I gave the GRE and absolutely tanked it. I expected 160+ in both Quant and Verbal but my results were otherwise. I solved Manhattan twice. Completely solved the GRE Official Material, worked my butt off and still ended up with such a shit score.
According to the diagnostics here are my weak points:
QUANT :
SECTION 1
Arithmetic - 4/5
Algebra - 3/5
Geometry - 0/4
Data Analysis - 5/7
SECTION 2
Arithmetic - 2/5
Algebra - 4/5
Geometry - 0/3
Data Analysis - 6/7
VERBAL :
SECTION 1
Reading Comprehension - Longer Passage - 2/7
Reading Comprehension - Shorter Passage - 1/3
Text Completion - 2/7
Sentence Equivalence - 4/4
SECTION 2
Reading Comprehension - Longer Passage - 2/3
Reading Comprehension - Shorter Passage - 3/7
Text Completion - 4/6
Sentence Equivalence - 1/4
I bought GregMat+ to get some insight and actually tune my methods. I am beginning to understand where I went wrong… it was a mix of bad practice with fear and anxiety. Open to any and all suggestions.
PS: I have my deadlines in December, should I even try to give the GRE again or apply next year… I really don’t want to skip a year just preparing for masters. Meanwhile I need to work on my LORs, SOPs, etc. I really am in a time crunch.
I am thinking of applying this year because at this point gre is the only weak point in my application. My overall profile is pretty strong so I am gonna take my chances. If its the similar case for you, I’d recommend to apply to the universities that are waiving off gre. That would be helpful in my opinion.
It’s okay to beat yourself for not having the desired score or better but it will be more worse if you don’t get to apply. The application process is a holistic one which your GRE is only a requirement out of many others. Besides, some schools are waiving the GRE and many applicants are leveraging on that, hence, it won’t be bad to send it in. Give time to your SOP, LORs, and CV and I promise you will be fine. Also, I will suggest you go for top class, mid range, and low ranked schools equally so as to improve your chances. In Greg’s voice, you mustn’t go to a top rank school to get the best education.
Even I am giving it a shot, and indeed I am learning new things. I used to dislike shortcuts, felt like cheating, my strategy used to be solve step wise but now I do realise shortcuts significantly increase your score. Also I just gave the PP1 test from the official tests available which was a fault I needed to practice more.
So I actually changed my mind on the advice I would give. I think that depending on the programs you are trying to get into, and if they require GRE, you should consider taking the GRE again. If your schools value one section above the other, you can focus on that for the remaining time you have and retake it, if you decide too. I am currently working on the one-month study plan for quant because that is the score I want to bring up. On the other hand, as someone previously mentioned, some schools are waving the GRE right now, so if you find a school that has your desired program and they are waving the GRE for this application cycle you should consider applying. I thinking retaking the GRE really depends on how many schools you are applying too are requesting it, and on top of that, what the average score is of their admitted students.
Dont get discouraged though! the GRE is a hard exam and like someone previously mentioned, they are doing a wholistic application reviews so your experiences, recommendation and personal statement are also taken into consideration!