grover3000

Congrats Nikki!  I was just accepted into UCLA as well...very excited!  Going to visit in early March.  Still waiting on Texas, Washington, and UBC but not a bad start.

Get perfect or near perfect on your GRE. There's really nothing you can do to offset it, it will be a glaring black mark, but if the rest of your app is stellar, you can still get in.

Also, be sure to write very, very well... without spelling errors like calibur...

I am applying to Northwestern, CAL (both PhD's- No GRE required), Syracuse, NYU, Columbia and UCLA in Social Sciences.
My GRE scores were 152 Verbal/141 math 3.5/4.0 Essay
My undergraduate GPA is a 3.4 (3.3 in my major )
I have pretty good letters or recommendations and I have research experience

Everyone is encouraging me to apply yet I'm felling pretty defeated

I read your post on the lit&comp board as well--their advice to you was good. The truth is, there just isn't any way to know. If you had extremely bad GRE scores that might get you cut out of the applicant pool before serious consideration or interests that are antithetical to the programs you applied to, we could tell you your chances aren't great--though still not impossible. For people like you, really qualified applicants, there just isn't any way to know.

We're all stressed and hoping that our chances are good, so welcome to the club! You might also want to check out the "Before you ask, 'What are my chances?'" Forum, here:

My GRE was 169 Verbal. I don't think the math score counts for anything. But it was a 157.

somebody please...

I applied for (removed at poster's request) this cycle. These are my stats:
Currently enrolled in an M.A ________ (no grades yet, too early, the program is 1 year)
Undergrad at _______ with a 3.6 GPA (3.77 in my major, English Lit and Fiction Writing)
Studied 4 foreign languages (only 3 of which are going to be a part of my project)
No publications in my field, but I did work for two years between undergrad and grad, writing for an SF bay newspaper and working as an editorial assistant at a magazine and a book publisher (I don't think this experience is at all relevant, but it is on my CV)
My letters are from 3 full professors, one of whom is pretty famous, (the others are solidly respected in their field, but they work on premodern literature and I plan to do mostly 20th C with a dash of 16th C). 2 from Stanford and 1 from Columbia. They all know me pretty well, particularly the _______ prof. I think they will be very good letters.
My statement of purpose is pretty strong, I think. It's about a creative topic that is growing in popularity, at the intersection of (removed at poster's request).

I applied to 7 extremely competitive programs (no safeties): 4 Ivies and _______ , _______ , and _______ . I've corresponded with professors at _______ , _______ (where one of the profs in the department I'm applying to is recommending me), _______ , _______ and _______ (of course, I'm here, they all know me at least in passing). My profs at _______ are extremely encouraging, but they say they can't guarantee anything, since every year is a crapshoot. I have 3 of 7 on the _______ adcom who are very enthusiastic about having me stay. The other 4 don't know me as well, so I have no idea what they will vote. I'm just worried that my writing sample is weak. I had to produce it in a hurry, it probably could have been better, I think there was a typo. And it's basically the most important part of the whole app :/

tl;dr: I'm super stressed because I just submitted my applications and now I have nothing to do but wait, can someone please make soothing humming noises in my ear? Thank you.

I would do a cost/benefit analysis here: what is $133 in the grand scheme of things? If you are starving or have a family to provide for, that's one thing. But if you have money that is rightfully owed, you need to pay it. Trust me, as someone who has wished for collections to go away, they don't. Start a Kickstarter if you have to, just get it paid.

PS: I have an average age for applicants, 23.

Hi everyone!

I am new here and I have recently submitted my application for doctoral programs at several universities in the United States. As I am (naturally) very eager to get accepted to the programs I applied for (Ph.D. in Economics at the Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Ph.D. in Economics at Princeton University, Ph.D. in Economics at MIT Massachusetts, DBA in Strategy at Harvard Business School), I want to ask if it was possible to get some sort of assessment of my chances from people here who have experience with the processes. Especially, for there may be one part of my application that may diminish my chances. Your help or assessment would be really helpful to me.

I graduated from my high school as the best student in my class and went on to pursue a Bachelor of Science at Vienna University of Economics. I was regularly ranked among the Top 1 % of all students, have received several financial (and non-financial) scholarships for my dedication and have been elected into an honors program that selects the best 50-75 students from the university. In that context, I have also written a thesis that is forthcoming and will be integrated in a framework that will be authored by international scholars. While I do not precisely know who the scholars will be, they may very well be ones from Harvard Business School, as the institute I write the thesis at is highly connected to HBS.

I have already studied at Harvard University (all courses passed with A's), as well as I have studied at Bentley University (GPA 3.70).

I have developed two banking ideas for two of the biggest banks in Europe (UniCredit S.p.A. and Erste Group). Both banking ideas have experienced great success, with one being the leading banking product in Austria (and has become a household name) at the moment and it is about to be introduced in 6 other European countries. I am about to publish a 100-page banking innovation strategy package whose products, concepts and banking design architectures may encounter similar (or hopefully even more) success.

I have been devoted a great amount of my time to collecting money for people with disabilities and for people in need. The foundation I volunteered for and I have been glad to have collected over 300.000 Euros for the people who need the funds.

My letters of recommendation are from one well-known Harvard University graduate, from one Harvard University professor, as well as one from the director of a renowned institute in Austria at Vienna University of Economics and Business that focuses on entrepreneurship, innovation and strategy in the field of economics and collaborates with Harvard Business School, MIT Massachusetts and several more Ivy's.

So, here´s the big thing:

My GRE test score. While it is not completely devastating, it is not extraordinary, either. I scored in the about 60th percentile ranks on Q/V and 73rd percentile in analytical writing. My TOEFL score is ok (110/120). Unfortunately, I did not have sufficient time to take the test again, which I gladly would like to.

While I know that an important part is also the letter of intent, is there a chance to evaluate if I stand a chance at all to get accepted to these programs?

Thank you very much!

Regards,

Jonathan

Where are y'all applying to?. I just finished my UT-Austin app and I'm also going to apply to UCLA, Washington, and UBC. I'm interested in social justice aspects of public librarianship. Cheers!