grad_wannabe

those are perfectly lovely scores. put them out of your mind and focus on the rest of your application.

Hey, just checking in -- how is everyone doing? I just submitted my Oxford app this morning. Two down, four to go.

I've asked for (and received) two rounds of rec letters for grad school. I got 5 letters the first round, 4 letters this round. Only 1 person showed me the letter. It's the norm not to see it.

I just took the GRE for the second time. Weeks of extra studying, with a goal of raising my quant score two points. Two little points! My score actually got LOWER. BOOOOO GRE.

In my experience, this is correct. My scores only showed up in ETS after the AWA grading was done, which was exactly 7 days after the test date.

By way of offering a bit of a consoling reason as to why he might have been chosen for this type of thing: My graduate institution did a similar thing on me. I was the subject for a "student profile" news story for the campus newspaper, which later led to a "student spotlight" cover story and video interview splashed across the center of the front page of the university's website. I don't think I was in any way the most accomplished, most interesting, or even the most well-spoken of my cohort. The reason I got the spotlight? I'd recently done some run-of-the-mill support work for the administrative office of my department. (Like, I drafted some paperwork for them or something, really humdrum.) When a journalist from the campus paper called the admin office and asked if they could recommend anyone in the department for a student profile, I was top-of-mind, just because I'd been hanging around the office for a few days. Then it was easy for the news office to keep passing my name up the line when they needed a subject for the video interview. These things don't always happen to those who deserve them. Could be he was just in the right place at the right time.

I'm going to go ahead and quote the post. Cause I'm feeling obstinate today. Anyhow, you have the correct software. They changed the GRE scoring system a couple years ago. The scores it projected for you are very, very good. (It's out of 170 now, each section.) HKS's site says they accept both the GMAT and the GRE, so I cannot advise as to which score would be more impressive. I personally used Magoosh prep, which SEEMED very helpful but did not help me improve my score between my two test attempts.

Ah, this is where it gets tricky. The one recommender of mine for whom I've done quantitative work is a quant-oriented guy. He doesn't think the GRE is BS. When I told him my first GRE-Q score, he frowned and said "You need to try and bring that up." I'm loathe to tell him I did so poorly that I'll need him to explain that away in the letter.

As far as the GRE goes, you'll be fine. Scores usually take about 10 days. There might be delays with the holidays, but admissions offices are understanding about all the documentation coming in a few days late.

All I can offer is condolence, as I'm in the same boat. Almost identical scores, applying to very competitive social-science-type programs. I'm taking it for a second time tomorrow, but that's my last shot, as most of my deadlines are early December.

Hi GVH, thanks for the note - this is an interesting idea. Part of me is reticent to tell my letter writers, "Listen, I did poorly on this test, can you swear to them that I'm good with the numbers?" but if it would make a difference, I might go this route. Thanks!

Hi all, Question is pretty much in the title. I took the GRE and did abysmally on the quant. 151. Most of my target programs (communication studies) list an "average incoming student score" of 155. I'm retaking tomorrow, but I don't foresee doing materially better. However, last spring I took a Statistics and Methods for Economics and Quantitative Fields course for graduate credit, and received a grade of A-. I obviously can handle working with stats and data interpretation. Should I spend space in my SoP to say something like "my GRE score is not indicative of my aptitude for quantitative analysis, as demonstrated by my performance in a Quantitative Methods course" ? Or is that a waste of space and a counter intuitive draw of attention to my GRE-Q score ? For what it's worth, I plan to stick with qualitative research methods during the PhD (and say so in my SoP). Thanks all!

there's a thread somewhere on the forums called "low gpa acceptance thread." they might have some advice.

I personally would do more then just list them -- describe your working process in writing these papers. What was the research like? What did you learn? How did you confront obstacles or unexpected variable?

I'm in precisely the same boat as you. Great verbal, great AWA, dismal quant. I went and spoke with someone in the admissions office. She told me that departmental faculty read every single application, and there is no graduate division culling. Call your schools!

I would re-post this in the visual art board if you haven't already.

Same boat. My entire package is pretty stellar (3.95 GPA in my MS at MIT, three years of research at Harvard, multiple publications) but my quant score is dismal. Worried that one little number will sink my entire application.

Congrats, Pedanticist! I'd go ahead and send your new scores to USC anyhow. How were you studying?

I love this topic! I'm 30 and have a master's under my belt, throwing my hat in the ring for the PhD. I don't feel at all like it's too late. If anything, I'm grateful that I didn't try to go for the PhD right after undergrad. I'm a completely different person now than I was when I was 22. It's taken me this long to find my passion. I'm REALLY thankful I didn't throw my life into what I THOUGHT I wanted to do at a young age.

I would suggest asking this again over on the comm board. We're all commiserating about GREs over there. The lab experience will help you a lot, as will your stellar grades and your master's degree and ability to conduct research and produce a dissertation. No one will care about your clubs, coaching, or sports activities. I suggest you spend zero space on those in your application. Where are you applying? I suggest that what you should focus on now is FIT. Use the SOP to convince the ad comms that you're a PERFECT match for their program/faculty research. Don't just highlight - persuade.

Those are decent GRE scores but a concerning GPA. You should reach out specifically to the schools in which you're interested and talk to someone in admissions. They're people! They'll help!

There's no possible way we can advise you on this. You need to delineate what kind of research you want to do. Are you talking about electrical engineering? You might want to repost this question on that specific board.

Thanks, Meglet!

Hello cafe-goers, I have some questions about Oxford: 1) Do UK schools follow the same acceptance time-table (i.e. ultimate deadline of April 15th) as US schools? 2) Can anyone give me some guidance as to how to choose a college at Oxford? I've been told to choose either St John's or Christ Church, but neither of those are options in my online app. Is Trinity College a good bet? (I was also told "the older the better when it comes to colleges.") 3) I know that funding for US students is rare at UK schools, but can anyone tell me what the time-table for funding notifications looks like? My contact at Oxford told me that an acceptance is extended "several weeks" before any funding decisions are made. 4) How is the hiring of US students in the European higher education system? I had a friend who got her doctorate at King's College and she said they hustled her out of the country pretty quick after graduation. 5) The Oxford online app asks about my "rank" (I forget what term they use exactly) at graduation, either Pass, Pass with Merit, or Pass with Distinction -- but I got my master's at a school that does not award honors at graduation. If I received a high GPA (3.95) do I simply assign myself "pass with distinction"? Thank you!

Not state schools, but USC is fully funded, as is Stanford.