Are these General GRE scores decent?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the evaluation of General GRE scores, particularly in the context of applying to graduate programs in physics. Participants share their perspectives on the significance of various GRE components, including quantitative, verbal, and analytical writing scores, and how these relate to the Physics GRE.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses disappointment over their analytical writing score, questioning its importance compared to verbal scores.
  • Another participant argues that there is no universally "decent" GRE score, suggesting it serves primarily as a rejection metric.
  • Some participants believe that a score of 85th percentile in verbal is commendable, even for native speakers, and that top graduate schools typically require scores above the 80th percentile to be competitive.
  • It is noted that the Physics GRE is considered significantly more important than the General GRE, with some participants asserting that a high score on the Physics GRE can mitigate lower scores on the General GRE.
  • There is a discussion about what constitutes a "fine" score on the General GRE, with some suggesting a range of 500-550 as a threshold for being considered acceptable.
  • Participants share advice on preparing for the Physics GRE, emphasizing the importance of practicing with actual test problems and noting that there are no major tricks to the test.
  • One participant corrects a previous claim about scoring penalties on the GRE, clarifying that incorrect answers incur a penalty while omitted answers do not.
  • A participant expresses concern about their ability to perform well on the General GRE, particularly as a non-native English speaker, while feeling confident about their Physics GRE preparation.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants exhibit a range of opinions on the importance of the General GRE versus the Physics GRE, with some asserting the latter's dominance in admissions decisions. There is no consensus on what constitutes a "fine" score, and the discussion remains unresolved regarding the overall significance of the General GRE scores.

Contextual Notes

Some participants express uncertainty about the weight given to different GRE components by various graduate programs, and there are differing opinions on how much emphasis should be placed on the General GRE compared to the Physics GRE.

WarPhalange
Quantitative: 90% 780
Verbal: 85% 600
Analytical Writing: 58% 4.5 :(

I haven't taken the physics subject GRE yet. I thought I would do better with the analytical writing, to be honest... but I'm not sure how people grade that. I would think it would be more important than the verbal, though, which is why I'm a sad panda today. :(
 
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There's no "decent" GRE score; It's only used as a metric by which you can be automatically rejected from somewhere.
 
They are good for a non-native english speaker, I think. Mine were close to those.
 
Snap... I'm fluent...
 
I think 85th percentile in Verbal is good even for native speakers. I think top grad schools say you have to be above 80th percentile to be competitive.
 
I think top grad schools say you have to be above 80th percentile to be competitive.

For physics? Gosh, I'm pretty sure even the top 5 engineering grad schools have an average GRE verbal of much less than 600.
 
I know they generally don't look at your verbal, but is the analytical writing that important?
 
Physics GRE is way more important than the general GRE. Nobody cares if you get a great general GRE but bomb the physics.
 
JasonJo said:
Physics GRE is way more important than the general GRE. Nobody cares if you get a great general GRE but bomb the physics.

What he said. If you seriously bomb the general GRE, I'm sure that some schools will reject you. But your general GRE is fine (more than fine, actually), so it won't be a hindrance. But will it actually help you? Probably not.

Physics grad programs don't care about the general GRE. They care a lot about your physics GRE. So I would spend a lot of time studying for this. If you get a high score, it'll open a lot of doors to good schools.
 
  • #10
what constitutes a 'fine' score on the general gre? 500-550 range? so anything below taht is 'bombing'?
 
  • #11
JasonJo said:
Physics GRE is way more important than the general GRE. Nobody cares if you get a great general GRE but bomb the physics.

Don't these comments contradict each other?
 
  • #12
cristo said:
Don't these comments contradict each other?

I believe he's insinuating that if you are average on the General GRE but 990 the Physics GRE...your gen GRE will become much less of an eyesore.

Conversely, if you are top 1% on the General GRE but 400 the Physics GRE...you might get some suggestions to go into one of the "soft" sciences.


I agree he worded it a bit awkwardly.
 
  • #13
arunma said:
What he said. If you seriously bomb the general GRE, I'm sure that some schools will reject you. But your general GRE is fine (more than fine, actually), so it won't be a hindrance. But will it actually help you? Probably not.

Physics grad programs don't care about the general GRE. They care a lot about your physics GRE. So I would spend a lot of time studying for this. If you get a high score, it'll open a lot of doors to good schools.

Yeah, I've been studying and will continue to study up until the day of the test. It's disheartening to realize how much physics I've forgotten from just last year. And it also sucks that a lot of the material on it I won't learn until this year after I take the test.

Main advice I've gotten is to get a hold of all 4 tests floating around and just cram the hell out of it for as long as possible. Nothing else compares for preparation.
 
  • #14
WarPhalange said:
Main advice I've gotten is to get a hold of all 4 tests floating around and just cram the hell out of it for as long as possible. Nothing else compares for preparation.

Yeah, that is what I heard. Focus on the actual released PGRE problems, not problems from elsewhere. Also, the 2001 test (Green Cover, they send it to you when you register) is supposed to be the most representative to the new test in both content and scoring.
 
  • #15
WarPhalange said:
Yeah, I've been studying and will continue to study up until the day of the test. It's disheartening to realize how much physics I've forgotten from just last year. And it also sucks that a lot of the material on it I won't learn until this year after I take the test.

Main advice I've gotten is to get a hold of all 4 tests floating around and just cram the hell out of it for as long as possible. Nothing else compares for preparation.

Sounds like a plan. From my experience taking the physics GRE, there really aren't that many secret tricks or anything involved. There's a few general guidelines that apply to standardized tests. For example, don't read the directions, answer all the questions (since they don't take off points for wrong answers), use the process of elimination, etc. But really if you just do a ton of physics GRE problems, then you should be good to go.
 
  • #16
arunma said:
(since they don't take off points for wrong answers)
I believe they do, in fact, take off points for incorrect answers.
-1/4 point for incorrect answer,
0 points for an omitted answer,
1 point for a correct answer.
 
  • #17
mrjeffy321 said:
I believe they do, in fact, take off points for incorrect answers.
-1/4 point for incorrect answer,
0 points for an omitted answer,
1 point for a correct answer.

It would still be beneficial to answer every question then, even if you had no idea.
 
  • #18
proton said:
what constitutes a 'fine' score on the general gre? 500-550 range? so anything below taht is 'bombing'?

I'm interested in knowing this as well. I haven't taken the GRE but from my physics GRE practices I'll probably aced the physics one but do pretty badly on the general one. I really want to apply to the top grad schools so how hard should I work for the general GRE? (I'm not a native speaker...if that matters)
 

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