alexis

If it helps, I just got my transcripts from the university I studied abroad at in the UK. They broke down the grading explanation like this: First Class- 70% and above- 16.52% of students graduate with this classification 2:1 (Upper Second)- 60-69%- 59.38% of students graduate with this classification 2:2 (Lower Second)- 50-59%- 20.30% of students " " 3 (Third)- 40-49%- 2.76% of students " " Fail- Below 40%- 1.04% of students " " They also included this note on the transcript explanation: "very few students achieve marks above 73%" It's really hard to get above 70, IMHO. I worked pretty hard in all my classes, where I would normally expect to get an A or A- in my US classes, but only managed to pull a 71 in one of them. In the other classes I got in the mid to high 60s. (Of course, this could also partially due to my adapting to the british system- which was WAY different than american, much more independent study based, which I wasn't used to at the time.) My husband (who is british) got a 2:1 on his degree. He works in the US now, and had a 3.5 equivalent GPA listed on his resume. It's hard to get an exact estimate when the UK classification is so broad. (You can work your butt off and end up with a 69% average, or not work as hard and manage to get a 60% average--but you end up with the same degree classification.)

Age is a protected class against discrimination. Lots of cases circulating the courts because of this. Yes, I know these implicit biases can still exist, but it's your qualifications that should matter.

Impressive to those folks who are getting things in now. I've submitted one app, though it still needs LORs. I'm hoping to submit & mail everything off by Thanksgiving. I have Dec 15 & Jan 15 deadlines. Then, my goal is to completely forget about applications and this whole PhD nonsense until March. Haha like *THAT'S* going to happen.

And if you go for the Dec 15 deadline, you might have better chances of getting in if they doing a rolling app process.

I have really similar scores compared with your second set--600 verbal, 730 quant, 5.0 writing. To be honest I feel pretty comfortable with these scores since I'm about in the top 20% of test takers, though after reading how well some people do on these forums, it makes me feel a little less confident. I'm applying to completely different types of programs & schools, but I feel like the rest of my application is strong and I should at least be competitive. Any cutoffs I've seen are 1100 or 1200-ish, and we're over the 1300 mark, which I think is probably the highest unofficial cutoff I would think a school could have. Even one ivy league school (and top program) I'm looking at has average acceptance of verbal- 616, quant- 780-ish (and that includes accounting/finance phd folks who have to be super good in math). So, I'm below average there, but above average for the second-tier schools. I imagine you're probably in the same boat, though I don't know anything about your field of study. Like everyone seems to say on this forum, GRE scores don't matter *that* much. You don't have low scores that would hurt you or send a red flag. When I told my advisor that I had a combined score of 1330, he was impressed and felt as though that score was plenty good for PhD apps. (Granted, I go to an R2 school for my master's, but still in a good program & I feel he knows what he's talking about.) Perhaps, yes, they aren't super-high scores either, so maybe they won't help at the top-rated programs, but if the rest of your app is strong, that's what is going to matter.

I'm applying to local programs and know I should probably visit sooner rather than later. I guess partially I'm worried that if I'll visit, I'll make a bad impression (which is stupid; I usually do well on first impressions/interviews), and also not really sure if I feel entirely comfortable talking about my research interests--I'm worried I'll sound like an idiot as I'm still learning about my specific area of interest (though I know I love it). Is it a bad thing to wait to see where I got accepted, then visit? I'm applying to 5 programs, but I think I'll be lucky if I get into 3. I'd almost rather stress about visiting (and deciding where I want to go) once I know if they want me/what money they have to offer. I'll feel much more confident talking to them as well. Not sure if this is the best approach though...

I agree with the others that the verbal is very tricky and not something you'll not necessarily master, though you can get better at it through studying, but I think some just have the knack for it. I'm always super impressed by international students who score high on the verbal. English is my first language and something I THOUGHT I was strong at, but those reading comprehension questions do me in. I tend to interpret things a bit differently than others (or in this case, the wrong way), which is baaaad for the GRE. I focused my studying on the word memorization and lots of practice. I should have done more for the quantitative though. It's kind of hard to know what to think about your scores when you score much higher on the quant, but then your percentile is higher on the verbal...it's weird to me how different those scores are.

