[salukigirl]

So I took the GRE today and got 1180 combined score. 550 Verbal 630 Quantitative and haven't gotten my analytical writing score back yet. I was wondering if that's good or bad? mediocre? I am not positive whether I'm even going to grad school yet but if I do it will be in Zoology or Biology. Does anyone know what this score means exactly?

[kim_johnson]

http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/GRE/p...tingscores.pdf

Looks like better than average for intended life science students.

[(JD)]

Good for you (((Salukigirl))) !!! You're above average, so you may get to pick whatever you wish! What was your analytical writing scores, dyk?

[kim_johnson]

>You're above average, so you may get to pick whatever you wish!

Well... It doesn't say out of all the life science applicants how many were accepted (e.g., most of them, half of them, one tenth of them). It also doesn't say what the average GRE scores are for the applicants who were accepted into a program.

I think that different fields (and different schools) vary with respect to how much weight they put into the GRE compared to other things (letters of recommendation, previous experience etc). In Philosophy there is information available on the number of applicants, the number of applicants accepted, the average GRE score of the accepted applicants. I'm not sure to what extent other fields do this.

Do you have someone at school who you can talk to about this? Who are your letter writers for your application? Have you talked to them about where they think you should apply etc. They are probably better placed to help you figure this out than people are here...

[salukigirl]

I talked to one of my professors today (he just graduated with his PhD in December) and he said that score is pretty good for just about anywhere I want to go. I also have an assistantship this fall with one of the most well known freshwater ecologists in the nation so if he writes me a letter of recommendation I would pretty much be set.

I have been in touch with some professors that do research in the area i'm interested in and sent them my scores. I haven't gotten my analytical writing score back yet but I don't think it will be that good. I didn't write very much but I felt like if I wrote more I would just be babbling so I figured it was better to have a short, concise few paragraphs rather than a huge essay but it's all just repeating itself y'know? I hope that's the way they wanted me to go.

I talked to the grad secretary at SIU (where I go) today and she said that if I could take it once more and get above 1200 I would be set no matter what. She said since I'm so close to hitting that mark it might be worth it to try one more time and see if I can't bump my score up just that little bit because right now it's like.... I'm eligible for a fellowship but not guaranteed, I'm eligible for a TA position but not guaranteed. She said if I got my score above 1200, with my GPA and experience, I would have nothing to worry about.

So I think I'm going to go over the things I think I did wrong and take it again over thanksgiving break or maybe a little sooner.

[(JD)]

That's a great idea! Having seen a test, seen what's it like etc always helps when retaking it! You might not have done anything "wrong" though... it could have been the newness and anxiety associated with wanting to do well.

Now that you know you are above average, maybe you can set aside some of the anxiety and push to pick up on the items you may not have before.

While you study for it be sure to use some of the suggestions that will help you remember better, such as playing classical music. Also do this the hours before you retake the exam; it's proven to increase attention and scores!

If you haven't looked into several programs at the colleges you like, why not take this time to do so? Talk to the counselor and see what else might suit you according to your interests and abilities for learning? Good wishes!