Grad School/GRE question

Depends on the school, but you should be fine with any type of GRE score with all of your other qualifications. The GRE really doesn't tell the school much about you are a chemist because of what it tests you on, worthless vocabulary and high school math. I am an engineer in grad school and did well on the math, but did poorly on the other two, but it did not affect my acceptance. Your experience outside of the classroom will separate you from the rest.

I suck at tests like the GRE. I saw paying for a tutor through Kaplan as one of the best investments in myself that I could make. I worked very hard at it and got through about 8 weeks of work in 5 and went up 300 points. I think it’s a couple hundred but they had an online program that I found helpful. It was just lots of practice and drills. If you do a few hours every night between now and the test you will improve. It worked out well for me. You may have the credentials to get into one of the top 20 schools regardless of your scores, but wouldn’t it be fun to take a shot at the top 5?

Study harder for that test! Memorize the vocab words and your verbal will go up.

Yes as D3 runner says, if you're as great as you say, you'll get into some good programs. But the scores will (probably) still matter for getting the best financial package.

Wait, are you talking about the subject test, or the general GRE?

A guy I knew got in the 20th %-ile on the physics subject test, but still got into one of the top schools. Chemistry might be competitive, I dunno, but try not to stress out about it too much. Some of the professors in your department will probably know the exact answer if you really care.

I was worried about the same thing at one point, and the professor said, "Look, if you do happen to get rejected by school X (top 10 in the nation which I wanted to go to), we can go and talk to them and see what's going on." Anyhow, they might not say the same thing to you, but it was reassuring to talk to someone.