<p>I applied late to Mt. Sinai School of Medicine’s (New York City) master’s degree program in public health for entry in fall 2007. The program director at Mt. Sinai said she will consider my application because they are still taking applications, though the deadline passed March 15; but I must take the GRE exam. I registered for the exam on June 5 and took it on June 29. My scores are 470V, 385Q. Yes, low scores but I had less than one month to study.</p>
<p>Here are my stats.</p>
<p>Bachelor’s degree in International Studies: 3.69 GPA (cum laude)
Master’s degree of Public Administration: 3.77 GPA (distinction)</p>
<p>Three years work experience in mental health. </p>
<p>I received two superb recommendations and wrote, in my opinion, an outstanding personal statement indicating my career goals for the MPH.</p>
<p>What should I do? Should I retake the GRE? Should I just submit those scores and hope my other achievements will overshadow the low GRE scores? My hope is they will consider I took the GRE exam in short notice.</p>
<p>Those scores are not low. They are abysmal. Low scores are occasionally overlooked; abysmal scores aren’t.</p>
<p>Get a GRE prep book, do loads of practice questions, and once you are getting consistently 600+V 700+Q then retake the test. Otherwise they may think you cheated/sucked-up/bribed your way through your other two degrees to achieve such high grades.</p>
<p>Actually, 470V is only mediocre, not horrible. But even with no preparation whatsoever, 385Q absolutely atrocious. Besides, how much time do you really need to prepare? 2 weeks of intensive study should do the trick. I know it’s harsh but better some random guy on the internet being disgusted by your scores than the admissions committee.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you! If you put in the work, the results will come.</p>
<p>I agree the Q score in particular is appalling. Nonetheless, I did receive an A- in Quantitative Reasoning when I was a college freshman, so I had Q ability.
In general, those scores are not a reflection of my academic ability; thus, I will retake the exam to aim for at least 600 on both V and Q.</p>
<p>I also e-mailed the secretary for the MPH program and told her about those scores. I suspect they will still review my application with those scores.</p>
<p>Definitely need to study and retake, I know I am after I got pretty low scores on a practice GRE a couple months back, but they at least were mediocre. You can study on your own or pay Kaplan or some other organization to teach you the stuff, both of which can be worth it. Its mostly your quantitative that you have to worry about, since your verbal isn’t all that bad, and that’s ‘easy’ to fix so to speak.</p>
<p>I retook the GRE exam today (after about one week of taking it on June 29) and improved slightly (500V, 550Q). I am applying for fall 2007 so I do not have the luxury to study for 2+ months, the suggest preparation time according to some people to receive a top score.</p>
<p>I believe with more preparation, I could have received a higher score; but those new scores (above the minimum needed) should be enough to get me into Mt. Sinai, the only school to which I applied who requires the GRE. My high GPAs, letters of recommendation, and statement of purpose should be strong enough to offset the average GRE scores.</p>
<p>I was accepted by Mt. Sinai. My letters of recommendation, personal statement, work experience, and overall academic record I believe were the decisive elements that impressed the admissions committee. As mentioned, I retook the GRE and scored above the arbitrary minimum needed to be considered, though Mt. Sinai did not have a minimum score.</p>