Non-native speakers who took the GRE

[Marissa4usa]

Hey guys,
I know this is probably old for many of you but right now I see my career as a clinical psychologist going down the drain, I honestly just feel like crying.
I took the GRE today, having prepared for three months over the summer, studying vocabulary continously (1500 words of which I memorized ~1000 by heart), then studying full time for the last week.
The results were 710Q and 320V

I have a pretty good feeling about the writing section. No masterpiece but I think my writing was pretty decent considering the fact that coming up with ideas under pressure is not the ideal situation.

I know that this question has been asked many times but this is especially to those whose first language is not English. Like I said I have memorized almost 1500 words, I have taken about 15 practice test (just 4 days before the test I got a 550 on the verbal which I was very happy about), I have used 2 books: Baron and Princeton which tips were really helpful. In addition to the computer practice tests I have done many excercises on paper.
I'm really running out of ideas. I don't know how to improve my score. I feel like a total failure because I think that this what's going to keep me out of grad school. I had English in school for 9 years and I have been living in the US for over 4 years. I don't need anybody to proofread my papers as they are pretty much without any mistakes (not counting commas, I will never understand these rules). 3 years ago I got a 573 on the toefl and that was before I started attending college in the US. My skills since then have improved tremendously.

I'm planning to retake it in 4 weeks so I need plenty of advice how to tackle it. I want a 1200 combined, somehow, to at least tell myself that I am semi competitive. Since I dont think my math is gonna be any higher (I was even a little suprised by the 710), I will need a 500 on the verbal.
Please guys, especially those whose first language isn't English, HELP!!! *desparation*

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[Ollie123]

The 710 is great and will likely be a big boon. Did you apply this year? If not, you might want to wait more than 4 weeks to retake it (as much as it would suck to keep studying).

Unfortunately, I'm convinced that save for a few brilliant linguists, the verbal section involves a sizable amount of luck even for English speakers. I did about 100-150 points lower than I was expecting just because I happened to get words I wasn't familiar with. Some practice tests contained words that I knew most of even before studying.

Perhaps this was just one of those bad luck exams for you, its hard to know for sure. I definitely encourage you to keep at it though. BELIEVE me, people have overcome much worse things than a low verbal score and still made it into this field.

 

[WaitingKills]

I am a native speaker of english so I'm not exactly who you want giving you advice, but I did raise my score from my first GRE by 50 points in the verbal section and by about 200 on my practice tests.

I know you have been studying words, but have they been from the 'top 300' lists that are floating out there? I know that several of the words I learned from this list were on the test and boosted my mark from the first time.

Another thing is to really go through and understand the tips. I know that you are studying them, and I did the first time through too. However, I didn't really have a deep understanding. Knowing how to weed answers out is one of the best things you can do. Guessing between 3 is better than guessing between 5.

It's also helpful to do a diagnostic test (prob included in your text books) to figure out what section or sections of the verbal part are holding you back the most... is it the comprehension, analogies etc. That may give you some more direction for what to focus on.

I totally agree with Ollie that there is a lot of luck in these exams. Some are easier than others and by fluke one test may come up with more words that you've studies.

I think before you totally beat yourself up (not saying that you are, but you sound really upset) you can always explain your deficit in the verbal section with english being your second language. Your math score is really good and that will help show that you are doing what you need to do to go into grad school. Hopefully, your essay score will be decent as well. I think that if the rest of your app package is competitive, they will not weigh your verbal score as heavily knowing that it is your second language.

I probably haven't said anything that you didn't already know but I feel for you. This test is the devil .

 

[socialcog]

ugh. I am sorry to hear about this. You are not alone in hating this test!! I keep hearing that schools are trying to look at each applicant in a more holistic fashion--as opposed to letting this ridiculous test carry so much weight.

Like you, I studied about 1500+ words and memorized all of them. I was averaging 680 on my practices. Like Ollie mentioned, my scored dropped about 100 points just because I did not know a SMALL handful of the words. Luck is a bitch.

