T. Wong

Hi folks, I am an international student pursuing MA in AUS, and will apply for Fall 2020 PhD later this year, Physical Anthro or Archae track, depends on the program. Here's my question: Should I retake GRE for AWA its own sake? Other scores of mine are ok (i guess): 90th percentile above in both V and Q, 113 in TOEFL with 26 in Speaking, 3.8/4.0 undergrad GPA, Distinction in MA so far. But i only received 3.5 on AWA. As i am going to apply some top programs (UMich, Duke, UCLA, etc.), will this AWA score hold me back? Or, will a decent Writing Sample compensate it? No way I can tell my WS will be decent tho. Thanks for any feedback!

Why is the donating application fee? ? Because it is not related to China? Err...personally, I am not very interested in Chinese Archaeology. Though professors like Li feng and Li Min are indeed my target POIs, they are only a part of. BTW, Berkeley doesn't require GRE from international applicants, as stated below. That is what I use to soothe myself as my GRE Verbal and Quan, though separately, are all higher than 90th percentile... (ಥ﹏ಥ) Still nervous ahh.

Yep he applied archaeology, same as me. He said that he had a face-to-face communication with an UA professor during his field work, and he said that worked. ?

Thanks for the info! Actually I have been extremely nervous these days. Never expected that, as I used to be confident with myself. Here is another question, of which all kinds of answers I would appreciate: Will universities treat international and domestic applicants differently? A friend of mine is applying, too. And though his scores are not as high as mine (lol), he is pretty confident right now, as he trusts that universities would treat him as an international student, i.e. differently, like they would not be that restrictive to GRE scores. He made his conclusion from several positive reactions of the universities he applied: 1) He told the university that his GRE score was not high (about 315-320, I guess), but the university told him they would take him as an international applicant. So what is the meaning of "take him as an international applicant"? 2) He said that a guy with 300 GRE is now a top applicant of University of Notre Dame, and he has been receiving E-mails from this university ever since he finished his last test. 3) He had a Skype interview with UCSB even before the deadline, 1st Dec. 4) He said he had a chance to get offer from The University of Arizona, of which GRE Verbal requirement is 90th percentile. I know that Verbal 162 is the 90th percentile, which is a score definitely higher than his. So, is that true? Will international applicants be treated differently, by a lower standard? Or is it just the fact that GRE matters nothing, just as you said?

Thanks a lot. As for the experience and research part, I had a four-month internship of archaeological excavation, and I conducted a 3-day field investigation. These are all sites of prehistory, so these experiences are relevant, aren' they? As for the GRE part, I sent both of my scores, so will it be helpful? I read some of these schools' FAQs, Berkeley Classical Archaeology received 80-90 applications, and they admitted 12 of them; Michigan anthropology received over 200, and admitted 26. All these schools, I met their TOEFL requirements (and way higher than the minimal, they are either 90 or 100). Therefore, the question is: Just for the scores (as I don't know other aspects, like whether my experiences are relevant, or whether my SOP is clear enough), am I competitive? By scores I mean my GPA, TOEFL, and two GRE scores.

I am an undergraduate from China majored in archaeology, my department is ranked #2 in all Chinese Archaeology departments. I am now applying PhD for several universities, and I wanna know my chance. My GPA is 3.7/4.0, and I have a TOEFL score of 108 (R29, L30, S23, W26). My GRE situation is a little weird: I took it twive. One is V 164(94th percentile)+Q 159, the other is V 157+Q 166(91st percentile). I am now applying: Columbia (PhD), Berkeley(PhD), UPenn(PhD), UCLA(MA), Michigan Ann Arbor(PhD). Most of them I applied for Prehistory. Here are my 3 questions: 1. Will my 94th percentile GRE Verbal be an advantage? Especiall for Berkeley. It states that they do not need GRE score for international students, but still I handed in mine. So, will my 94th percentile Verbal be an advantage? Also, as for Berkeley, I applied for Classical Archaeology, is it harder to be accepted than other anthropological programs? 2. Will they take my two GRE tests both into consideration? 3. What is the chance for me to be accpeted by the above mentioned universities?