Lilac13

Your wait may soon be over. I just saw a recent post for STEP on the results forum. Good luck!!

good night

The stories on this board are incredible! I am compelled to also share my story as it may give some applicants additional hope. Like emg28, I am a first generation college graduate. I majored in psychology. I finished undergrad with a 3.0. I had a few failing grades on my transcript (Ds and Fs). I've never been one to make excuses, but I struggled financially, mentally, and emotionally in college due to some serious family health issues. I attended a school that did not have the best resources to give me the exposure and skills I needed. Realizing this, I sought opportunities elsewhere. I spent two summers as a research intern at two major research universities. During my senior year I decided to apply to PhD programs in clinical and developmental psychology. Everything I heard from people around me was that students with a degree in psychology go on to get PhDs, so i figured it was what I was supposed to do. I took the GRE and didn't do well at all. The only score I can say I was AW. I had one great letter of recommendation from my research mentor and two average letters from professors in my department. I got rejected from nearly every program I applied to because I did not meet "basic cutoffs". Teachers College rejected me from their PhD program, but accepted me to their masters program. I was completely surprised. I ended up declining the offer though because it did not come with funding, I couldn't find housing, and I could not afford to live in NYC. A month after graduating, I made the decision to move nearly 2,000 miles away from home and it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. I landed a job as a research assistant at a major university. The research I have been doing shifted my area of focus and sparked my interest in education policy. I applied to and got accepted to a masters program in public policy. I finished with a 3.9 GPA and made great connections with students and professors. Nearly 5 years after starting as a research assistant, I received several promotions in my current department, lots of great research experience, presentations, and publications. During summer 2012, I decided to apply for PhD programs in Education Policy. I studied my butt off for the GRE and improved my verbal and AW scores, but my already crappy quantitative score actually went down . I was extremely nervous about my chances of being accepted due to my quantitative score and my undergraduate grades, but I took the risk and applied. Long story short, I am proud to say I got accepted to STANFORD out of over 500+ applicants. My POI and the admissions committee had some questions about my undergraduate GPA and quantitative GRE score, but they gave me a chance to explain it. From what I was told, having a great GPA in a masters program showed a remarkable upward trajectory. Having 4+ years of solid research experience and three glowing letters of recommendation also really worked in my favor. I also did everything I could to try to make myself stand out from the other applicants (a great personal statement and meeting with my POI to discuss research interests). I am still waiting for responses from the other three schools I applied to, but I think getting admitted to my very competitive top choice is remarkable! I say all of this to say, there are certainly ways you can compensate for having a "low" GPA. Best of luck!

hop scotch

string cheese

cookie monster

new girl

Victoria's Secret

I plan to wrap things up at my current job, check items off of the bucket list I created for my current city, travel to see friends and family in different parts of the US, pack, and move to my new place of residence to start school!

Yay!!! Congratulations!

I posted in this thread earlier in the application season about being a second time applicant. Like some of the other posters, I too am seeing a much better outcome. I got accepted to my top choice. Out of over 500 applicants, they only picked 31 people. It is a great feeling to be amongst the accepted. This is definitely added proof that you can certainly improve your application if you're not admitted the first time around. Good luck to all of you!

Welcome Lbessmer! Are you talking about funding to attend visitation days? If so, from what I understand, it is more common for PhD programs to provide funding support for admitted students to attend visitation days. It also seems that the level of funding support varies from school to school. If you are talking about funding to support you in the program, that I am not sure of and can only speak from one specific experience. The funding support I am receiving from the program I was admitted to is guaranteed for four years regardless of my decision to attend the visit day.

red bottoms

I saw some talk about this in the HGSE Fall 2012 thread. Perhaps you may find some of the responses helpful think the conversation started in late January and spanned through April. You could also do a search within that thread for keywords like "worth", "debt", etc.

low tide

running around

paint brush

world peace

I agree, knowing is certainly better than not knowing. Sounds like you have some other great offers lined up, so congrats to you! I think Masters decisions come out later in February (according to the results search), although decisions may be made a little earlier this year considering the PhD decisions came out a little earlier. Mine was listed as incomplete as well and I was told they were experiencing extreme backlog in connecting my official GRE scores to my application despite having received them, but it did not stop them from processing my application and giving me an admissions decision.

CONGRATS ON YOUR FIRST ACCEPTANCE!!!! Great way to kick off the weekend!

Thanks for the congratulatory messages gang! I have my fingers crossed for all of you! Happy news will come soon!