<p>Hey everyone,</p>
<p>So I am an undergrad in civil engineering on the 4.5 year plan with 1 semester left at this point. I impulsively took the GRE after studying for less than a week and did not do too hot. The reason I took the exam after such little preparation time was because the format of the GRE is changing after a month so I needed to schedule an appointment immediately. Also, I have never had any internships. I am now wondering if I have a shot a grad school given the information above. On a more positive note, I'm a good student with good grades - and I really enjoy what I'm studying.</p>
<p>In short, I wish to apply for a masters program in structural engineering (M.Eng. or M.S.) at a decent university. I know that might be laughable at this point. The grad programs that are attractive to me are University of Washington (Seattle), University of Colorado (Boulder), Rensselaer, UC-Davis, and others that are kinda on this level. </p>
<p>GPA: 3.6
GRE: 680Q 390V
Extra Stuff: I Belong to multiple honors societies</p>
<p>If I were to retake the GRE it would be under the new format. Also, the score above will be on my record by the time I apply for grad school.</p>
<p>Apply and hope for the best. If you don’t get into the program you want, get a job, study for the new GRE, retake, and re-apply next year? Or settle with whatever you get.</p>
<p>You will probably be okay at at least a couple of those schools. 680Q is quite a bit below average for engineers, but 3.6 GPA isn’t bad. Do you have any research experience? Do you have professors that can give you good recommendations?</p>
<p>Take it over again. Just buy the Kaplan prep book and study it for the month or two before hand. I know the verbal section is awful, but repetition is key. For the math section just do some practice problems; the math never gets beyond pre-calc.</p>
<p>Manhattan Review has good books and the Barron’s GRE book was great for the verbal. It had a list of the 3000 words for the antonyms section, though the new GRE test is doing away with antonyms altogether. I guess you should just wait for the new test to come out and pick up some of the new edition study guides that pertain to that test if you want to retake it.</p>
<p>Hey thanks for all the helpful responses. I plan on heading out to a bookstore and taking a look at Kaplan’s, Barron’s, and the Manhatten Review’s material. Hopefully these books are not too expensive. </p>
<p>Boneh3ad: I’m not surprised that a 680Q is “quite a bit below average for engineers.” Given the content of the quantitative section, I should have performed far better. What score should I try to aim for? I suppose it’s not uncommon for engineers to get near a perfect score.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t know if any of you have experience with grad school admissions but let’s say theoretically that I take the “New GRE” and do significantly better. How will I be judged with one poor exam and one good exam? Would both scores be considered? Would grad schools take the higher score and disregard the lower one?</p>