dentalflosstycoon

I was able to take the GRE subject test on standby this past Saturday! I might start a new thread on this for anyone who's in a similar situation, but for now, I'll just post it here. I purposely went to the testing center with the lowest population nearby but which was still within a reasonable proximity to my location. The reason being, when I called ETS, the woman on the phone advised me that the testing centers in lower population areas tend to have more availability. This turned out to be wholly true, and I was, in fact, the only standby test taker at the center I attended in New Jersey. To any future standby testers: don't sweat it. If you go to a testing center away from major cities (even if you need to drive an hour it's worth it), it should be a piece of cake to get in. They had a ton of extra packets for all subjects where I went.

Thanks for your input. I'm relieved to hear the whole standby thing is a regular occurrence. Nevertheless, I am still anxious about it. I will definitely try to call the testing centers and see which one accommodates the most people. If I get screwed over and end up not being able to take the math GRE, it looks like I'll be applying to mostly psychology programs. Regardless of what happens, I will post back here after the 28th to update as to how the standby testing situation went. It looks like this is a question which all too often goes unanswered on the Internet.

So, here's the deal. I'm signed up for the regular GRE in a few weeks. I've taken a couple practice tests and I'm fairly confident my score for both Verbal and Quant will be in the range of 165-168. My GPA is currently 3.93 and I don't anticipate it changing significantly in my final semester (I'm graduating in December). My undergraduate degree is in mathematics, but I have no significant research experience. I anticipate I can get one excellent letter of recommendation, one pretty good, and one decent. I am applying to several phd programs in both Mathematics and Psychology (I have a strong interest in both fields). It seems most psych programs are much more lenient about requiring the GRE subject test. However, pretty much all serious math phd programs seem to require the GRE subject in math. What's the problem? I naively missed the signup for the subject test and the next one isn't offered until April! I know about standby and I will be doing this for the October 28 testing date, but as ETS has emphasized, there is no guarantee I can sit the test on standby. I have two questions. 1. Does anyone have any experience with doing GRE subject tests standby, and if so what are the odds do you think? 2. How seriously will math phd programs consider my application without the GRE subject test given my other stats?