plisar

Schools do place a strong emphasis on the quant scores, and a 700 (likely 750+) is important, especially for any school that makes students take quantitative methods at any point in their career. For what it's worth, the methods classes at most programs are more demanding than any question faced on the GRE quant. Engineering departments won't even admit students who score below a 790--don't underestimate how easy the faculty perceive the GRE quant to be.

I wouldn't trust that. It really depends on the school's IT infrastructure and how much information they keep (if at all) before they purge, where they store it, and what the back end looks like. Regardless, it differs so much from school to school, that you really shouldn't send them until the year you are applying. -Former graduate coordinator.

Haha, Rob, we're not all superstars like you, getting our apps done ten months early

This is something you're going to want to touch on briefly in statement of purpose and in your case, you're going to want a VERY strong statement as to 1) why you want the master's degree and 2) why the school you are choosing is the place that you need to get it. Working throughout your undergraduate degree full time is going to, of course, make it more difficult for you to keep your GPA up. As for the GRE mattering. Absolutely, it's a fine score, however the verbal score is almost invariably ignored and the quantitative score is used as a cutoff. In most case anything >770 allows the application to continue to be read, while anything below sends serious red flags. I don't mean to be mean here, and I do actually think you have a chance at these schools, I just think it's important that you know that the odds are poor, even for the best students.

It's hard to say without knowing more details about your GPA? Why is it so low? Is it weighted down by grades in math and science courses or is from classes in the humanities. If it is the former, you may have a hard time at a schools that highly ranked in the field. These programs usually yield about 600 applicants each, if not more, and the median GPA is usually around a 3.7, at least in my experience as a graduate coordinator at a similarly ranked EECS program.

Why are you only looking for schools in the midwest? What are your research interests? What type of methodology do you wish to learn and employ? Going to schools based on geographical region preference is typically a terrible idea.

The Q is low. You need to retake it. I worked at a top five EE program for two years, you'll get laughed at with a 740.

Harvard has great Western European faculty.

Ph.D. or masters?

Uh oh, you're fired now.

This is just cruel!

Tidefan, Ferrero is a well established troll. The other one, I think is real.

This is why I tried to make decisions as soon as possible. The earlier you say no, the easier it is to feel better about your choice.

I was talking about the people who were acting like you were committing murder...I think it's fine for you to rescind if you find a better offer later on.

I work for a graduate program. When students rescind -- and this happens at least two or three times per year -- one or two faculty members may be upset for ten minutes, but never more than fifteen. In other words, get over yourselves. No one is going to cry if you decide not to come. Moreover, you likely didn't take anyone's spot.

Most of these government sponsored fellowships allow this Amanda.

...

Once you stop taking math, you start closing doors... Apparently stopping, however, imakes you a good political scientist...

Wait, what? Did ^^ just suggest that we remove MORE math from the typical college curriculum? Lord, because math is a subject that Americans take TOO much of...wow.

Hey, just figured I'd do a call out to see if anyone out there is going to UCSD and what your living/moving plans are like? I'm very excited to get out there.

I would seriously take the funding from one of your two ivies.

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad Institution: Top public University with a top five political science graduate department Major(s)/Minor(s): Double Major in Political Science and History. Honors thesis in Political Science (application based honors program) with high honors. Undergrad GPA: 3.58 Type of Grad: N/A Grad GPA: N/A GRE: 630V, 790Q, 6.0 Any Special Courses: Three semester long research design course during thesis writing process Letters of Recommendation: Two from full tenured professors with good pedigrees, one is a top qualitative political science scholar, the other is prolific formal theorist. The third was from VAP who knew my work well and was able to talk about my work ethic and research skills. He served as my thesis advisor. Research Experience: Honors thesis. Teaching Experience: Two undergraduate courses in a non-political science social science department. Subfield/Research Interests: Comparative politics, European union integration, quantitative methods. SOP: Started with a quick personal story (about two sentences) and moved into a sumary of my past research. After this summary (about 100-150 words depending on the school), I jumped into my future research interests and then the faculty I would like to work with. I concluded with why XXX University would be the best fit for pursuing my interests. I mentioned that I would like to use advanced quantitative methods but that I also wanted to learn qualitative methodology as well. Other: Reading knowledge of German, basic knowledge of French, Russian and Hebrew. RESULTS: Acceptances($$ or no $$): Cornell, Indiana University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, UC San Diego, UIUC, University of Washington-Seattle (Top Funding Package offered), University of Wisconsin Waitlists: Cornell (Accepted in early April), Notre Dame (Immediately Declined), UCLA (Immediately Declined), UNC (Immediately declined). Rejections: Columbia, Duke, Harvard, Michigan, Northwestern, NYU, Princeton, Stanford, UC Berkeley, WUSTL, Yale Pending: None Going to: University of California, San Diego What would you have done differently?: Beyond trying to find one last TT faculty member for my third letter, the only two things I would have changed would have been to have done slightly better on my GRE's both verbal and math, and to have taken more math classes in college.

Are you going to OSU?

First question, are you applying to a masters in international affairs or a Ph.D. in political science? If the latter, here are some suggestions. Keep it simple. This is NOT a personal statement, this is a statement of purpose. Therefore, contrary to popular suggestion from those outside of the academe, do not make this a fluff piece, especially considering some schools don't even want five hundred words. Be succinct and to the point. Why do you want to go to grad school, what do you want to study, and why is X University the place for you to study? Get in and get out as fast as you can. Make it crisp, and make it so that the AdComm can really tell that you have some knowledge of what a good social science question entails. I hope this helps. Plisar