fromchaos

If you haven't emailed them at all before that is all the more reason to do it now. At some schools POIs get a small pool of applicants (say 3-4) from their adcom to choose from. If they have never heard of you they might not consider you, even though the adcom thinks you are suitable. This is especially true if they have spoken extensively with other applicants. I wouldnt constantly be bugging them but one email introducing yourself won't hurt. Also if a POI does get upset over the sending of one polite short email, do you really want to work with them?

Great advice!

columbia09 So I think the issue with GREs are two fold. At a school with a large applicant pool they can be used to easily widdle down the applicant pool. So if the target GRE is say 320 and up they might put a cutoff at 315(but the ones 315-319 would have to make up for this difference in other respects) those under the cutoff might not even get seen at a large applicant school (unless their POI has tons of funding but even then there are limits to what can be done).GPA is less useful for culling the herd because a 3.1 at say Harvard might be acceptable but a 3.2 from East Bum*$% may not (you get the point). Also what I ve heard from faculty at a school on your list (whose adcom has not met yet) is that GRE doesnt really matter that much to them(smallish-midsize department) as long as you meet sort of a minimum threshold. Basically meeting a certain threshold indicates aptitude to do certain graduate work, but after that they care only about LOR, GPA, Research etc. Obviously some people excel despite a poor GRE, maybe for whatever reason they were nervous, dont test well etc but now with a very low GRE the onus is on the applicant to show beyond a doubt they can achieve despite what the numbers say. This convincing is easier to do at a school with few applicants but still a reasonable amount of funding. These schools do exist but you have to check your pride and apply to them because not everyone is going to get into Stanford or UC or UT. I would say you probably have a shot at Nebraska and Umass both of which are good schools but also realize the funding is likely not great at both schools (Nebraska maybe a bit better). Even there your GREs may disqualify you. Is it unreasonable to try applying to some unranked grad schools M.S. programs that might have funding and a more lax view on GREs? Some of them have pretty late application dates. If you can do very well at one of these schools you might enhance your marketability to a Umass or UNebraska when you apply to a PhD program. If you want a shot at UT or Stanford you will have to get your GREs up a lot. Is that fair? Probably not but its the truth.

My two cents here. If you havent heard yet it is probably more likely than not you were waitlisted or rejected/(app wasnt really looked at). However there are a significant amount of schools who have not met yet. Also being waitlisted is not the end of the world. If you are waitlisted at enough schools I would imagine there is a decent chance one might work out. My school (which some of you have applied to) has not met yet so there is that. If you are accepted someone will contact you. I am sure one email to let your POI know that you are still very interested (in case you are waitlisted and a spot frees up he or she has you on their mind) couldn't hurt but largely this is out of your hands at this point. It seems to me that there are a huge amount of applicants all applying to the same schools which isn't a recipe for a high acceptance rate. Even if you have a great GPA, GRE, and LOR it isnt a given you will get into any of these elite schools. You could be rejected for a number of reasons which may be largely out of your hands. Some will get in with two out of three being great and one being decent (GPA, GRE, LOR) but this is exceedingly rare and probably means you were a great fit (and also quite lucky). If one of the three is extreemly weak there is no realistic chance of getting into a top school (there are just too many other great applicants). There are plenty of 2nd and 3rd tiered schools some with solid funding who might forgive a less than stellar GRE, or relatively low GPA. Just something to think about. I hope everyone gets what they want but realistically even people who deserve what they want have a reasonable chance of getting shot down.

Deepwater, Columbia09.. From reading the posts and looking at the results it sounds as though you did not make the first cut but you havent been outright rejected. If and when spots open up your files will probably be looked at and considered, until then you probably won't hear anything. If you were straight up unadmissible you probably would have heard by now. I don't have any first hand knowledge but that seems logical from what I have heard. Columbia I know first hand one of the state schools you are applying to has not even met yet (would rather not say where I go to school) so hopefully that makes you feel a bit better.

I meant to say "apparently" not "supposedly", freudian slip I suppose.

Yes geographyrocks, supposedly there isnt funding for me. Either way I have good offers from a couple of other schools so I think I am moving on from UNM.

Undergrad Institution: Large State School solid reputation Major(s): Geology Minor(s): GPA in Major: 3.4 Overall GPA: 3.6 Position in Class: ? Type of Student: non traditional GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 158 V: 168 W:5.0 TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this) Research Experience: nothing too significant Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...) Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...) Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Applying to Where: UNewMexico(waitlist), UFlorida(accepted), UMontana(accepted), UWyoming(visit)