swisnieski

I uploaded a PDF copy of my senior thesis (which was accepted for publication but has not yet appeared in print). I figured it would demonstrate my familiarity with publication style and graduate-level statistical analysis and therefore couldn't hurt. But no, it's definitely not required.

I don't see why it should even be considered a problem. They're Christians, not lepers.

Probably because schools do not expect a certain GPA or GRE. There's a fellow who got into the doctoral program in psychology at Stanford (the #1 psych program in the country) with a 2.8 GPA. Grad school admissions is a holistic process, and they don't want to discourage potentially good candidates who have one weakness (like a low GPA) by posting stats.

It's simple: (1) List a professor. (2) Immediately e-mail that professor.

My academic advisor bet me a six-pack of Bud that I'd be accepted to 4 of the 5 schools to which I applied. I'll bet 1-2 acceptances, 1-2 wait lists, and 2 rejections.

I'm applying to IUB as well. Mine went just a little over (514 words) but I don't think they'd boot my application because of an extra sentence or two. Cutting it was hard or doable -- I basically cut out details and just gave broad overviews. My application, LORs, and writing sample (I included a link to my senior thesis, which is available online, in my SOP) will give the details.

There will, of course, always be exceptions to the rule. Ordinarily I would've thought non-native English speakers would be at an advantage compared to English speakers, in part because of the debased and ineffective use of language we're taught in our own schools and in part because non-native speakers have honed the ability to effectively acquire a foreign language, with all its rules and oddities. But I hear a lot about non-native English speakers doing poorly as well, so hmm. Agreed, but then admissions committees also request information about prior research experience, so this is not a major concern. They're not limited to looking at only one or two bits of evidence. As I've said, if nothing else, the GREs provide a useful assessment of how well one can study for and take high-stress exams, which is (usually) crucial to graduate school. If an applicant is the kind of person who gorks out when placed in a stressful environment, that's something admissions committees ought to know.

Sure. They provide useful information to graduate admissions committees, which are looking at investing a huge sum of money in producing future academic leaders. They ought to make sure their candidates for admission are as well qualified as possible. The GREs may have the effect of deterring people from pursuing grad school (for instance, by discouraging them from finishing the application process if they do poorly) but that is hardly the same as having the purpose of deterring them. Well, to the extent your verbal ability consists of your vocabulary, there's not a lot you can do to study for it. I learned maybe 110-120 words during studying for the GREs, of which maybe one or two appeared on the final test. If it were possible to learn the amount of vocabulary tested on the GREs, the mean verbal score would not be as low as it is. If you don't have a good vocabulary to start with, studying for it won't help you much. And remember, the ability to prepare for and take stressful exams is rather intrinsic to success in graduate school! To be sure, the GREs do not measure SOLELY one's academic potential. Test anxiety, preparation, and mental/physical health at the time of test taking can also influence scores. This means that high score's are a good sign of one's academic potential but low scores may or may not be. But that still makes high scores desirable, no?

I found it very helpful (the math moreso than the verbal). I wound up improving my quant score by about 150 points from my first practice test to my final actual test. That said there were some things the book did not cover. I basically had to dredge up the formula for slope and intercepts of lines given a pair of coordinates from very cobwebbed-memories of my finite math class two years before.

You and me both. But one of the broader impact criteria is "How well does the proposed activity broaden the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)?" I'm hoping my current work with minorities can be taken as a proximate indicator that I'll continue working with minorities in the future. It's not much, as you say, but considering I attend a small, mostly white liberal arts school out in farmville probably two hours from the nearest big city, it's all I can offer as far as the minorities requirement is concerned. The question of why the federal government legitimizes such racial bean-counting in the distribution of taxpayer dollars is a whole other question entirely, and better discussed in a different forum.

Several of the grad schools to which I'm applying ask me to briefly discuss my future career objectives in my personal statement. To be honest, most of my objectives are pretty mundane (I want to research and teach at the college level -- whoop-a-de-doo!). But I'd first like to serve a term in the Army and, if I like it well enough, possibly make a career out of it. I don't particularly want to spend my entire life in academia; it seems so onanistic just to get a degree so I can go on to teach other people how to get a degree. I'd like to give at least something back to the world beyond some interesting, if not entirely useful, research. But that said, I'm given to understand many schools frown on military service. Yale, for instance, has not allowed an ROTC program on campus since Vietnam. I'm concerned that mentioning this in my personal statement will look poorly for me in admissions committees' eyes but, at the same time, not mentioning it would be dishonest. What's a patriotic man to do?

Almost certainly. Did you submit one of those letters explaining your circumstances and asking for an exemption?

Shucks, thanks. I'm hoping the fact that it's interesting will be a boost for me. But like you, I'm very glad it's out of my hands now. It was on their web site I believe. It varies by field but I recall the average GPA being around 3.8. That said, the average GRE was in the high 1200s to mid 1300s I believe, and they probably put a bit more weight on GREs than they do GPA. Remember that broader impacts applies not only to you but to your research as well!