I hope you get a 6.0 on your writing. A Q:710 and a 6.0 looks pretty damn good.

 

[lakan]

i'm also not a native english speaker although i always thought my english was pretty good. then came the gre and i saw so many words that i had never seen before. i took the test last year after studying like mad, putting up words on the wall and you name it. i got a 420 V on the first test and was utterly disappointed (got a 5 on the writing - didn't know it at the time). after about a month, without much more studying i got a 550 V. it still wasn't great but i hope that schools take the non-native speaker part into account. so my 2 cents is that for me maybe i was less stressed the second time, maybe i had more luck, but it is certainly worth trying again. what have you got to lose (except 150$ and some precious sleep).
good luck

 

[Marissa4usa]

Did you apply this year? If not, you might want to wait more than 4 weeks to retake it (as much as it would suck to keep studying).

No, I will be applying next year. The thing is that I won't be able to dedicate any time to studying for the GRE over the Spring semester as I will be taking some very difficult classes (including one grad class) and I will start working on my honors thesis. So, i f I waited longer I will just have to re-study a lot after the spring.

BELIEVE me, people have overcome much worse things than a low verbal score and still made it into this field.

I know, everybody keeps telling me that. The thing for me is that I'm already 24 years old, I will graduate when I'm 26, that means the ealiest I will enter the workforce is when I'm 31. I really don't want to wait any longer.

I know you have been studying words, but have they been from the 'top 300' lists that are floating out there? I know that several of the words I learned from this list were on the test and boosted my mark from the first time.

I used easy prep Gre flash cards and they included the 333 most frequent words that you can find in the Barons book. But I guess I will re study them. I guess I will also focus more on the word roots, etc. And I will also take a look at the Princeton tips again.

I think before you totally beat yourself up (not saying that you are, but you sound really upset) you can always explain your deficit in the verbal section with english being your second language. Your math score is really good and that will help show that you are doing what you need to do to go into grad school. Hopefully, your essay score will be decent as well. I think that if the rest of your app package is competitive, they will not weigh your verbal score as heavily knowing that it is your second language.

I know that you are right but I think that there are lot of non native speakers with equal qualifications and better GRE's. What I am mostly concerned about is that they will throw out application at the initial cut off and not even consider my other qualification or the fact that I am international.

after about a month, without much more studying i got a 550 V. it still wasn't great but i hope that schools take the non-native speaker part into account.

500 is all I want. It's above the 50th percentile, it's gonna boost my combined score up to a 1200 which still isn't great for clinical psych but makes me at least semi competive so that profs even consider looking at the rest of my application.

 

[Marissa4usa]

Alright,
just to give an update. Took the GRE again today. Results were...hm...
I improved on both sections got a 410V and 720Q.
Unfortunately the writing didn't go to well. I pretty much froze for almost 15 minutes at the very beginning. Luckily I was able to get myself together.

So now I have an 1130 alltogether.
What do you folks think? Should I take it again?(if so I would do it in about 5 weeks). I want 1200 so badly, it's ridicolous. I know that with my score I am above the offical cut off of some schools but is there any chance realistically? I know I have pretty much asked these questions already, I just need some reassurance that somehow this whole GRE disaster is going to have a happy ending.

 

[empathiosis]

Alright,
just to give an update. Took the GRE again today. Results were...hm...
I improved on both sections got a 410V and 720Q.
Unfortunately the writing didn't go to well. I pretty much froze for almost 15 minutes at the very beginning. Luckily I was able to get myself together.

So now I have an 1130 alltogether.
What do you folks think? Should I take it again?(if so I would do it in about 5 weeks). I want 1200 so badly, it's ridicolous. I know that with my score I am above the offical cut off of some schools but is there any chance realistically? I know I have pretty much asked these questions already, I just need some reassurance that somehow this whole GRE disaster is going to have a happy ending.

If you've got a high GPA, have research experience and are doing a senior thesis, you might be ok. Maybe you can get one of your references to write about your low score on the GRE verbal not being a true indicator of your potential?