You could wait to see how you do on your GREs before deciding to submit them. If you're not happy with your scores, nothing is lost. If they're good, then that could strengthen your app. I don't know anything about your specific area of study, but the fact that they say that the GRE is optional and won't automatically hurt your chances makes me think it's not too big of a deal if you don't submit them. It's not like they say it's "strongly recommended." (I'm actually disregarding a couple "strongly recommended/preferred" on some of my apps in regards to taking the GMAT over the GRE. Yeah, that could be stupid; we'll see how that goes.) If you have other strong qualifications, then that is what is going to matter, in my mind, but again, I have no knowledge of your field or the program, those are just my thoughts.

I'm 25 and I'm actually doing this earlier than I expected. I always knew (since college) I might want to get a PhD someday, but the last few years of work and getting my master's really put things in perspective. So for me, I still feel like I'm doing this at quite a young age!

I first wrote my full SoP that I will use for most schools (about 1000 words), put it aside, and later was able to cut it to 500 words for the program that had the word limit. I had to leave out some stuff I wanted to include, but oh well, 500 is not that much. For me it's easier to write a lot and THEN cut it down, but I know everyone works differently.

Another interesting thing about percentiles: They can change over time, which I had no idea of until today. My official score chart from 2007 has me in the 85, 79, 73 percentiles on the 3 sections; I just ordered my GRE scores to be sent to the universities I'm applying to, and my percentiles had changed- in one case quite a bit! They are now 86, 78, and 81 percent. (Same raw score is unchanged: 600, 730, 5.0). The explanation on the report says they updated them on June 2009, I guess so admissions committees can compare old scores with the current data and include me with the people who've taken the test in the past two years. I'm glad I saw that, since I had to self-report some my percentiles on some of my applications, and my data would have been wrong.

I'm not sure if this helps, but I went to University of Virginia for undergrad, and one of my good friends went on to get his M.Ed. there straight from undergrad without any work experience. That was back in '06; I know he was an English major and then in his senior year decided to apply to the M.Ed. program. There are actually some schools in VA (and probably other states) that will let you teach without a master's, if that's the kind of work experience you're referring to- I know a girl who taught in Louisa County, and she only had an English BA from UVA. Some school districts (albeit in more rural or less desirable areas) who need teachers will take on new teachers with just their bachelor's degree. That might be worth looking into if you decide to try the work experience avenue first instead.

Yeah it's true, one of my schools has you scan the transcripts, and they say you don't need to send official ones unless you're admitted (at which time, of course, if the info didn't match up, they would pull your offer). I think this is a pretty cool thing and hopefully more schools will start to do it, as it saves some of the money and hassle of the app process, and cuts down on their paperwork.

When do you need to send decisions to the other schools? If you have time, there is no harm in waiting for this last decision, though I understand your concern about the visa. If you submitted your app on Sep 19, it's still early. It's very possible that the online system won't notify you until the graduate school is notified of your admission; since there is still time until Oct 15, you may not see anything until closer to that date. I went through something similar when I applied to my master's programs for spring admission. Two of my acceptances came through within a month or so; the third, though, took awhile (and was the one I ended up accepting), and I didn't get it until a few weeks after the others. Like you, I started worrying ("does that mean I didn't get in?!"). But it sounds like the paperwork process is still happening, and some programs are just more efficient than others. It's good you're following up with the school on it, but I wouldn't worry too much--you should see the results soon, I imagine. Now, if you don't see something soon after Oct 15th, then I would start worrying more.

Thanks...I will do that then. I'm applying to 5 programs but only 3 schools...do you think for the programs I'm applying to within the same school, I should leave off the other school's program? (I've heard this could hurt you. The programs are within completely different colleges though--business school vs. arts and sciences--so hopefully otherwise, they won't know about each other).

Will the fact that I'm applying to schools in the same area hurt me? I was just going to leave this question blank (most of my apps ask for it, but they don't require an answer), but now I'm worried that might hurt me more based on what you all have said. Yet, if it's clear I'm applying to schools within the same city, maybe they won't take me as seriously? Not sure which is worse.

