From my experience, the GRE didn't matter much with my applications. I took the exam before it was changed to include the writing portion. I scored above average on Analytical, average on Verbal, and embarrassing below average on Quantitative (around 300).

I applied to Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Rice and Virgina Tech (post-professional) and got accepted to all.

I had a strong portfolio, very high GPA, great letters of recommendation and decent letter of intent.

Just make sure you don't bomb it THAT bad and you'll be fine.

med:

i didn't bomb it. i did pretty decent.




3west:

wow. how the fuck did u get to accepted to those schools with a 300 quantitative? wtf? im curious now.

what was your gpa? where did u go to for undergrad and what did you major in? what do u mean by "great letters" (e.g. was the content strong, or were they from famous profs, profs with connections, or what?)? what type of stuff was in ur portfolio? what was the jist of ur letter of intent?

I may have exaggerated the score to make a point, but rest assured, it was low. I think that with most post professional applications, the GRE is just a formality for some universities. In fact, at the time, two of the schools I applied to didn't require GRE scores.

As for how I got accepted... I wasn't part of the applications committee so I can't give you an answer.

1_ 3.98 GPA

2_I majored in architecture (BArch) at a small state school

3_My letters of rec were mostly written by prof that were alumni of each program that I applied to. Also, they didn't just talk about how great I was, but included my weaknesses

4_I submitted a typical portfolio of undergrad work. It included lots of process information, models and drawings (this was before Rhino, Maya and 3ds Max was the norm so I didn't have renderings). I also worked for a few years before applying so I had professional work as well.

5_I can't really remember what I wrote about. Just what I was looking to accomplish by going to grad school and how that particular program would help me achieve that goal. -- It was important to have each letter of intent relevant to the school it was applying to...

I hope this helps. Good luck

OKAY LOL THANKS FOR THE HELP 3WEST.

GOD I REALLY NEED HELP WITH MY PERSONAL STATEMENT I HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT. SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE ME SOME ADVICE. I'LL PAY YOU VIA PAYPAL.

i was wondering if anyone could provide some insight into my GRE situation, as i'm a bit worried regarding their importance for graduate school acceptance.

i recently graduated from a decent midwestern program with a 3.5 GPA. i should have a great portfolio and good letters of recommendation.

i recently took the GRE and logged scores that put my verbal in the 90th percentile and my quantitative in the 70th. since math is actually my weaker subject, i was pretty happy with the outcome... i was relatively unworried about my analytical section being that i took very rigorous honors english courses through high school, and excelled in writing then and throughout my undergraduate education.

i'm currently trying to put every extra ounce of time into my portfolio despite working full-time. i got my official ETS scores back today and received a big shocker -- i got in the 10th percentile for my writing section. i am SHOCKED. that's horrible by any measure, but especially considering i have never even received average writing scores. i don't know what to do... my essays and portfolio (to a lesser extent, obviously, but i am throwing some heavy concepts around) clearly demonstrate an ability to write. i was a bit nervous the day that i took the exam, and the analytical section was the very first part. i am guessing i mistakenly followed the wrong instructions or got the prompts backwards in my anxiety, despite lots of practice exams. and the fact that i received a verbal score in the top 10% of test takers clearly demonstrates that i am not an incoherent idiot.

should i retake the exam or not? i'm applying to solid, established schools, but am not aiming for ivy leagues. i just honestly don't think i have the free time to devote to improving my scores without taking time away from a more important matter -- my portfoio... and i don't think i'll do that well in quantitative again...

any advice out there from someone else who's done the grad application process?! this situation is really, really stressing me out.

i heard through second hand information, that toshiko mori once said, if your GPA is lower than 3.5, and your GRE is lower than 1200, the gsd will not accept you even if you were Corb reincarnated.

my combined score is 1300.

kap- i have no experience, but since everyone claims the GREs are just a formality, I wouldn't worry about this too much. Just write a kick-ass letter of intent, and I'm sure the schools will chalk up your writing score to a weird misunderstanding... getting in the 90th percentile in verbal is incredibly hard, so that will add weight in the opposite direction. i've heard they care less about the writing section, anyways.

Ok I'm swaying back and forth on this and I need someone else's opinion. I am applying this year and in the middle of REstuding to take the GRE by December 15th. I took it once already and got a score of: Verbal: 540, Quantitative: 440 and Analytical: 3.5.

I feel my Quantitative score is pretty low, but I am not sure if I should devote my time to retaking it. My portfolio is about done, but after a few reviews the consensus seems to be that it's pretty good, but could use some more pop to make it stand out. So my conundrum now is to spend the next two week re-studying for the portfolio, or spend that time givin the last final sheen of awesomeness to the folio. My undergrad GPA is 3.60 and I'm 3 years out of school. Any advise?

^Studying for the gre that is...

Cuervo, I personally would aim for a higher score, actually the first time I took it, my scores were very similar to yours. I retook the test this month and achieved a score I was personally satisfied with.
Do you have a background in architecture? If yes, I would focus on the portfolio first, try to finish it up with time to retake the gre. If time runs out don’t worry about. If you are not from an arch. background, I would definitely attempt to increase your gre scores.

I have a BSAS. What you're saying is what I've been leaning towards.