 

[Hain Adam]

English is also my second language. I got 750Q and 550V in my first and only GRE attempt. I hope it's good enough for me.

 

[Marissa4usa]

If you've got a high GPA, have research experience and are doing a senior thesis, you might be ok. Maybe you can get one of your references to write about your low score on the GRE verbal not being a true indicator of your potential?

Got all of those but I just think my application won't even make it on any professors desk with a low GRE like that.

English is also my second language. I got 750Q and 550V in my first and only GRE attempt. I hope it's good enough for me.

Now I feel really good . I would kill for a score like that.

 

[EquestriAnn]

I have taken about 15 practice test (just 4 days before the test I got a 550 on the verbal which I was very happy about)

I was scoring in the 700's on verbal in my practice tests and ended up with a 540. Practice tests are deceiving. In any case, I would take it again. I totally would have if I had left myself time before school started (oops!). If you have the time and money you can take a prep class, or just study on your own and see how you can do. Good luck!

 

[childphdapp]

English is my 2nd language as well ...

I did poorly on my SAT and thought I'd NEVER beat the GRE.

In a way, I was right and I was wrong. I took a prep class and studied my freaking butt off for 3 months. I could NEVER crack 520V on any practice exam. First time I took the test ... 580V (81%) and 660Q (64%). I KNEW I could do better on the quantitative section but feared doing worse on my verbal section (come on, I NEVER CRACKED 520V on any practice test).

A DCT at a top tier school advised me NOT to take the GRE over if I thought my verbal score would decrease. I went against his advice, studied for another 2 months, and did 570V (79%) and 720Q (77%). Both times I got 5.0 on my writing assessment. I by no means had a stellar GRE score. However, this was enough to get me a handful of interviews at some really great programs. I have a decent overall GPA -- but a really high psychology GPA from a prestigious undergrad university. I had 4 years of research experience (3 years as a student, 1 years post-BA) and my current supervisor showed me her LOR which was pretty much the best damn LOR I could have expected. I think the overall package is definitely much more important than individual things like your GRE/GPA. That said, there are unofficial (and maybe even official) cut offs. Unless you are superior in everything but your GREs, I would say to try one more time (definitely do not retake it unless you are not scoring better on the verbal section). One last thing, if you feel that you will do worse on the verbal (let's just say your improvement was just dumb luck - I'm not saying it is, but I sure thought my first try was dumb luck), then don't retake it.

Also ... here is a fun AND charitable website for improving GRE Verbal scores -- http://www.freerice.com/

 

[childphdapp]

One more thing, I don't think 5 weeks is enough time. In between my 1st and 2nd attempt, I took the Psych GRE and 90% of my time studying was devoted to the Psych exam. I didn't heavily study for the regular GRE at all during those 2 months in between. All I did was go over words every night for 30 minutes - 1 hour. I took my GRE the 2nd time 1 week after I took the Psych GRE so I only had 1 real week of hardcore prepping. That said, even if you have a heavy load in the Spring, seriously consider putting in 30 minutes every day, or even every other day, and taking one practice test once a week ... it's not THAT huge of a commitment but it could make a BIG difference in your score.

 

[kiwish]

in case I know you marissa, i feel like I might, I can help you study. i am going to send you a PM

 

[rollomayfan]

I think you might want to consider retaking it. I would echo what childphDapp said about 5 weeks not being enough. I am also not a native speaker of English and I spent around 4-5 months trying to boost my initial low verbal of 420. I basically had no life, spending almost every free moment hitting the books. It's a lot harder to boost your vocab if you're not a native speaker. But when I finally took the GRE, I got a 600 on the verbal -- so it was worth it.

I would say, as a non-native speaker, it's so important to memorize words.

Also, sometimes the GRE prep books for US students aren't enough. I was able to get a GRE prep book from my country before I came over, and it had a lot of words that I didn't know but most US students did (such as "barn") -- and my English ability in my country was considered of the highest level. So if it is possible, maybe if your country makes GRE prep books for vocab, you might want to get a friend of yours to send one over.

