ridgey

I emailed the listed faculty member at a particular program about some mundane logistical thing, to which I got a perfectly good response. I then noticed the email signature. This person's title is "Graduate Academic Success Specialist". I'm not sure exactly why I found this so amusing, but I had a quiet chuckle How about we make this the thread for the lighter moments of the application craziness? Post yours hear, big or small! Oh, Ms Graduate Academic Success Specialist, if you're reading this, I'm not making fun of your title - I quite like it in fact! I generally conduct myself very professionally and don't make a habit of using professional emails for public amusement.

Just sent another email. I feel like even sending the email counts as a success story. I just noticed, after hitting send, that this prof and the prof I sent an email to at another school about two months ago, were in the same programme and finished the same year. Too bad I can't apply there too!

I've probably given away my gender in my previous posts. Along with plenty of other information. I don't think the information I've given makes me google-able, but if you ever met me you'd "recognize" me quite easily. Simple stuff like research interests, programs, schools, etc.

Try not to be discouraged! The responses you describe probably have little to do with you. Just general busyness, is more likely. Plus, they'll be getting dozens of emails from interested students. They probably just have a default position of aloofness.

Great idea for a thread! I contacted a Poli Sci professor about a month ago. It was Saturday afternoon my time but late Friday night her time. She replied within minutes, and the reply was through her gmail, not uni, email. I like to think that she was checking her personal email, saw my email that got forwarded from her uni email, and thought that I was clearly so brilliant that she had to respond right that second. In any case, she was enthusiastic and asked me to send a CV. I wonder if this varies by discipline - I read somewhere that in some field contacting professors in advance of the application is frowned upon, and I was gutted that wasn't the case for me.

I HATE HATE HATE cold emailing professors. I'm an introvert even by email, it seems. I'm making myself do it though, and so far so good. The first email I sent was to someone in a different discipline to the rest of my apps, so I was able to ask genuine questions about whether I would fit. Very positive response. I just this moment sent a second email to someone at my top choice school, where I was rejected last year. They've already rejected me once, so what's the worst that can happen? I found I can't bring myself to straight up ask "Are you taking new students next year?" It's kind of assumed that you want to be their student by the fact that you're emailing that person, right?

"Not knowing the Department's admission priorities" suggests to me that she is not on the admission committee and that she can't really lobby for any particular student. That might explain why it sounds like she wanted to encourage your interest without entering into an ongoing conversation. I don't know that you need to follow up, but a "thank you" never goes astray. PS You only edited out the university's name at the second instance!

I did fine (1400+) on the GRE V and Q, but the AW section - yikes, 4.0! Now, I'm not a fan of the GRE at all, and I don't think the writing portion in particular really measures well how good a person's writing is. Of course, I have to say that when I'm in the 30th percentile. But I think this from the NYTimes vindicates my position. Some of the subjectivity is removed from the GRE writing section by having two markers, whose scores have to be reasonably close. I think the larger issue, that the score doesn't necessarily reflect the quality of a given piece of writing, remains with regard the GRE.

Well, no, you don't HAVE to get a WES evaluation. But your schools don't have to consider your application or offer you admission, either. It is probably to your advantage - if they're asking for WES evaluation they probably don't see many foreign applications. If they're not familiar with the UK system (or the Azebaijan system, or whatever), they'll see your 76% (I have no idea, I'm making up numbers) and think "below average" instead of "freakin' genius". Yeah, I guess it is vaguely insulting. And it is definitely a big hunk of money. Fortunately, none of my schools (at this point; the list keeps changing) require WES evaluation. But if they did, I guess I would suck it up.

I think it's more that the admissions game is impossible to predict. I'm not familiar with the Pakistani education system, but your background seems impressive. The biggest factor for admissions is writing an SoP that "sells" yourself and your interests. As far as other schools to consider, or judging your competitiveness at the schools you've listed, you could try asking in the field-specific section of the forum; you might get better answers.

I emailed admissions asking how people usually filled out the form, and the reply I got was something like "the completed form is part of your application", in a tone that suggested I was moronic. I don't want to catch someone in the department in an equally foul mood, in case they blacklist my app. Unlikely, I know. This is why I didn't apply there last year.

The majority of the schools I applied to last year didn't require the financial certificate until after aadmittance, and those that did had a handy box that said "check if you will be completely reliant on the Department/School/University for funding". One of my schools this year is U North Carolina, and they require you to specify and certify the exact amount from each source of funding. Now, the department website states explicitly that all admitted students (including internationals) are guaranteed financial support. But I can't tick the box that says I will have departmental support because 1) I don't know the amount, and 2) I can't supply proof of this support as an applicant, and 3) a copy goes to the department as part of the application and I don't think it's a good look! What have others done in the same situation? I was thinking I might write a statement on the form to the effect that I will be reliant on funding from the school. How would that go down, do you think?

