plo

I say forget about grad school and go enjoy a Spring in DC.

yep, got my rejection as well. Can't say it was a surprise.

anybody heard anything from Yale?

I haven't heard as of yet either (totally expecting a rejection), but I find it amazing how a school like Duke can get this all done a month or so earlier than schools like Yale.

As someone new to this forum: what site are you talking about? PSJR?

Wow -- I had no idea that the Canadian schools were so expensive. Must be the whole universal health care thing. Can anyone top Toronto's $110?

The recent discussion of GRE prep and the cost of taking the courses/buying books/etc. to bump up your score, I've wondered whether anyone paid an application fee in excess of a hundred bucks. Anyone? I think I paid two $90 fees and, to be honest, hope they put my money to good use to fund whoever they accepted.

I agree -- whatever 'intelligence' the GRE measures I'm more than happy to have in only above average amounts. The only thing I can imagine departments really respecting from those who have astronomically high scores is the sort of endurance and perseverance when asked to do absurd tasks that could, possibly, at times, under certain conditions, on alternative Mondays and Wednesdays, translate into the grit you need to get through languages/comps/a dissertation.

Double the verbal and math? How about just get rid of the exam all together? Seriously, I would think that once one top program dropped the GRE requirement then the rest of them would follow suit. I mean, has anyone on this board ever had a faculty member explain to them WHY the test matters, rather than the simple fact that it helps dismiss a number of applicants? Either get rid of it or, as I suggested, publish the scores of one faculty member every fall.

You know, I've wondered whether or not the writing section of the GRE actually matters more than the simple score (1400+ etc.). Has anyone ever been told that they need to get a certain score on the writing bit? That seems to me to be the most suggestive of a student's overall ability on this wretched test...

As much as this advice is right on, I'd simply say that my intuition is that GRE scores matter most when it comes to university funding sources. For better or worse (and I think for Far Far worse!) the GRE is considered something of an objective criteria wherein a department chair can take a student's information to a dean and say, 'look, this guy/gal scored in the 99th percentile in his Algebra II for adults exam!' So, it seems to me that when a faculty member tells a prospective student that they need to do well on the GRE they are in no way saying that if one does well on the GRE they would be delighted to advise them, but, if not, they wouldn't. They are simply saying that if you are an otherwise attractive candidate for admission, high GRE scores might bump you into the 'accept' category due to the fact that it may be easier to make a case for funding on your behalf. On this, I've often thought that any department/div. school that has anything close to a 700 cut off (officially or not) should promise to have one or two senior faculty members take the exam every year and then publish their results on their webpages. Wouldn't those results be fascinating?

Well, I just got word via email of a rejection, so, if you've not heard yet, I imagine you will soon. I'd applied on the Ethics/Politics side.

They've put 10 people on the waitlist and it is not ranked in any particular way. Funding options are exactly the same for those who get in off of the waitlist as those 8 who were initially admitted. Last year, they say, 3 people were admitted off of the waitlist. Hope this helps...

New to this forum but thought I would let you guys know that decisions came out from UVa and you can expect letters or emails shortly...