<p>I took the new GRE today and got 410-510 (V) and 570-670 (Q). I think I did really good on the essay part. The program I am applying to requires 1000 (I asked) so I don't know if I should retake it. I am applying to a state school (SDSU). I have an excellent gpa, but I just couldn't do well in the verbal section. Even though English is not my first language, I really thought I would do better.</p>
<p>Any thoughts?</p>
<p>I’d retake the GRE if you are a STEM major. Your Q score is rather low. Many STEM graduate students get perfect score and that would be the section that I’d be most concerned about. </p>
<p>Verbal scores have historically been significantly deflated relative to quantitative scores so you’re probably OK for that part.</p>
<p>What is STEM? I am a sociology major, haven’t done math in 7 years. I am applying to the criminal justice and criminology (MA) program at SDSU</p>
<p>STEM is science technology engineering math and your major isn’t STEM.</p>
<p>IMO the way GRE is weighted is, depending on your major
STEM major and those that need good math (Econ): Quant > Verbal (u want 700-800Q, 500V)
English major and literature etc related to English: Verbal >> Quant (700-800V 500Q)
None of those 2: Verbal ~= Quant (600-700Q, 500-600V)</p>
<p>I know this is an old post, but something needs to be mentioned: if you applying to graduate school, you need to stop thinking like you are still in high school. Well, you should have done that while you were in college…but…don’t know why people are so obsessed with scores and grades. </p>
<p>Grad school is about research, even at the Masters level. They want people who can do research, who can think like a researcher, and to be blunt: a standardized test is not going to tell them that. Besides, like the SAT, the GRE can be gamed. The Quantitative section[s] are not designed to test how well you know math, but how well you “follow along and deduce the correct answer”. In short, it tests how you think. The questions are designed so that even someone with little math background could still gain a high score if a) they can actually reason through the question, or, b) they know “how” to take the GRE. </p>
<p>Graduate school admissions committees know this, and as such, it is considered something that is middle-of-the-road in terms of importance as far as your overall application is concerned. Some people on the committee might not even look at your GRE score. </p>
<p>And yes, there are some programs that do put a lot of emphasis on the GRE, but they seem to be few in number.</p>