 

[bellecalle]

Hang in there, marissa4usa! Here are more words of encouragement from another non-native English speaker.

I only took the GREs once, back in Aug 07, and got 720Q, 590V and 5.0W. (It seems from previous posts that we non-native speakers sort of have similar trends in our scores... interesting). Anyway, like other people have said, give yourself more than 5 weeks. Maybe another 2 to 3 months? And I would encourage re-taking it.

WaitingKills mentioned way up top that you should try to assess which parts of the verbal is the most difficult for you. I could only pull a 590 even after memorizing a very very large number of vocab words. I was pretty bummed as I was expecting more like 650 or so, but after seeing that a 590 was in the 83rd %ile, I decided to be ok with it. Anyway, I think it really is a good idea to see where your weak points are. Despite knowing tons of tons of vocab, that won't really cut it as there are sentence completions and reading comp. My question for you is, do you read books on a regular basis? I think it's very very important to do a lot of reading. Reading books in general. And articles from papers such as Wall Street Journal, as I've heard that WSJ articles seem most similar to reading comp type of passages. My advice for you is to keep working on the practice stuff, but also just try a whole new agenda and read books as often as you can. I know it seems like a weird approach, as the reading you'll do isn't geared toward the verbal, but I think it will help.. at least it can't hurt, right? And give yourself ample time too. You will get through this.

 

[childphdapp]

I also agree with others' suggestions to see where your weaknesses are on the verbal section of the GRE. If you are weak in the reading comprehension type questions, then learning 1000 extra words (though helpful), will not be enough.

This website was SUPER helpful for improving my quantitative score:
http://grediagnostic.ets.org:443/basic/gre.htm

Basically, ETS will allow you to see how long you took on each type of GRE question and whether you got it right or wrong. For $15, they give you some "strategies" for solving these types of problems and give you practice questions to answer. You also take a test that "diagnoses" your weaknesses. I NEVER heard about this service and it was really random that I came across it 1 week before my retake. It was so helpful though.

The basic analysis is pretty interesting if any one cares to see how they did -- anything to pass the time while waiting on interviews, right?

 

[xlittlemissalix]

This thread makes me laugh because I AM a native English speaker and I got a 460 the first time and a 540 the second time on the verbal section. Luckily, I got a 5.0 on the writing the first time and a 5.5 the second time. Anyway, the verbal section sucks. I know lots of native speakers who didn't even break 400. It's all about knowing the vocabulary. I hear they're trying to change that for the new GRE (whenever that is). Anyway, I don't know if someone mentioned this already, but can't you take the TOEFL?

 

[psychometric]

This thread makes me laugh because I AM a native English speaker and I got a 460 the first time and a 540 the second time on the verbal section. Luckily, I got a 5.0 on the writing the first time and a 5.5 the second time. Anyway, the verbal section sucks. I know lots of native speakers who didn't even break 400. It's all about knowing the vocabulary. I hear they're trying to change that for the new GRE (whenever that is). Anyway, I don't know if someone mentioned this already, but can't you take the TOEFL?

The TOEFL is to the GRE like a Honda Goldwing Motorcycle to a Ferrari race car.
They are not testing the same thing and are not accepted as a replacement for one another.

 

[Marissa4usa]

Ok folks,
I know it's getting annoying but I really need to vent. So, I just went to the GRE diagnostics site to see where my main mistakes were. Turnes out, it is the reading comprehensions...oh well...not like I didn't expect it..