I took a powerprep test two days and one day before the real thing. I scored 30 points higher on the Verbal than I did on either practice test (710 both times, actual score was 740). I scored markedly higher on the quant. than I did on either of the practice tests. I scored 720; on the two practice tests I had gotten a 620 and 670 on the first and second tests, respectively. Curiously, the 720 was higher than I had ever gotten on any practice test for the GRE ever; the best I had ever done with the PRinceton Review tests was 700, and that was a test I had taken multiple times already! Something about being in the testin environment actually improved my performance; I was able to recall the formula for calculating the slope and intercept of a line even though I hadn't studied it for 2+ years.

You've got a decent GPA, great GRE's (especially on the subject test and quant/AW section), and lots of research experience, so I think you're in good shape! In light of all this I don't see how your LORs could be anything but good. But at any rate, it's commonly said that you only really need one spectacular LOR and the rest pretty good. I'm sure you'll get plenty of offers.

Yeah, the broader impacts are my big concern. I touched on as many as I could; I pointed out that I have done research with minorities in the past (am currently planning some research with two fellow undergrads, one an Arab woman and the other a black man) and that some of the students in the class I TA for are minorities, ESL students, first-gen students, or nontrads, and that I will continue working with minorities well into grad school and beyond. I also wrote about how my research interests (human asexuality) would benefit our understanding of disorders like HSDD and help with crafting sex ed materials and epidemiological strategies for combatting the propagation of STDs. But still, I have no idea how they, personally, evaluate these essays so I'm going to continue worrying indefinitely!

Sent in my application for social psychology on November 1 (due Nov. 5). My LORs haven't come in yet although they are in the works and will be ready, hopefully, within the next week or two. I think I've got a strong application but I'm pretty worried over all. My GPA's a little below average for them (3.71) although my GREs are pretty solid (1460) and I've got mountains of research experience, including a publication in the works.

I don't think it matters much. I'm ending mine with a simple statement that I would be deeply honored to study at that school, and then I thank them for their consideration. You don't need a really strong conclusion I don't think. If you haven't wowed them early on, they probably won't read that far anyway.

It's easy to say your math scores won't matter, but they may just. A score of 250 is two standard deviations below the mean quant score for 2008-2009, which is a statistically significant deficiency. If nothing else, it is going to make it look as if you are too lazy to study (a bad thing) or otherwise uneducable (an even worse thing), even if they have no use for people strong in math. Your verbal score is marginally above average, but not by much. It's not the greatest for someone applying to Harvard. A combined score in the low 800s is not a good indicator for you. Although I've always said you should never freak out too much about deficiencies in just one area of your application, especially if it's an otherwise strong application, these scores still amount to a pretty glaring hole. I strongly recommend you retake the GREs and do whatever you have to in order to bring your scores up. And, of course, don't send the score reports anywhere you don't have to!

I'm not saying this with anything approaching certainty, but while I'm sure you can still get into a PhD program, you will probably be expected to do a full four years -- not merely go straight from masters to PhD. You'll likely have to spend your first year (maybe more) making up academic deficiencies.

Yes, I've contacted faculty at all the schools. Since I'm interested in attachment theory generally as well as sexual behavior, I've been contacting professors researching close relationships -- Margaret Clark at Yale, Vivian Zayas at Cornell, and Tammy English at WUSTL. All three have told me they are accepting new grad students. I also contacted Julia Heiman at IUB, who researches sexual behavior (but no response from her). Still looking for someone at Maryland; probably won't have much luck there.

Yes, I believe that's fine. Most professors realize that graduate schools look for specific things in their applicants and that letters should therefore address those things. I am currently applying for a research fellowship from the NSF which asks recommenders to address some very specific things, including a description of past research, academic and research potential, and an evaluation of the applicants' plan for future research. I gave all my letter-writers hard copies (and also sent them e-mails) of the NSF standards, plus a bulleted list of my academic accomplishments and research/teaching experience. They were all very grateful -- I had, after all, made their job easier!

Well, your GREs seem good enough for your grad school interests (your verbal score is 90th+ percentile, which is good), but I think you can boost your application some more by weaving your relative youth into your SOP. I have never in my life heard of anyone that wasn't a genius getting a BA at age 18.

You're 18 and applying to grad school????

While no graduate schools I'm applying to are asking me about diversity explicitly, one of the research fellowships I'm applying for does; specifically it asks how my receipt of the fellowship would broaden opportunities for underrepresented minorities to participate in research and education generally. I'm using my experience as a peer tutor in my school's Academic Support Center as an example, since many of the people I tutor are non-traditional students (including single mothers) or minorities. It's often enough as well just to say that you will strive to bring minorities and others on board with the work you'll be doing at the graduate level. I've also stretched the diversity notion a little bit but pointing out that I am part of an under-addressed class of people who traditionally struggle in school because of a lack of family support -- I am a first-generation student. Hopefully this will give you some idea of ways you can incorporate diversity into your SOP!