Serric

From what I've heard, the AW section is the least weighted segment of the GRE. Most places who publish acceptance rates and such don't include it, and for those that do (such as University of Minnesota) the average is 4.5+.

I think you're looking at the Barron's guide, because I seem to remember it saying there would be 60 questions with 60 minutes. It's a good study guide aside from that, but it's 28 questions in 45 minutes (if I remember correctly), not 60 and 60.

Although I had a different result with the verbal (I scored 590 and 610 on the PowerPrep software, 640 on the actual test), the math was pretty much spot-on (750 and 770 in the PowerPrep tests, 770 on the actual test). The verbal seems to be sort of hit-or-miss.

I'd take the exam again. The raw scores aren't really a big deal, but the percentile rankings are--a 580 in verbal is, I think, 80th percentile or so, but a 680 quantitative score is in the 70's or so. If you can, find the Barron's book and use the Powerprep software to help you with the exam. Learn number substitution (one of the best techniques for the exam) if you haven't already, and take every practice exam you can find.

No problem, and feel free to I feel slightly cheap using that whenever I e-mail a professor, but it gets results without having to re-write every time! Also, for the OP, there's another topic on this page about getting in touch with the professors with some good advice in it, too.

As far as not knowing where to start with your statement of purpose...well, the best way to do that would be to look at the programs you want to apply to and see what they ask for. They'll generally have a brief outline of what they want, and you can do a quick Google search and find some good sample ones/articles about writing them. Get started on it as soon as possible, though. One of the best ways to polish something is to write it, leave it alone for a few days, then go back to it so you can improve on it while in a different state of mind. Repeat several times, show it to the professors you'll be receiving your letters of recommendation from, and polish it as best you can. If there's a program you feel that strongly about, try to get in touch with a couple of the professors in the department. Keep your e-mail short and to the point--professors are doing a million things at a time, so give them as little as possible to read while still keeping your point. Read a couple of their papers if you can, and get a good idea of the direction of their research. Finally, ask if they're accepting graduate students: what's the point of endangering your chances, or even applying, if the faculty you're applying for aren't accepting additional students?

Most admissions committees look at the GRE scores as a 'minimum hurdle' and use it as a cutoff. Or, to quote the oft-repeated saying, "A bad score will hurt you, but a good one won't get you in." I've heard they're slightly more influential in outside fellowships due to it being one of the few universals to judge all students on.

First thing to keep in mind: professors have a hundred things to do at any given moment: there is no way in hell a professor is going to sit and read that wall of text from a student he doesn't know. Second: your numbers, while they may be impressive, do not need to be put into your introduction to the professor. Third: cut back on specifics. If you're applying to a professor's area with a similar background as his research interests, you don't need to list every single one of your skills: they'll likely be familiar with the skills acquired during your course of study. Even if it's not in the same/a similar area, they'll have a decent idea of the skills involved. Fourth: ask yourself why you want to work with this professor, and read one (or more) papers and several abstracts. If you can, ask one or two questions in your introductory e-mail, but that leads us into point five: Five: KEEP IT SHORT. It may be a bit of an exaggeration, but a professor's going to gloss over anything longer than a paragraph. Here's an example of the general letter I use for introducing myself to professors: Hello, Professor X, My name is (name) and I'm currently a (major) undergraduate at (institution). I'll be applying to (professor's institution) this coming fall, and I was wondering if you'll be accepting new students. I read several of your papers, including (paper), to get an idea of your work, and I feel that it would be a good fit for me. I also have research experience in (research field, especially if it applies to the lab's topic). Thank you, and I hope to hear from you soon. (note: I feel that even this length is pushing it a bit)

Speaking of this, I looked at Duke's info for this year. They updated, and--as long as it's submitted by November 1st--you get a $10 discount off the application fee.

From what I've heard, the post-doc is one of the most important factors for where you do it at. I've heard you can move 'down' the ladder (Top 50 means you can work in top 50, top 100, top 200, etc), but it's very difficult, if not impossible, to move up the ladder.