I don't really know much about epi applications. It wouldn't surprise me if it's the most competitve of the public health fields though. There might be more money around than in other fields - if you can stomach it, drug companies might be an alternative source of funding to the NIH, through which we internationals can't be funded. I still think you need to be able to be more specific about your interests. Not to the point of a diss proposal, but something narrower than "epi". Even if you could narrow it to chronic/infectious/social you'd be better able to research schools and target your SoP accordingly. Ideally, I think you want to be able to identify either a specific health issue or methodology when you craft your application. Again, though, I'm not in epi - amybe someone else will chime in. Also, the ASPH website (www.asph.org) allows you to search for schools by your interest, then links you to the program's website. There is also a PDF list somewhere on the site of every accredited program (the search is only of accredited schools).

Grrr - I just typed a long post and it got lost in the system. Your numbers (GRE and GPA) are fine. Because you're fully in the acceptable range, admissions decisions will come down to a fit with the expertise available in a department, and possibly what your letter writers have to say. You need to be able to show an admissions committee a genuine interest in doing research on a specific area. If you really don't mind which concentration of public health then I would imagine you'll have a hard time convincing an admissions committee that you're serious. Once you know what you want to study, your list of schools narrows considerably.Information about the availability of funding for interantional students is readily available on most schools' websites, and is easy to get by contacting schools if it is not online.

It's not quite that simple. Just as in the US, quality and difficulty of admission differs by university and by degree. Bear inmind that the majority (not all, but a lot) of the price differential between domestic and international tuition/fees is state subsidy rather than the university using it as a cash cow. The same way State universities in the US offer discounts for in-state students. That said, the taught masters programmes are the most likely to be cash-cows for the uni. For research degrees (whether MPhil or PhD) there is funding available for able international students, the difference is that you are expected to find it. The uni will advertise etc, but there is far less hand-holding in general than in the US. So finding (adequate) funding is a lot of work, and will be more work now that the UK govt has stopped the ORS scheme. I am international to both systems, and I am applying to mostly US schools just because the work involved in finding funding for the UK is overwhelming. As far as admissions goes, again it depends. you could say whether a specific US or Uk school is easier to get into, but you can't really talk in generalities. One thing about the UK systemis that you are expected to be further along in your scholarly development/growth by the time you apply. The admission consists primarily of a research proposal for the thesis topic - research questions, methods, start of a lit review, etc. In the US system, students aren't expected to have that much clarity about their research until they're further into the programme. So which will be "better" will vary by individual. If you don't already know what you want to study, you'll probably find the UK process a lot of hard work, although you could contact a potential supervisor and ask what projects s/he has waiting for students. If you don't feel ready to start doing your own research immediately - you might need more stats training or background, for instance - then you're probably best to go for the US. If you feel ready to jump in, go for the US. If, like me, you'd be happy either way apply to both. As far as "better" there is a real perception in US academic circles that any US qualification is inherently better than any UK or other one. It's not universally held, obviously, and people might be more generous if they know of a particular brilliant scholar in their field in a UK university. But Oxford, Cambridge, places that are easily the equals of Harvard, Stanford, etc, are by some the only UK universities that might grudgingly be conceded to be almost as good as the average US uni. So if your goal is a US academic career, keep this in mind. Sorry this was so long-winded!

The %iles move as more people take the test. 640 was probably 90th %ile at whatever point you heard it, and likely will be again at another point. And 610 being 88th %ile is pretty close to 640 being 90th %ile. But I don't think the best use of your time is retaking the GRE. Your scores are good enough that they'll get you through the first cut. A score of 800/800/6.0 doesn't get you (generally, not you specifically, OP) admitted. The amount of time you'd spend with flashcards trying to learn words would be better spent (better in terms of likely admission) working on you SoP. Of course, if you ook at my tagline you'll see I'm about to do this all again, so take what I say with a grain of salt

It depends on the school. Some of these minima are more absolute than others. If you can produce a VERY strong application and this is your only weakness, SOME schools MIGHT overlook your GPA. I would advise you to contact the schools to feel them out. You'll have to spend some time planning how to do that - you have to give them a reason that it would be in THEIR best interest to make an exception to policy in your case. Related to your need for a very strong application, I have to ask: If IR is what you love, why do you want to do your Masters in language education?

Hello, political scientists! My field is public health, and I'll be applying to mainly PhD programs in that field. However, I have stumbled across a professor in a political science department who does work I think is uber cool, and so I'm also planning on applying there. I've emailed this professor and the response seemed enthusiastic, but he could have been equally enthusiastic to every other aspiring devotee. But my question is: is there anything field specific I need to be aware of as I prepare my application? I expect I'll need quite a different SoP that emphasises why my research is genuinely political science, but what else? And, is there an association of polysci schools or similar that collects admissions statistics? This department isn't in the ridiculously competitive category, but it would still be good to get a rough idea of whether I'm in the right zone stats wise.

