trade you a little verbal for summa dat quant
September 19, 2011 2:11 PM Subscribe
Um...should I retake the GRE? Will my mediocre quant score keep me from getting into computer science grad school?
I just got out of the new GRE and my ranges were 740-800 for verbal and 730-800 for quant. I really messed up, because I'm applying to computer science programs! Worst case, will my 730 on the quant be enough for *~top~* programs to deny me? It was just a bad day, honest! Everything else on my resume will be good--my grades are high and 2 of my recs are for research, 1 is for my tutoring experience/excellence in sophomore level math courses level math courses.
I also think my essays were between 5 and 5.5.
I just got out of the new GRE and my ranges were 740-800 for verbal and 730-800 for quant. I really messed up, because I'm applying to computer science programs! Worst case, will my 730 on the quant be enough for *~top~* programs to deny me? It was just a bad day, honest! Everything else on my resume will be good--my grades are high and 2 of my recs are for research, 1 is for my tutoring experience/excellence in sophomore level math courses level math courses.
I also think my essays were between 5 and 5.5.
Best answer: There's a lot besides GRE score that goes into the PhD evaluation process, so it's certainly possible that you have something on your CV that will make you an appealing applicant. 730 is quite weak, however, and it will likely be viewed as a red flag.
I'm in a different field of engineering, but my guess would be that our applicant pool has a lot of similar background. I would say that about half of our applicants have an 800 quant. We start to worry when we see scores below 750 or so.
posted by mr_roboto at 2:27 PM on September 19, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'm in a different field of engineering, but my guess would be that our applicant pool has a lot of similar background. I would say that about half of our applicants have an 800 quant. We start to worry when we see scores below 750 or so.
posted by mr_roboto at 2:27 PM on September 19, 2011 [1 favorite]
I took it twice and my score improved significantly the second time. I only spent about an extra month studying for the retake. So, it's definitely possible to improve, I think. Especially in verbal, if you spend more time learning vocab words your score goes up.
(Although, I don't know what the "new" GRE is. Does is still have a bunch of vocab words?)
posted by GastrocNemesis at 2:31 PM on September 19, 2011
(Although, I don't know what the "new" GRE is. Does is still have a bunch of vocab words?)
posted by GastrocNemesis at 2:31 PM on September 19, 2011
Best answer: Best case, you got an 800 and that would be fine, right?
A 730 is less than 80th percentile. That might be OK in some programs, but it seems poor for a really "*~top~*" one. It might not automatically disqualify you, but it will look bad. Keep in mind that 6 percent of GRE takers get an 800.
When will you know your actual score? If it is really low, studying, practicing, and retaking would probably be a good idea.
posted by grouse at 2:34 PM on September 19, 2011
A 730 is less than 80th percentile. That might be OK in some programs, but it seems poor for a really "*~top~*" one. It might not automatically disqualify you, but it will look bad. Keep in mind that 6 percent of GRE takers get an 800.
When will you know your actual score? If it is really low, studying, practicing, and retaking would probably be a good idea.
posted by grouse at 2:34 PM on September 19, 2011
Response by poster: @grouse, I'll know it in November. I know that the scale tops out at 750-800 (even if you get a 800, the range will still say that), so I might be worrying for nothing. I ran out of time on the second section and had to guess about 4 of them, but the second section was adaptive so it might not be weighted very heavily.
@GastrocNemesis, the 'new GRE' gives you 30 minutes for the Issue essay and gets rid of the antonyms. The math might have changed a little. The final scoring scale will be 130-170 instead of 200-800, and they give 'ranges' at the end of the test because they haven't converted everything over yet.
posted by 200burritos at 2:39 PM on September 19, 2011
@GastrocNemesis, the 'new GRE' gives you 30 minutes for the Issue essay and gets rid of the antonyms. The math might have changed a little. The final scoring scale will be 130-170 instead of 200-800, and they give 'ranges' at the end of the test because they haven't converted everything over yet.
posted by 200burritos at 2:39 PM on September 19, 2011
Keep in mind that you don't just want to get INTO grad school, you want them to WANT YOU to go to their grad school. So that they give you more money.
posted by ropeladder at 2:45 PM on September 19, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by ropeladder at 2:45 PM on September 19, 2011 [1 favorite]
Don't worry about "top" schools, worry about the schools that have good programs in your subfield that you want to go to. If you think you had an especially bad day, or that you could do better with more studying, I don't see why you shouldn't retake them. Don't retake them just because you hope you could do better.
posted by demiurge at 2:48 PM on September 19, 2011
posted by demiurge at 2:48 PM on September 19, 2011
What's keeping you from taking them again? If it'll settle your mind and won't break your budget, take them again!
posted by xingcat at 2:50 PM on September 19, 2011
posted by xingcat at 2:50 PM on September 19, 2011
There's a subject test in Computer Science. You need to figure out how heavily that is considered relative to the general GRE. (I'm not in CS. I have no idea if the subject test is even typically required.) In my field, I was told the general GRE simply didn't matter. You had to take it because universities required it, but the department wouldn't do more than glance at it. Again, I don't know if this is a) true at all or b) field specific. I also have no idea if there'd be a point below which a general GRE score would raise eyebrows. (In my field, you'd generally expect to do very well on the quant. section.)