I have two main interests in biology, and (fortunately) have managed to find a few labs that combine them. My primary research interest is pre/postnatal neural stem cells, with emphases on directed differentiation and integration into neural circuits. I've been absolutely fascinated by the brain for as long as I can remember, probably due in no small part to growing up and watching my grandfather suffer from Alzheimer's. It's always seemed...I guess 'wrong' is the word I'm looking for, that a small injury to the brain can result in anything from a person being unable to walk to being a prisoner within their own minds, and I'd like to contribute my own small effort to alleviating that. My secondary research interest is in retroviral/adeno-associated viral vectors (particularly AAV serotype 8), and rep-mediated site-specific integration. My motivation for this is a bit different: I've always had a bit of a thing for superheroes, and wondered how superheroes could keep their powers if it was some chemical formula that had given it to them. I thought about it, then read an article talking about 'actual' ways they could've gotten their powers (barring the miracle exceptions, of course) and they mentioned the possible utilization of a retroviral vector to create Captain America or something like that, and I was instantly interested. After I did a project in an upper division cell/molec bio class and a review paper on the current state of AAV vectors, I realized they could be combined to transfect stem cell populations with useful genes and was immediately sold on the concept. Plus, y'know...I'd like to have the training so that, if we ever DO discover "superhuman" genes, I'd like to have the tools to pull off the stereotypical mad scientist shpiel. (Yes, I know it doesn't work that way...I can still dream, though.)

Some places (very few, I'll admit) offer an incentive for turning the application in early--I believe that Duke did this last year ($20 off the application fee if turned in by a certain point), although I'm not sure if they're going to this year. Aside from this, if you're planning on applying to University of Washington, I'd advise trying to turn it in around early October or so, as I've heard of interview offers being extended as early as November. For everywhere else, though, I'd probably say late October to early November. You have everything in the system, you can check/double check everything, and you get it in before the crush of applications that undoubtedly comes just before the deadlines. Plus you budget yourself time in case you find that last school that's a perfect fit at the last second.

I completely agree with was1984's sentiments. I've been an avid reader my entire life, have a fairly extensive vocabulary, and still didn't know the majority of the words they test you on. One example would be 'quixotic', which is a word that (I believe) was adapted into the English language due to Don Quixote. Another would be complaisant, which sounds like a variation of "complacent", but isn't. I can guarantee that, were you to ask most college students (even linguistics/English majors), 99% of them would look at you like you're crazy. A good expression to describe them is, "That's a six-dollar word." One of the reasons I hated taking the GRE was because it was a complete crapshoot (I scored between 590 to 680 on various practice tests before getting an official 640), it had very little (arguably no) practical use, and it was rote memorization. I found it amusing that, as a prerequisite for pursuing higher education, you have to memorize and regurgitate useless factoids that you'll have no use for ever again.

I find a good ice-breaker is something to the tune of, "Hello, Professor X. My name is (name) and I'm currently a (major) undergraduate at (my college). I'll be applying to (institution) next year, and wanted to ask if your lab is currently accepting graduate students: I read a few of your papers, namely (paper I was really interested in), and was wondering if the research in your lab is currently still proceeding in this direction. Thank you for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon." Few caveats, though: read the paper(s), and make sure anything you ask isn't already covered on their faculty page (or on their lab page, which I've noticed is often separate from the "official" university website). I try and make the e-mail as short as possible, since I know their inbox is probably jam-packed with grad students just like us, and show genuine interest. Like it was said above, don't stress if you don't get a response/get a late response. I'm not sure how much contacting professors really helps, since I've heard some people get really positive responses and then are rejected, and vice-versa. That being said, you can get some great resources if you hit on the right professor: I sent an e-mail to a professor in the vein above, and received a really warm response. He gave me the run-down on the research being done in the school in his department, let me know that he should have an opening, but--if not--there were three or four other professors doing similar research, along with names and interests. Finally, he told me to ask for him in the interview (if I'm interviewed, of course), and that if he was away, to call him. Cast your net and see what happens!

I half-heartedly memorized about a hundred or so, but I did it with Kaplan's system: look at grouping of words that mean criticism/falsehood/etc, memorize the "meaning" behind those words so you don't have to memorize each individual meaning. I also looked at the 'most frequently asked' word lists, but, overall, no more than a hundred. I scored a 640, so...felt it was a bit of a crapshoot.