GRE scores
 

What is a good GRE score to get into a top-tier grad school? If you have a good idea per section and the writing part, please let me know.

:) Thank you!

Re: GRE scores
 

It would be dependent on your area of focus and what schools are "top-tier" in that area. Generally schools give average GRE schools of their admitted students, so that prospective students can gauge where they fall. And even if you are "less than average" in comparison to other students, other factors influence admittance, like your statement of purpose and letters of rec.

Usually, the program will say they want a minimum of XXXX for the GRE score of applicants. I know the programs I applied to did, anyways :)

My school only required a 350 on each section. I think that's pretty low, right?

For 700 total? I agree with you that it's pretty low.


My program required 1000 total. I had to take the GRE twice, what a glorious experience :p

There are big differences between master's programs and ph.d. programs. additionally, there is a definetely a difference between the university's required GRE score and the department's expected scores. some individual programs will post info about the last five year's worth of applicants including average GRE scores. that may give you a better idea...

- marissa

Re: GRE scores
 

I was told point-blank for the PhD program I wanted at Brown, they wouldn't look at any applications that had a combined score lower than 1400. My particular program didn't require I send the scores, so I think I'm going to just not send them ...

It's cold there anyway ;p

I'm applying to the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern as well as a few other J-school, and I've tried to look for a minimum score, but have not had any luck/ Does anyone have that information?

You probably should email the graduate coordinator at each program you are interested in. They would be able to provide you with that information.

Thanks! I'm taking the GRE on Wednesday, so I'm just trying to make sure I have everything taken care of.

Great J-school - if it wasn't for the distance from home, I was seriously considering going there for undergrad.

Contact the school - Medill is pretty competitive, so I'm guessing that either your score would have to be good, or your grades/portfolio would have to be solid.

piece of advice....
 

to anyone applying to a grad program, i encourage you to get in contact with the program director. if possible, i would make an appointment to meet with that person and perhaps a professor in the department. they would be able to clarify admission requirements and perhaps help you present the best application possible.

i did this over the summer for a program i was interested in and found that although the gre was required, it was a huge factor in deciding admissions. the director even told me that student were admitted with less than favorable gre scores but their other credentials were on point.

basically, the school/s you are applying to can answer your questions best.

good luck to everyone studying fro gres and applying to grad school!

I just looked at the scores for the school I'd like to go to and it said a combined score of 1000 is "desirable." So I'm studying like crazy over the break, April just seems to be getting closer and closer....

Learn your basic math formulas!

my experience with the GRE
 

1. the math is the exact same level of difficulty as the SAT

2. the verbal is much more difficult than that of the SAT

3. if you grew up in a country that does not have multiple choice tests (e.g. ME), you will most likely not do fantastically overall, BUT your math will outshine your verbal easily, even if you are bad at math in general

Re: my experience with the GRE
 

Really? My verbal was way, waaaaaaay higher (by about 200 points) than my math score. I thought the math was hard...but I've always been really bad at math.

What exactly is covered in the math section? I've had up to Calc 2 so should I be okay.

Algebra and geometry. I went through Calc 4, and hadn't done geometry since freshman year of high school, so I had to go back and review some of those theorems.

make sure you at least do the CD or practice tests you can download from the site. The math can be odd if you have never seen stuff like that before (or in a while). There are a bunch of graphs, and word type problems. The verbal was better for me as well, though some of those words you have never ever heard of. I think tests like the GRE don't show much because it can definately be a trained test (like you can improve a lot if you take a review course or memorize the words). I know a lot of schools set a 1000 point minimum because they know some people dont prepare at all, while others do, etc..good luck either way.

Interestingly enough, my verbal was 40 points lower than my math, and I was in the upper 80th percentile in verbal, as opposed to just maybe 51st percentile in math.

My friend is in grad school for English now and still can't get over the fact that he did exceptionally better on the math than the verbal.

My math score was about 150 points higher than my verbal, and I stink at math, so who knows ;)

Did anyone take the class to prepare? If so was it helpful, what is the best advice you have to prepare for it?

I just used GRE prep books.

Ok, can somebody please explain how the GRE works? Is it like the SAT, where there was a general test with math and verbal, then a subject test? Because I bought the GRE for Psychology, but then I've seen books that just focus on math and verbal.....do you take all 3 in one test, or is it like there's a general, then you register for the subject test seperately? I'm gonna surf the sites, but in the meantime, can somebody break it down for me?

Please and thank you :)

The General GRE is similar to the SAT, there is a verbal section and a math section, as well as a writing section, where you have to write 2 essays. They also throw in a section of "experimental" questions that aren't scored, so you will end up with either two verbal sections or two math sections, but only one will be scored.

There are also subject tests, depending on the area, and all the questions come from that discipline. For example, I'm in Chemistry, and a lot of grad schools require or "encourage" students take the Chemistry GRE exam. I think its the same for some other technical areas.

Yes, you would register for a subject test separately from the general GRE.

If you are NOT taking a subject test, then I would recommend using "GRE for dummies". It helped me a lot, and gave lots of tips about maximizing your score on the computer-based test.

Hey i have a GRE score of 1310 ( 560 VA, 750 QA, 4 Analytical).
How good is this score to get into a decent Engineering GRad school? i am a B.Tech in Civil Engineering. I have a TOEFL score of 277.