How to Use Your GRE Exam Preparation Beyond Admissions: Fellowships, Internships & More

Maximize the ROI on your GRE

Now that you have mastered GRE vocabulary, and learnt to untangle phonetically similar words like ‘Anachronism’ and ‘Antagonism’, ‘Unanimous’ and ‘Pusillanimous’, ‘Obfuscate’ and ‘Confiscate’, scored a 320+ in your GRE Exam, and pressed the ‘Submit’ button on your last university application, are you feeling sad that all effort you invested in your GRE exam preparation is now a closed chapter? Don’t worry! While it may seem that the GRE was meant only as an entry ticket to the hallowed portals of your preferred university for your MS and PhD degrees, your GRE preparation actually promises much more; it can be leveraged to get fellowships, internships, and even scholarships! You can use the GRE prep as a tool to give you that extra edge over your competitors.

Lakhs of students take the GRE every year. While one student pays through their nose for a graduate degree, another with the same profile and same academic GPA could secure a tuition waiver, and even some monthly stipend. This difference could be because a stronger GRE score could add more weight and provide an extra edge especially when the decision is contested. In other words, a better GRE score can serve as a tie-breaker.

However, it must be noted that GRE cannot open doors directly for either funding or jobs, but it can definitely give a boost to your profile in highly competitive situations. Moreover, a high GRE score implies intensive preparation which in turn reflects skills and values that institutions value highly.

Discover how to maximize your funding opportunities.

The Multifaceted Value of a High GRE Score

So how exactly does a GRE help you? Apart from those 3000+ words that have immensely broadened your vocabulary? Well, it opens doors. Yes! This blog explains the various ways in which you can make your GRE score work for you.

1. External Fellowships & Scholarships

   As you know, many universities like Yale, Cornell, and NYU in the US, Oxford and Cambridge in the UK, ETH Zurich in Switzerland and Sciences Po in France offer funding based on the admitted candidate’s academic performance. However, there are many other fellowship committees, with billions of dollars available for students to pursue their higher studies across the globe, that honour a good GRE score to strengthen your academic profile and provide additional credibility when the selection is highly competitive.

   Foremost among these, for Indian students, are the prestigious Fulbright-Nehru Master’s Fellowships, JN Tata Endowment Loan Scholarships, and Inlak’s Shivdasani Foundation’s Fellowship. These sources offer funding for students across all streams, and academic performance & leadership potential are given the highest priority. Though GRE is not compulsory to apply for these fundings, a good score can definitely support your application, especially when competing candidates have comparable academic credentials.

   While many STEM fellowships like Erasmus Mundes, Narotam Sekhsaria Scholarship, DAAD and Fullbright scholarships prioritize GPA and research potential, a high GRE score may act as a “profile-enhancer” (even though not as a “deciding factor”). In a global pool of high-achievers, your score gives committees the confidence to choose you over a candidate with similar grades. So, in this sense, a good GRE score can be a reliable yardstick to confirm that you can handle the academic pressure of a top-tier program.

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2. Research Internships / Assistantships

   Your GRE score can play a surprising role even in securing research internships for you. These internships are highly academic-oriented and potential candidates need to have exceptional academic scores. A good GRE score provides “additional support” as it shows that the candidate has the skills for handling rigorous analytical or complex lab work, and gives that candidate an edge over others in the selection criteria.

   The same holds good for RA and TA positions in universities. Most graduate students seek such positions not just for earning money while studying but also because of the prestige such positions offer, and the additional benefit of paving the way for a PhD in the future. There are usually only a limited number of TA and RA positions and these are highly competitive. A good GRE score can potentially “support” a candidate’s academic capability, and also highlight the fact that the candidate can handle pressure, adhere to timelines and be responsible. All these are traits that GRE exam preparation ingrains in students.

3. Securing Jobs

   Yes, you read that right! Your GRE exam preparation can help you even after you graduate. More and more companies are looking for ways to identify the best talent from among the large pool of students that graduate each year from top universities. While top-tier Consulting firms primarily focus on the applicant’s GPA, internships, and interviews, a high GRE score (and the preparation that goes into earning it) will validate the applicant’s problem-solving and analytical skills and ability to deliver under pressure. All these skills are highly sought-after for consulting roles.

   Even Ed-tech and Fin-tech start-ups could value the skills demonstrated through your GRE exam preparation, such as persistence, intellectual grit and commitment. While start-ups do not use GRE scores directly for any recruiting decisions, a good score indicates disciplined and persistent GRE preparation, which can in turn demonstrate traits like analytical thinking and resilience. All these traits are highly valued by start-ups to assess recruits who will fit into their high-stress environments, and who can push themselves to contribute to their growth.

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4. Skills that Last a Lifetime

   Finally, we look at how the GRE score can help you life-long. A high GRE score indicates not just your intellectual acumen but also your sustained commitment. The high score is the result of months of GRE prep that would have changed your very way of thinking, approaching problems, solving them, your idea of responsibility and commitment, and so on. Through the process of preparing for the GRE, you learn to think critically (important for business negotiations and reviewing documents), interpret data (critical for analysing reports and dissecting arguments), work under pressure (very important in stressful jobs) and articulate well (a critical leadership trait).

Leveraging Your GRE Score Beyond Admissions

Now that we have seen the various ways in which you can get your GRE score to work for you beyond admission, you must also know how your GRE score does the work for you. Here are a couple of ways: –

1. Filter Fellowship and scholarship databases to find funding options that require test score

2. Add your GRE score in your CV and in your professional pages in social media like LinkedIn

3. When applying for internships that are research-focused, highlight your Quant score to underscore your analytical abilities.

The Graduate Record Examination is a very rigorous and gruelling one, and to score high in it is no mean feat. Don’t let your months of sweat and commitment lie dormant once you have got your admission into the university of your choice. Let it help you pay for your education. Keep it dynamic and reap the rich rewards it can bring you.