Is GRE Subject Test Advisable?

[jayghandi]

I am keen on applying for a top Biomedical PhD Program in a top University. I hope to apply to UCSF. My general profile is

GRE: Quant 159 / Verbal 164 AWA scores not assessed yet.

I have a BSc in Cell Biology and Genetics and an MSc in Genetics.

I have appreciable research experience but I have no publications.

I can get glowing reference letters

I would like to know if anyone would strongly recommend I do the subject test. I know it would help but is it capable of swinging the decision in my favor or if it will be more or less redundant since I do not have more than 2 years research experience and no publications as well. I get the impression that publications are vital to the admission process and this is one area I fall very short. 

All advice will be deeply apprecaited.

Edited May 26, 2016 by jayghandi

[Bioenchilada]

What's your GPA? Are you an international student? How much research experience OVERALL do you have? 

Also, you don't need publications to get into top school. Most people don't have them. 

[jayghandi]

On 5/27/2016 at 7:02 AM, Bioenchilada said:

What's your GPA? Are you an international student? How much research experience OVERALL do you have? 

Also, you don't need publications to get into top school. Most people don't have them. 

Many thanks for your reply. I appreciate your insight and any further information you may have. 

 

I got an approximate GPA of 2.62 from my Undergraduate degree and a 2.8 if I convert from a 5 point system to a 4 point system. I am an international student from Nigeria. I have appreciable research experience which I got while in doing my Masters two years ago but none since then. I currently work in Marketing and now I wish to go back into research.

I am glad to learn that I do not need publications. Do you think the subject tests are necessary still? Also do you have any tips on the which schools would accept my qualifications?

[Bioenchilada]

A 2.62/2.8 is under the minimum requirements for most Ph.D programs. Do you alreay have a Master's? Is there a way to explain your low GPA? Regardless, I'd recommend you take the subject test whenever you apply but, at this poinf, your GPA is just too low for many programs, especially top schools.

[jayghandi]

Thanks for your insight.

I feared as much but I'm alright with it. Is it possible to deduce from my GRE score that I was capable of doing much better while running my previous degrees. My low GPA was as a result of incessant strike actions by university lecturers in Nigerian public universities and I had a lot of financial issues in school. The strike actions extended my undergraduate education by almost two years. This sounds like a lot of excuses but would you advise I include this in my SOP? 

I do have a masters degree. That is the degree that I got a 2.8 over 4 GPA. I am most likely wrong with the conversion from the 5 point scale to the 4 point scale. I got a 3.5/5 CGPA after my masters.

Are my qualifications too low to get into a funded PhD programme and would a subject test score in the 80th percentile make a significant difference in any application I submit.

Sorry for the barrage of questions. I have a lot my mind and I could really use your guidance. Thanks.

[TakeruK]

For international students, most US schools will not convert an international GPA to a US GPA. It's not fair to simply do this conversion since grades mean different things in different countries. For example, in some countries, a grade of 70% is a very very high mark but in the US, it's not very good at all. So, someone with a 70% average from this first country would not be compared equally to a US student with a 70% average.

So, there is some danger is simply taking your 2.62/5.0 GPA and converting it to 2.8/4.0 GPA and then saying this is a bad GPA because most US PhD programs have a cutoff of 3.0/4.0 GPA.

When evaluating international students, schools will consider how grades are awarded in your country and how you compare to students from your country and your graduating class and what this corresponds to if you were in a US class. So, if a 2.62/5.0 GPA means you are near the top of your class, this will not disqualify you.

Typically, I would say that an international person is competitive for graduate programs if they are in the top 35%-40% of their undergraduate class. By competitive, I don't mean that they will get in, but if they pick a good range of programs to apply to, their chances of acceptance are high enough that it is worth the try.