I got a 400 on verbal which is horrible considering I also memorized hundreds of words and really did study for it. My quant score was ok I got a 600 I think it was. I didn't have time to retake it since I waited till August to take it for the first time so I just went with it and applied to 13 schools because I was nervous about my GRE. I have currently been accepted to 10 schools and had interview invitations from the other three which I declined since I now have so many options. All of these schools told me they would like to see a 500 on the verbal and 500 on quant but I guess the rest of my application was strong enough they looked past my GRE scores. I am currently deciding between Northwestern, Pitt and Wash U so I guess GRE scores at least in my case didn't matter too much 🙂

I also know a few people who did awesome on the GRE over 600 verbal and over 700 quant and got rejected from a lot of schools... so this leads me to believe GRE is not that big of a factor

My advise would be if you are comfortable with the rest of your application then dont worry about it youll be fine. And really your overall score is great you rocked the quantitative so I don't think you need to worry about GRE anymore. Good luck!

 

[neb19]

I know what you mean...I feel like the verbal section is somewhat of a gamble with all those words that I/we don't know!

I think you'll be fine. You're verbal score is on the lower end but you did a lot better on the quant and your total is great. I got a 450 verbal and 580 quant and I've been offered 6 interviews (one of which was Western) and put on one waitlist. And my cumulative GPA was a 3.38 at the time that my PTCAS app was submitted.

So I wouldn't stress about it too much 🙂

 

[hefe]

For now, I would not retake until you think about it. Re-take only if you're absolutely sure you need to, or your writing was like a 3.0 or something. You're GPA will likely be slightly more important.

If you have a low verbal check at every school you even possibly be interested, and see if they require a minimum verbal. Ask anonymously to an admissions adviser if you want or look at websites.

You may be OK, your high quantitative is a positive for sure, and arguably more applicable to how well you'd do in a PT program than verbal. That doesn't mean some schools may not care about the 400. Was your writing higher to help offset?

FYI, simply memorizing words can help, but not the best way to improve your verbal. Strategies on those sentence completion, your reading comprehension, and section pacing are all very important as well.

 

[G00se]

I would retake the verbal section if you have time. Only prepare for verbal, forget about quantitative. You can request to only be scored in that one section. This way you can focus on verbal and maybe you'll get a lucky draw w the words you know this time.

Most schools want to see at least a 500 in each section. Of course admissions will consider other parts of your application but numerical figures like test scores and gpa are the first things they use to sort applicants. Good luck!

 

[ktachiba]

I will probably wait to see my writing results before I decide if I should re-take the verbal section again. I did not know that you had the option to re-take just this portion.

Also, I did use those reading comprehension strategies/antonym/sentence completion strategies. I think the main reason I did so poorly, outside of not knowing most of the antonym words, is that I started to run out of time with half the questions left, and kind of rushed to finish.

Chapman's minimum score for verbal is 400, so I'm good there. And Western doesn't have a minimum score. But I believe USC, CSULB, and CSUN prefer at least a 500. As for St. Augustine (San Diego), I could not find a GRE minimum requirement. I'll probably try and e-mail each advisor at those 3 schools and see what they say.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[ktachiba]

I just took the GRE this morning, so I will find out in a couple of weeks. I prefer not to re-take the test, as I studied for 2+ months (hardcore the past couple weeks), and found it very tedious. Plus, Spring semester is starting tomorrow, so I probably won't have enough time to study until Summer.

 

[ktachiba]

Also, do you guys know if schools put more weight on cumulative GPA or pre-requisite GPA? I majored in Business Economics at UC Irvine, so I took basically no science classes as an undergrad. I'm a little worried about taking labs for the first time since high school, as I start Chemistry and Anatomy this coming semester.

 

[SergentT]

I will probably wait to see my writing results before I decide if I should re-take the verbal section again. I did not know that you had the option to re-take just this portion.

