I’m a senior at Smith College and without the GRE, I have pretty great stats. 3.98 GPA, tons of research experience on top of a 1-year independent honors thesis (submitted for publication), great clinical experience, good story, and volunteer work.
The GRE is now optional at my top three PhD schools. It is expensive, and requires time to prepare. Is it worth it to take it, given my other stats are so high? Additionally, if I do take it and don’t do well, can the schools find out I took it even if I don’t submit my scores?