Retaking a GRE

[dahee.shon]

Hi,

I took an old GRE three years ago (2011) and received a score of V-590, Q-800, and Writing-4.0. Then I did a Master's and decided to apply for a Ph.D program this December.

I was advised by a few people that I may want to retake the GRE because of my verbal score. It was lower than my practice scores, but at the same time, I am not very good with the verbal part, English being my second language. I gave it a try for the past one week, memorizing some vocabs and solving practice questions, then I took a practice test just now. V - 152, Q- 158. I realized that I got significantly slower in dealing with numbers (obviously I didn't do much math for the past three years).

Seeing that both scores are under 80th percentile, I feel hopeless and perplexed whether I should retake it or not. I was thinking to retake it in mid-September, but I also have a full-time job. I am hoping to apply for some of the top programs in I/O Psychology and Organizational Behavior.

Any advice will be much appreciated!

[tommywallach]

Hey Dahee,

This really is a question for the admissions departments of the schools you're applying to. I wouldn't feel comfortable making any specific recommendations. Call them up, tell them your scores, and ask them if you would be competitive, or if they would recommend a retake. If they say they would recommend it, come back here and we can talk some more.

Good luck!

-t

[funmitoadebowale]

Hi,
I decided to write on this forum cos I think it fit the question I wanted to ask and I didn't want to have to start another topic.Anyway, I took the GRE yesterday and scored V:163 and Q:153, I was really bummed about the Quant, i had hoped for a 157 at least but to be honest I really struggled with the Quant while I blazed through the Verbal and my essay: well I'm waiting to see the result. I wanna apply to a number of competitive schools and since I intend to do a dual masters a good score would have helped with scholarships or financial aid.
Do you think the discrepancy between my Verbal and Quant scores can hurt my admission and scholarship application, and should I consider writing the GRE again?

[tommywallach]

Hey Funmito,

As I said, it would depend entirely on your specific schools and programs. The best people to ask about this are the admissions departments of whatever schools you're planning to apply to!

-t