Foo - GRE Scores

so... i did my gre yesterday. i plan to pursue advanced studies in the u.s. next year, and i need the gre for funding. i scored 710 verbal and 660 quantitative. i'm a little disappointed, since i had scred above 750 verbal on three practice exams. i'm sure my analytical will be quite high.

i really have no idea how this stacks up. opinions?

Doesn't how you do depend on where you want to go and what degree you're going for?

For instance, if you were looking for a Ph.D in computers, I'd say you needed to retake that exam. But if you're looking for a Ph.D in English or some other degree along those lines, you did very well.

The scores are based on up to 800 points for each section. I'm thinking that kids these days that graduate from college probably score a little higher on the quantitative side (like 650- 700), but probably about a bit lower on the verbal side (like 600). I only know this based on how my sister did. She scored about a 1510 with the combined verbal and quantitative. She also took the computer test and she knew how to work that computer so that she would score consistently higher. This came from practice, but I'm sure she's no dull crayon in the crayola box either. I assume you took the computer test- did you practice at all on the computer for the test or did you take the paper and pencil test? If you took the computer test, you know that if you answer correctly, they throw out harder questions. If you answer incorrectly, they throw out easier questions. That makes it harder for you to study for the computer exam with a paper and pencil exam. That test gets so much harder as you go on, so of course it would be feasible to see how you could end up doing worse than you thought you'd do.

I'd take a look at where you want to go for your next degree and see what they require for the combined verbal and quantitative. If you're not going into an English-type setting or philosophy type degree, I wouldn't be as worried about the analytical part as much. If you're really dissatisfied, you can re-study for the test then re-take the test and hopefully get the scores you want.

You may want to contact the GRE folks and see where you fall in the bell curve as opposed to other students. I think if you contact them, they can put your scores in perspective with how others did and place you on the bell curve with everyone else. Realize, though, that as the paper and pencil people turn their tests in, your placement on the bell curve may also change too.

Good luck.

Koffee

this is more for funding, more than anything else, and there are no set criteria for gre scores. my sense is that in my discipline [history], the scores don't count for much against research and published work, but the universities themselves ask for them.

i was just curious about what constitutes a good verbal score. i know i could have scored bnetter under different conditions.

Then on a scale going up to 800, to get a 710 is very good. I think the average college student gets somewhere like 600, so you've got nothing to worry about.

Koffee