<p>Hi everyone. I took the GRE today and the result wasn't up to my expectations. I got 770 Q/ 430 V. I am extremely unhappy with my scores( especially the verbal part). I am from India and wanted to pursue Masters in Computer science but i am not sure that i can get into a good school with this verbal score.
In What kind of schools, if any, would i have a decent chance of getting admissions. Please help. I cannot apply to many schools as finances are also a problem. I'm planning on applying to 5 schools.
I know that GRE Scores are not the absolute deciding factor in Graduate admissions, but realistically, i feel that in many schools, i wouldn't have a chance. Please give me your suggestions.
Thanks</p>
<p>I can't answer your question, but just wanted to say that you shouldn't be so disheartened. The GRE verbal exam is very difficult and even very smart native speakers do not always get top scores. I think your high Q score will carry the day at grad schools on the level of Boston University.</p>
<p>GRE verbal is irrelevant for CS. In any case as an "ESL" student adcoms will cut you A LOT of slack if everything else is good.</p>
<p>Don't worry, you'll be fine.</p>
<p>I agree with the above opinions. Graduate schools will understand that you're a non-native speaker. As others noted, schools pay little attention to the verbal score for a CS major.</p>
<p>verbal scores are only important for humanities and social sciences. Don't worry about it.</p>
<p>Thank you for your replies!
Can you guys help me in deciding a few schools in which my scores wouldnt be too much out of league?? I am an engineering student from India. My college doesn't give the GPA but my percentage has generally been in the first division ( maybe an A- in the american system). I've done a couple of internships and helped with 2 academic projects.
Thanks!</p>
<p>Not to put a damper on the enthusiasm, but I think the top schools, at least, do care about the verbal score. Remember they are turning at researchers who, at the end of the day, have to write up their results. People who have trouble doing that cannot have successful careers. So, while they care much more about your technical abilities, verbal does matter.</p>
<p>There are plenty of applicants from overseas, particularly India, whose English is essentially perfect, better than Americans'. The generosity on verbal scores may be more a factor for Chinese than Indian applicants.</p>
<p>On the other hand, your written English, based on this small sample, is quite good. I would not have known you were not a native speaker if you had not said so. You should see what passes for English from some applicants. So... this makes me wonder, did you study for the exam? Was it a vocabulary problem if you are not accustomed to reading sophisticated works in English? </p>
<p>You might consider the following</p>
<p>Contact some programs and ask them how much this matters.
Study for the verbal and retake the exam if you are not getting lots of encouragement from the programs that interest you.</p>
<p>Abso, </p>
<p>At the GRE website there is a program with practice tests you can download and take on your computer. The program also includes the score distributions for people in each field of study. By looking at that you can start to think about who your competition is and at what level you can and should match it.</p>
<p>What kind of school are you trying to apply to? At a top-20 school, I believe that GRE scores can't help but can hurt an applicant. Below 750 on the Q and below 500 on the Verbal I believe can definitely hurt you. How did you do on the Essay part? Or do they have that in India?</p>
<p>With that being said, I wouldn't be too concerned about it. If your academic record is good, 430 shouldn't hurt too much, given that I've heard about Chinese applicants scoring in the 300s and such.</p>
<p>Are you going to take the TOEFEL? From what I understand, most international applicants take the TOEFEL to compensate for a low GRE score.</p>
<p>afan: My written and spoken english is quiet good but sadly my vocabulary is not that great. I took the powerprep tests and got 520V on both the exams while practising- I dont know what went wrong on the exam day. I did not study for the verbal section very seriously and I think i can definitely improve my score in the next attempt. </p>
<p>slantgo: My choices would have been UMich-Ann harbor or UT-Austin. However, i dont know how these univ will treat my low test scores.
My essay part went very well. I haven't received the scores for that but i am reasonably certain that thew will be around 5.0-5.5</p>
<p>dlo: I wasn't planning on taking the TOEFL- Do you think it'll make a difference. The universities will still consider my GRE Verbal score during admissions.</p>
<p>I believe that all programs require the TOEFL from international students - at least from what I've seen. You should definitely take it to balance your GRE score.</p>