HOWEVER... turns out I got 20 out of those 30 questions right...something I would have never thought of, not even in my wildest dreams...compared to 9 questions I answered 5 weeks earlier.
How in the world can it be that I only got 90 points more on the verbal.
the difficulty level of all questions were basically the same or cancelling each other out.
Exam 1: 3 level one questions
16 level two questions
9 level three questions
2 level four questions

Exam 2: 1 level one question
17 level two questions
11 level three questions
1 level four question

on the second exam I answered 8 out of the first 10 questions correct compared to 4 out of the 10 the first time. in the second third I got 3 questions right both times and the last third I answered 8 right the second time vs. 3 the first time.
I know that the scoring is not linear and I wish that the middle third had been at the end ( it had a lot of RC questions in it) but how in the world can it be that I only have frigging 90 points more with double the questions answered correctly?

 

[lucyguard]

If I'm not mistaken you get an average question (in terms of difficulty) in the beggining. If you get it right you get a harder one, if you get it wrong, you get an easier one. So the computer keeps doing that to "zoom in" on the right level of questions for you. If your nailing the hard ones you get more of them, meaning that you can handle more difficult questions. In that case your score is higher. If you get the difficult questions wrong, they give you an easier one until they find a level that you can handle. That level determines the kind score you'll get.

The first 10 questions are the bulk of your score. The computer is trying to see if you a 400, 500, 600 or 700 kind of person. Once it has the ballpark it will keep shooting that level of questions at you to determine whether you are a 710 or 740 or 780 (or maybe drop you to a 690). Getting the last few questions wrong doesn't hurt you very much (you may drop from a 750 to a 710). But messing up in the beginning hurts you most and you will have to get nearly all of the questions right to make it up (and you may still be stuck in the 500 or 600).

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that based on what you said you got lots of "middle level" questions, and very few "hard questions, which explains your score. If you can only get the easy questions right, then you are probably not a 700 person.

Understanding how the test works is key to doing well. Princeton review has an awesome explanation of it.


On a side note, I completely feel you pain. I'm not a native English speaker and did horribly on my verbal (my math wasn't hot either!). I have an interview coming up next week so I DO have a chance of getting into grad school even though I have a horrible score. If your GPA and your research can make up for a lower score you may be fine.

Ok folks,
I know it's getting annoying but I really need to vent. So, I just went to the GRE diagnostics site to see where my main mistakes were. Turnes out, it is the reading comprehensions...oh well...not like I didn't expect it..

HOWEVER... turns out I got 20 out of those 30 questions right...something I would have never thought of, not even in my wildest dreams...compared to 9 questions I answered 5 weeks earlier.
How in the world can it be that I only got 90 points more on the verbal.
the difficulty level of all questions were basically the same or cancelling each other out.
Exam 1: 3 level one questions
16 level two questions
9 level three questions
2 level four questions

Exam 2: 1 level one question
17 level two questions
11 level three questions
1 level four question

on the second exam I answered 8 out of the first 10 questions correct compared to 4 out of the 10 the first time. in the second third I got 3 questions right both times and the last third I answered 8 right the second time vs. 3 the first time.
I know that the scoring is not linear and I wish that the middle third had been at the end ( it had a lot of RC questions in it) but how in the world can it be that I only have frigging 90 points more with double the questions answered correctly?

 

[deleted176373]

Ok folks,
I know it's getting annoying but I really need to vent. So, I just went to the GRE diagnostics site to see where my main mistakes were. Turnes out, it is the reading comprehensions...oh well...not like I didn't expect it..

I know that the scoring is not linear and I wish that the middle third had been at the end ( it had a lot of RC questions in it) but how in the world can it be that I only have frigging 90 points more with double the questions answered correctly?

Remember that 90 points in NEARLY 1 Standard Deviation! Raising your score from a 490 to a 580 can represent a HUGE jump as far as percentile ranking as well. Don't be so hard on yourself. If you got a 90 point increase over 5 weeks you should be very proud of your improvement. A little can go a long way.

For instance, lets pretend that you were able to increase verbal 90 pts and math 90 pts. The difference between scoring a 1080 and a 1260 IS HUGE!

Keep working it and don't get frustrated. Remember every 100 pts is a significant achievement.

