GRE Writing

[Tommy]

Hi, I wonder how important the GRE wrtiting score is for FE? I got V610, Q800 and W 3.5. About 26% is below 3.5 on the writing section. I guess a score of 4 or above is adequate for FE, but I'm not sure whether a 3.5 is ok. Well, English isn't my first language, so I do not think my score will improve a lot. I have a 4.0 GPA in OR, a half-year internship in Frankfurt and 3 pretty good recommendation letters. The GRE score frustrates me a little bit. Should I retake the GRE? Thanks for the advise.

 

[Connor]

3.5 is a little on the low side but your verbal is good. I don't think I would worry about it because your Q and V scores are good.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

It's an interesting dilemma. My personal experience is that the verbal score is highly inaccurate in demonstrating one's English skill. It's specially true when it comes with a low writing score.
I'm also aware of people of different origins can excel in one section, but not the other. For example, Chinese and Indian students focus on the verbal section and often score very high.
But the writing section which is hard to do well without actually writing and really learning the language.
As for bench mark, I often use 4.5 for the writing and anything above 500 verbal is good. More importantly, I look at how that person expresses himself in the personal essay. And true to form, many students with 600+ verbal have some of the most horrible essays I have ever seen, filled with broken English.

So even if your scores pass the muster, it's hard to gauge your true English fluency. Some schools use TOEFL as control mechanism, some use phone interview.
If you know which programs you want to apply to, you can prepare accordingly. There is no safe score that works for all, except 800/800/6. This is where due diligence pays off.

 

[Tommy]

It's an interesting dilemma. My personal experience is that the verbal score is highly inaccurate in demonstrating one's English skill. It's specially true when it comes with a low writing score.
I'm also aware of people of different origins can excel in one section, but not the other. For example, Chinese and Indian students focus on the verbal section and often score very high.
But the writing section which is hard to do well without actually writing and really learning the language.
As for bench mark, I often use 4.5 for the writing and anything above 500 verbal is good. More importantly, I look at how that person expresses himself in the personal essay. And true to form, many students with 600+ verbal have some of the most horrible essays I have ever seen, filled with broken English.

So even if your scores pass the muster, it's hard to gauge your true English fluency. Some schools use TOEFL as control mechanism, some use phone interview.
If you know which programs you want to apply to, you can prepare accordingly. There is no safe score that works for all, except 800/800/6. This is where due diligence pays off.

Thanks, Andy. I understand that an application consists of many important factors. GRE is one of them, and maybe not as important as the statement of purpose, GPA, or recommendation letters. I am not sure if it is necessary for me to take the exam again. Maybe I should focus more on the application, such as the resume and essays, and also exams of my current undergrad classes? I have high school and undergrad in US, so I am exempt for TOEFL. However, as an engineer, most of the courses I have were not involved with too much writing. The writing score may indicate how good a writer in English I really am, or maybe not. Yeah, it's a dilemma.