You have a good point- I should have explained better. I didn't lie to them and tell them the schools' deadlines were in November, I just asked them to please submit them by a certain date. I said something like "I'd like to get all my application materials, including the letters of recommendation, completed by Nov 17th. I hope that's okay, please let me know if it's not." They've known about the letters since at least September so I've given them time. I never mentioned the school's application deadline, just when I wanted things to be complete. I see my LOR providers a lot (they are my current professors) so we're having conversations about it, then I sent them an email with the details, etc. They understand that I'm trying to push ahead. I don't think it's a bad thing to give professors your own deadline that you'd like to get everything submitted by. That way, if they're late, or a recommender falls through, it's not the end of the world.

One program I'm applying to has a requirement for 3, but on the online app, it says "you must submit 4." I'm pretty sure it's wrong and the requirement is still 3; I'm waiting to hear back from the admissions email I contacted, but seriously, I wish programs would make clear their requirements. Imagine submitting 4 and then, as you mentioned, the best one doesn't get read.

I agree. My feeling about it is that if they've opened the online application, I'm going to start sending them stuff. Once I give them my SSN, name, etc, they should be able to match up my mailed-in/other documents (GREs, transcripts). With most of my apps due in mid-December, I like to make sure all mailed materials are on their way as soon as possible; in this case, 2 months out, especially since one set of transcripts is coming from overseas. That being said, I'll probably wait until end of November-ish to submit my final online portion, eg my SoP, just to make sure. (Knowing me I'll be happy with it, submit it, then 2 weeks later think of a mistake.) It all depends on the person, but I would think especially for the parts that are out of our control (such as LORs and the mail), the earlier, the better...less stress that way. I gave my recommenders a deadline in November; I didn't even tell them what the actual application deadline was.

I still have "valedictorian" listed for high school. I know I should take it off someday...but like the above poster said, I think, well, it's just one little word that certainly isn't going to hurt being on my CV...and sadly, it's still one of my greatest accomplishments

I think that's where I screwed up, by not asking about current research interests. But still, if I contact them about their work, you would think they might say "well, I've moved on from that to x, y and z..." I decided to just cut out the program where I got negative/neutral responses. It was an ivy league psych program, I probably never would have gotten in anyway, and if they're snobby about things, then it's probably not a good fit for me anyway. One less app fee and rejection to worry about!

To further complicate things, it seems it depends on the country...I studied for a semester in England, where anything over 70 (out of 100) is considered a 1st, aka, a strong A...60-70 is like a B to A-. I hope the admissions committees are aware of the differences, though I would think they must be as they get international applicants.

I feel a bit opposite of the success stories...while I did get positive responses from two profs who are leaving the school/don't currently have the program running and thus can't work with me (which doesn't really count), the rest have been neutral, and in one case, negative. For the neutral ones, I got the "I will be happy to advise motivated, strong students with overlapping interests..." without any comment on my research interests, and another with "not sure if we're accepting new students due to the budget, etc." I was so discouraged when I got another slightly negative one, which almost accused me of not knowing his research interests, even though I read some of his work, reviewed his website thoroughly, and was interested in another aspect that I thought related to his work, but I guess not (note to self: don't work with professors who've been doing research 40+ years). That really got me down; I know I shouldn't let it, but it's hard not to. Thank goodness the other programs I'm applying to (at business schools) don't make me identify potential advisers, I don't think I could take any more let down! I must not be identifying my research interests coherently enough or understanding the dynamics of research within social psych, which I admit is new to me. I'm thinking this is NOT a good sign for my chances of being admitted.

Wow that is depressing if that's the case...but looking at the ivy league school I'm applying to, though, their average for admitted students' verbal is 616 and writing score is 4.75 (in a business program), so it's hard to believe the cutoff could be above that if it's one of the top b-school programs in the country? Also, I scored a 600 on the verbal, which is 85%, and 730 on the quant, which was 79%...so the verbal and math are very different, and you can actually do "better" on the verbal even if you score higher on the quant...I don't think there is a universal 650 cutoff that would apply to both sections. But, I could be wrong. More often, I've seen schools that say they have a combined cutoff, e.g. a GRE score of at least 1200, unless other parts of the application are particularly strong.

I'm still new to this but I get the impression that it depends on the discipline. I'm applying to both psych and business programs, and with psych programs, you usually have to identify an adviser and start working with him or her your first year, so it's usually highly recommended to contact them in advance. With most business programs, though, you don't specialize until at least your second year, so there is no need to contact the professors before applying.