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Hello, I just received my GRE scores, and I am quite unsure about them. I got 165Q and 168V; the scores for AWA are not there yet. I want to apply for a master's programs in economics in the UK, preferably LSE or Oxford. These programs are surely highly competitive, and I think that I do have the grades necessary to apply, but I don't know if I have a chance there with my quant score (I suppose that it is the most important among the scores). According to the universities' respective websites, they expect applicants to have scores of at least 161 or 164 in quant (depending on the university). Although I am above these thresholds, I fear that I might be in the lower half of applicants. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any statistics on the scores of accepted applicants. Thus, I wanted to ask if anyone has some insights or tips. Should I retake it or rather focus on the rest of my application? In practice tests, I scored anything from 163 to 170 in quant, but I am sceptical if I am able to significantly increase my score the next time if I were to retake the GRE.

I gave GRE in Oct 2013 and ended up with a score of 304 (VA: 147, QA: 157, AW: 3). I am planning to retake in the next 1–2 months. How should I plan and strategize so that I end up with a good score this time? I am basically aiming for an improvement by 20 points at least. Analysis of previous attempt: I can remember the test day very well. One of the reasons for my low score was the bad test center. The test center was noisy with people continuously coming in, going out and passing by. All these things distracted me a lot and pulled down my concentration. The keyboard and mouse were horrible. In Verbal, I normally had difficulty in reading and comprehending texts fast esp. long RCs and the presence of noise in the test center made it all the more difficult. I could not concentrate much while reading long RCs and most of the time, made guess work and moved on to the next question. I didn't know / couldn't recall the meaning of few words which made the Sentence Equivalence and Text Completion questions more difficult and time consuming. In Quans, I got stuck in 2-3 difficult questions initially and lost time I could have otherwise spent for the easy ones. I had to hurry towards the end and missed 1-2 questions. I had expected a 165+ for Quans with my preparation and my mocks from Kaplan but distractions took a toll and I had to read few questions repeatedly. In Analytical Writing, I did take time in understanding the arguments. I faced difficulty in expressing my thoughts in an excellent style. The keyboard was very hard and it was becoming very difficult to type correctly and fast. I could not write my essays to the length I wanted to because I lost a good of time in typing. As a result, I could not even proof read my write-ups. I had prepared from Kaplan GRE Premier 2011-12 ONLY. Did I trust the wrong book? Should I have followed some additional books as well? These questions bothered me just after the exam then in 2013 and still bothering me now when I am yet to start my preparation. I got to improve my ability to read and understand difficult and complex RCs fast. How can I do this? I don't have much time to prepare and want to go with a self-preparation plan. How do I prepare efficiently? Where should I focus? I would request experts and fellows to help me out urgently.

I just got back the results of my first GRE test and I got quite good scores in quantitative and verbal (Q170/V169), but somehow I managed to not do that well on analytical writing (4.0). I should probably also mention that I am not a native speaker, am a rather slow typer, and usually take time to develop arguments before writing them down. My problem is, that some of the MSc.-programs in economics I am applying to have soft cutoffs above that for the AWA section ("most successful applicants have scores above 4.5 ...", etc.), so I am a bit unsure about my results. As most application deadlines end in January, I will most probably have to go with the scores I've got as there will not be enough time to retake the exam. My questions are: - How important are AWA scores in the application process? - Do you think my verbal and my TOEFL iBT score (115) might be able to compensate for my somewhat low AWA score? - Should I mention my TOEFL score in my essay and ask the application committee to consider my AWA score in context, suggesting that I might just have had a bad day? I would hate to have to retake the GRE, as I am happy with my scores in the other sections and don't fancy spending another $205. I know this forum is mainly for PhD- applications, but I have been lurking here for quite some time and would really appreciate your input. Thank you for your help!

The new, revised GRE® test is here! It has been redesigned to be more user-friendly in many ways. That’s good news, but what if you have already taken the test? Would you get a better score if you took it again now? When I asked myself that question, my first reaction was, “Are you kidding me?” But after reflecting on the question a bit more, I could easily see that there actually are a couple factors that one should consider before ruling out taking the GRE® exam again. Content Strong considerations in the redesign of the GRE® revised General Test were the application of concepts and utilization of critical thinking. Real-life scenarios are provided that better align with experience and education. The revised questions no longer require the test taker to identify vocabulary out of context. Questioning is focused to better demonstrate analyzing and reasoning abilities. And with the addition of an online calculator, the Analytical Section of the GRE® revised General Test is now more about your ability to process information correctly while easing the extraneous cognitive demand previously caused by manual computation. In short, the revised GRE® better reflects how you think with what you know as it applies to your potential success in a graduate or business school program. Should I retake it? Did the design of the content questioning in the previous GRE® test seemed not relatable or practical or was the by-hand paper calculation an impediment to you? If you think these considerations may have had an impact on your resulting score, then you might want to consider taking the GRE® revised General Test. Functionality The functionality of the test has been updated and improved to enhance the test taker’s experience. There is more flexibility in navigation by being able to edit and change answers with the ability to skip questions within a section and come back to them within the designated time period. The GRE® revised General Test uses today’s technology allowing for highlighting and numeric entry for question answers. These may seem like small changes, but they go a long way in empowering the user with more control which leads to a more confident, comfortable testing environment. Should I retake it? In your previous GRE ® testing experience, did the restrictions of the functionality cause you undue stress or seem to impact your ability to do your best to demonstrate your knowledge and skills? If you think these considerations may have had an impact on your resulting score, then you might want to consider taking the GRE® revised General Test. Scoring Scoring is reported differently with the GRE® revised General Test. Instead of 10-point increments, scores are reported in 1-point increments. What does this mean? Previously one or two points one way or the other threw you into a different 10-point range. This was not a good thing if you were one or two points off on the wrong side of the range. Now the reported score is an actual reflection of the points received on the test. One or two points missed are now actually one or two points difference in the score and not 10 points. Should I retake it? If you think you were on the tipping point on the wrong side of a scoring range, then you might want to consider taking the GRE® revised General Test. And Finally If you answered “yes” to any of the previous sections’ questions of “Should I retake it” but the cost of the test is prohibitive to you, consider this: There is a Special 50% Savings during August 2011 and September 2011 on the cost of the GRE® revised General Test. If you need time to study, the last possible date to take the revised GRE ® with the 50% savings is September 30, 2011. Register quickly for this savings. Good luck with all your testing efforts!