Graduate school admissions 101

Graduate School
381

<p>I have a master’s degree in psychology and have applied to six Ph D. programs. Undergrad gpa was 3.65 and master’s gpa was 3.95. I took the GRE a few months ago and scored about 70th percentile across the board. I have been out of school since 2005 and trying to return. I have worked the past 5 years in a field that is unrelated to my degree. </p>

<p>My main issue is that I contacted professors for letters of recommendation in October when I got my GRE completed and knew I would be applying. I kept solid contact with them from October, through November. We set deadlines throughout and the final deadline was December 19th to have all letters uploaded or sent in case some issues took place they could be handled prior to the “real” deadlines. </p>

<p>All of my professors complied except one. I was thinking of replacing him, but he sent me an email on Dec 19, explaining he was sorry and it would be done by the end of the week and all letters would be sent priority mail. Well, it never happened and I’m afraid it is too late to bother another professor this late in the game. My first school’s deadline is Jan 1, followed by 3 other schools on Jan 5. </p>

<p>My main question here, and thank you for reading this far, is should I pay the $50 to apply to the school whose deadline is Jan 1 and assume they will still process my application if the letter is late? Is it just natural for these letters to be late and the deadlines only apply to me or am I responsible for the letters even though they are out of my control? </p>

<p>All I can really do is ask politely and expect some professional courtesy. I would like to ask the schools their policy exactly, but I believe professors are out for holiday and I have not been able to reach anyone via phone. I’m worried a bit, but my only control in this situation is to ask again, which I did yesterday with no response today. I can just hang it up and not apply and be out the GRE fees and fees to send the test scores. Also some transcript fees. Or I can just apply and hope for the best and add application fees on top of the rest and make it a total mess :)</p>

382

<p>I copied this from a UCLA post I sent in to a student who was wroried that their 3.77 GPA was too low. </p>

<p>I don’t think you need to worry at all about a 3.77 GPA- it is still exceptional. These average GPAs of admitted students are listed at college websites usually under ‘Common Data’ or ‘Facts’. Marks must be above a cut-off but often for top tier schools it is 3.6 not 4.0. </p>

<p>The average GPA of admitted students for PhDs at Stanford this year was 3.7. Among my friends and I who are seniors waiting to hear from grad school admissions, so far we have seen acceptances come from MIT, UCSB, Princeton, Yale, U Washington, Cornell, and Princeton. Cal Tech does not admit directly but invites their top applcants to their Visitor’s Day and we are seeing these invitatons come too.</p>

<p>In general to be accepted to these top tier schools, we have
-GPAs that are 3.60-4.0.
-Profs that know us (and generously write our letters of reference)
-Near perfect standardized test scores. (800 in Math is easy, Physics 760 seems doable, too, but 800 seems near-impossible)
-Extensive research usually in the specific area we have applied to do research in
-A clean and well thought out Personal Statement (Use friends, an advisor or college career centre to proof read for you- everyone needs a second set of eyes)
-Maturity - this comes across in many ways such as having a clear understanding of the field you are applying to, study abroad work, internships, a sense of what you want to do in your life
We have all TAed a lot
-We have all taken graduate level courses, often more than half a dozen- we think these probably show that we can pass your comprehensive exams, push ourselves and enjoy academic rigour
-Leadership roles in groups- perhaps this shows maturity, too. Schools say co-currics don’t matter on grad application, but perhaps because there are so many top-notch applications, this tips the scale.
-Conference presentations, publications
-RESEARCH< RESEARCH< RESEARCH
-Conddier applying early in your senior year. Some schools accept applicants in November even if their deadline for applications isn’t until Dec or Jan. </p>

<p>All of us are passionate about what we do just like you sound to be (Don’t say "I am passionate about ‘X, Y’ in a Personal Statement, but do demonstrate it. Do a lot of work for your Personal Statemet so you are proud of it and believe it shines. ) </p>

<p>In school, just take each year as it comes, all the things just naturally fall into place when you love what you are doing. Then prepare to be mega-stressed for application time because sometimes decisions seem very random- my friend got into MIT but not UCSD.</p>

<p>Good luck everyone. You sound dedicated, focussed and brilliant which is what grad schools appear to want.</p>

383

<p>I don’t know much about grad school and don’t feel like searching high and low for answers, so I’m hoping someone can answer me directly. </p>

<p>Does my undergrad major have to correlate with my prospective graduate major?
Do they typically admit more people whose undergrad major relates to the major they’re applying for in grad school?
How difficult is the GRE?</p>

<p>I’m about to transfer as a junior to a UC (not sure which one yet) from a California community college; does anyone have any additional advice they wished someone had given them in pertinence to getting into a great grad school?</p>

384

<p>Someone here said that ECs shouldn’t be undertaken unless they are related to the area you are applying to. Is that the case? So does that mean I shouldn’t be wasting my time playing sports or busy running my club but rather working on other stuff that’s relevant to my area of interest? Also I want to know if you should say that you have won 1st place lets say in a Creative Writing competition if you are applying to physics grad school, right?</p>

385

<p>Are you only playing sports and doing clubs because you want to look good on an application? Because that’s the wrong reason to do anything.</p>

<p>Yes, the general rule is that, for research-based graduate programs, any activity that is not directly related to the program’s field is irrelevant.</p>

<p>Graduate programs involve a deep, highly-focused course of study in a specific field. Professors looking at graduate applications do not care how “well-rounded” you are, and if you’re applying for a physics degree, they will pay no attention to a creative writing competition.</p>