That's not an answer, but hopefully it's an outline of questions to ask if no one here speaks with real authority. Ask the people writing your references.
posted by hoyland at 4:05 PM on September 19, 2011
That's not an answer, but hopefully it's an outline of questions to ask if no one here speaks with real authority. Ask the people writing your references.
posted by hoyland at 4:05 PM on September 19, 2011
I've done a little bit of application reading and in my experience recs are the most important and easiest thing to judge. I kinda doubt readers are that attuned to the percentile distributions on GREs and will instantly throw you in the "no" pile on the basis of that. If your in-discipline GPA is strong and recs are good this definitely doesn't seem disqualifyingly bad to me. That said, my school doesn't actually request GREs (and has a top CS program, although I'm not in it) so I'm not sure how well I can speak to the general case.
posted by heresiarch at 4:10 PM on September 19, 2011
posted by heresiarch at 4:10 PM on September 19, 2011
It *might* not be as critical for a PhD in Computer Science but keep in mind your competition for the same programs is more likely to ace the math section and have lower verbals.
See if the programs you are looking at offer any stats on previous years intakes for the programs you are interested in.
posted by infini at 4:13 PM on September 19, 2011
See if the programs you are looking at offer any stats on previous years intakes for the programs you are interested in.
posted by infini at 4:13 PM on September 19, 2011
I am not in CS. However, speaking as someone who had a very low GRE score -
Will my mediocre quant score keep me from getting into computer science grad school?
Yes
Do not believe the lies placed on department websites that it is not just about the "score" but the whole applicant package and what you can offer.
Oh and what ropeladder and demiurge said.
Regarding computer science - I would read Dr. Norman Matloff's (a professor at UC Davis) writings on job opportunities in this area.
posted by BuffaloChickenWing at 6:21 PM on September 19, 2011
Will my mediocre quant score keep me from getting into computer science grad school?
Yes
Do not believe the lies placed on department websites that it is not just about the "score" but the whole applicant package and what you can offer.
Oh and what ropeladder and demiurge said.
Regarding computer science - I would read Dr. Norman Matloff's (a professor at UC Davis) writings on job opportunities in this area.
posted by BuffaloChickenWing at 6:21 PM on September 19, 2011
If top CS graduate programmes only take in candidates with perfect GRE and CS GRE scores, then they will be chock full of Chinese, Indian, and Korean students...
Thankfully, this is not the case, and you can validate my claim by checking PhD graduate student homepages at MIT, Stanford, CMU, Cal, UT-Austin, or UIUC.
Good programmes have a fair balance of candidates, each bringing something interesting to share in the community.
I think your candidacy sounds fine. I recommend that you spend some time thinking about
a) how to communicate your passion for CS research.
b) how having you improves the research discourse in the program
c) how your interests may be multi-disciplinary, synthesizing work from different areas, e.g., economics, archaeology(?), etc.
Oh. BTW make sure your candidacy does not make you come across as a JERK. PhD programs are long and *ALL* departments prefer PhD candidates who are congenial and adaptable.
Good luck! :)
posted by jchaw at 7:14 PM on September 19, 2011
Thankfully, this is not the case, and you can validate my claim by checking PhD graduate student homepages at MIT, Stanford, CMU, Cal, UT-Austin, or UIUC.
Good programmes have a fair balance of candidates, each bringing something interesting to share in the community.
I think your candidacy sounds fine. I recommend that you spend some time thinking about
a) how to communicate your passion for CS research.
b) how having you improves the research discourse in the program
c) how your interests may be multi-disciplinary, synthesizing work from different areas, e.g., economics, archaeology(?), etc.
Oh. BTW make sure your candidacy does not make you come across as a JERK. PhD programs are long and *ALL* departments prefer PhD candidates who are congenial and adaptable.
Good luck! :)
posted by jchaw at 7:14 PM on September 19, 2011
Best answer: As a GRE tutor and a non-quant person who usually does well on math standardized tests...
You may not get a 730, BUT if you do, a 730 is low for any educated person, in any field, who tests well. In CS, I'd say it's somewhere between Red Flag and Raised Eyebrow. Hell, 750-770 is "what kind of day was she having?" for CS. It's not that they'll think you're weak-minded, but... How many CS people do you know who get a flat 800 on the math section? I know a lot. Why risk having this dumb test make a bad impression?
Unless you have a very, very good reason not to, I'd sign up for a new test date pronto and then perhaps cancel right as you're getting the results.
It's a process that sucks. Hang in there. These things happen to all of us.
posted by skbw at 8:40 PM on September 19, 2011
You may not get a 730, BUT if you do, a 730 is low for any educated person, in any field, who tests well. In CS, I'd say it's somewhere between Red Flag and Raised Eyebrow. Hell, 750-770 is "what kind of day was she having?" for CS. It's not that they'll think you're weak-minded, but... How many CS people do you know who get a flat 800 on the math section? I know a lot. Why risk having this dumb test make a bad impression?
Unless you have a very, very good reason not to, I'd sign up for a new test date pronto and then perhaps cancel right as you're getting the results.
It's a process that sucks. Hang in there. These things happen to all of us.
posted by skbw at 8:40 PM on September 19, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by mr_roboto at 2:20 PM on September 19, 2011