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• Engineering background with GRE score (low-verbal). From: ayao  Jun 02, 2012 Posts 1

  I am currently a bioengineering MS student at U Penn, and I would like to apply for Wharton MBA program. I took GRE score(verbal 500, quan 800) last year. Since my verbal is quite low, I am not sure if I should retake GRE or GMAT. I have two publications. I am not sure if those could compensate my verbal score. Thanks a lot! Reply

• Re: Engineering background with GRE score (low-verbal). From: Fanaticalfan  Jun 04, 2012 Posts 1,159

  In reply to

  Getting a verbal score close to or above the 80% range is probably going to give adcom a lot more comfort about your verbal/conceptual abilities than publications. Especially as at this stage of the application cycle you have enough time for a retake AND to prepare a strong application. Most academic publications are highly technical and abtuse in their writing style, and are definitely NOT exercises in effective communication. FF Reply

• Re: Engineering background with GRE score (low-verbal). From: victormlee  Jun 06, 2012 Posts 2,527

  In reply to

  I agree with FF. You should retake the GRE, all else being equal - and assuming you think you can significantly raise your GRE verbal subscore without hurting your quant subscore too much. Note that percentiles are more important than raw or adjusted subscores. Your background seems to be less verbally-oriented; combined with the lower GRE score, you would be at a disadvantage relative to other applicants in terms of AdCom's comfort level that you could succeed in the Wharton curriculum (particularly those classes requiring essays, verbal reasoning, and the like). -Victor WG '11 Reply

• Re: Engineering background with GRE score (low-verbal). From: sujith90  Sep 08, 2012 Posts 1

  In reply to

  I am also in a similar position. I am Computer Engineering MS student at Upenn. My Verbal (600 / 80 Percentile) and Math (790 / 90 Percentile) scores are good but my writing score (3.0 / 6.0) is extremely low. How much importance does AdCom give to the writing scores. My writing skills are usually pretty good considering I got an A in English at my undergrad (Univ of Texas at austin).  should I retake the GRE to improve the writing score? Or Should I take the GMAT? or is it better to explain the reason for the low score in the optional essay part of the application?   Thanks, Sujith Reply

• Re: Engineering background with GRE score (low-verbal). From: Fanaticalfan  Sep 09, 2012 Posts 1,159

  In reply to

  Sujith, The writing score is probably the least important score in your application package, mainly because adcom have direct access to a sample of your writing in the application essays themselves. With a solid verbal score already, your efforts are probably better directed to the application essays, rather than retaking GRE/GMAT solely to improve your writing score. FF Reply