Hi Historians, I'm mainly going to be applying to public health and public policy programmes. A few of these are joint programmes with history "tracks" and it occurs to me that there are probably programmes wholly within history departments that I should check out too. My interests intersect poli sci, public policy and health, and I want to look at health policy making in different political climates. None of the history of medicine programmes I've looked at so far have been quite what I'm looking for. UPenn's history of sociology looks promising. Can anyone suggest any other programmes I should consider? I am an international student and so don't have advisors familiar with the specialties of American schools. Even a pointer to a society or journal where I could get a sense of who's who would be helpful. Ta muchly.

Your chance at each school begins at 1/number of applicants.

I'm of the opinion that the GRE is ridiculous overall, but the AW section is by far the most ridiculous. To score well, you have to use the writing structure they teach in middle school. Yes, the timed environment, thinking on the spot, etc, add extra pressure, but no matter how well one does these things (and how skilled the writer is) if the essay doesn't conform to the structure, it won't score highly. Of course, poor writing won't score well either OP, there have been some discussions over at the Chronicle forums on whether the AW section of the GRE is important, and the consensus seems to be that it isn't very important. If you're submitting a writing sample with your applications adcomms will use that to judge your writing ability over the GRE AW any day of the week. I'm also going to be a reapplicant (so take everything I say with a grain of salt!) and the difference between my applications last time and this time is that last time I was trying to convince committees that I am wonderful. This time, all I'm trying to do is make my research ideas sound intriguing, and demonstrate that I have the skills to succeed. No-one here can answer that for you. Your application needs to be stronger than it was a year ago. If you've been working this year, you need to articulate how that experience makes you a better applicant (without explicitly adding "since I was rejected last year" to the end). I don't think it would help. And, some of the applications emphasise that it has to be all your own work and using professional writing services is unethical and if detected will withdraw your acceptance, etc. Are you an international student? If so, the UC system will definitely be harder, if not impossible, for you if you're asking for aid. Most other schools will admit you or not on your merits even if they don't offer aid. All you can do is make sure your application was as strong as it can be. There are no certainties in this game; there are fewer spots than qualified applicants. Good luck.

It varies by department. At some places the entirety of the application is at least skimmed; others might not do any reading until they've weeded out those with GREs or GPAs below some threshold; there's probably somewhere that throws all the applications down a flight of stairs and admits everyone whose folder landed on the top two steps. As for being an international, the process is obstensibly the same as for everyone else. It is harder to get in as an international; the assumption is often that as a rule foreign universities aren't as good as US ones and thus applicants aren't as good. It's BS of course (any particular foreign university may be better or worse than a particular US one, but my impression is that some in the US will grudgungly admit that Cambridge and Oxford might be as good as the good-but-not-great US schools) but there's not much you can do about it, and your app goes through the same stages as everyone else's. As for getting your application "all the way"? Well, there aren't actually that many things you control, or at least that you can change between now and submitting your application. CV, GREs, GPA - you have what you have. Letters - you can choose your writers but rarely do you find out, let alone control,what is written. That leaves your SoP and writing sample as your chance to shine. In some fields applicants contact faculty before applying; this may get them interested enough to advocate for you but is probably more useful in helping you tailor your SoP. I seems there's variation by both field and school as to whether this is expected/accepted, so do some reseaech first. Good luck.

No-one can tell you whether you'll get in. You're scores and GPA shouldn't be a barrier to getting in. If you get to a point where your SoP and writing sample are *perfect*, then consider redoing the GRE. But the difference the 590 will make is marginal c.f. these aspects, so it isn't a good use of your time while you can still improve on them.

Yes, admissions committees do make some kind of scale - official or not - that ranks on grades. What I'm saying is that any given grade means different things in different educational system, and that (most) universities find out what a grade means in the system it was awarded and use that, rather than the grade per se to rank a candidate relative to other applicants. This is done because it is about as easy to get, for example, 75% in the UK as it is to get an 'A' in the US, but 75% from a US school is probably not good enough to get in most places. And I provided you a link to the best estimate on "what the conversion is like". Seriously - visit the webpages of a few schools. Sometimes the school arranges credential evaluation themselves, sometimes they expect the applicant to provide a report, but I've seen these guys mentioned more than any others for schools that don't do it in house.

Conversion of your percent to grades on the US scale isn't meaningful unless you earned those percentages in the US system. For example, if you had been to my university and gotten 69% in a course, your grade for that course would be a B-. That doen't mean that my uni is easier than the average US uni, just that scales are calibrated differently - B- work at my uni would be B- work at generic US uni (let's pretend they're all homogenous) but it would be given high 60% here and low 80% there. As I mentioned in my earlier post, WES seems to be most commonly used by unis for working out how an international degree translates to the US (and I promise I don't work for them!) Here is a link to their page - all you need to do is choose the country you studied in. http://www.wes.org/gradeconversionguide/