<p>Sup guys,</p>
<p>I just got my revised GRE score (V: 144 Q: 162 AWA: 2.5 ... :( ), and I plan to apply MS in Electrical Engineering Program.</p>
<p>Any one knows if I can have chance to be accepted by top 100 universities with this bad GRE scores?</p>
<p>Same scores as my son. Verbal a little better, but the AWA the same. </p>
<p>Did you finish the essays? Son didn’t finish the first one, and finished the second one by the skin of his teeth. </p>
<p>Granted, writing is not his forte, but we were all pretty upset by that AWA score.</p>
<p>After seeing these scores, we purchased the online program called Score It Now. It’s only 13 bucks, and allows you to write two essays and receive a score. I am hoping son takes the time to use this program before his next shot at the GRE, which he’ll retake in October.</p>
<p>The GRE is so expensive, and it is not a test I wanted him to have to take multiple times, but we are worried that that AWA score will prevent him from getting into grad school.</p>
<p>Son will also be applying for MS, but in Mechanical Engineering. </p>
<p>With job prospects even for engineers being so bad right now, I am very worried that competition for grad schools will be very fierce and, even with fair grades, a low GRE score may cause you to lose a spot to a higher scoring student.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>@Montegut</p>
<p>How are job prospects for engineers being so bad? There are so many positions out for engineering right now. I mean maybe not as much for MechE’s, but still decent amount.</p>
<p>Montegut, where did you hear that job prospects for engineers are bad?
MEs have a very broad outlook due to the interdisciplinary nature. </p>
<p>AWA scores are very subjective. It’s a waste of money to pay someone to give you a score, especially when that someone is not associated with ETS and the subjectivity associated with different graders.</p>
<p>As for the OP, I will be blunt and say that your scores are relatively low all across the board. If you are confident in scoring higher. If not, then only retake it if you can devote some time to preparing. Having said that, idk what the rest of your profile looks like so you may/may not need to retake.</p>
<p>Djokovic, which department at Caltech are you in if you don’t mind me asking?</p>
<p>Competition for graduate school always gets fierce when the economy is bad, but good students will always find a place.</p>
<p>I agree, OP, that your scores are low across the board (162 being low only for quantitative programs, but the others being more generally low). Top 100 universities are a wide range. Some of the mid-ranked programs may happily admit you; for the tippy top it will depend on the rest of your record.</p>
<p>AWA scores are actually not that subjective. GRE scorers are trained to score in a very particular way. In fact, the entire grading system relies on the assumption that two scorers will give you a score within one point of each other. Much like the SAT essays, there are many test prep companies that have managed to duplicate that scoring - especially since the scoring isn’t exactly a secret and ETS publishes the scoring criteria in publicly available guides. A well-trained independent service can give you a good approximation of your essay score on the AWA section.</p>
<p>“Within one point” is a huge percentile difference for AWA. That’s pretty subjective and the fact that they require several graders to be in a so-called proximity makes it seem even more subjective.</p>
<p>OP, I advise you to retake. GRE scores are not just factored into admissions but also funding.</p>
<p>So, a quantitative score of 162 is considered low for admit to engineering grad programs?</p>
<p>I agree, if you are going to retake, take the time to prepare. The test is too expensive, in my opinion, to just blindly retake.</p>
<p>Just visited a Half Price bookstore and got some real cheap Kaplan and ETS books, with the CDs, and mailing them to son on campus to use to study. If there’s one of those in your area, you may check them out to save money on test prep. I’d also check a used book store as well.</p>
<p>Also, son’s college is having a grad school preview day where reps from the Kaplan course are giving a free GRE test for practice, I’m sure to entice students to sign up for their course. Check to see if your university is doing something similar as well.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>