[saidinstouch]

Hi all, this is my first post on these forums and after trying to search for some information, I figured it might be easier to make a post asking my question directly.    I'm not sure if this is the right forum, but it seemed like a reasonable place to put the topic, so if it needs to be moved/re-posted let me know and I will gladly do that.

My question is this: I found out yesterday I will probably have to take the Chemistry GRE test in November as I apply to graduate schools.  Being a bioinformatics major, my program has kept me away from chemistry classes during the last two years.  I am applying to computational chemistry programs (the few that I can find anyway) and most of the departments I am interested in require the test.  I was hoping that anyone here with some experience with the test could tell me a little bit about it.  I purchased a review book, but it has been a while since I learned most of the subjects and I haven't taken a pchem class at all, so I am a little worried about how detailed the questions will be and was hoping to get some insight into the test so I can focus my studying appropriately.  Any and all help would be greatly appreciated seeing as I have about 5-6 weeks to prepare and believe I need to be able to break the 700-800 range.

The basic gist of the post is: Can anyone give me some insight into the Chemistry GRE test as I am worried about its difficulty and how it might affect my getting into grad school programs.

Quick edit: Also if you have any information about the standards for the UCSF Chemical Biology Graduate program admission process, especially the GRE score the typical accepted student has, that would be great also.

Thanks for any help you can possibly give!

[Yggdrasil]

You may be able to substitute another GRE test for the Chemistry one (perhaps the Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology subject test).  You should try e-mailing the admissions office to check.  Interdisciplinary programs generally give some leeway in this regard because of the diversity of students who wish to apply.

The ETS website will have information on the Chemistry Subject Test, including a breakdown of the subject areas of the test (I think something like 40% of the exam is organic chemistry).  The importance of the GRE exam varies by program.  For example, I know a physical chemist who is now at Berkeley despite leaving all of the o-chem questions blank on the subject test.

I also know that UCSF has a bioinformatics program (part of an integrated program in quantitative biology) that may be of interest to you.  I'm pretty sure many faculty would overlap between chemical biology and the iPQB program.  If you are interested in more of the biological side of computational chemistry, you may also want to take a look at biophysics programs as many include faculty who do computational work.

[saidinstouch]

Thanks for the information Yggdrasil.  I do have the option of taking other GRE tests, but I figured that the chemistry one is the most applicable(especially since I have to consider multiple graduate programs and they might not all be as lenient as each other) and I should know the information, its just studying it all so quickly is the problem. 

I actually talked to Jim Wells yesterday at a speech at UCSC at the grand opening of the new chemical screening center .  He recommended those two programs at UCSF and said that the computational faculty have access to both departments, so I really just have to choose one of the two to apply to.  Unfortunately, they both require a subject test so no matter what I do, I have to take the Chemistry GRE. 

I originally considered bioinformatics because I love computers as well as biology and chemistry, but I ultimately decided that small molecule pharma was more interesting than proteins to me throughout my college experience so I'm trying to go for programs that are very strong in this field, and they all seem to require the subject exam.  However, I will definitely take your suggestion of contacting the department because the broad nature of a bioinformatics undergraduate degree didn't really prepare me 100% for any of the eligible GRE subject tests.  If I am lucky I might only have to get around the 675 average, but from a personal standpoint I want to do better.

I looked at the ETS site for some information and have a review book from Princeton Review, but I was also hoping for some information from people with experience on the test just to get some first hand perspective.

Thank you again for the response though because as of now I'm just trying to figure out how to deal with this massive obstacle that just suddenly appeared yesterday because I have been barely able to find graduate programs that fit my interests let alone check the admissions requirements to those programs.  Any and all information is greatly appreciated.