Wanting to go to grad school

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My mental health derailed my dream of going to grad school (I already have a bachelor's in zoology/ethics). I was in between seasons of research assistant jobs when my mental health turned bad, but I'm getting tired of me and my husband living on SSI! So I started studying for the GRE, not even knowing how to fund the test! Anyway I figure if I can get a good score, grad schools would scoop me up despite my disabilities.

I already have a study book, but any really great tips for the GRE for people with AS, or in general?

How reflective are practice tests including the computerized ones of the real test? I took a verbal test out of a book and only missed 5 (i need to work on the math more) but is this a realistic representation of what I would really get?

Be really careful of practice tests, the GRE changes questions so they are only estimates of what you are going to be doing on the day. I recommend doing the test more than once and getting started on revision as soon as possible. I studied for three months and managed to get reasonably good results in everything except quant. I know of nothing particularly targeted at people with AS but there are universities that will give you a bit of support with a disability.

As a comparison of revision to exam, I found the verbal section to be the closest to what I found on the actual exam. Expect to miss very few questions, its the ones that you do that really determines your ranking. If you have english as a first language and a reasonable education you have a leg up in the exam and a comparison of scores to percentiles reflects that. The quant revision I worked on did not really prepare me for the GRE and as a result, my score was lower in that area. Hence my recommendation that you take the test more than once. Due to a very packed schedule at the time, I only had the chance to take the test once and even then had to do it in Kuala Lumpur while in transit to somewhere else. If I could change anything it would be to really make sure I had the time to have a second shot after another period of revision between tests. I suspect my scores would have improved if I did that.

As for how the GRE relates to acceptance into a school, it really depends on the school. My school was very well ranked and as a result used the test as a barrier to filter candidates, rather than as a simple determinant of entrance or not. Certainly a a higher score helps but pretty much a score over the 90th percentile in your key area will be enough to get you over the barrier. Once I was seen to satisfy that criteria they then looked at other factors that then determined my offer.

The other key barrier was undergraduate GPA, if your scores are not above a certain threshold, then top schools will often throw your application in the bin. Do not be discouraged though, my transcript is from a pretty rubbish school, has 5 fails on it from an unfinished degree and an B+/A- average on the one I finished (the year I was diagnosed was VERY tough for me). The average, although not really all that good, was enough to get me over the barrier and then my extracurricular stuff got me the offer.

The grad school application form is VERY important to get right. You really need to answer each of the selection criteria properly. A well written application can be a decisive component of your expression of suitability. I have very smart people come undone by being careless.

I did my undergrad in Australia but I took the GRE for the US and scored

163 Verbal - 91st Percentile
159 Quant - 75th Percentile
5.0 Analytical - 93rd Percentile - Don't forget to practice for this section

Accepted to Columbia/Cornell/NYU/JHU/GWU/UVA... Rejected by Duke (still don't understand that one), Princeton and Harvard
Ended up at Columbia for grad school

Great post, a lot of useful information. I am applying to grad school for fall 2016 at City University of New York. I got my bachelors at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

CUNY requires a minimum GPA and minimum combined GRE score. My GPA is way over the minimum. I've debated taking the GRE twice. What is the analytical section of the GRE? What would you recommend for study materials? I am looking at the ETS official GRE guide and Kaplan GRE strategies, practice, and review guide.

For grad school app, you usually need GRE general test, GRE subject test, undergrad transcript, 3 recommendation letters, statement of purpose, and CV or lists of work experierence/awards/publications/things that go on CV.

The best preparation for the quant section I found was the Nova test prep book. I base this on an increase in computerized practice test performance, not performance on the actual GRE. Note, however, that this is coming from someone who was already good at and well practiced with math (physics major), so if your math skills are below that, you might want to consider starting with something else.

If you are good at verbal, skip the amateur test prep and go for the Kaplan advanced verbal workout test prep book.