386

<p>Well I am not ONLY doing official 'EC’s to look well-rounded but I have to say if I want to play volleyball, I could just play it with my friends, There’s a reason I am on an official team and it does take up quite a lot of my time. In that sense if I am getting nothing out of playing on an official team professionally( and this even applies for being the Spanish club VP), then I might as well just play on my own time and do other stuff such as research that may be of professional value and research related to my area of interest that is.</p>

<p>My final question is that if you have won a creative writing competition say, do you still put it on your CV though?</p>

387

<p>Writing abilities are pretty useful in a graduate program, as most people I know find writing papers to be the most frustrating part of their day to day work.</p>

<p>As for playing on an official team, do it if it’s really something you enjoy. I’m a grad student now and coach an intramural team over the summer. We’re terrible, didn’t win one game last year, and it’s not going to do anything for my career, but it’s a great way for me to destress at the end of a day and lets me meet new people.</p>

388

<p>Do you mean technical or creative writing abilities being useful in graduate programs?
Yes I enjoy it very much but not to the point that I would spend time on it at the expense of other more professionally useful activities.Because what I thought ws, I would be combining something I like with something on a professional level with and put it on my CV to show leadership experience(the club) but its probably not eaxtly what they are looking for. They need relevant activities to go on the CV right, for engineering grad school that is!</p>

389

<p>Any writing skill is better than no writing skills (which, sadly, is what a lot of people fall into).</p>

390

<p>I graduated with a bachelor’s of science in criminal justice, and I want to get a master’s in chemistry. Would I have to take undergraduate post-baccalaureate courses in order to increase my chances getting into grad school? My ultimate goal is to become a toxicologist, but didn’t figure that out until after I graduated two years ago. I took a couple of biology classes, microbiology, and psychology during my first two years of college. I figure chemistry would make sense to be in toxicology.</p>

391

<p>If I’m not interested in teaching at the university-level and would like to work in a lab in industry or a hospital, is getting a PhD advisable? Ive been searching high and low for some answers and there seems to be a good fear of being over qualified of things like being a post doc unnecessarily.</p>

392

<p>For career advancement, a PhD is always preferable. STEM PhDs have the extra benefit of being able to snag managerial lab roles in industry.</p>

393

<p>Is it true that race is considered a greater factor in graduate school admissions than in undergraduate?</p>

394

<p>It’s considered a complete non-factor in graduate admissions.</p>

395

<p>Oh ok thanks</p>

396

<p>I am probably going to graduate with a 3.9 GPA and a GRE that is about the 90th+ percentile.For reasons that are out of my control,i would only have a single summer’s worth of research.Is my desire to get into a competitive CS phd doomed?</p>

397

<p>no …</p>

398

<p>Villager:</p>

<p>Your GPA and GRE are not going to be enough. While those are great scores for undergrad admissions, as stated previously, grades and numbers are not the only factor in grad school admissions. In fact, in may even be completely ignored all-together depending on the particular department and/or “mood” of the committee selected to review your application. One member might only look at GRE. Another, only your GPA. The others, neither, or both. Some will place heavy emphasis on one, they other, or both. Others will not care one bit. The main item they are most concerned with is your ability as a potential researcher; which your GPA and GRE say nothing of. </p>

<p>You also have no idea what they are looking for…and because of the idyosyncharses in grad school admissions, there is no way of really knowing this. One year they might want students with a prior Masters degree, other years they might want someone straight from undergrad. It is really a crapshoot and your best bet is to get in contact with faculty members at your selected schools and ask them directly. Actually, you want to get in touch with at least one faculty member at each school anyways to develop a sort of acquaintance with. It will really help your application to have someone on the inside go to bat for you when you apply. Word of advice, though: be pleasant and professional and take their advice to a T. If you come across as being pushy, needy, or ignorant; they also have the power to toss your entire application in the trash if they find you annoying. </p>

<p>For only a Summer’s worth of research…it really depends. It depends on the quality and depth of that experience and the specific role you played in it. It depends on the “whims” of the admissions committee. It also depends on the strength of your letters of recommendation. Good letters of recommendation will almost always trump GPA and GRE, and a strong letter can “make up” for lack of research experience (in particular if it is from a known researcher in the particular field).</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

399

<p>Hey guys!</p>

<p>Im new here. I had a couple of questions regarding grad school admissions. When I started college, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. Combined with other factors this predicament led to me messing up badly for the first two years of college. However, my 3rd and 4th year I’ve had a strong upwards trend, starting from 3.4-3.8ish. (Basically, had to reteach myself to study and all that) </p>

<p>I also retook some classes, did well in them and that boosted the GPA too. What I am wondering is will the admissions committee scrutinize my transcript and recognize all of this? I am a bit “embarrassed” of what the 1st two years look like. Will they even look at the transcript, etc? I am a science major if that helps. </p>

<p>Also, was retaking classes even a good idea? </p>

<p>My lowest term gpa has been a 2.1, but obviously i did sort of sort things out. And I can’t say that all the messing up didnt help me. It defines who I am and it’s taught me so much, but no one wants to here anyones whining–we all have circumstances, etc. </p>

<p>So do you guys think I have a chance at grad school, I do have research experience, etc. No publications yet. </p>

<p>I just can’t help but get mad at myself for screwing up when it mattered : D All through high school I had the perfect grades and then I was sorta lost in college. Anyways, I am hopeful : D A bad start can’t hold me back! It helped me define what I really wanted to pursue.</p>

<p>Any help would be appreciated.</p>

400

<p>More than likely I will attend Beloit college (a lesser known school, no?) and I plan to study anthropology. I really want to shoot for top grad schools - do I have a shot? I worry because I didn’t get in to UChicago or even UMich for undergrad…(deferred for both, eventually rejected from Chicago and waitlisted at Mich)</p>