GRE for UCSC

[knightkittrider]

Hey community,

Ok, following question.
how much is the GRE really worth comparing to good work experience?
I am working now almost for 1 year at CERN in Geneva (software development)/Switzerland. Then I was 1 year at Siemens in Austria, and 3 months in the European Patentoffice in Den Haag/Netherlands.

Now I am 24 years old. My bachelor degree's GPA is very very bad. I will graduate in 2 months and have my Masters degree then.
And now I only have 12 days to learn for the GRE-exam, and in fact I didn't start learning yet.

Shall I takt the GRE-exam, (verly likely) screw it up, and hope they will relate to my working experience? Does CERN, Siemens, EPO impress them that much, that they say "Omg, he has a creepy GRE-score, but who wonders, when he was working and didn't have time to learn?" At least I will have my master's degree, and work experience. Does that raise my chances, though having a bad GRE-score?

12 days is definately not enough? Isn't it?

So guys, I am a little bit exaggerating, but you know what I am up to. Or shall I take time, and apply for Fall 2008? I consider better going to Australia or other countries, before I wait for 1,5 years.

You see, I am quite desperate, because I know I screwed it up again, by not preparing for GRE. So I am seeking for small chances.

I want to apply for Master of applied economics and finance at UCSC. They only take 25 students, regarding their website.

Sincerely yours,
Alex

[millertime]

If you're already working on a master's and your GPA for that is a lot better than your bachelor's, then don't worry too much. A good GRE score will definitely help, and so will good recommendations from your current professors. I don't think the fact that you have a job will excuse a poor GRE score, because most people taking the GRE are either working or going to school.

Take some practice tests and see how you do before you decide whether to take the real test now or not. There's a free one on www.review.com, and you can download the 2 free official Powerprep tests from www.gre.org.

[knightkittrider]

ok, I did the test on review.com
but only the verbal part, since that's the one with the "stupid" vocabulary.

I did out of 30 questions 11 right, 15 wrong, and didn't answer 4 questions.
that's pretty bad isn't it? do I have chances to improve within one week!?