Advice whether to take the GRE again

[pabound2016]

Hi everyone,

I have received my official GRE scores including each subscore percentile. I am trying to decide whether or not a re-take would be deemed necessary. If I were to take it again, I would take it sometime in early May to hopefully be able to submit my CASPA application by late May.

Below are my GRE scores:

GRE Total: 308 (Verbal+Quant)

Verbal: 152 (54%)

Quantitative: 156  (64%)

Writing: 4.0 (56%)

 

Below is some additional information about me. With a mediocre GRE score and a minimum HCE I know I am not competitive for programs like Yale or Duke, but I plan on applying broadly. I'll be sure to thoroughly research several programs to determine which ones are best suited for me and for which ones I have a good shot at receiving an interview from.

 

-Age: 22
-Undergraduate Major: Biology
-Science GPA: 3.60

-cGPA: 3.71
-HCE: ~1100 hours as a CNA at a University Hospital (if submitted mid-May)
-Volunteer Experience: 100 hrs at a local thrift store; 150 hrs at my university's hospital; 40 hours at a local CSA farm
-Research Experience: 2 years experience doing research in plant biology (not sure if that helps at all)

-Leadership Experience: Held 2 executive board positions in two frats I'm in
-Other Extracurriculars: Tri-Beta National Honor Society, Alpha Chi Sigma, Biology Student Mentor (1 year), Student United Way Member (first 2 years of college), Red Cross Organization Member (first 2 years college)

-Shadowing: ~43 hrs from various PA's
-Letter of Recs- I know 1 professor (A&P) and 2 healthcare supervisors or 1 healthcare supervisor and 1 PA (depending on if I can get one).

 

Thanks!

 

[fishbum]

I don't think that retaking the GRE is going to help you out much. Most schools don't seem to care that much how well you do as long as you're above 300 or so. It's also pretty tough to improve a GRE score unless you didn't prep at all the first time and plan to do quite a bit of prep the second. I think your money would be better spent applying to programs than retaking the GRE at this point. 

[DiggySRNA]

No need to! You're pretty much set.

[GatorChomp]

I wouldn't retake the GRE. Your HCE hours are the biggest concern but I'm sure you will be able to land some interviews depending on which programs you apply to.

 

Best of luck!

[pabound2016]

I ended up retaking the GRE and got a slightly higher quant score, but the same verbal score. My writing score drastically increased.

 

First Take:

 

Verbal: 152 (54th percentile)
Quant: 156 (64th percentile)
Writing: 4.0 (56th percentile)

Second Take:

Verbal: 152 (same score) (54th percentile)

Quant: 158 (+2) (71th percentile)
Verbal: 5.5 (98th percentile)

I'm glad it did not get worst.

[Anhdm2]

I got into Duke with a 303.. As long as everything else is solid you're fine.

[eringihime]

I got into Duke with a 303.. As long as everything else is solid you're fine.

What was your score for AW? I got 3.5 ;/ Im retaking it next week but pretty discouraged.

[YooperPA]

What was your score for AW? I got 3.5 ;/ Im retaking it next week but pretty discouraged.

I know plenty of people who got into PA school with a 3.5 on their AW. Just make sure it's not below the minimum the schools you're applying to require.

 

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[eringihime]

I know plenty of people who got into PA school with a 3.5 on their AW. Just make sure it's not below the minimum the schools you're applying to require.

 

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Really? Awesome, thank you!