Low GRE but strong applicant?

[bdeck]

I have a low gre score for quant 152 and 157 on comp, analytical is 4.5. I have obtained a 3.61 gpa in neuroscience and I have submitted two papers for publishing (haven't been accepted yet) and I have presented at 6 different international conferences. I Work at the University of Pennsylvania with a clinical population in neuropsych (the field I plan to work in) but I am worried that my gre scores will hold me back from getting into a good phd program in psychology. I have good letters of recommendation from prolific well respected authors of their fields. I have worked so hard to make my application as strong as possible so that lower gre scores aren't a problem. I'm still concerned about my scores though. Any thoughts would be helpful!

 

Schools I am applying to:

 

UCONN

BU

Drexel

Fordham

Kent State

Penn State

Washington U in St. Louis

University of Illinois at Chicago

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

University of Toronto

and McGill

[celaena23]

Wait does University of Toronto look for GRE? GRE isn't mandatory for Canada is it? 

Also, since you have other strong points, your GRE scores shouldn't be a huge concern.

[bdeck]

8 hours ago, celaena23 said:

Wait does University of Toronto look for GRE? GRE isn't mandatory for Canada is it? 

Also, since you have other strong points, your GRE scores shouldn't be a huge concern.

University of Toronto I believe requires the GRE. http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/psych/maphd-degree-counselling-and-clinical-psychology-field-clinical-psychology

For clinical psych that is^^^^^^^

[Bioenchilada]

With such a great profile, why aren't you applying to more competitive psych programs? Also, why are you not applying to UPenn? It's likely that your best shot would be to go to the school you already work for, especially since the caliber of their Psychology program seems to be amazing.

[bdeck]

On 9/22/2016 at 6:31 PM, Bioenchilada said:

With such a great profile, why aren't you applying to more competitive psych programs? Also, why are you not applying to UPenn? It's likely that your best shot would be to go to the school you already work for, especially since the caliber of their Psychology program seems to be amazing.

I appreciate you thinking my profile fairs well. It's nice to hear, considering that I am highly critical of myself. I am not applying to top ranked programs for a number of reasons. 1). I was originally applying to Yale but the professor I want to work with retired :(. 2) most ivy league universities do not have neuropsychology staff ( from the faculty I have talked to at Penn they believe it is because the research doesn't bring in enough money and that their method to making money is highly experimental while neuropsych is observational in many facets.  I would love to go to Penn and stay in Philly both of which I love and have made a home of. Also the CAMB program that you were accepted into is fantastic. I have friends in that program and they love it. Also if your'e interested in neurodegeneration Penn is the place to be with the likes of Trojanowski and Lee! Though it looks like you're into cancer bio which Penn has the Wistar institute which is nothing to snuff at!

 

 

[daisy_may]

Can you retake the GREs again? Some schools have some sort of cutoffs that they require before they even look at the bulk of your application. For example my program recommends at least a 310... which is exactly what I got thankfully. I took the GRE 2x, and as much as that wasn't very fun it may be a good idea to do so if you want to get into those programs. I was a pretty competitive applicant and Fordham and Drexel didn't even consider me--which may have been because of my lower GRE scores. Just something to think about! 

Edited October 3, 2016 by daisy_may