Comments on: Public Administration Majors Score Dead Last on GRE Scores

By: gre/gmat tutor

gre/gmat tutor — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:11:37 +0000

I saw that table before a couple of years ago…it’s a VERY old table, notice that it still has the “Analytic” section. The GRE replaced the Analytic section with an Analytical Writing Assessment section about 6 years ago (more I think). This essay section is scored from 0-6 unlike the math and verbal.

(I was a math major and I’m surprised the see that elec. eng. beat us for the top spot in the math section. Grrr! )

By: Will

Will — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 15:20:06 +0000

Given this table I do wonder why we thought Sarah Palin would be a good vice President. Wasn’t her degree in Communications? I mean really for all the talk about how the media were being elitist in dismissing her, this table suggests that maybe they were on to something (of course a lot of the media personnel were probably communications majors as well). But given this table maybe she wasn’t so smart after all? HMMMMM…. makes me wonder, how conservatives would react when confronted with this bit of cognitive dissonance

By: Gringo

Gringo — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:26:06 +0000

I took the GRE twice, seventeen years apart. The second time was computer graded on the spot, with the questions being given dependent on how you answered the previous ones, IIRC- unlike the first itme, where I was handed the all the questions on paper. Because the grad school I applied to didn't care about the Ananlytical section, I wasn't particularly worried about it. However, the first time, I made a halfway decent effort on the Analytical section. The second time,I blew off the Analytical section, just putting down anything or a quick reaction instead of pondering the question. Yet my Analytical scores were about the same both times.

The scores don't matter that much in the long run. I doubt that someone who scored 500 on the Quantitative would do well in grad school in science or engineering, and math of course. But beyond that, one's work ethic will be the bigger determinant of academic success than one's GRE scores.

My GRE scores were better than my grades- lazy perhaps.Definitely a procrastinator.

By: Joseph K

Joseph K — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 01:45:36 +0000

I’m a philosophy PhD right now. I’m amazed how well Philosophy scored. I can’t believe philosophy got top in verbal, even better than English. Amazing. Also, we’re sixth in analytic. You’d hope we’d be able to do that well. But, man, we’re pulled down by that 16th place in Quantitative. We can analyze, communicate, we just can’t add. What do we need that for anyways?

By: John Dewey

John Dewey — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:40:10 +0000

"I bet if you add a column with the % of Ph.D.s granted in each discipline, it would be in reverse order. With the most granted at the bottom of the list."

Perhaps two such columns would be more interesting: one showing % of PhD's for U.S. citizens in U.S. universities; and one showing % of PhD's for foreigners in U.S. universities. I doubt that many foreigners leave their homeland to pursue degrees in education, sociology, and communication.

By: Al Maviva

Al Maviva — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:03:34 +0000

>>>My main reaction is: all of the verbal scores are craptacular.

Those of us with really good verbal skills went to law school, to everybody else's everlasting consternation.

By: rxc

rxc — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:01:22 +0000

This is horrifying - the people we are counting to improve the language skills of the engineers have worse language skills than those engineers. Maybe THIS is why it is so difficult to hire engineers who can write good reports and give good presentations. Their real skills are being destroyed by the "educators".

Former engineer and govt regulator (NOT public administration)

By: Quincy

Quincy — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 07:31:49 +0000

Anyone notice that the English Lit Majors can’t crack 600 in the Verbal?

By: SR

SR — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:02:43 +0000

Physicists FTW!

By: Jim Hu

Jim Hu — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:02:41 +0000

Following the links, this seems to be the averages for the applicant pools, not those admitted. I was wondering about Medicine too; perhaps its the students who take both the GRE and the MCAT based on being unsure of their prospects for Med School?

My main reaction is: all of the verbal scores are craptacular.