I took the GRE for the 2nd time recently and unfortunately, after 4 months of studying (again for the 2nd summer in a row), received the exact same score overall as my score last summer.
Last summer, I got a 157 on math, 154 on verbal, and 5 on the essay. Recently, I got a 157 on math, 153 on verbal, and a 6 on the essay.
Is it worth sending both GRE scores to the graduate schools I'm applying to (I know they all, for the ones that accept the GRE, accept multiple scores). Even if they don't superscore, I feel like it may show that I tried to increase my score and went out of my way to take it a second time...also a higher essay score may be worthy to show for. What do you think? It's a very small matter, but I feel that it may be slightly beneficial at best in terms of my overall application, so why not?
By the way, I'm applying to biomedical neuroscience PhD programs that focus on disease therapeutics.
Thanks for your input!
Answer
I actually think that sending both tests would be detrimental for your application:
- it decreases the ratio of signal to noise in your application
- [opinion based] it shows the lack of improvement in your math and verbal scores over the year (which would be my interpretation if both results are sent) as opposed to your intent to show the will to improve
- generally adds confusion
Since your most recent result is in all aspects better/equal (I don't count 153/154 to be different, while 6 on the essay is much better than 5) than the previous one, I strongly suggest sending only the newest GRE score.
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