<p>Does anyone still read these?</p>
<p>I hope this can inspire a bit, because all the selection process has taught me is that stats mean absolutely nothing if you can show the admissions committee that you truly want to be there.</p>
<p>Critical Numbers
BS at top 50-60 undergraduate university in Communication (May 2009)
Overall GPA: 3.182 (huge upward trend, last three semesters were 3.47, 3.78, 3.55)
Major GPA: 3.481
GRE: 480 V, 580 Q, 6 A (only took it once, scheduled it a week before I took it, no studying)
No subject GREs</p>
<p>Research:
None</p>
<p>Leadership Positions/Distinctions/Involvement:</p>
<p>President of Communication Majors Society (300 people) my junior-senior year
Vice president of CMS my sophomore year
Vice president of Slavic Club
Captain of a varsity sports team (2 letters; freshman and senior year); member of All-Conference Honor Roll
Member of Lambda Pi Eta
Member of Asian Association/Indian Association (I’m ethnically Finnish, so I think this may’ve helped for the intercultural program)</p>
<p>Experience
Interned as a reporter for a top newspaper; still freelance occasionally and had 50 articles published last summer</p>
<p>Schools Applied To</p>
<p>Pepperdine University (top and only choice, as far as I was concerned); Intercultural Communication MA
The Ohio State University; Strategic Communication MA
Indiana University - Bloomington; Journalism MA
Ole Miss; Journalism MA (because of family financial problems and being unable to take out a loan if the other plans fell through)</p>
<p>Accepted?
Everywhere.</p>
<p>So now how do we explain it? I have no research credentials, my test scores are awful (especially compared to all of yours), and my GPA wasn’t even above a 3.0 until my junior year. I have no answers. For what it’s worth, I truly didn’t think I was going to get in anywhere.
I’m wondering, especially for the journalism programs (both are exceptional programs) if it’s because of the work experience I have and the perfect analytic writing score. Not much else explains it. The communication programs. . .I think I just interviewed really well.</p>
<p>I’ll be attending Pepperdine, so I can work with the professor I want to. Once I was accepted, I knew that was where I wanted to be. The money miraculously worked itself out - accepted an assistantship that’ll cover everything but housing.</p>
<p>Keep your heads up, kiddos!</p>