kind of a stupid question, but....

[jetlag]

has anyone heard of someone getting in to grad school based solely on gre scores...?

i'll tell you why i wanna know if i get any answers.

[Othello]

It won't happen, sorry. If you have stellar GRE scores and everything else is lacking, your application is likely to be tossed out. The GRE score can be easily improved through studying and is therefore not a measure of intelligence.

In general, high GPA + low GRE = courses taken were easy; not that smart

low GPA + high GRE = lazy.

Therefore, if you want to be a competitive, you must have both a good GRE score and a good GPA (though GPA is weighted FAR more than the GRE).

[jetlag]

well, i didn't get into any of the phd programs i applied to last year. i did get into my safety master's program elsewhere and decided to attend. so far i really don't like being in the program, don't like the curiculum, dont see a good match between my research interests and the faculty's, etc... so i am seriously considering transferring to a better MS or PhD program.

if i wanna transfer before going in too far with my thesis research i have to apply this year. but then i figured my application and resume wouldn't have changed that much from last year. I can see myself working hard and getting a 4.0 gpa for this semester, but probably the admissions committee will not really take that as a good indication of performance since this is only my first semester, and i'm not doing any research or ta-ing, just taking 3 classes... (although a 4.0 would be a big improvement from my overall undergrad gpa)

before i started my master's program i was working as a technician in a research lab. i did a lot of work there and some of it will get published eventually, but at the rate my former boss is going now writing the papers i dont see me getting published anytime soon. so that won't help the grad school application either.

i feel like the one thing i can improve drastically would be the gre because i didn't have a lot of time to study for it before as i was working full-time. but yeah, like you said, gpa usually counts more than gre scores. so i think i'm in a lose-lose situation here.

of course if i don't get in anywhere this time i can stay in my current master's program and finish it, but right now the thought of having to do that that is really depressing.

[Othello]

What are you studying?

[jetlag]

biochem

[Othello]

How long will it take for you to earn the MS? If it's just a year, then definitely stick it out. If you really are going to get those publications, then the best thing you can do in the mean time is earn an MS. That way you can apply for a PhD program with an advanced degree AND publications. Seeing how you've only just begun your current program, I'd assume your view of it will only get better as you progress in it.

If the MS program is more like two years...ehhhh...it may be worth it to apply to another program. However, I'm not sure a semester of three A's will help you a lot since grad classes tend to have inflated grades. You wouldn't have anything to lose, other than money, to apply, right?

That's a tough situation; I'm not too sure how I'd handle that myself.

[jetlag]

i'm actually taking 2 undergrad classes and 1 grad class. i have to take the undergrad classes to make up deficiencies. i dont know if that's a good thing though, in terms of grade value considerations.

and the master's program is 2 years, i believe some people take 3 years to finish. it kinda depends i guess. i am definitely gonna re-apply, but i'd still like to weigh out my chances of getting in so i can make good choices of schools to apply to. right now i'm thinking about applying to schools that have both MS and PhD programs in biochem, then apply to both programs (if it's allowed of course). so if i dont get in to the phd program but at least got into the ms, i can transfer to a better school and maybe change my degree objective to phd-track later on at some point...

of course problem is a lot of the good biochem departments that have plenty of overlap with my research interests only offer phd degrees, no ms. so far i only have u of arizona and uc irvine on my list of schools to try. so, i'm trying to decide if applying to just those two would be enough.

i know there's really no easy solution in my case, but thanks for the advice. i really wanted to hear some opinions on this.