Biology PhD advice required??

molliebatmit
Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:08:23 +0000

If that verbal score is 75th percentile, I wouldn’t bother taking the test again. The actual score isn’t that important for admissions, and the verbal score in particular is almost certainly used as a benchmark rather than for its own sake.

Senior year grades will not matter if they’re not available by the time you apply. When you pick a school, you will have to send them a final transcript to prove you graduated, but that’s all.

The trouble with the GRE subject test is that you won’t be able to see the scores before you have to decide whether or not to send them to schools. If you’re confident you can get a very good score (80th%+, preferably 90th%+), then take the test and send it to schools. If not, don’t bother and don’t worry.

I applied two years ago for biology PhD programs. I had a 3.4 GPA from MIT, 800Q/740V/5.5A on the GRE general test, a 97th percentile on the biology subject test (can’t remember what number that is – 880?), a summer at the NIH, and three years of research in the lab of a well-known scientist in my field (including authorship on a high-impact paper). I was accepted to Harvard BBS, MIT Biology, Stanford Biosciences, UC Berkeley MCB, and UCLA Access; I was interviewed but ultimately rejected at UCSF Tetrad.