Fall'16 PhD App- Biochem Subject Exam? How Important?

[krandrykov]

Hello everyone!

 

I took the Biochemsitry GRE last April and did abysmally bad (10th percentile...) due to illness. I powered through the exam in spite of illness and my proctor told me that I could get my score without reporting to my top schools. Turns out... she was compeltely wrong!!! My top schools (Harvard, MIT, Princeton, UChicago) have all seen my abysmally bad score out of context.

 

I am otherwise a fine candidate-- my science grades in school, letters of rec and experience are strong-- but I am afraid that I have ruined my chances at my top-choice programs.

 

My questions are:

 

1. Do you think it is completely necessary to retake the exam? Although these schools do not require the exam, will they be unable to overlook this flaw?

 

2. Do you think it is necessary to take the Biochem again just because it's what I signed up for before, or can the general Biology exam suffice?

 

Any piece of advice would be very, very appreciated!!

 

[biochemgirl67]

I've been asking this question all summer!  (I'm at Harvard Amgen program.)  Every single person at the Amgen conference (Caltech, Stanford, Washu, UCB, UCLA, Harvard, MIT, NIH, UCSF, and Columbia --> I talked with EVERY school just to be sure) and Harvard said the same thing.  They aren't necessary and don't usually do anything for you unless you have a bad GPA or limited coursework.  (I have a lot of grad classes, so they all said that I wouldn't have to take it.)  BUT then they said if you DID take it and did poorly, it would be detrimental to your application.  In the words of every person, "It would be really really bad."  Maybe the schools will throw out the score if it's over 6 months between them receiving it and your application?

 

I don't want to say you've ruined your chances because I don't know.  But it definitely will be a stain on your app if you can't remove it.  UGH.  I feel so bad.  I'm sorry.

[ERR_Alpha]

Hello everyone!

I took the Biochemsitry GRE last April and did abysmally bad (10th percentile...) due to illness. I powered through the exam in spite of illness and my proctor told me that I could get my score without reporting to my top schools. Turns out... she was compeltely wrong!!! My top schools (Harvard, MIT, Princeton, UChicago) have all seen my abysmally bad score out of context.

I am otherwise a fine candidate-- my science grades in school, letters of rec and experience are strong-- but I am afraid that I have ruined my chances at my top-choice programs.

My questions are:

1. Do you think it is completely necessary to retake the exam? Although these schools do not require the exam, will they be unable to overlook this flaw?

2. Do you think it is necessary to take the Biochem again just because it's what I signed up for before, or can the general Biology exam suffice?

Any piece of advice would be very, very appreciated!!

If they definitely got the score, I would for sure try to retake it. Maybe even email the AdComs and explain the first awful performance. Did you fill in the schools you wanted to report to at the exam? The only way to not report is to wait to input any schools until after you get your score report.