sofmeister

1) I have a high gpa (4.0), some research experience, and what i hope are going to be positive recommendation letters. Let's assume I have a concrete SoP, and my research interests/methods are in line with a respective department. Will a low gre (V157 Q150) really keep an applicant out of top programs (Harvard, Columbia, NYU, etc?) 2) If you scan the results page, I find reports here and there of acceptances at these programs with similar GRE scores. What do you make of this? 3) In response to asking for a letter of rec, a professor has asked me to send along "what I would like them to touch on." This is a weird in-between of the "yes, i will write one for you" and the "sure, draft one up for me will ya?" My other two recommenders are writing them without my input, so I won't be able to curate them in any way. Any tips for what I might want to highlight? Given some financial hardships, I am debating not applying at all given the prevalence of high GRE cutoffs... (or waivers, I suppose) Hope you all are doing well this application season, cuz im already totally unhinged.

I have been told COUNTLESS times that senior undergraduates get accepted in PhD programs "all the time"--that this is "traditionally" and "ideally" how it is done. And yet, given the amount of MA applicants, all of whom are teeming with other accomplishments, in particular publications and research experience outside of a senior thesis, one cannot imagine this being the case. Am I crazy? I feel like I am being led astray, but I think too highly of my academic advisor and professors to truly give up hope. Someone wanna help me connect the dots, and maybe offer a few recommendations for those of us who feel extremely inferior within this application process? Yours truly, A fellow social science nerd :P