Confused about GRE scores

[pape_maria]

I am applying for a PhD in Comparative Literature this fall at top 10 universities in the states and have for the last 5 months been using your material to prepare for the GRE (that I will be taking in a week). Despite these many hours of preparation I am still far from satisfied with my results. However, I have to admit that I have no way of evaluating them as I don’t know anybody who has taken the test. I hope you will be able to help.
I got 155 in quantitative reasoning and 160 in verbal reasoning on the last test I took on your webpage and 155 in quantitative reasoning and 159 in verbal reasoning on the last test I took on the powerprep II from GRE.
I am Danish and currently writing my master’s thesis in Comparative Literature at the University of Copenhagen where I have also done my BA. As part of my degrees I have studied one semester at the University of Barcelona, Spain, and three semesters at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. On my BA I had a GPA of approx. 4,4 and on my MA I currently have a GPA at 4,75 (on your scale 1-5). I have a fair deal of work experience with literature at publishing houses and also did an internship with a literary agent. Furthermore, I have had one peer-reviewed article and three translations of short stories published.
I have realized that I will never get a score that considerably improves my application, but I hope to get one that is good enough for the universities to “disregard” it. I know the Departments of Comparative Literature normally almost completely disregard the quantitative reasoning part (I am currently scoring what the average of the applicants accepted do), but do you have any experiences with their evaluation of the verbal reasoning part when it comes to applicants that don’t have English as a mother tongue? Do they normally take this into consideration?
How would you see my scores? Can they be disqualifying?
I hope you will be able to help.
Kind regards,

[tommywallach]

Hey There Pape,

Unfortunately, your question is beyond the scope of this forum. I don't know how individual programs, such as Comparative Lit, judge the GRE. Every school is different, as is every program within those schools. The best thing to do is call the admissions departments in question and ask THEM what they think is competitive, based on your history/background.

Good luck!

-t

[pape_maria]

Thank you for your swift reply. I have actually already done so, but no one has so far been willing or able to say anything concrete. I suppose this is because there are no strict rules. I can see that the verbal score average in humanities at Princeton is 164 which means that I am 4 points off, but how much these points matter I cannot tell. I guess I will just have to keep studying, do my best, and hope the universities will primarily consider other parts of my application.
Best,

[tommywallach]

Hey Pape,

That's exactly right. If you can find average scores, that's a good gauge. Think of it this way:

1) If your GRE score is below the average, you better have an above average application (GPA, recommendations, demographic background, etc.).

2) If your GRE score is above average, you can get away with a slightly weak GPA.

Use your knowledge of yourself as a candidate to triangulate where you should be in terms of your school's average. And of course, keep working and improving on the test! Good luck!

-t