What to do with poor GRE subject test score?

[Ecoi]

Well, I decided to take the math GRE subject test. The score I received was actually quite a shock to me: 560 scaled score and 27% below (eww). I was getting 70-80% of the questions right on the two practice tests, and afterwards I felt like I knew around 60-70% of the questions. I must have really screwed up somehow! I will note that halfway through the test, I noticed I had 4 answers marked in their incorrect places, so I had to correct that. Will I be given my answers and what the correct answers were to check if something like this happened? If so, is there any way to have them fix this if I think it is likely that something like this happened?

All that aside, let's assume that I really performed that poorly (that is possible). I am a math and physics major (double degree) and I have a 4.0 GPA. I have done 2 REUs and am actually having one of my REU papers being published in a regular journal. My regular gre is okay... (about average verbal and writing, near perfect quantitative) I feel like everything in my application is strong except for this darn subject test gre score... My question is, what sort of grad program(s) could I get into with this score, and should I even bother adding it to my application? I am *very* disappointed in it and I do not feel like it accurately indicates my mathematical knowledge.

There were some nice grad programs I was thinking about applying to, so should I not bother applying to these programs? A lot of the programs I was wanting to apply to either require the score or *strongly* suggest it. If everything else on my application is very strong, do I still have a shot? Should I omit these scores from my application on applications that do not require them? I'm really not sure what to do because I wasn't expecting to get this sort of score really! Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[R.Mesri]

It is understandable that you are disappointed in your GRE Math Subject Test score, and it can be difficult to know if and where to apply. The best thing to do in this situation is to contact the graduate programs you are interested in and explain your situation. It may be the case that they will allow you to submit your application without the Math GRE score, or they may consider your other qualifications when reviewing your application. The important thing is to reach out and make sure that the admissions department knows that your other qualifications are strong and that your Math GRE score does not accurately reflect your mathematical knowledge.