<p>I have a generally good academic record. Graduated summa from a top liberal arts college, award for best thesis, lots of fellowships, research, etc. However, I have two downers. I have one semester sophomore year with bad grades. The story for why this happened is long and complex, but long story short I had to work more than full time that semester (60+ hours a week) and take my classes at night. My mom also fell very sick, which was both disconcerting and distracting.</p>
<p>I also have a convoluted set of GRE scores. I have taken the general test three times and the subject tests twice. I improved my verbal score to what it needs to be (710) but I–in a fit of stupidity at test time–did awfully on the quant section. I just clicked a lot of random bubbles actually. Now, for times I took this test in the past I actually did the quant section and scored in the 80 percentile. </p>
<p>I am wondering, should I attach an additional info sheet with all of my grad school apps saying I would like to explain two points on my record and just tell them the story. Many (almost all) of my apps have no space for such additional info, or only a small space. If I attached my own sheet, I could ask them to please take my old quant score as the real ones, talk about my mom and work that bad semester, etc. Or would such a document only annoy grad committees?</p>
<p>The bad semester sounds like something best addressed (briefly!) in your statement of purpose, or not mentioned at all.</p>
<p>They will see all your GRE scores, and since you don’t have a good reason for the problem, it’s probably best not to mention it. What would you tell them, “please ignore this bad score, because I was ‘stupid’ and ‘clicked random bubbles’”? They will notice your better scores on the past tests, but they won’t mix and match all six results and call the best combination your official score. That’s your most recent one, like it or not.</p>
<p>Ah…sorry, you can’t make that strong a definitive statement about how programs will treat GRE scores. I’ve run into: take the most recent, take the best single sitting, take the best scores by section. It varies by program, sometimes varying even within the same university for different programs. </p>
<p>And often the policy is not clear or easy to find on the websites. Check the FAQ’s and if you don’t find it, call the department (first choice) or graduate school admissions (second choice). </p>
<p>Some websites are nearly opaque in terms of providing useful information.</p>
<p>I suggest you don’t attach a separate sheet to your application. It will just draw attention to a negative aspect that is already in evidence. (Although graduating summa from a top liberal arts school means that the horrible semester couldn’t have been as bad as you make it sound.) The only exception to this is if you can work your mother’s illness or being a full-time/overtime worker plus a full time student into your SOP without connecting it to poor grades. TYou don’t want to be negative or provide excuses for any part of your profile. It is what it is. Do not, under any circumstance, tell them what to disregard and what to consider. </p>
<p>I think you’d be surprised by how many grad students in top programs had slip ups freshman or sophomore years in college. Applying to top PhD programs is not like applying to undergrad where one or two bad grades can ruin your chances at HYPSM. Your research and your letters of recommendation will carry more weight than other parts of your application.</p>
<p>As for GREs, you’ll never know how the programs will treat them; however, GREs tend to be qualifiers, not deciders. Some programs put more weight on them while others only glance at them. A lot also depends on your field. Generally what happens is that the graduate school makes sure that your GPA and GRE scores meet a minimum and that you have completed the application before they send it over to the department for evaluation. If you don’t meet that minimum, then you aren’t considered. (These minimums are usually generous, so don’t panic about this.) When your application hits the department admissions committee, what happens depends on both department rules and the make-up of the faculty on that committee for that year. If you get someone who is nuts for standardized tests and thinks students should take it only once, you might be affected, but usually they go right to the evidence of research and the LORs. They will want to make sure that you are academically prepared for graduate school, and it sounds as though you are. </p>
<p>Do not take the GREs again. It will be a waste of time and money – and already you’ve taken it more times than most applicants.</p>
<p>Well the grades were A, B, B, and C so not awful. What I’m thinking of doing is using my scores from a past test as my “main” scores (the ones I write in on apps). My verbal score is lower (690 as opposed to 710) but my math is acceptable on it. Do you think this makes sense? None of the schools I am applying to ask for “the most recent score.” And they will all also theoretically see the higher verbal on the later test. Or do department committees not really work with actual score reports (since these get vetted by admissions committees before making it to the department)?</p>
<p>About the “additional info” sheet. If the applications DO have a spot for “additional info” (like Cornell) should I take that opportunity to say something about these things, or just not mention them altogether (outside of the SOP)?</p>
<p>I had a horrible semester second semester freshman year (grades much worse than yours) and I DO NOT plan on explaining it unless asked by a prof when I visit or in an interview or whatever. It is obviously a fluke semester since my grades before and after were As and Bs and it also happened when I changed my major so I feel as though the admissions people can figure it out on their own. I do have a reason as to why my grades sucked but I am not going to plant a red flag on my failure that semester.</p>
<p>You retook the GRE after getting a 690 on the verbal? What sort of program is this where that score would not be high enough. Isn’t that already very close to a 90 percentile?</p>
<p>You cannot select the scores that they see. ETS will send all general GRE scores. If you send subject scores as well, they will see all sittings of those.</p>
<p>If you are talking about listing your scores on the application itself, I suggest that you read the instructions to see if they accept either a super score (best of each) or single sitting. If they don’t specify, it’s up to your discretion.</p>
<p>Good GRE’s won’t get you in, but bad ones can keep you out.
A 700 is at the 97th percentile, a 680 is the 96th. That’s fine for anywhere. (In contrast, a 800 quant is only 94th.)</p>
<p>I was bemused to find the number of top programs that superscore.</p>
<p>And MWFN is correct, as she almost always is: graduating summa cum laude and all your other awards are going to create an impression both accurate and sufficient.</p>