confused about math score of 530

[laramus]

hi. i just took GRE today. i got 600 verbal and 530 quantitative. i did terribly at math i realize, but am confused about average scores. Most of the people here get in the 700 range, but i saw on a few websites (like Yahoo Education) that 550-600 is "average". i am NOT a math major, nor do i have any illusions about my math abilities. I did fairly well in Verbal, however, and--without being smug--am very confident in the essay sections although i haven't gotten those results yet. So, I am wondering -- i am planning on applying to UMAss Boston for graduate school (MEd in counseling)--NOT an Ivy League school-- am i within a "decent" range?.....thanks for any advice. Larry

[Erin]

Yes, that's average for all the people who take the test. Just because people here tend to get higher scores, or more accurately, the people who choose to post their scores, doesn't mean that the average will change. You have to understand that people who post their scores here are a somewhat self-selected group and by no means could represent the average test taker. First, it is human nature to make public only that of which you are proud; second, many of our members are from countries where the math education is much stronger than that in the US; third, people who actively participate in an on-line study group naturally tend to score better.

I don't know about those schools in particular, but it seems that you won't be immediately disqualified soley because of your math scores.