MellylaMelle

Hey there, question: I signed up to take the GRE a fourth time way back in March when I was feeling blue about being rejected by several of the schools I had applied to for doctoral programs. (I subsequently was accepted into an Ivy and even given a scholarship, but not precisely for the program I wanted so I have deferred that for a year.) I have taken the GRE three times and each time I have ended up with outstanding Verbal scores and shit Quant scores. The last time I took it I had studied two hours a day for about 8 weeks and ended up getting in the top 3% for Verbal but my Quant score moved up only one point (and was still abysmal). So now the weekend of my fourth GRE is upon me. I have done absolutely nothing to study this time, I'm pretty sure I'm just sick to death of the whole thing. I kind of want to blow it off even though that is a waste of money. I have long since paid for it so hey ho. I was purely doing it in the hopes of getting a higher Quant score, but I'm now thinking maybe I just go out there with my high verbal and low quants. I don't want to do anything Math-related anyway. (I already have an MA in TESOL & Applied Linguistics and am hoping to do an Education PhD.) If you were me, would you just suck it up and take the GRE a fourth time? Or would you just say f- it and focus on the programs at this stage? Thanks for the advice!!

I think you know the answer to this. You've said it in your original post. You don't want to go. It seems crazy to me to pay shedloads of money for a program you are not overly excited about. So don't do it. Take the one acceptance as a sign that you CAN get in and try again. If you're really concerned, definitely see if you can defer and do that.

Do you already have a Masters? If not, than that might be the right choice.

Anyone who didn't see an offer of funding with a TC acceptance should get in touch with the Financial Aid contact. I emailed them and discovered I had been offered $16,000 aid towards tuition! That is pretty amazing but I am still leaning towards deferring and trying one more time for doctoral programs.

Hi there - I applied for doctoral programs in Education at a number of universities. I was rejected from ALL of them... with the exception of TC Columbia, who did reject me from their doctoral program but offered me a place on their M. Ed program. Although I am very glad to have been offered SOMETHING, SOMEWHERE, I am really up in arms as to whether or not to go for it. First of all, does anyone know if there is any funding at all available for people doing an M. Ed at Columbia? I already have an MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL from King's College London, and I have zero debt. Although I believe TC could definitely open some doors for me I am not sure I want to go into debt for it. I am also married, and my husband is British, and although I'm in the process of getting him a visa to come to the US (I am American), for us to be in NYC he really needs to be working I think if I am doing this MA. Secondly, now that I know it IS possible for me to get admitted into a top tier school somewhere for something, is it worth it to possibly just try again next year but maybe try for an Ed D instead of a PhD? I feel like I am going to have more opportunities for funding if I get into a doctoral program. Any and all advice is appreciated!

Huh. Well I got offered a place on the M. Ed CIE program at Columbia! I was so sure it was another reject I had to read it a few times before it sunk in! I am very pleased to be offered SOMETHING... but not sure what to do now!! Good luck to the rest of you waiting!

Thanks, you too Kerfin. I do remain hopeful about CIE but I am already considering what to change for my resubmits in 2015 and have already signed up for the GRE again in the hopes of improving my atrocious quant score. At least you have been accepted somewhere!

AND I've been rejected from Berkeley. Absolutely gutted. I am still waiting to hear from TC Columbia and ridiculously I'm holding out some hope there but I am also obviously realistic in that I've been rejected from 5 out of 6 of the programs I applied to. I would really like to do a doctorate in Education and I know what area I want to study... I am NOT giving up but I am going to reevaluate and consider what I can do to make my applications more competitive. Best of luck to the rest of you!

Congrats Yearley!

Anyone still waiting to hear from Berkeley or TC Columbia? I applied to the PhD program in LLC at Berkeley (my first choice) and the CIE program TC Columbia (second choice). I applied to four other schools (UT Austin, Minnesota, BC Vancouver, Stanford) as well but they have all rejected me now. Although I'm realistic regarding the odds after 4 out of 6 rejections, I *was* starting to get my hopes up as by this time last year I'd been rejected by both of these schools so I was thinking hey maybe no news is good news. Coming on to Grad Cafe has not cheered me up either! That said I'm heartened as I'm not seeing any acceptances or rejections for these doctoral programs on Grad Cafe... that may not mean anything though!! This is my second year applying. I was rejected from all of my choices last year but I had a year to regroup, make contact with a few professors and take the GRE a few more times. If I don't get in this year I will not give up I don't think but I will "re-evaluate my life" and reconsider approach and targeted schools... (Although I want to go to Berkeley SO VERY BADLY!!!) Anyway, I have kind of weird background... teaching EFL/ESL/ESOL for over a decade, mediocre undergrad grades from a state school, good grades from a good graduate school in the UK, excellent verbal scores on the GRE but horrific quant GRE results.. been published in a UK academic journal... I figure there's good and bad in my student profile and I'm very much hoping someone looks at the good and lets me in! Best wishes to everyone playing the waiting game!! -Mel