When to take GRE & Psych GRE

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autumn7

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I am preparing to schedule for the GRE and Psych GRE, for December applications. Does anyone have suggestions about how to sequence the test taking? Subject first, then General? Would you leave yourself, say, a month in between?

If I take the Psych GRE in late September, and the General GRE in late October, is that reasonable timing to get scores back for December admissions?

Any thoughts will be helpful...

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I am preparing to schedule for the GRE and Psych GRE, for December applications. Does anyone have suggestions about how to sequence the test taking? Subject first, then General? Would you leave yourself, say, a month in between?

If I take the Psych GRE in late September, and the General GRE in late October, is that reasonable timing to get scores back for December admissions?

Any thoughts will be helpful...
This is a very subjective question. It depends on how prepared you already are for each test, how much more time you need to study, what other stuff you have going on (e.g. work, school, prepping your applications), how burned out you might be after taking one of the tests, etc. I think I took the general test in July and the subject test in September.

Also, prepare yourself for any adverse situations, e.g. getting sick on test day. If you don't leave yourself enough time to take the general test again, you may be stuck with whatever scores you get. They actually canceled the subject test at my test site and offered me free rescheduling at a different site or on a different date.
 
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This is a very subjective question. It depends on how prepared you already are for each test, how much more time you need to study, what other stuff you have going on (e.g. work, school, prepping your applications), how burned out you might be after taking one of the tests, etc. I think I took the general test in July and the subject test in September.

Also, prepare yourself for any adverse situations, e.g. getting sick on test day. If you don't leave yourself enough time to take the general test again, you may be stuck with whatever scores you get. They actually canceled the subject test at my test site and offered me free rescheduling at a different site or on a different date.

Thanks for your input. And yes, this is a subjective question. I am just looking for general thoughts about timing, and wanting to make sure I haven't missed something (eg: 'you need to take 2 months in advance for test scores to get there', etc). Good reminder to prepare in event of illness on test day etc.
 
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Also, I'm wondering if a early to mid November test date for General GRE would be too close to admissions deadline?

(I know it does not sound like the ideal planning, I am just curious about feasibility.)
 
Also, I'm wondering if a early to mid November test date for General GRE would be too close to admissions deadline?

(I know it does not sound like the ideal planning, I am just curious about feasibility.)
Programs vary somewhat with regard to admissions times, but that would certainly be too close for me. You should always leave extra time to figure out if something went wrong - e.g., if scores were sent to the wrong place, if they were put in the wrong folder and you have to call multiple times to figure out why the program still has your scores listed as unreceived, etc. Personally, I would leave 6 weeks to account for the possibility of getting sick or stuck in gridlock on day of, error in sending, etc. One thing I definitely learned in grad school is fine if I want to procrastinate on things that depend only on me (e.g., writing a paper for class or cleaning my house at 3am on the day before applicants arrive), but once you introduce another person or especially a software system into the mix, you better plan for extra time.
 
I am preparing to schedule for the GRE and Psych GRE, for December applications. Does anyone have suggestions about how to sequence the test taking? Subject first, then General? Would you leave yourself, say, a month in between?

If I take the Psych GRE in late September, and the General GRE in late October, is that reasonable timing to get scores back for December admissions?

Any thoughts will be helpful...


Check about the Psych GRE because where I am, there are only 2 dates offered - one in September and one in October. If that's the case for you, I would definitely take the one in September in case you have to take it again if you don't like your score.

I'm planning on taking the Psych GRE at the September date, and then the General in Late September/Early October in case I need to take it again as well.

Make sure you're checking how often it's offered, how late you can sign up, and how quickly they give you back your scores etc. In my opinion because the two tests are so different, as long as you are prepared for them, you don't need to leave that much time in between taking the Psych vs the General. But it really is up to how prepared you feel - make sure you take a bunch of practice tests so you are as comfortable as possible for the tests!
 