Mark

 

[Marissa4usa]

If I'm not mistaken you get an average question (in terms of difficulty) in the beggining. If you get it right you get a harder one, if you get it wrong, you get an easier one. So the computer keeps doing that to "zoom in" on the right level of questions for you. If your nailing the hard ones you get more of them, meaning that you can handle more difficult questions. In that case your score is higher. If you get the difficult questions wrong, they give you an easier one until they find a level that you can handle. That level determines the kind score you'll get.

The first 10 questions are the bulk of your score. The computer is trying to see if you a 400, 500, 600 or 700 kind of person. Once it has the ballpark it will keep shooting that level of questions at you to determine whether you are a 710 or 740 or 780 (or maybe drop you to a 690). Getting the last few questions wrong doesn't hurt you very much (you may drop from a 750 to a 710). But messing up in the beginning hurts you most and you will have to get nearly all of the questions right to make it up (and you may still be stuck in the 500 or 600).

I am well aware how this works which is why I am so upset. I got easier questions AFTER I answered several questions correctly which pretty much kept my score low altogther. Even though I might not have been able to answer those harder questions correctly I would have liked to at least been given the chance. It seems kind like they randomly administer questions of different difficulty levels which takes away the opportunity from the test taker to receive a high score. Obivously the this whole "computer adaptive" thing is not as "adaptive" as it seems but more at the discretion at who knows

I hope it's ok to put this online, otherwise could someone please remove it.Thx

 

[Marissa4usa]

Hey, it's me again and my neverending GRE drama.
So, I took it for THIRD time today and I guess it's time to tell myself to forget gradschool.

Since I took it in January I have spent about 10 hours per month studying for it and for the last 2 months I have studied about 15 hours per week.
The horrific results of today are V 430 (20 point increase) and Q 620 (100 point decrease).

I am so devastated because I have dedicated the past year to this test, moneywise, timewise and even worse, also emotionally (hehe, if that isn't discloure, then I don't know what is)
I was really confident in my voabulary and thought that if I can be really sure about the first 15 questions then I should manage to get at least 500ish. I had practiced RC's like crazy and was doing really well on them the past few week.
In addition to that I sucked at the math, my biggest strength.

well...i guess if someone still has some advice for me. Should I bother to apply at funded programs or should I just try and find a few decent Master programs.

Thanks!!

 

[cara susanna]

Let's team up, you can do my quant and I'll do your verbal. Together we could have a great score!

Sorry, I have no real advice besides learning vocab words. I can only imagine taking the GRE in Spanish (my second language). Yikes.

 

[Marissa4usa]

Sorry, I have no real advice besides learning vocab words. I can only imagine taking the GRE in Spanish (my second language). Yikes.

This is what is so devastating. Not to brag but I consider myself very articulate and fluent in English. And I REALLY know these frigging 1500 words BY HEART!!!! I dream about them, i get alert when I hear them somewhere,let it be TV or in book, I even recognized a lot of them on the test but then answer choices are so similar, and despite the fact that I knew all the words I most likely got them wrong.

 

[cara susanna]

I dunno, it could just be that maybe you need to understand the verbal section more than just studying vocab. I have a great vocab and I still got 500s on verbal because I didn't understand the test. So, let me say what I said in another GRE thread:

Sentence comp: Don't pick any answer choice that you can't back up with a specific section of the reading
Analogies: Make up defining sentences, and get more specific with those defining sentences as you narrow down choices. Also eliminate words that have no relationship to each other.
Sentence completion: Try to fill in words of your own, then look for synonyms
Antonyms: Like sentence completion; try to come up with an antonym of your own and then look for a synonym in the answer choice

If you knew this stuff already, sorry, but hopefully it helps somewhat

 

[Marissa4usa]

I dunno, it could just be that maybe you need to understand the verbal section more than just studying vocab. I have a great vocab and I still got 500s on verbal because I didn't understand the test. So, let me say what I said in another GRE thread:

I know this and I have spent a lot of time on that as well at an earlier stage of studying for this evil test.

