GRE Importance

[Jreich]

Hi All I have a general question about the GRE’s importance in MFE applications. For some background I’ve lived in the US (NY) my whole life, attended a 4 year English speaking undergraduate university, and did really well on my ACT’s when taking them for College. I unfortunately was unable to both study for the GRE and complete a full semester of Engineering classes and didn’t do great on my applications. Was wondering if this might fall more on not having taken the GRE or maybe just lacking other categories. I ask this in particular as I was led to believe the GRE is mostly for international students by the wording on the applications.

 

[kombuchalover]

pretty much impossible to know and every school is probably different but to me just looking at your profile… your gpa is below average at a 3.5 for the top schools so that’s already gonna hurt you. If you have a 3.5, you need to back it up with something else to convince the admissions committee that your serious about doing a masters degree. That might mean strong test scores or strong essays or strong letters of recommendation or strong research experience, strong work experience, CFA/FRM etc. and it probably needs to be more than one of those things.

I don’t personally believe a strong GRE score actually tells the admissions committee much about the candidate, but what it does show is that a candidate is invested in doing a masters degree both financially and with the time they put in to study for the exam and I think that speaks volumes to most committees.

Secondarily, regarding your point on it being more necessary for international students…. I haven’t heard that and I doubt there is any validity to that claim. Realistically, I think it’s just a common forum where universities can compare students on a level playing field, which is something GPA can’t do.

TLDR: idk, but taking the GRE can’t hurt you. So if you reapply, I’d take the GRE

 

[Jreich]

pretty much impossible to know and every school is probably different but to me just looking at your profile… your gpa is below average at a 3.5 for the top schools so that’s already gonna hurt you. If you have a 3.5, you need to back it up with something else to convince the admissions committee that your serious about doing a masters degree. That might mean strong test scores or strong essays or strong letters of recommendation or strong research experience, strong work experience, CFA/FRM etc. and it probably needs to be more than one of those things.

I don’t personally believe a strong GRE score actually tells the admissions committee much about the candidate, but what it does show is that a candidate is invested in doing a masters degree both financially and with the time they put in to study for the exam and I think that speaks volumes to most committees.

Secondarily, regarding your point on it being more necessary for international students…. I haven’t heard that and I doubt there is any validity to that claim. Realistically, I think it’s just a common forum where universities can compare students on a level playing field, which is something GPA can’t do.

TLDR: idk, but taking the GRE can’t hurt you. So if you reapply, I’d take the GRE

I got the international student piece from the GRE only not being required if you attended a 4-year US undergraduate university in the fine print of many applications

 

[Andy Nguyen]

You may be mistaking it for the TOEFL test being not required for applicants whose undergrad is in the US or where official instruction language is English.