jac4226

For one, I'm not trolling. For two, I would never say in an application that I'm lazy and I did not study. What I meant to said earlier is that I wouldn't say that I didn't study because this would just show laziness. Now to address the self-righteous attitude. When you take the exam, you can ask to have your scores reported to up to four schools for free (otherwise is costs $25 each). I used this option. This morning got my low scores and started this thread. After initially hearing that I should not submit my scores, I called ETS to see if I could stop them from being sent. They told me that there was no way to stop the scores from being sent. I didn't fully explain the situation in my earlier post when I said "I decided to submit my scores." So my advice to future test takers is to sacrifice the $100 and wait to see you scores before you send them. Very silly mistake on my part.

That information is at least somewhat comforting. For better or for worse (and most people will probably say for worse) I decided to just report my scores. If a crummy subject test score is enough to disqualify me from a graduate program then I'm probably not qualified for that program anyway. I'm thinking about writing a little statement for my apps that says something like "my subject test scores are bad, I know it, but I decided not to hide this from you." I'm not one to make up excuses for why they are so bad, so I won't be saying anything like I was sick or my dog died. I didn't study, but that just shows laziness on my part. Anyway, I hope all of the other applicants on here are in the 67% who scored higher than me. Best of luck to all on your applications. I'm in the processes of getting demographic information from ETS, and if they actually provide me with it (which they said they would), I'll post it.

YaBoyAR Do you have any support for your opinion? That is really what I was asking. You don't need to go to a grad school forum to know that the 33rd percentile is not impressive, but I was hoping that someone may be able to provide me with--or point me towards--useful information. I cannot find any statistics for the Chem GRE scores for admitted students to any schools other than Harvard (to which I am not applying). Harvard's average incoming percentile is 70%--which seems very low for Harvard. Yes, I am American.

I am applying to Ph.D. programs for the fall of 2014. Overall I believe I have a strong application. Goldwater scholarship. 2 summers and 5 semesters of undergrad reasearch, 6 professional presentations, 3.9 gpa, etc. I did well on the GRE general test (>90%), but I did terribly on the the subject test--33 percentile. Should I even send this score to the programs I'm applying to that do not require it? Does anybody know what average scores are for any programs (with citation please)? Also, does anyone know what average scores are for applicants graduating from U.S. institutions? I'm rather surprised and distressed about this very low score.