Evac brought up a good point - they may differ in how long they take to get scores back. When I took the subject test 7 years ago it was still pencil and paper, at least at the site where I took it. I had forgotten about that - I can't recall how long it took to get the scores.
 
I took the GRE (psych and general) last year. The psych GRE was still pencil and paper and only offered twice/year: April and September. I took it in April just in case of... anything. But they assured everyone that September scores would be submitted in time for application deadlines, despite the longer wait for pencil/paper scoring.

I agree with everyone about allowing time for unexpected circumstances. I happened to be ill on the day that I took the general GRE. I took it anyway and scored lower than expected. Since I took it in July, I had plenty of time to retake the test and my score improved quite a bit. Note that you must wait 21 days to retake the general GRE if you need to. I'd include that in your timeline just in case. Finding a doable test date that late in the cycle (July) was actually pretty difficult for me and I'm in a major metro area with a lot of centers and dates. I'd schedule your tests ASAP.
 
I took the GRE (psych and general) last year. The psych GRE was still pencil and paper and only offered twice/year: April and September. I took it in April just in case of... anything. But they assured everyone that September scores would be submitted in time for application deadlines, despite the longer wait for pencil/paper scoring.

I agree with everyone about allowing time for unexpected circumstances. I happened to be ill on the day that I took the general GRE. I took it anyway and scored lower than expected. Since I took it in July, I had plenty of time to retake the test and my score improved quite a bit. Note that you must wait 21 days to retake the general GRE if you need to. I'd include that in your timeline just in case. Finding a doable test date that late in the cycle (July) was actually pretty difficult for me and I'm in a major metro area with a lot of centers and dates. I'd schedule your tests ASAP.
I agree and, honestly, if someone isn't already prepared to take either the general or subject GRE at this point in the current cycle, you probably have bigger problems than figuring out in what order to take them or how long of a gap you should have between tests.
 
Also, I'm wondering if a early to mid November test date for General GRE would be too close to admissions deadline?

(I know it does not sound like the ideal planning, I am just curious about feasibility.)

It would be cutting it close. When I was getting ready to apply I took the GRE in the spring. That might have been on the early side, but I wanted to get it over with. I opted not to take the psychology GRE.

If in all other respects you are ready to apply (experience, letters, grades, etc.) then go for it.
 
I took the subject test in April, and scores came in early May. I'd still leave as much time as possible to account for anything unexpected, however.
 
I can take the Psych GRE September 16th or October 28th. I'd prefer to take it at the later date since I plan on taking the general GRE a few days before September 16th. Would the October date be too late if I am applying to schools this year?
 
I can take the Psych GRE September 16th or October 28th. I'd prefer to take it at the later date since I plan on taking the general GRE a few days before September 16th. Would the October date be too late if I am applying to schools this year?

It all depends on how well you do, the deadlines for apps, and how quickly they can send your score reports. I know I took mine in October and it was really stressful because it took quite a while for them to send the reports and then match them to my application at each school (some schools are quicker than others). It worked out, but there's really no way to tell because if you aren't happy with your score there won't be another testing opportunity before most deadlines.


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I can take the Psych GRE September 16th or October 28th. I'd prefer to take it at the later date since I plan on taking the general GRE a few days before September 16th. Would the October date be too late if I am applying to schools this year?
GRE Subject Tests Centers and Dates (For Test Takers)

It looks like the mailing date for score reports for the October administration is December 8. This will be too late for those programs that require all materials be submitted by December 1, so double-check before registering.
 
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GRE Subject Tests Centers and Dates (For Test Takers)

It looks like the mailing date for score reports for the October administration is December 8. This will be too late for those programs that require all materials be submitted by December 1, so double-check before registering.

Thank you! I see that Psych GRE and General GRE work differently in terms of score delivery.

I appreciate, and agree with, those who have suggested leaving room for unexpected circumstances. Thanks all.

Edited: to clarify Psych GRE vs General
 
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