boomerang

Congrats, @painkillers! I was also admitted to CMU HCII PhD program. The interdisciplinary nature of HCII is a big selling point for me given that HCI and UX is a very interdisciplinary field. I actually did an REU there this past summer and loved the experience: the people, the campus, and the Pittsburgh area. The program is definitely well-respected in both academia/industry and is competitive as such. I'm looking forward to the Open House to talk with faculty and current students.

Here's another update on my admissions process... I was just accepted into Carnegie Mellon and University of Michigan in addition to the earlier acceptance to University of Minnesota. Still waiting to hear back from Cornell (which should be an admit) and University of Washington!

Now that I am starting to hear back from the programs I applied to, I figured I would give you all an update on where I stand. As far as I can tell, my awful GRE scores have not seemed to be an issue whatsoever; goes to show how much weight they carry, right? I applied to 6 programs. I got one really early rejection and got quite disappointed expecting the other schools to have similar results. About a month later, though, I've interviewed with 3 programs, 2 of which went extremely well and the other I could have done better on, but still not bad. I just got admitted to one of the programs I interviewed with this past week and found out I was even nominated for some sort of fellowship (still waiting on the "official admissions letter" to give all the details). I still haven't heard anything from two programs. That said, my horrendous GRE scores didn't seem to have too much of an impact on me! Hope everything works out for everyone else in a similar situation.

I was wondering this as well, but I ended up deciding to use my CV especially as it allowed for more room to include all the accomplishments/experiences that will distinguish me from other applicants. I would still try to keep it on the short side as admission committees aren't going to want to read through long CVs. Other thoughts?

I would go with A. It is far more likely they will be able to discuss your strengths in more detail than B. What are you other letter writers like? If you have already have letters coming from people that can write strongly to your research abilities, then option B might be a wise choice. Other choice A is the way to go.

Thanks, ilovelab. Yeah, I've been focusing a good chunk of my time on my SOPs... Will do grad_wannabe!

Thanks for the replies, ZebraFinch and sindyburnburn. I am applying to a few "safety" schools where I think I have a pretty decent shot at getting in regardless of my GRE scores in addition to the top programs in HCI. We'll see...

Hey there, So, I recently took the GRE and did absolutely awful. I prepped/studied for about a week and half at about 3 hours a day yet my scores turned out awful and worse than the score range Magoosh had estimated during practice tests. Both my verbal and quantitative scores are below the 50th percentile and did "average" on the analytical writing. I am simply not a good standardized test taker regardless of the preparation I do; I was in a similar situation with my SAT scores when applying for undergrad. However, my SAT scores were in no way indicative of my success as an undergraduate and I am confident this is the case for the GRE as well. The entirety of the rest of my application is very strong: my cumulative GPA (3.73) and major GPA (3.84) are sufficiently high, I have done 3 internships at reputable companies throughout my undergrad during summers and the academic years, and I've been doing research on an NSF funded project since its inception (for nearly 3 years), resulting in co-authoring 2 published papers in top conferences in my field, a 3rd co-authored paper under review at another top conference, and an honors thesis that is currently underway. I also did a summer REU at Carnegie Mellon this past summer. My letters of recommendation are expected to be very strong. I am applying to several top universities (e.g., Carnegie Mellon, University of Washington, University of Michigan) in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) for a PhD program in addition to a couple of other lesser ranked schools. With deadlines quickly approaching, I am left with no time to retake the GREs. On many of the program admissions websites, it is explicitly stated that there is no minimum GRE score and that applications are reviewed as a complete package. That said, do you think I have a shot at getting into a top graduate school for HCI given my abysmal GRE scores? Appreciate any feedback and/or advice. Thanks!