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I thought I'd touch on your post because I attended Cincinnati for undergrad and MS as well as being accepted to Florida State and Sam Houston. GREs can hurt you, if too low, but if the rest of your app package is decent then GREs are almost moot (again, if *good enough). Most schools use them as a cut-off tool or for scholarship decisions. Your letters, experience, statement and GPA are more important in the long term. TL;DR: get as high of a score as you can, but not at the expense of other application materials. If you have a non-existent statement of purpose, your GRE will be irrelevant.

I would estimate a safe score, assuming an equally acceptable GPA as well as good/great LoRs would be around 155 for both verbal and quant with a minimum if a 4 on the AWA. I studied for a couple of months; I am horrible at standardized tests. I would suggest truly studying for a couple of months and taking many practice exams. Try a real GRE when you feel your scores are sufficient but I would caution you to leave enough time for a retake or two if need be. I do not believe there is an option to view your score without officially submitting it. With that being said, unless you know you've done horrible I would not cancel the scores, I would submit them but be sure to show an increase during any subsequent testing. I believe schools *can access any of your scores, but most only accept the most recent/your best (within their given time frame). I hope this helps and good luck! P.S. You'll be fine! The real stress begins when you start applying and interviewing.

You may want to make sure that certain schools have a strong area of study which you are interested in. This will undoubtedly cut this list into a third of the size, or less. I would recommend researching that as it is not only easier on your wallet (it's expensive to apply), you want to get accepted to a school where you feel comfortable and they support your research ideas. With this being said, you missed Florida International which has a Ph.D. focusing on international crime if that sparks your interest (it's a very new program if I recall). Best of luck.

I had much lower score than you (151v and 146q with a 4.5 AWA) and I was offered admission to several schools, including Florida State. You have plenty of time to retake your GRE (I did not). I would retake it if you plan on studying and obtaining higher scores. With that being said, I was told by every school I got into, as well as those I did not, that my GRE was not the reason for their respective decisions. Experience, GPA, and references have a higher weight. Some schools may use the GRE as a "cut-off" but that wasn't a factor for my applications. I was rejected by schools because they did not have an advisor open that was related to my field of study (Biosocial). You have plenty of time before application season so I would advocate trying to get the highest score possible. With that being said, please do not focus solely on the GRE. It is one facet of your app and will not make or break your future by its lonesome.

I would strongly oppose living in the gaslight district. I lived there for most of my undergrad and part of my grad and unless you are drinking all the time or don't mind loud and crazy people until the wee hours of the morning, avoid it like the plague. Apartments off campus, namely Hyde Park (close to school and great area), would be a much better option. Of course this is my $.02. I've been in Cincy for 29 years but as always, your mileage may vary.

No problem at all. You'll do great!

The length of a phd at cincy is dependent on you. It can be done in 4 with a masters, and I know someone that took 7 years to get it without one. If you have an MA I would not suggest retaking classes as you'll learn everything again your first year.

It has been rather quiet.

The field of Criminology/Criminal Justice is pretty vast, you are correct. That being said, the easiest way to find a research topic is to ask yourself what you really care about. What would you enjoy learning more about in our field? You mentioned you're a corrections officer. Would you be interested in researching recidivism? Responsivity? Whether a new program for the incarcerated would be appropriate? These are just a few examples, but if you follow what you are interested in it makes this decision much much easier. Best of luck. PS I'm interested in pretty much everything as well, but there are a couple of topics and sub topics that spark my interest even more. Find those and you'll be set!

I honestly wouldn't worry too much about it. You're obviously a caring person, seeing as you wouldn't feel right visiting a school if you had no intention on accepting an offer. Schools appreciate the honesty, and while they may lose out on a great student, I'm sure they understand it's a two way street. It's definitely their loss, but at the end of the day you have to do what you feel is right.

I would definitely contact them if it has been a month. All PhD programs must adhere to the April 15 deadline (students must give intent by then unless given permission to extend the time). Since that's only a little over a month away I would think the students that were going to decline would have done so; though a few schools may still be ironing out financial details and they may be waiting to hear back from all schools before committing. Keep your head up!

So have the vast majority of us heard back from our schools/made the decision?

Congrats! That's awesome news and now you can (hopefully) relax a little!

You got this! Interview day? More like acceptance day!

I want to thank each and every single one of you for sending good vibes/thoughts for my interview (and, let's not kid, the airplane ride!). I can say now that I will accept Sam Houston's offer (full funding for four years) and will decline the others. Hopefully those of you waiting will hear good news soon. Networking is key, and closer to when classes begin I would like to get everyone's thoughts about giving our personal email/number so we can keep in touch and hopefully work together down the road. Thanks again!

Congrats to everyone who has/will made their decision. I'm flying to Texas today (6:20 am to be exact) for a grad preview weekend. I'm beyond nervous, but am confident that they wouldn't put much money into a prospective student unless they pretty much had their mind made up. I'll let everyone know the outcome. Congrats to everyone again, and please wish me luck!

I've heard from Sam Houston. They've invited 10 students down for the grad preview for this coming Thursday-Saturday. (Which I am extremely nervous about...but that's a different story).

I'll have to respectfully disagree. I would (and am) choosing a less prestigious school over a better known school. Both with full funding. One school has a much smaller cohort. I'm starting to have the mindset that it's your advisor(s) that matter much more than an arbitrary school ranking. If an advisor is well known in the field and helps students get published, great. To me that's better than having an advisor who only publishes with students, or never publishes with students. I think at our level (PhD) it's more of a "what we do" rather than where we go. More than a few well known experts in my field came from no name schools. Just my $.02

Just out of curiosity, do you guys think there's a difference between an interview and when the school says it's a grad preview? I've never done an "interview" but I am flying down to a school, all expenses paid, for three days. Needless to say I'm nervous...

Personally I would wait a little longer if you've contacted them regarding your position on the list already. I don't believe there are literal numbers (for us anyway) as to the position on a wait list; especially for UMD. That being said, if you haven't heard back by the end of the week I don't think it would hurt to send another correspondence. You may be able to find an arbitrary ranking (high on the list, low, medium, etc) but I don't think they would tell you how many are in front of (or behind) you. Keep your head high and best of luck!

I agree. Congrats on the fellowship! I have been in contact with FSU and there is no funding for me (at all) throughout the first year. Needless to say I gave them a formal rejection. I have a couple of schools that are offering me fellowships but now the stress of planning a move is creeping up!

Well definitely show a major interest in biosocial criminology, and a secret of J.C. is he really likes using "R" for stat analysis. Other than that I would just be honest with him. Let him know you enjoy reading his work and you would like to help him any way possible (that's how I got in with Nedelec). Good luck!

Ditto,I went to UC for BS and MS as well as several years of research experience with many different professors. Great school.

Congrats on UC! unfortunately I did not receive admission but had a great conversation with my former professors (the adcom) and this year they had a bunch of well qualified students, so major congrats on getting in, it's a great school.

Yep just got an email from a Ms. Martinez. I did not receive funding either. It does seem like a big gamble. I will wait to see if my advisor in fact is Dr. Beaver; maybe he can get me something/shed light on the situation. As of now though I don't think I'll be going to FSU. I will not pay to get a PhD when other schools will pay me to do it. I was told an acceptance without funding is a polite rejection. Oh well, at least we have options.