Sentence comp: Don't pick any answer choice that you can't back up with a specific section of the reading

this is what has always caused me the most trouble as most of the questions require me to read the section very specifically and I get panicky when I don't find it right away or are confused by the answer choices.

Analogies: Make up defining sentences, and get more specific with those defining sentences as you narrow down choices. Also eliminate words that have no relationship to each other.

Done that, been there. And I guess, that where I have the disadvantage as a non-native speaker. I know the word's meaning but somethime words have different connotations that are very similar and then the relationships between the words are similar. Or what also annoys the cr*p out of me is when I know the meaning of the two original word pair but cannot make a connection between them that makes sense. So basically I am sitting there, I know all the words but can't define a proper relationship....very annoying.

Sentence completion: Try to fill in words of your own, then look for synonyms

that's exactly what I have been doing.

Antonyms: Like sentence completion; try to come up with an antonym of your own and then look for a synonym in the answer choice

yep, that's what I have been doing.

If you knew this stuff already, sorry, but hopefully it helps somewhat [/quote]

 

[baylordude]

have you taken the subject test yet? perhaps a great subject test score will help to counter your GREs. The subject test may not weigh a ton, but a great score couldn't do anything but help.

 

[Marissa4usa]

have you taken the subject test yet? perhaps a great subject test score will help to counter your GREs. The subject test may not weigh a ton, but a great score couldn't do anything but help.

I registered for the ocotber one last week, I will start to study the middle of next week. Luckily and if I am not mistaken I have taken every single class that is a subject matter of the psych GRE so that it's more a review than studying from scratch.

 

[myelin]

I'd still apply to PhD programs despite your scores. You never know what may happen if you have other strengths. If not, I'd definately consider a 2-year MA/MS program and then jump up to the PhD.

 

[cara susanna]

There are also PhD programs that don't use score cutoffs.

Oh, I was reading the earlier advice to you and saw someone suggest reading books. That's a great idea. Part of the reason I already know most of the vocab words is because I love to read, especially the classics.

I hear you about the CAT and how it's so freaking evil. For verbal, at first I was getting 500s even though I was getting 83% of the questions right. Why? Because I was getting the first few questions wrong.

 

[Marissa4usa]

I just hope that the programs will look at my two highest scores combined which is 1150 and not absolutely horrible. I am also worried that it's going to hurt me that i decreased by 100 points in the math.

 

[Sanity6]

Doesn't all of this discussion just illustrate how unrealistic and disconnected these tests are? Apparently the best predictor of how an individual will do in grad school is GPA and performance as an undergrad. And that's only applicable to the first year of grad school.

All of that stress and strife over the meaning of some archaic words. I mean it's great to have a strong vocabulary, but it just seems like missing the forest for the trees.

A system that would dishearten such a dedicated student seems obviously faulty to me. (Just my $3.50).

 

[deleted176373]

Alright,
just to give an update. Took the GRE again today. Results were...hm...
I improved on both sections got a 410V and 720Q.
Unfortunately the writing didn't go to well. I pretty much froze for almost 15 minutes at the very beginning. Luckily I was able to get myself together.

So now I have an 1130 alltogether.
What do you folks think? Should I take it again?(if so I would do it in about 5 weeks). I want 1200 so badly, it's ridicolous. I know that with my score I am above the offical cut off of some schools but is there any chance realistically? I know I have pretty much asked these questions already, I just need some reassurance that somehow this whole GRE disaster is going to have a happy ending.

I think that if you explain that you are not a native english speaker to the professors of interest that you are applying to work with and you present your case well, you might be able to get past the GRE hurdle with little more than an appropriately timed email.

Mark

 

[myelin]

Doesn't all of this discussion just illustrate how unrealistic and disconnected these tests are? Apparently the best predictor of how an individual will do in grad school is GPA and performance as an undergrad. And that's only applicable to the first year of grad school.

All of that stress and strife over the meaning of some archaic words. I mean it's great to have a strong vocabulary, but it just seems like missing the forest for the trees.

