Does it matter that I bombed quantitative?
August 23rd, 2010 | 
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Hi and welcome to my blog,
I opened this blog to help anyone who is preparing for his GRE exam.
I remember myself when I started - I was so lost and in such a panic.
Luckily I got this great Gre guide that helped me a lot
So study hard and good luck!
I recently took the GRE and I’d say I did pretty well, scoring in the top 1% on verbal. I also scored well on the analytical writing assessment. But I completely bombed the math. It looks like I didn’t even try: and I did! I basically would have been better off guessing. I blame this on the fact that I got out of college without taking one math course. Does this really matter for a PhD applicant in humanities? (There is nothing more remotely related to math than my subfield). Should I retake and jeopardize my verbal score?
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I think it all matters on the school. I would talk to a faculty member and get advice from them. Also, grad schools really don’t focus on tests as much as they do your background. Make sure to highlight research experience and other skills you have in your area. I think professors are starting to see that test scores can’t determine how well a person will do in school because not all people test well.
Well, first… you are to blame for not taking a math course. You always had that option, and you could take a refresher course now.
It all matters, and the better your score is overall, the better off you will be. Obviously, the math portion isn’t going to be as important, but it will still have an impact.
If I remember correctly, you can just retake that section, and keep your other score. I am not 100% on that, though.
I would suggest you go speak with an old college professor who has a good feel for your grades/experience/personality, and explain your situation to them. They could probably advice you fairly well on the situation, especially if they have been teaching a while.
You will probably get into a program(a good one, I would venture), even if you accept the scores as they are. So if you did your best on the math, that is what I would do.
The big question is… how did you get out of college without taking a math class?… and where is this college?… sounds like a perfect place for me!