Is a 162 Verbal, 167 Math GRE Score Good Enough for Biology Grad School?

[Delong]

I got 162 on verbal 167 on math and 4 on the analytical writing (49% for the writing). Is this good enough for graduate school? Is it worth it to try again? I would like to go into a biology related graduate school.

 

[phriot]

I just finished my first year of a molecular biology graduate program. My estimated scores on the same scale as the new test (I took the GRE just before they changed the test over the summer in 2011.) are similar to yours for verbal and math, with a higher analytical writing score, for which I got a 5 (92% below). I applied to 9 or 10 programs and received interviews at all but two (MIT and Yale), with two acceptances and two wait list spots (and declined the rest).

My opinion would be that yes, your GRE scores are good enough for graduate school, provided you have a good academic record and strong undergraduate research experiences. I can't say whether or not your scores are good enough for top-ranked programs, because I obviously didn't get into those myself for some reason. Out of the programs I was either accepted and wait listed, I was able to find one that I liked and am still happy with after my first year.

I hope this helps, Good Luck!

 

[JesseC]

Yes they're good enough.

 

[Delong]

thank you all this helps a lot. I am most worried about my writing score. The results say that a four out of six translates to a 49% (yikes). I felt like I did better than that but apparently I suck at writing... It's not in the 1-3 range which is good but still isn't very good. I'm debating whether I want to try it again, I don't really want to. I'll focus on trying to get good grades and research experience instead.

 

[Delong]

I just finished my first year of a molecular biology graduate program. My estimated scores on the same scale as the new test (I took the GRE just before they changed the test over the summer in 2011.) are similar to yours for verbal and math, with a higher analytical writing score, for which I got a 5 (92% below). I applied to 9 or 10 programs and received interviews at all but two (MIT and Yale), with two acceptances and two wait list spots (and declined the rest).

My opinion would be that yes, your GRE scores are good enough for graduate school, provided you have a good academic record and strong undergraduate research experiences. I can't say whether or not your scores are good enough for top-ranked programs, because I obviously didn't get into those myself for some reason. Out of the programs I was either accepted and wait listed, I was able to find one that I liked and am still happy with after my first year.

I hope this helps, Good Luck!

If you couldn't get into top institutions with your scores I probably won't either. I guess that's not too much of a problem to me as long as I get into an institution this at least somewhat reputable. Thanks again for the words.

 

[phriot]

If you couldn't get into top institutions with your scores I probably won't either.

I would still make sure to apply to a couple of highly ranked programs if you find them to have interesting research. I personally don't think it was my GRE scores that held me back from those programs, but you never know.

 

[Geezer]

From what I understand, your verbal and writing scores only matters if you're an international student (I guess it serves as further verification that you can read and write English well enough). The general Math score should be high, but still isn't nearly as important as your Physics GRE score.