MilitaryTeacher2022

OMG, 3 PM is not OK!!!  I am going to be in teacher meetings at that time, and while everyone knows that I am leaving for grad school next year, I'm not sure if they'll be OK with me refreshing my computer instead of analyzing test scores  Of course, getting the information while teaching would be even crazier.  

Oh dear. 3 pm is right at the beginning of my class with 5th graders. I guess that's the best part about teaching. Regardless of what's on my mind, good or bad, my students hold 100% of my attention once they arrive, and time flies. I'll try to force myself not to look until after class and I go home!

@writegirl and @gradstudenttobe33, I'm totally in the same boat. I can only imagine what tomorrow will be like.
BEST OF LUCK TO EVERYONE TOMORROW!

Last year's admission decisions were released at around 3:00 PM EST.
Shout out to the lurkers who've been with us from the start of this thread! Good luck to y'all tomorrow 

Seadub,

We'll find out in a month or so
You seem hell-bent on proving that you are right, and anyone who disagrees with you is not wrong, but also intellectually insufficient. There's no point in having a conversation under these circumstances. Did it strike you that the many people who are disagreeing with your perspective might have valid reasons for holding the opposing stance? You also seem determined to NOT "believe" me when I cite sources that you--as well as I and anyone else on these boards--knows that I cannot quote or name. You're convinced that there's no possible way that someone could have access to information that you lack. So be it. At this point, everyone's apps are in and it's not as though our speculation would make a difference either way. Dealing with your personal attacks, frankly, isn't worth it.

Best of luck to you in this process.

Your example is supposed to point out that someone who has poor numbers has absolutely no chance at getting into a strong English PhD program. I don't see what the SoP--in this example--has anything to do with it. You ARE, however, completely dismissing the independent (and incredibly influential) role of the SoP in this process by lumping it with the lower numbers.

You've also "forgotten" to address the rest of my points.

I don't see why you feel the need to be so abrasive and rude to your peers. What exactly do you gain from it? There's plenty of room to disagree without attacking everyone else...and such behavior will only alienate you in graduate school. While you certainly don't have to be friends with everyone, your career as well as your social life will suffer if you manage to make everyone dislike you.

You could be speaking the Truth and I wouldn't care to hear you out.

I'm sure from your reputation that you've been told this before, but just in case--is it really that hard to make your point without personally attacking the other posters or dismissing their views?

Actually, Seadub, for the PhD in my field, Berkeley will not even consider GRE or GPA scores. It's all about the writing sample and statement of purpose. My source? Professors who have served on the admissions committee every year for the past decade, backed up by DGS. And before you turn around to accuse me of trying to feel better about my inadequacies, I graduated with virtually a 4.0 from a top university and my GRE score is over 1500. I do know, however, that while the numbers are not meaningless, they play very minor roles in the application process for my field.

You're right. This is indeed about perception. There are, unfortunately, professors on ad-comms that believe as you do: that the numbers do correlate. However, it seems that many more professors emphasize the non-quantifiable parts of the application. The numbers say very little about my aptitude or preparation for research in my field. My GRE only indicates that I was indeed willing to pour an entire summer into memorizing vocabulary and that I have a knack for high school math. The GPA suggests that I matured early and worked hard from freshman year onwards. It's my writing sample and my statement of purpose that will hopefully tell the committee that my scholarship has potential and I know what I'm doing...and fellowship or TAships won't be wasted on me.

Professors, frankly, aren't dumb. They know what it takes to succeed in their field. And while the GRE and GPA can favor or hurt an application in case of a close decision, they certainly know that memorizing vocabulary and high school math skills have little to do with the skills that are truly necessarily--at least for my field. Other parts of the application are far better indicators of the student's potential. Your flippant reply completely trivializes the SoP and seems to suggest that you have no idea what it actually *should* convey for...to use your example...an English Lit PhD. The example that you gave would actually be a terrible SoP, and would weed out the applicant even if she had a 1600 and 4.0 from Harvard. A good SoP/writing sample would show that the applicant understand the discourse of her field and can think, research, and write on a level that can contribute to the field.

Besides, there were at least TWO students accepted into Princeton's English PhD cohort last year...with GRE scores well under 1200. One of them had an undergraduate GPA that wasn't far from the 2.8 that you used as an example.

Hey guys, looks like I'm late to the party... I applied to the M in L&T program, waiting on an email one way or another! 
Good luck making it through this week, everyone.