What parts of the GRE to work on? 770 Q, 480 V

[GymShorts]

I plan on taking the GRE in 4-5 weeks, and I can practice full time until then. Yesterday, I took my first practice test to see what parts I need to improve on, and I got a 770 on the quantitative section, and a 480 on the verbal.

Obviously, since I got a 770 on the math section without any practice, I should have no problem getting at least a 780 after a couple of weeks of practice.

I know the verbal section doesn't matter much, but 480 is really low, so I hope to raise it to at least 550.

Given where I am starting from, how much effort should I put into the math section relative to the verbal?

Thanks in advance.

[jeeves0923]

95% Q and 5% verbal. IMHO The difference between 770 and 800 quantitative is far greater than the difference between 480 and 550 verbal to adcoms.

[ImProcrastinating]

Originally Posted by jeeves0923

95% Q and 5% verbal. IMHO The difference between 770 and 800 quantitative is far greater than the difference between 480 and 550 verbal to adcoms.

agreed

[cooper]

Originally Posted by jeeves0923

95% Q and 5% verbal. IMHO The difference between 770 and 800 quantitative is far greater than the difference between 480 and 550 verbal to adcoms.

I do not entirely agree with this.

Firstly, as we all know, verbal is not as important as quant, but a low verbal can raise question marks. I know this for a fact. My letter writers were contacted by adcoms about my ability to communicate english well (I am American by the way). My V score was 370 so maybe that was extreme. Adcoms might feel more comfortable with a decent V score. I am not saying there is a difference between a 600 and a 700 verbal score, but a "low" score may have adverse effects. Now is a 480 considered a low score? I do not know.

Also, I think most would agree that GRE Q is only used as a threshold and not really considered at the margin. That is, once you meet the minimum requirement, say 760 or 770, then this just means your application is not thrown out. I would find it very difficult to believe that they would use this score at any point after this in the admissions process.

[rvalchev]

I do not agree that GRE scores function only as a treshold. I have no practice or experience with which to back it up, but consider this. If we assume that adcoms are rational maximizing human beings (may not be entirely true in genral, but econ adcoms probably get real close to the ideal) then it seems suboptimal to me for them to ignore information. GREs might be primarily used as a screening tool in general, but you never know what happens on the margin. If you have two candidates with the exact same profiles but the one has a little bit of a higher GRE score then I would assume the higher GRE score would get him in. On the margin, any single part of your profile can make it or break it.

[italos]

Just only the quantitative part really matters.I met a guy with an econ PhD from Princeton and he was telling me that in his year a girl was admitted with a V 390.Of course we do not know the rest of the profile(neither yours) but since we are talking generally I though I should bring this to you attention.

[cooper]

Originally Posted by rvalchev

I do not agree that GRE scores function only as a treshold. I have no practice or experience with which to back it up, but consider this. If we assume that adcoms are rational maximizing human beings (may not be entirely true in genral, but econ adcoms probably get real close to the ideal) then it seems suboptimal to me for them to ignore information. GREs might be primarily used as a screening tool in general, but you never know what happens on the margin. If you have two candidates with the exact same profiles but the one has a little bit of a higher GRE score then I would assume the higher GRE score would get him in. On the margin, any single part of your profile can make it or break it.

You have a good point. I will agree that if everything else is exactly the same, then the GRE Q could be used on the margin I guess, but the other parts of the application in fact are never exactly the same, while the GRE Q is often the same as many others.

With respect to the OP's concern, my disagreement is the fact that the studying should be 95% Q and 5% V given that they already scored a 770 Q. Now, if a 480 is good enough everywhere then maybe this can hold up. My concern is whether 480 is considered non-questionable. If so, then there will be no need to improve this, but also a 770 might also be good enough (of course 800 is full-proof).

I personally studied about 95%Q and 5% V but the outcome clearly reflected this. The point I am trying to make is that the OP should be thinking what to do on the margin. Assuming (s)he will get 770Q and 480V without studying anymore, what is the optimal mix for the next 4 weeks. I say even 50-50 mix would be good enough to improve both. Especially since 770 is close to 800 so it will not be too hard to get this up to 790 or even 800; while there is much more room to improve the V. But of course, this depends on whether you think doing better than 480V will help at all.

Just my two cents.

[jeeves0923]

Hmm... I think 770 is actually farther from 800 than you might think. And the OPs goal was to get from 480 to 550. I think unless it breaks the plane of 600V, 480 and 550 are gonna be looked at as more or less the same (not great, but not sub-400). Maybe that threshold is more like 500, in which case the percentile difference is minuscule between 480 and 500. While the percentile between 770 and 800 is actually quite large.

I must say, that I do not work on adcoms, so I can't say for sure. But, I've definitely seen more verbal scores that are below 500 make top 20 programs than I've seen sub 780Q scores get into top 20. That's my 2 cents.

[cooper]

Originally Posted by jeeves0923

I must say, that I do not work on adcoms, so I can't say for sure. But, I've definitely seen more verbal scores that are below 500 make top 20 programs than I've seen sub 780Q scores get into top 20. That's my 2 cents.

This might be more a matter of correlation than causation but the point is taken. I too have obviously never served on an adcom so I guess the OP will have to digest both of our opinions .

Either way, the OP is in good shape so far and should not worry too much at this point.

[asianeconomist]

Just make sure that you get over 500. Then you can be absolutely sure.