TheatreGrad

Hi all, so I was very happy to get a letter from the English department saying I was recommended for admission (Yay!) and that my application proceeds to the graduate school of the institution for "final approval". I triple checked that I meet all the requirements of the graduate school (I do), but I'm anxious about an issue. I walked at commencement in December and fully planned on graduating (officially) then, however there was an issue with that which caused me to not "officially" graduate at that time. I put on my application for grad school that I would be graduating in December, and at the time that was what I had planned. Does this mean I "lied" on my application and would this be a problem with the graduate school? Is there a way to call the grad school to let them know about this or something? The issue is being fixed and I'm waiting that out right now. I'm sorry if this is a dumb question or silly of me. I just wanted to ask. Thanks in advance!

Thank you for your reply! I am really leaning towards retaking it and giving it another shot and hitting the books extra hard. Everyone I talked to strongly discourages withdrawing and I at least want to push forward in the best way possible. Thank you again!

Thank you for your reply. (Sorry if this isn't the correct way to reply, I'm still navigating this great forum!) I think a part of it was I got messed up at the beginning of the test trying to figure out the format better, managing my time decently, being anxious about it in general, but I still felt okay until I got my scores back. That's what I'm finding is that it depends on the program. Also the grad program does not explicitly state a minimum cut off, but again it seems high scores don't do much too help you, but low scores can hurt you. Also, just to clarify, this is an MA I'm applying for, but the PhD is the eventual goal. The program I most want to get into seems to place more emphasis on research paper, LORs, and SOP and the graduate school itself on has a minimum GPA requirement, which I pass. I'm scheduling a campus visit for the program so maybe I could inquire there as well? I'm not sure, but like I said, my main worry is that 1: My app will be thrown out because of it, 2: If I should even bother if that's the case, and 3: If low/mediocre scores would really hurt the application. Short of being a fly on the wall in the room with the admissions committee, there's no way to know for sure. Again thanks, and rant away please! I need all the help I can get!

Took the GRE this afternoon. Studied and prepared, but received mediocre scores. 154V and completely bombed Quantitative. Analytical Writing won't be back for a bit. My top program of choice that I'm applying for (at UW Madison) says they "look most favorably upon" scores of 160 in the verbal section. I'm pretty devasted and completely reevaluating if I even have a chance. I don't want to get my hopes up just to be squashed by a poor GRE score. The rest of my application is okay. I have a 3.8 in my major (same field as the grad program I'm applying for), great essays (reviewed by professors), plenty of extracurriculars in my field, glowing LORs, an internship and professional experience. I'm also scheduling a campus visit to the school, if that helps anything. I know that each school/program is different when it comes to the GRE, but my main worry is my application being tossed out in the weeding out process. I'm applying for programs in the arts (my undergrad major as well) so math isn't completely necessary, but I'm still not happy with it. I do well in math courses and all, and I honestly don't know what happened on the test this afternoon. Applications are due end of December/early January, and I don't know what to do at this point. Here are my main questions: 1. Do I withdraw and give up? Do these scores mean I'm not cut out for grad school? 2. Is it wise to retake it? Is there even enough time? Ideally I'd like to and try again, but the time thing is tight and I don't know if there's time to prepare again. 3. Would it be wise to contact the program coordinator about this, or would that be frowned upon? 4. Do I just hope for the best? Thanks in advance for any help.