<p>Hi All, I am in the midst of applying to programs for a Masters in Food Science. I was just wondering how strict the GRE requirements are. For example, for one school, their verbal minimum is 500 and I received a 480. My math score is fine, and obviously stronger.</p>
<p>Will my application be completely dismissed or will they still look at the other components of the application package? Should I consider taking it again? And how does taking it again work, will schools take the higher scores or will my previous test be completely replaced?</p>
<p>I have seen few schools that had published limits on gre scores, but those that do publish requirements do not seem willing to bend them. Also, bear in mind that enforcing such a requirement generally falls to an admin who is neither interested nor necessarily able to interpret your other qualifications.</p>
<p>I would study and retake, or else consider avoiding that school. It is also worthwhile directing this question back at the program - they may be more flexible than they are implying.</p>
<p>Hi,
I guess it is still possible to retake and bring your score up to 500 for verbal. And because applying to master program is always more competitive than PhD, I would say you should retake it.
By the way, I am also applying to food science. Which shools are you aiming at?</p>
<p>Masters is more competitive than PhD only in the sense of getting funded - in most fields it is tremendously hard to get funding as a masters candidate.</p>
<p>yep, that’s what I meant. I used to be master candidate last year. I got a pretty decent GRE score (not extremely high but still exceed the requirement of all schools I was applying) and I do think my application was competitive enough. However, my grad application ended nowhere. Most schools would say they have limited funding for master student. Therefore it is more competitive to apply for master in that sense.</p>
<p>You are talking about two different things: funding and admission. It’s much more difficult to get funding for a master’s, but it’s more difficult to be admitted into a PhD program. The requirements for master’s programs are not as rigorous as are those for PhD ones, so lower GRE scores are often acceptable, although not necessarily below the stated threshold.</p>