GRE: high quant & verbal, low AWA

[majesticat]

I just took the GRE yesterday, and I think I did pretty well on verbal (166) and quant (162), but I'm worried I bombed the AWA section. I was typing until time ran out... I finished my essays, but I barely looked over them, and I feel like my argument essay was kind of weak.

My main concern is that I'm not going to have time to retake the GRE, and I don't really want to retake it JUST because of my AWA score. I'm applying this cycle, and by the time I get my scores back, I most likely won't be able to retake the GRE before apps are due. So, if my AWA score comes back and it's not good (like a 3.5 or less, from what I've been reading), my question is... am I doomed? Should I even apply this cycle?

I know other factors probably matter... I have a 3.83 GPA and thousands of vet and animal hours (small, large, exotic, and wildlife). I'm hoping a poor AWA score won't doom me, but I'm kind of freaking out.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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[ResoluteMike]

Your scores are better than average for most schools, so your writing probably will be too. Most of the schools only care about the verbal and quantitative scores. The writing score isn't a huge deal, because grading is so subjective.

 

[majesticat]

Chill. You've got an above average GPA, well above average verbal and quant scores, and thousands of hours of vet experience. You're fine, haha.

I know, I know... "chill" seems to have abandoned my vocabulary this application cycle.

 

[majesticat]

From the snippet you've posted, it sounds like you're a pretty good candidate for admissions. Don't spend the entire cycle fretting about minute things that you can't change now, trust me. Do the best you can filling out VMCAS, and don't forget to take out time for fun and relaxation! If/when you start vet school, you'll regret it if you don't.

Would you consider the AWA portion of the GRE minute? I'm worried I scored around a 3 (I tend to think worst case scenario). I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on applying if my AWA score is going to wreck my chances, you know?

 

[finnickthedog]

Would you consider the AWA portion of the GRE minute? I'm worried I scored around a 3 (I tend to think worst case scenario). I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on applying if my AWA score is going to wreck my chances, you know?

Your writing score is not going to wreck your chances. Take a look at the schools you're applying to an how they evaluate applications. Some schools don't even use the GRE at all anymore. Some of them don't care about the writing score. Those that do care about the writing score will probably have some indicator on their website about how important it is, but my guess it's not nearly as big of a deal as you're convincing yourself that it is.

My writing score was either 3 or 3.5 I don't even remember because it was that irrelevant to me and my gpas were nowhere near yours. Maybe reintroduce "chill" back into your vocabulary. You're gonna be fine.

 

[Filly Bay]

You don't even have your scores back yet? Breathe... I highly doubt it will make or break you.

 

[supershorty]

Some schools don't even consider the writing. I wouldn't stress about it.

 

[battie]

How everyone will respond: you're fine.

Thread responds: done.

 

[majesticat]

You don't even have your scores back yet? Breathe... I highly doubt it will make or break you.

This is very typical of me. I think the waiting is the worst part... I have too much time to think about what I wrote in the essays. I did the same thing in high school with the ACT (I ended up doing just fine). I guess I'm just worried that if I did poorly on the essay portion, it will overshadow how I did on the rest of the test (which I'm really happy with).