Is it worth taking the GRE for a third time?

[morts]

Hello, yesterday I took the GRE for a second time and didn't get what I expected: V-150, Q-159.
I really don't know what to do, I want at least 165 in the quant section but I just can't seem to get it.
Do you recommend taking it a third time, will it hurt my application for the top universities in US?

Need advice ASAP.

 

[evan guggenheim]

Hello, yesterday I took the GRE for a second time and didn't get what I expected: V-150, Q-159.
I really don't know what to do, I want at least 165 in the quant section but I just can't seem to get it.
Do you recommend taking it a third time, will it hurt my application for the top universities in US?

Need advice ASAP.

Many schools only use your highest score and only consider that one, I believe Princeton's MF program is like that. You can go to the programs you want to apply to's websites, they will state that if they do that or not.

 

[Mehrab Kooner]

I am on the same page as you just did my GRE for the second time scored 160 Q. My personal belief is the GRE isn't that important if you score in the general range. Each time a person writes a test his score can be vary depending on how sharp he was that day and what questions he got. I believe schools know this and take it into consideration when reviewing applications. Realistically, the GRE is just one test and if you have a ballpark score it just means you won't be disqualified from contention. There are other components of your application they will be considering when you apply as well, that will carry weight towards your admission. I think retaking the test really depends on what school you are aiming to get into and how you believe your other credentials will measure up to others.

 

[leena]

I think you will get admission with your current GRE score.
You should apply further.
And if you targeting any particular university and you think you will get expected score then you should give it one more try

 

[CasanovaJ]

I took the GRE two years ago, and while I only took it once I was of the impression that there was something called "ScoreSelect" where schools only end up seeing your highest score if you take it multiple times... did they cancel this or something?

 

[CasanovaJ]

https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/about/scoreselect

 

[evan guggenheim]

I am on the same page as you just did my GRE for the second time scored 160 Q. My personal belief is the GRE isn't that important if you score in the general range. Each time a person writes a test his score can be vary depending on how sharp he was that day and what questions he got. I believe schools know this and take it into consideration when reviewing applications. Realistically, the GRE is just one test and if you have a ballpark score it just means you won't be disqualified from contention. There are other components of your application they will be considering when you apply as well, that will carry weight towards your admission. I think retaking the test really depends on what school you are aiming to get into and how you believe your other credentials will measure up to others.

I strongly agree with everything you just said, most people DON'T take into consideration that there are many variables to the outcome of your score, which is why if you take it many times, score can vary due to this reason. Thank you for addressing what I've been pondering for some time.

 

[evan guggenheim]

https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/about/scoreselect

Very useful information, thanks for sharing!

 

[Christopher lee]

Hello, yesterday I took the GRE for a second time and didn't get what I expected: V-150, Q-159.
I really don't know what to do, I want at least 165 in the quant section but I just can't seem to get it.
Do you recommend taking it a third time, will it hurt my application for the top universities in US?

Need advice ASAP.

Hey Morts. Do you usually score higher in practice though? If you have the time I would take it again. As long as you don't mind paying for exam fees and putting in the hours, I don't see what you have to lose. Schools still allow ScoreSelect. I just took the exam few days ago as well. I know you didn't ask for studying advice, but here's what worked for me. Use Kaplan's free vocab cards on google. Did up to m. Do Manhattan Prep's verbal sections, all but the vocab. Waste of time imo. Just memorize vocab. I scored 163 on verbal if that helps. also i used kaplan's 6 exams online from 2015 premier. for math manhattanprep has a list of 125 challenging problems that you can do. to me math was more about being careful and not making mistakes and memorizing the hard quesitons that may come up.

 

[evan guggenheim]

Hey Morts. Do you usually score higher in practice though? If you have the time I would take it again. As long as you don't mind paying for exam fees and putting in the hours, I don't see what you have to lose. Schools still allow ScoreSelect. I just took the exam few days ago as well. I know you didn't ask for studying advice, but here's what worked for me. Use Kaplan's free vocab cards on google. Did up to m. Do Manhattan Prep's verbal sections, all but the vocab. Waste of time imo. Just memorize vocab. I scored 163 on verbal if that helps. also i used kaplan's 6 exams online from 2015 premier. for math manhattanprep has a list of 125 challenging problems that you can do. to me math was more about being careful and not making mistakes and memorizing the hard quesitons that may come up.

Thanks for the advice as this applies to me as well. Right now I'm prepping for the GRE and I've been using the Princeton Review for prepping for the quant section and it has increased my knowledge ten fold, but I feel I'm at a peak with this book. What do you think I can use to further increase my aptitude for the quant section. Also, if you don't mind, what di you score on the quant section?

 

[Christopher lee]

Hey Evan. I personally didn't find princeton review very useful. i thought the verbal contained a lot of specific words that prob wouldn't come up on the exam. i prepped for quant through various exams through kaplan and powerprep. the easy problems that you make silly mistakes on, i think all you need to do is keep solving problems. but to deal with the possible tough problems that show up, use manhattan prep's free challenge problems. there's around 125 questions with solutions and explanations. I did around 75 of those to practice tough problems. i scored 170 in quant but i was a math major. i don't know about your background but for me, most of my quant errors on the practice exams were from not being careful enough. taking lots of exams will solve that but wont increase your ability to solve hard problems imo unless you work on the hard problems. they all start to look the same once you do enough of them. also i studied for the gre in approx 1 month while working so its very doable

 

[evan guggenheim]

@Christopher lee , Thanks for the tips, I will look into power prep and manhattan prep. I majored in Econ so I have a basic math background, but I am rusty on the geometry and arithmetic that is used on the GRE, that may be the reason why Princeton Review helped out, but as I said, I think it's not good for the tough questions as you stated; I'll definitely do as you recommended. I appreciate your input.

 

[CasanovaJ]

I can't exactly claim to have prepared much for the GRE, but for virtually everything else (AP exams, SATs, etc) I always thought Kaplan was much better than Princeton Review...

 

[evan guggenheim]

I can't exactly claim to have prepared much for the GRE, but for virtually everything else (AP exams, SATs, etc) I always thought Kaplan was much better than Princeton Review...

Everyone usually talks about Kaplan, but I heard its only good if you have no background in the material. For more advanced learning I have been told by many people that Manhattan Prep is the way to go. I guess certain companies teach at different levels, so maybe it depends what score range one is trying to achieve.

 

[CasanovaJ]

Everyone usually talks about Kaplan, but I heard its only good if you have no background in the material. For more advanced learning I have been told by many people that Manhattan Prep is the way to go.

As long as we're talking about the GRE *General Test* here and not the *Math Subject Test*, from personal experience I can't say that I noticed anything covered on the General Test that I believed to be anymore advanced than high school level math...

 

[evan guggenheim]

As long as we're talking about the GRE *General Test* here and not the *Math Subject Test*, from personal experience I can't say that I noticed anything covered on the General Test that I believed to be anymore advanced than high school level math...

You are correct, but although the quant section is high school level math, the are some questions that are structured in ways that most high school students are not familiar with, this is the challenging part. @Christopher lee mentions it in one of his posts above and I understand exactly what he means.