Chem. Ph.D. - GRE scores for non-native speaker

Graduate School
1

<p>Dear all,</p>

<p>With the prospect of graduating from my European university next summer, I am currently applying to some top US graduate schools for a chemistry Ph.D. and I am a bit worried about my chances after the devastatingly low verbal GRE score I received a couple of days ago. I only scored 460. </p>

<p>I guess, everything else should be fine:
- 800 quant. GRE score
- 900 (97%) chem. GRE score
- Perfect TOEFL score
- Perfect undergraduate GPA
- Multiple research experience, including a publication in a respectable journal, a second publication in an even better journal is anticipated soon but maybe too late for the application…
- Great letters of recommendation, one from a very well-known professor</p>

<p>Since some of you, especially the international students, have experience with this issue, to what extent does the low verbal score hurt my application? Do the schools take into account that I am not a native speaker? Would you retake the test, especially as I scored about 550-600 on the verbal section in all practice exams? I know that you cannot predict my chances and eventually it is my own decision whether or not to retake. What I am most curious about are your experiences regarding the importance of the verbal GRE score for non-native speakers and the resulting application decisions at top grad schools.</p>

<p>Thank you for your attention and your insights,
k1c2k3</p>

2

<p>“Perfect undergraduate GPA”</p>

<p>..What is that, a 4.0? Is that a different scale?</p>

3

<p>You have absolutely nothing to worry about because:</p>

<p>1) You are in a science where the Verbal score is effectively ignored
2) You are not a native English speaker so they will cut you a great deal of slack because
3) You aced the TOEFL
4) The GRE is not that important anyway.</p>

<p>Forget about it. Your LORs and SOP will do more for you at this point than retaking possibly could. </p>

<p>Incidentally, if the 2nd article has been officially accepted for publication (i.e. you have the acceptance letter in your hands), be sure to include it as “forthcoming”.</p>

4

<p>^And if you’re writing it for a specific publication, you can include it as “in preparation.” You can update professors about the status during your interviews.</p>

<p>I am not sure what the average verbal GRE score is for non-native speakers in science PhD programs. Generally, science programs are much more concerned about quantitative scores and subject test scores, and that goes double for non-native speakers. What is the percentile on a 460 verbal?</p>

5

<p>

</p>

<p>It’s a 1.0 on a scale from 1.0 (best possible) to 5.0 (worst) where grades are typically following a normal distribution in that range…</p>