<p>After months of worrying about the GRE, I took it today. I assumed I'd do well on Verbal- still, I memorized over 300 words from the Princeton Review's Hit Lists and Barron's GRE flashcards. I have a large vocabulary anyway and verbal tests are my thing (so I thought). I took a practice test from ETS (the paper one) the other day and scored 680V and 670 Q. I was much more worried about math but didn't study for Q that much because I didn't really know how. </p>
<p>So, today, when the verbal section came up I was SHOCKED. The words were so obscure that I had never heard of them- unlike the practice tests I took from Priceton Review and ETS where I rarely came across an unfamiliar word. The last passage had questions 23 and 24, but I had 5 minutes left. I didn't even read that passage because I was panicked about not finishing. I ended up with 1 minute left anyway :( So the last 7 questions were probably wrong. I should've canceled my score in retrospect. I found math pretty easy, so I thought I'd be okay. When my scores came up, I cried for an hour 570 Verbal (!!!) and 700 Quant. I think I did well on the AWA but it doesn't even matter.</p>
<p>I'm a psych major at USC with a 3.8 overall and a 3.925 major GPA- I'll be a senior this fall. Last semester (late, yes) I started volunteering as a research assistant doing coding. In a few days, I am going to the East to be an 24/7 intern for 2 months at a program for emotionally troubled children. This fall I'll apply to PhD programs in Clinical Psych- looking at schools like UCLA, Berkeley, USC, and Stanford. I'm planning on applying for Masters programs too, since PhDs are so competitive. So I'll have to the new GRE this fall (I have no time to retake the current). I'm panicking so much because I feel like I ruined my future. Will retaking it save me, or will that 570 keep me out of the schools I want to go to?</p>
<p>Sorry this was so long and thanks to anyone who reads this. I'm just absolutely crushed that I messed up so badly. I've never had trouble with any standardized test- in fact, I was disappointed with the 680/670 on the practice test.</p>
<p>I was hoping that someone more qualified than me might respond. Since that didn’t happen, please let me say:</p>
<p>Relax, you’ll be fine. </p>
<p>Your verbal score is 80th percentile. That’s a solid performance for someone who’s not in a vocab-heavy field (journalism, comparative literature, …). About 90% of the psychology graduate students have a verbal score below 600. The GRE is one of those “as long as you don’t blow it [relative to the standards of your discipline], nobody actually cares how you do” sort of deals. Congratulations, you didn’t blow it! Now you can go tend to more important business.</p>
<p>Computer based test is tricky because it is adaptive, therefore if you make a lot of mistake earlier it will be significantly harder to make up for it later. </p>
<p>I.e. on paper, you can screw up 10 question on first and do everything right at the next 20 and get, say, 600. If you get first 20 correct and screw up last 10 you also get 600. Therefore, on paper it doesn’t matter whether you answer wrongly first or last question, your score is always the total correct answer.</p>
<p>But on computer, if you screw up first 10 question and get everything right at next 20, you get 500-600. If you do first 20 right and screw last 10 on computer, you get 700+.</p>
<p>So you might get 680 on paper because order doesn’t matter, but on computer if you are unlucky on the first 5-10 question and get most wrong, you will get 500-600 no matter what you get on the last 20. </p>
<p>Btw, the numbers above are not be accurate but you get my point.</p>
<p>On math, I got first 10 100% correct, next 10 90% correct (I don’t know one of the answer), and I don’t answer last 5, and still got 800.</p>
<p>And since the major you’re applying is Clinical Psych:
Research exp and Letters weigh much much much much more than GRE. Trust me, GRE is the last thing they look (actually, I second that “more than 80% and nobody cares”). They only care if GRE is abysmal.</p>
<p>I, too, practiced for the Verbal section quite extensively and was shocked upon encountering the actual Verbal test. Besides the onslaught of completely obscure words, there were also questions I came across where I was convinced the right answer was not among the choices provided. I ran out of time and ended up, after consistently achieving 700+ on the practice tests, with a 540.</p>
<p>Like others have said, relax, your GRE is fine. You could take it again if you really want but it is definitely not going to kill your chances. </p>
<p>I’d be more concerned about getting into research so late in your undergrad career. Top clinical psych PhD programs have applicants with tons of research experience. That is a much bigger concern to me than a non-excellent GRE score.</p>
<p>Yup, and more and more applicants are finding it necessary (and perhaps rightfully so) to take some x number of years off after graduating to gain more experience. This also has the added benefit of weeding some prospects out who figure out that psychology isn’t the right career path for them after getting some full-time experience.</p>
<p>you’re fine. 570 is not bad at all. and you did well on math. you’re not entering an English PhD program, or something like it, so your verbal score won’t weigh you down. plus, as others mentioned, the GRE is not a big component of your application. you did well :)</p>
<p>I don’t like PR’s list because I think they are far too basic. Barron’s 3500 word list has the really hard-hitting difficult words, but I don’t know whether their flash cards have the same ones.</p>
<p>Anyway, you’re at a 1270. I wouldn’t retake it, especially with your GPA. That score won’t keep you out. As long as you have a 1200+ and above like a 500 on each section you’re good to go.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t get a master’s in psychology for clinical psych. Most of them won’t allow you to practice anyway. If you don’t get in, apply for lab manager positions in psych labs or lab tech positions in a psychiatry research group (if you have any bio and/or if you can find one that doesn’t require bio). If you really want a master’s, get an MSW and become a licensed clinical social worker, then go for the clinical PhD later.</p>
<p>On math, I got first 10 100% correct, next 10 90% correct (I don’t know one of the answer), and I don’t answer last 5, and still got 800.</p>
<p>That’s because the computer adaptive test is based heavily on difficulty level and not just number correct. Even if you got less correct than someone else, you may have gotten a lot of level 5 questions correct.</p>
<p>They are OK scores…with that being said, I applied to psych Ph.D. programs with same verbal score and near-perfect quantitative score…I ended up in an economics ph.d. program</p>
<p>Ouch… you did better than me, but I was not trying to get a PsycD. I personally would look at going the masters route if you are not accepted anywhere (there are just so few positions available.) </p>
<p>I took GRE general test today and got the following scores.
Verbal -690
Quantitative -690</p>
<p>i’m worried about my quantitative score. should i take the new GRE? Which i’m assuming i have to prepare for a lot as i’m not used to the new one.
I want to apply for the biology programs at Yale, Berkley, MIT, University of Washington, Northwestern and Princeton U.
I have research experience of more than 3 years and 2 years of those are in cell and moleular biology.
I have won awards for my research and many travel awards to present at national meetings.
I also have a GPA of more than 3.6 and have a major GPA of more than 3.8.
I also have minors in chemistry and Math.
I will for sure get really good recommendation letters. However, i’m an international student.
What should i Do? Please help?</p>