Page 1 of 1

How much of a difference will my score make?

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2021 10:09 am
by ColorOfViolets
Hi all,

I've come to this board to try and decide whether I should retake the GRE Mathematics Subject Test in October. I've already signed up for the test, so I won't have an issue there. However, I took the September test and got a 73rd percentile. I'm trying to decide how much a slightly improved score could make. In the September test, I got 6 Topology questions, which felt like a lot based on practice tests. I'm not very good at topology--definitely my worst field in mathematics--so that may have impacted my score negatively. I've heard that 85th percentile is kind of the "here or better is largely equivalent," so I'm wondering if I should try and take the test to try and get that.

Are my assumptions correct? And how much would slightly improving my score improve my chances of getting into a good graduate program? I'm thinking about applying to Berkeley and Brown as sort of "shooting for the stars" schools, and I'm also planning on applying to:

Penn State
UC, Boulder
UC, Storrs
Michigan
Missouri
New Hampshire
Washington
Washington University, St. Louis
Wesleyan

and maybe some others.

Re: How much of a difference will my score make?

Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2021 1:28 am
by jxgeng
I doubt whether gre sub scores would make a difference as most universities do not require it or made it optional. But if you want to do pure math, learning topology is essential as you definitely gonna use it a lot. Most advanced textbooks assume readers to have basic understanding of undergraduate topology.

Re: How much of a difference will my score make?

Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2021 8:06 pm
by NumberField
Sorry not really related to your question, but where did you take the exam in Sep? I thought all the exams in Sep are canceled.
By the way, where will take the Oct exam? I am so worried that this would also be canceled.