A system that would dishearten such a dedicated student seems obviously faulty to me. (Just my $3.50).

I agree 100%. Even ETS suggests that using cut-off scores is not what the test was intended for. Schools that use initial GRE cut-off points are doing a disservice to those students out there with other strong qualities. I'm talking about the programs that screen applicants by GRE first and foremost before looking at the LOR, PS, and academic record. It is a double-edged sword though because how else would a program wade through 200+ applications in time to schedule interviews with select students and make the April 15th deadline while also teaching and doing research etc.?

I've tried to fight the system and lost, so now I'm taking another crack at the test to see if I can't raise my score.

 

[cara susanna]

The GRE has made me cry more times than I would like to say. It's the one thing standing in my way, and it makes me furious that four years of hard work can be completely negated by one little four hour test.

I think that if it were paper-based, it would be a more accurate measure. But, with the CAT, the test makes assumptions about you that may not be true. Just because I got the first question wrong doesn't necessarily mean that I'm not good at verbal and can't answer harder questions. It's ridiculous.

 

[Marissa4usa]

I think that if you explain that you are not a native english speaker to the professors of interest that you are applying to work with and you present your case well, you might be able to get past the GRE hurdle with little more than an appropriately timed email.

Mark

I am a bit concerned that I might come off as intrusive when requesting lenience with my GRE scores.

 

[RNtoPharmD]

Apparently the best predictor of how an individual will do in grad school is GPA and performance as an undergrad. And that's only applicable to the first year of grad school.
All of that stress and strife over the meaning of some archaic words. I mean it's great to have a strong vocabulary, but it just seems like missing the forest for the trees. .

I agree. It's also culturally biased too for non-native speaker.
Of course, non-native speaker will have narrower range of vocabs and slower reading speed. Even if the vocabulary is not archaic, we may not know how "specific" names for certain tools/animals/greek methodology. (eg. simple words like pirouette, spatula, cartright, sled, executrix, Skein? etc) We just simply don't know it. If it is a more abstract words like blandishment/lachrymose, then I can understand why they want us to know. But.. come on! To learn the specific name of million objects in English is an onerous task!!

But I won't let this get in a way of going to grad school!! I will retake it again.

 

[deleted176373]

I am a bit concerned that I might come off as intrusive when requesting lenience with my GRE scores.

You are not requesting lenience. You are highlighting the fact that you are not being fairly evaluated by a test that may be biased towards native speaking students and that in your case this test may not be predictive of your individual success in graduate school. You should also note that despite this one discrepancy in your record that you feel that you are a good match for the program for other reasons and that you want to insure that your application receives consideration because of your other strengths and experience that make you otherwise a great fit for their program.

I would probably write the letter so that it went something like this:

Dear Dr. X,

I would like to introduce myself and discuss my possible candidacy for your program in clinical psychology. I recently graduated with my B.A. from The University of Porcine with a 3.78 GPA and I am currently researching the psychology of the left handed bacon stretcher. I see that you are also engaged in research on this hugely popular segment of the bacon stretching population. I think that I am a great match for the program, but I do have one concern, I am not a native English speaker and as a result my GRE Verbal scores are a tad low. Would you still encourage me to apply or does your school employ a firm GRE cutoff? My scores were 730 Math and 420 Verbal. I look forward to the opportunity to discuss this and your research further.

Sincerely,

Me No English

 

[201792]

Hi Marrisa,

I think that the post above mine is a great advice. I wish I had done it when I applied. I'm pretty sure my verbal score kept me from getting interviews at my top choice programs. Even though my combined GRE score was 1230 and my BA GPA was 95/100, a score lower than 500 is too low and should be explained (I wrote about it in my statement, but I don't know if anyone bothered reading it).

Good luck!

 

[Marissa4usa]

Thank you Mark,
even though I am trying to be realistic and getting used to the thought that I most likely will get into a program this year, it still makes me feel better that at least there is a chance.