<p>I just took the GRE today and scored terribly. I scored 510 on the verbal, 520 on the quantitative, and I haven't recieved my score for the writing section . Honestly, I didn't study very much (except for the writing section, which I studied by doing one issue task essay). My hope is to attend a grad school for a MA and eventually a Ph.D. in European History. I have a 3.9 GPA and I think I will have some very good letters of recommendation, but now I am very concerned that my poor GRE scores have destroyed my chances of being admitted to a prestigious school. So does it pay to retake the GRE? If I score significantly higher on a second try, will grad programs overlook my first score?</p>
<p>The GRE is one of those funny bits of the application process, especially in the Humanities - a very good score won’t get you in, but a weak score can keep you out. You should be looking to get those scores up to the mid-600s (with some flexibility on the Quant.) As a guideline, here are History scores from the University of Minnesota: [The</a> Graduate School : University of Minnesota : Program Reports](<a href=“http://www.grad.umn.edu/data/stats/ad/1038000.html#gre]The”>http://www.grad.umn.edu/data/stats/ad/1038000.html#gre)</p>
<p>Graduate admissions in the humanities has become insanely competitive over the past couple years. Talk very seriously with your LOR writers about where you should apply and what they feel will be competitive GRE scores. Also ask specifically what they feel are the “go/no go” factors in admissions at each of your potential schools. </p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>