Daydream

<br /><br /><br /> How important is the general GRE?

<br /><br /><br /> I promise, it's just a handle . I don't need to take amphetamines.

Hi, I'm new. I'm a fifth year senior getting ready to apply for graduate programs (PhD) in pure mathematics this fall. I decided to take an extra year because I switched to math late in my college career, had time left on my scholarship, and wasn't happy with where I got into grad school last year. My math GPA is a 3.51, with a 3.8 in courses passed the usual Calc1-3, ODEs, and Linear Algebra sequences. So far I've taken: Calc 1-3 ODEs Linear Algebra Numerical Analysis Two semesters of PDEs Two semesters of advanced calclulus (at the level of Baby Rudin) Two semesters of abstract algebra One semester of complex variables One semester of number theory One semester of formal logic One semester of pointset topology One semester of functional analysis along with an assortment of electives here and there. This upcoming year, I'll be taking my university's grad courses in measure theory, pointset and algebraic topology, and complex analysis. However, my GRE scores are a bit (a lot) lackluster; I got a 730 Q on the general and an abysmal 570 on the subject GRE. I know it's just making excuses, but I have problems with standardized testing. Aside from retaking the tests - which I intend to do - is there anything else I can do to give myself a decent chance of getting into grad school? And will these low scores completely bar me from being a competitive applicant? I'm not looking to get into a top10 program or anything, as I don't think that's realistic at all, but I would like to try and have a career as a researcher. I spend most of my free time reading math, looking for alternative proofs to theorems in class, seeing what happens when assumptions are weakened, looking up peripheral material, etc...and yeah, this is just really what I want to do. So is there anything I could or should be doing to improve my chances?