Should I send my Chemistry GRE Score?

[Ashleynwj]

I'm a senior student from Asian, and my undergraduate school is not famous.

My overall GPA is 3.64 and major GPA is 3.89

I checked my Chemistry GRE score yesterday

I only got 780 70%, which is too low compared to my other friends.

Most of the graduate programs I applyed recommend this score, and several of them highly recommed it.

I'm afraid that my score will do harm to my application.

Should I send my chemistry GRE score to these graduate programs?

Ｔｈａｎｋｓ　ｆｏｒ　ｙｏｕｒ　ｈｅｌｐ

[MajorityMinority]

You should send it!

Good luck

[SymmetryOfImperfection]

i believe this is good enough for most schools if you are not applying to the most top schools. respectable schools like Ohio State will be good.

[Ashleynwj]

Thank you very much for your help！

Schools require this score that I applyed are Northwestern University, University of Minnesota Twin Cities,Michigan State University, University of Pittsburgh,University of Rochester,Tufts University. While I worry about that since other Chinese students applicants always got very high Chemistry GRE score, I will be inferior compared to them. :-(

[piano5115]

One thing you can do to help you decide is to email the program directly and ask them what their average GRE subject scores are and how impactful GRE subject scores are. From what I understand, schools who don't make it a required field (even those that say "strongly/highly" recommend) don't consider GRE subject scores to be a very decisive value. It's something that can help you if you did really well, or hurt you if you did really poorly but if you're somewhere in the large murky grey zone it shouldn't really affect you.

I hear you about Chinese students though lol. I'm Chinese but grew up in America. There's a lot of international Chinese students at my school and when I hear how perfect their scores were coming in I'm always impressed....and slightly frightened lol

[Ashleynwj]

One thing you can do to help you decide is to email the program directly and ask them what their average GRE subject scores are and how impactful GRE subject scores are. From what I understand, schools who don't make it a required field (even those that say "strongly/highly" recommend) don't consider GRE subject scores to be a very decisive value. It's something that can help you if you did really well, or hurt you if you did really poorly but if you're somewhere in the large murky grey zone it shouldn't really affect you.

I hear you about Chinese students though lol. I'm Chinese but grew up in America. There's a lot of international Chinese students at my school and when I hear how perfect their scores were coming in I'm always impressed....and slightly frightened lol

Yes! I asked those programs, but they did not reply me. However, the department of chemistry in Northwestern University says the average score for admitted students last year is 690 on their homepage , I'm above this level.

In fact I'm a Chinese student , and the reason why I worried so much about my score is that in Chinese forums, people say one should not submit their Chemistry Score if it is below 90%...God bless me

[SymmetryOfImperfection]

Thank you very much for your help！

Schools require this score that I applyed are Northwestern University, University of Minnesota Twin Cities,Michigan State University, University of Pittsburgh,University of Rochester,Tufts University. While I worry about that since other Chinese students applicants always got very high Chemistry GRE score, I will be inferior compared to them. :-(

Don't compare to others, only compare to yourself，you are doing good. These schools will probably accept you.

Edited December 13, 2012 by SymmetryOfImperfection

[Ashleynwj]

Don't compare to others, only compare to yourself，you are doing good. These schools will probably accept you.

Thank you!

[piano5115]

Yes! I asked those programs, but they did not reply me. However, the department of chemistry in Northwestern University says the average score for admitted students last year is 690 on their homepage , I'm above this level.

In fact I'm a Chinese student , and the reason why I worried so much about my score is that in Chinese forums, people say one should not submit their Chemistry Score if it is below 90%...God bless me

ah yes, the stereotypical Chinese attitude of if you're not #1 you're nothing... I think that if I was in China I would have gone insane with the college entrance exams...let alone all the pressure of going abroad >_<

The thing is, it's really hard give a knowledgeable advice as domestic students from the US. Most phd programs consider international students their own application pool, distinct from the people applying domestically because of the additional difficulties of visa/immigration status. I would be wary of the 690 from NW just because I don't know if it's the overall average of the incoming class or just the international students, since international students tend to do much better on the test and these are the people you're really competing with.

My advice would be to talk to professors at your school, especially those that typically write recommendation of people going abroad, and ask them what they think would be the next logical step. Or ask theother international students that are abroad now. It's better to get advice from people who are already have experience with the process. Good luck!!!

[Ashleynwj]

ah yes, the stereotypical Chinese attitude of if you're not #1 you're nothing... I think that if I was in China I would have gone insane with the college entrance exams...let alone all the pressure of going abroad >_<

The thing is, it's really hard give a knowledgeable advice as domestic students from the US. Most phd programs consider international students their own application pool, distinct from the people applying domestically because of the additional difficulties of visa/immigration status. I would be wary of the 690 from NW just because I don't know if it's the overall average of the incoming class or just the international students, since international students tend to do much better on the test and these are the people you're really competing with.

My advice would be to talk to professors at your school, especially those that typically write recommendation of people going abroad, and ask them what they think would be the next logical step. Or ask theother international students that are abroad now. It's better to get advice from people who are already have experience with the process. Good luck!!!

Thanks for your advice. Good luck to your application,too!

[SymmetryOfImperfection]

they say it to scare you. its part of the mind games. can't let them get into your head, know what I'm saying? lots of people post inflated stats in an effort to weed out competitors from the start. Its not just Asians; Europeans do extremely well on the GRE too. My professor is German and he said "when I first taught here, I used the questions I was given myself in Germany. It was an utter disaster, and I realized that the level of difficulty had to be adjusted to be more appropriate."

That said, its important to do well on the GRE for nothing else if to prove "equivalence".

Edited December 14, 2012 by SymmetryOfImperfection