realistic view of my chances

[frustrated :(]

Hi,

I want to go into chemistry (materials/polymers) I am aware that I am not top school material. I have a 3.53 GPA, GRE: 540Verbal, 740 Quant., 2.5 years of organic synthesis research experience, and a 1 yr. internship in a materials research lab

What are my options? and should i take the General GRE again? what can i do to make up for my GPA and GRE subject (don't remember the exact score but low..) score ?

[runonsentence]

Not sure what you mean by "what are my options"...? If you're asking whether or not you'll get into grad school, well: there's only one way to find out, I say. You have research experience, which I'd imagine is quite important for an application for the sciences. Although your GPA is a bit lower than other applicants probably have (though department websites can furnish you information on what the average GPA of its accepted students is), it's above the usual cutoff of 3.0. Further, your stronger GRE score is your quant score, and I have a sneaky suspicion that it's more important for your field than the verbal score.

If you're sure graduate school/your field is something you're passionate about, then I think you should apply. Choose a range of schools (a handful of "reach" schools, some solid/competitive programs, and some safety schools, as well).

The most important thing you, or any other applicant, can do to get into graduate school is demonstrate fit with a department. If you're nervous about your scores, the best way to impress admissions committees is to write a clear, purposeful SoP that demonstrates your fit with a program's research orientation and culture. Start researching programs and reading in your field to get an idea of which programs and researchers are doing work that fits with your own scholarly identity and excites you.

Edited July 12, 2011 by runonsentence

[frustrated :(]

options meaning.. what kind of school would be in the realm of possibility lol

Not sure what you mean by "what are my options"...? If you're asking whether or not you'll get into grad school, well: there's only one way to find out, I say. You have research experience, which I'd imagine is quite important for an application for the sciences. Although your GPA is a bit lower than other applicants probably have (though department websites can furnish you information on what the average GPA of its accepted students is), it's above the usual cutoff of 3.0. Further, your stronger GRE score is your quant score, and I have a sneaky suspicion that it's more important for your field than the verbal score.

If you're sure graduate school/your field is something you're passionate about, then I think you should apply. Choose a range of schools (a handful of "reach" schools, some solid/competitive programs, and some safety schools, as well).

The most important thing you, or any other applicant, can do to get into graduate school is demonstrate fit with a department. If you're nervous about your scores, the best way to impress admissions committees is to write a clear, purposeful SoP that demonstrates your fit with a program's research orientation and culture. Start researching programs and reading in your field to get an idea of which programs and researchers are doing work that fits with your own scholarly identity and excites you.

[Mal83]

[quote name=frustrated ' timestamp='1310446643' post='261924]

options meaning.. what kind of school would be in the realm of possibility lol