标题: Role of GRE(General) Scores in Application for PHDs [打印本页] 作者: goasuplease 时间: 2006-7-24 00:29:23 标题: Role of GRE(General) Scores in Application for PHDs
You definitely need to take it: all three parts (Verbal, Mathematical, and Analytical) plus the economics subject test.
The most important part is probably the Mathematical. You need to score quite high; you are shooting for a score above 700 (out of 800). A GRE math score in the high 600's is ok if you've taken tough math classes and done well. Analytical and Verbal count too, although they are less important. Any score below 600 is a real concern to an admissions committee. Again, high grades in related courses make the GRE less important.
Though the test is not necessarily a good predictor of success, it matters a lot (especially the quantitative portion). Studying for the GRE dramatically increases your scores so you should definitely practice. The economics GRE doesn't usually count for much, but it does give a chance for people who haven't taken much economics to make a positive impression.
the GRE math score is the "big deal" here. 700 is good for a low to mid level school, maybe low second to high third tier (depending on how competitive the year is, this process-- like all others-- is subject to our friends, supply and demand). To get into a top program, you need to be as close to 800 as you can be. And, yes, 800 is a perfect score. Just to let you know what you are up against, the distribution in 2000, for all the people who were about to enter Ph.D. programs in Economics, had a mean of 698. That means half the people you are competing against score between 700 and 800. This is why you have to pick so many schools. There are a lot of smart people competing for a few seats. This is a VERY competitive process.
GRE -- I think the quantitative score matters most. Verbal certainly the least. I tell my students that here you basically need to get an 800 to keep yourself in the game. An 800 isn't going to make you look good, just not bad. So study for it and get the 800. Now a 780 isn't a death knell, nor maybe a 760, but my bet is that zero of the first-year students at top 5 places got < 760. An illuminating, true anecdote (i'll leave the names out to preserve anonymity): a student from a large, mid-western, flagship state university applied to a top 5 program. This student had earned A's in every course -- econ and math obviously included (and was a double-major, i think -- i'm not sure about that part). Great letters, solid statement. This student scored 780 on the quantitative GRE. This student was not accepted.
Should I take the GRE twice? I don't know ... if you got 780, i think it's a tough call, but I'd say "no." I know a student who got into a top 10 place (full ride) with 780 -- and lots of A's in hard math classes. If you got 760, I'd probably take it again since that's got to be pretty far, in terms of standard deviations, away from 800.
Do schools just care about your GRE quantitative score? I think it's true that schools mostly just care about the quantitative section; it's also true that they'll want this score to be 770 or more. 800 is probably the median quantitative score at the top schools. As for verbal and analytical scores, a friend of mine joked of there being an inverse relationship between one's verbal score and one's success in getting into economics grad school. With the analytical section now a writing section, I'm not sure what schools think, but traditionally analytical holds a little more importance than verbal but not that much more.
Why is the verbal score so unimportant; isn't it related to writing skill? Yes, i agree the verbal score does have some correlation with writing skill, and it's true that the admission committee cares a little about the verbal score. I don't think it's a good enough measure of writing ability for them to use. It's too much just an indicator of good vocabulary. I bet they take stock of your statement of purpose for writing ability. For many international students with English as a second language, their verbal score is very low due to lack of vocabulary, but their expository writing skill is pretty good and that's most important for paper writing.
All graduates of non-UK institutions must have taken the GRE General Test no more than two years before applying and must include the test scores with their application (please see Admissions Enquiries System under Graduate Admissions). We do not require a specific mark but the test gives us an indication of aptitude for economics. Typically we expect candidates to score in the top ten per cent in the quantitative sections of the test (ie, in the 90th percentile or higher). A higher score will count in your favour, but other information, such as grades and references, will matter more in the overall evaluation. We recognise that if your first language is not English, the verbal test will present special difficulties and we view your score on that basis.