Also, I did use those reading comprehension strategies/antonym/sentence completion strategies. I think the main reason I did so poorly, outside of not knowing most of the antonym words, is that I started to run out of time with half the questions left, and kind of rushed to finish.

Chapman's minimum score for verbal is 400, so I'm good there. And Western doesn't have a minimum score. But I believe USC, CSULB, and CSUN prefer at least a 500. As for St. Augustine (San Diego), I could not find a GRE minimum requirement. I'll probably try and e-mail each advisor at those 3 schools and see what they say.

Thanks again everyone!

Well I don't know about all of those schools, but I can tell you that I was accepted to USC with a 450 Verbal. I was a little worried when I applied, but I know that schools look at way more than just your GRE score. I almost didn't even apply to USC because they said they have a minimum requirement of 500 on each but then I saw that they look at your whole application even if you didn't meet those minimums. So I would not worry too much about your verbal score because there are a number of factors that go into that score and it's just one test. As long as your whole application is solid that 410 shouldn't hurt you.

To answer your other question, I would say that PT schools will look more at your Pre-requisite GPA because those are the classes that are more related to the field and to the classes you will take at PT school. I would guess that they look pretty heavily at Anatomy/Phys because that's pretty much the basis of physical therapy. Good luck with your classes!

 

[DPTforme2]

Just wanted to add that also my writing score was terrible it was a 3.5. I called all 13 schools I applied and none had a min for writing but recommended at least a 4.0 AW score. But as I said before I am now trying to decide between which school to go to because I got in so many. So I really believe the GRE does not matter much at all. Thats just my opinion though!

I had a similar situation with my GRE scores. I got a 400 on verbal which is horrible considering I also memorized hundreds of words and really did study for it. My quant score was ok I got a 600 I think it was. I didn't have time to retake it since I waited till August to take it for the first time so I just went with it and applied to 13 schools because I was nervous about my GRE. I have currently been accepted to 10 schools and had interview invitations from the other three which I declined since I now have so many options. All of these schools told me they would like to see a 500 on the verbal and 500 on quant but I guess the rest of my application was strong enough they looked past my GRE scores. I am currently deciding between Northwestern, Pitt and Wash U so I guess GRE scores at least in my case didn't matter too much 🙂

I also know a few people who did awesome on the GRE over 600 verbal and over 700 quant and got rejected from a lot of schools... so this leads me to believe GRE is not that big of a factor

My advise would be if you are comfortable with the rest of your application then dont worry about it youll be fine. And really your overall score is great you rocked the quantitative so I don't think you need to worry about GRE anymore. Good luck!

 

[ktachiba]

Thanks DPTforme2, that is very comforting to know! It sounds like you got accepted to some really good schools.

If you don't mind me asking, what was your GPA? (both culminative and pre-req?) Also, what were your extracurricular activities?

 

[DPTforme2]

GPA: 3.82 overall pre-req 3.88
GRE: V:400 Q:600 AW:3.5

and honestly I had hardly any extra-curriculars I was a member of the chemistry faternity and volunteered at a animal shelter. I didn't have many hours for my extra-curricular I spent most of my time studying or observing PT since I knew very early that was what I wanted to do I thought PT experience would be very helpful.

Thanks DPTforme2, that is very comforting to know! It sounds like you got accepted to some really good schools.

If you don't mind me asking, what was your GPA? (both culminative and pre-req?) Also, what were your extracurricular activities?

 

[markelmarcel]

Ugh! I memorized a bunch of stinkin' words too and none of them showed up on any of the GRE tests I took! I was so mad!

Although, I did notice that the 3rd time I took the GRE, I used some of my vocab words I memorized in my writing essays and I got a half point score higher on the writing!! Haha. 😉

1170 is really good-- I got into all 3 of the schools I applied to (well, I was waitlisted at one but that's because they have very few openings to outsiders due to an undergrad-to grad 6 year program) and my highest verbal was 490.

I would maybe take it again, just to see if you can up the verbal to closer to 500, but no one threw my app out (Pitt included) because of it!