Undergrad Seeking PhD Admission

Graduate School
1

<p>I’m a current junior at Baldwin Wallace University, which is a private liberal arts school in Ohio. My major is Sustainability, which is a kind of interdisciplinary major that takes tons of different disciplines (biology, history, economics, sociology, etc.) and gives environmental perspectives from each. My minor is Urban Studies, which is also interdisciplinary.</p>

<p>Currently, I have a 3.75 GPA, and I’m starting an internship soon with an organization that is in charge of the nation’s largest Earth Day celebration. I’m President of a campus organic garden, and I’m a member of an environmental awareness club, the LGBT alliance, and I have about four other part time jobs. I already have three letters of recommendation lined up, and I think all of them will be very strong. I’m working on a research project this summer that I hope to get published, focusing on sociological research in development of a sustainable residence hall community.</p>

<p>So, with all this background thrown at you, we get to my question: I’m looking at Ph.D programs in geography, hopefully looking to concentrate on urban and environmental geography. My top three schools right now are University of Washington, Ohio State University, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Do you think that I have a good chance at admission into these programs?</p>

<p>I haven’t taken my GRE yet, but I’ve taken one practice exam. I scored around the low end of average on the quantitative and the high end of average on the verbal, and I plan on studying and taking the real one in a few months. I’m a pretty good writer, so I don’t think that the essays will be too much of a challenge.</p>

<p>The only two undegrad classes I’ve taken in geography were GIS and an intro course, and I got A’s in both. My school doesn’t really offer any geography classes. However, I’ve had a number of other classes that I think would contribute strongly to my aspirations (Urban and Environmental Sociology, Urban and Environmental Politics, Urban and Environmental Economics, a class on national elections, Environmental History, and some others).</p>

<p>I’m just really concerned that I’d be wasting time and money to try to get into these programs. If you have any comments, suggestions, or experiences to share, please do! I would really appreciate it!!!</p>

2

<p>We can probably give you more help once you have an actual GRE score.</p>

3

<p>GREs won’t have anything to do with it. Contrary to popular belief, they are far and away the least important part of a graduate application.</p>

<p>I think your problem is going to be whether or not the geography faculties at those schools see you as having enough undergraduate preparation for doctoral study in geography. Part-time jobs, clubs, etc. have absolutely no bearing on graduate admissions. What matters is your academic preparation for independent research.</p>

<p>Based on what I’m seeing, I think you need to strongly consider going for an MA/MS first, because it appears that most doctoral programs in geography will require far more academic preparation in the field than you can get from two “intro”-level courses.</p>

<p>In fact, at least one of the schools you’re looking at will reject your application right off the bat. [U&lt;/a&gt; of Washington requires that students applying for post-master’s study in geography have either an MA in geography or “equivalent post-baccalaureate work.”](<a href=“http://depts.washington.edu/geog/admissions/]U”>http://depts.washington.edu/geog/admissions/) You will have neither. So if you want to attend UW, you need to apply for the MA program, not the Ph.D.</p>

<p>The same goes for UW-Milwaukee - only “exceptional” candidates are considered for direct admission to their Ph.D in geography program. That’s per their program Web site.</p>

<p>You need to do A LOT more homework about the programs you’re looking at, because right now, applying to those two for doctoral studies would be a complete waste of time, money and energy.</p>

4

<p>Great catch polar I assumed that someone who was going to spend the next 5 years of their life pursing something had done the necessary research on the school they were applying to. I know when I was applying to grad school I did as much independent research as I could and then I asked questions to fill in the blanks. Although I will disagree with you about the lack of importance GRE scores play. I know quite a few people who were rejected from programs because of GRE scores. It’s not as cut and dry as some professional schools like law school but there is a clear correlation between GPA/GRE scores and admittance into many doctoral specialties. Especially when you attend straight after college instead of getting a separate master’s degree first.</p>

5

<p>I guess I should have been more specific. I have researched the programs at these and a number of other schools, and was aware of the fact that U Washington requires a MA for admission into the PhD program. I forgot to mention that I generally plan to first apply for MA/MS programs in geography at all of these schools first. It makes more sense to me, because it would allow me an opportunity to see if graduate research is really what I want to do, as well as give me the chance to establish a relationship with a possible faculty mentor.</p>