A student of mine got into her most preferred program with a GRE score of 314. How?
Miss S had scored a 314 on the GRE (Q158, V156) before she sought my help for score improvement. The idea was to propel the score to a 325+, something I felt was right up her alley based on the analysis of her mocks.
Due to personal reasons, she had to take a break from the prep and applied with the 314 score itself. She got calls from various schools, including her most preferred program.
Her application was strong, and her interviews went well, but her target school asked her to improve her GRE score by 2 points. And so, we began working towards improving the score once again.
Yesterday, Miss S informed me that her target school has decided to make an exception and admit her to the program at her current score. The rationale: a 2-point difference is not a deal breaker, given her application is strong and her interviews went really well.
I’ve always maintained that any score that gets you ‘THE ADMIT’ is a ‘good score’. After all, admission into your most desired program is what one prepares for. GRE 314 turned out to be a good score in her case.
This incident is not an isolated incident; universities of great repute often make such pragmatic and practical decisions. The best schools across the globe admit individuals with aspirations, clarity, and intent into their programs, not merely the scores on the standardised tests.
Moral of the story: Don’t quit your prep! A score lower than your target can get you into your dream school.