cherubie

EDIT: Wait, I just realized you're going for a Masters, not PhD. In that case, maybe it's a little less rigorous. But I'll leave my comment up any way for anyone interested in PhD programs. Take my opinion with a grain of salt, but here goes: I used to be interested in clinical psychology, and have done some research on it, and from what I saw, the number requirements are very rigorous. It is one of the most covetous graduate programs, and thus very selective and hard to get into. I've had people told me that I need "a 4.0 and 1600" (their words, not mine). Although that is exaggerating it, but from a clinical psych PhD and PsyD students in my lab, you do need very good numbers. To be frank, (and again, I'm not an adcom) your numbers are not impressive. Although you have a lot of work experience, it wasn't direct lab work or clinical volunteering. A PsyD student in my lab is an international, got a 1580 (or so he said), graduated from the top high school of his nation, and had a masters when he applied (and got into) his current program. The PsyD program here is ranked somewhere 30 or 70-something, it is not the top of the line. Another student, a PhD clin psych, graduated from an Ivy League and had work experience in a lab. I don't know about his GPA/GRE's, but since the PhD program he's in is 3rd in the nation, I'm sure they weren't too shabby. So not to discourage you, but a low GPA and your GRE may not get you too far; because clin psych has so many applicants, they do tend to use numbers as weeders. To answer your original question, a 1250 isn't a bad score, but it's not great (esp for the program you're interested in). A 600Q is below average, so more than 50% of test-takers got higher than you. A 650V is decent, above average. The PsyD student said that clin psych programs usually look for 700V (again, his words). He also participates in interviewing potential clin psych students too.

It's pretty much exactly like those CAT exams you took (assuming they weren't from some obscure company), especially PowerPrep. You won't see a slew of geometry, or slew of word problems, (echoing the other repliers), they are generally mixed. So, if you're particularly week in a subject (say, geometry), make sure you brush up on it- don't count on not seeing them on the exam. If you do well on your math, you may see some "higher" math such as sequences, probability, combination, and statistics- but if you did your homework, I'm sure you already know this.

Honestly, I think that unless there are some fundamental problems in your relationship (NOT related to academia), you just need to take a step back and let him do his own things, and learn the things he need to learn. Of course, you guys are legally bound to each other, so this may be easier said than done. If he wants to "slack off" (the impression you're giving) over breaks, then let him. If his thesis doesn't get accepted, than it's his own doing- he'll learn his lesson. I think it seems like you're a very motivated, independent, hard-working person, and he seems to be almost the opposite- but that doesn't mean that you're better or he's worse. When my fiance and I started dating, we had very different work ethics also. While he studied in the library (we met in college) till 2 a.m., I was doodling in my books. While he went over past exams for our statistics course, I took 5 hour "naps". I ended up not doing so hot, while he ended up getting an A. He never pestered me to study, neither did he needed my recognition of his achievements. I learned my lesson, and shaped up in my other courses. When we were both studying for the GRE and GMAT, respectively, while he would close the books at 7p.m., I studied until 11. I felt he was slacking, when he felt I was being too hard on myself. Seems like you and your SO are almost similar to me and my fiance, we just have different methods than our SO's. Just because you don't enjoy building model airplanes or reading fun books, or that you'd rather spend your "breaks" working, doesn't mean he has too also. As far as he not being supportive, that's not an academia problem- that's a relationship problem that you need to figure out, and think about whether you want to be with someone like that or not.

I took my exam Dec. 16 and all the results are online already, so I'm guessing those who took it earlier than me should be up too. I had the same problem at first also, but then I found out that I typed in my name wrong. I have 2 first names, both of which appear on my license (which I used for ID), so when I registered, I have to put my name exactly as it appeared on my license. IF this is the case for you (you have 2 first names or 2 last names), you need to register with BOTH names- no dash or space, with the first letter of each part capitalized. Example, if your name is Bob Henry Smith, you need to register (on the ETS website to view your scores) as BobHenry Smith. If your name is John Smith-Hilton, you need to register as John SmithHilton. Hope this helps!

Just wanted to add something else too- that practice exams may not ALWAYS be exactly like the real exam. If you look around, a lot of people say princeton review/kaplan are a lot harder than the real GRE, and powerprep is right on. However, there are others who say the opposite too. Just because you have extra time on the clock doesn't necessarily mean you're doing something wrong. When you focus on the first 10 or 15, don't spend TOO much time on it, as this may hurt you on the real exam. Just try to make a mental list of things you need to improve on, and work on those. I had the same problem on Verbal. I always finished with 6-8 minutes to spare. As I did more practice tests, I realized I was rushing through RC- it had nothing to do with the beginning questions. Also, I just checked my GRE exam's diagnostic service thing. I got a perfect Quant score, but missed #10 wrong (out of 28 questions)- you wouldn't expect to get a 800 with such an early question wrong. But I ended up getting all the rest of the questions right except for #19. My point here is that you do want to be careful with the first couple questions, but if it's at the expense of the later ones- it can still kill your score.

Yea I forgot to mention that I got a 800Q also. It's not impossible, since 6% of the people who took it that day also got the same score :/

Let's see... Pros: -Attended nationally-known top 15 undergrad -Graduated with general & major honors (3.5 & 3.8, respectively), -Very strong upward trend (going from 3.1 --> 3.8 with increases each semester) -GRE: 800Q 700V 5.0AW -By the time I apply, I'd have >3 years of research (and hopefully at least 1 publication) -Boss/mentor is well known in field Cons: -Took almost all my premed courses in the first 2 years of college, ending up with a 3.1-ish the first 2 years -Had 1 retake, 2 C's (organic chem and chem II- not anything I should need to know for my area of study at all, but regardless) -Don't know my profs in college -No posters/conferences (I don't see why I have to shell out 100's to do what grad students do for free, esp when one of them is an inept individual surviving solely on other's support) Edit: I WAS premed in college, but decided to go for PhD instead.

Thanks guys for answering my question. The scores were on the phone today, so I forked over the $12 so I don't have to agonize for another week. (I had this irrational fear of misreading my scores and was paranoid that my actual score was lower than what I've been telling myself, I wasn't just agonizing over the stupid AW part). Anyways banana21, I hope you enjoy your Christmas. If it makes you feel any better, I personally thought the actual math was easier (yes, easier) than PowerPrep. The geometry required no where near as many calculations (the 1 geometry question I remember having required me to know what equilateral triangles are and how to take the perimeter of a rectangle and a triangle). However, do brush up on those basic statistics, I got several questions on things that I learned in stats 101 in the first several weeks of class (can't tell you what the question was, but hopefully that gives enough info for you to know what I'm talking about). The analytical writing part was meh, I just followed Kaplan's sample essay's format and pulled as many things out of the air as I can. The verbal part, if you know Barron's and you're not somehow especially inept at reading, you'll manage at least a 650. Don't worry about it, the test is definitely overrated and people make it sound a lot harder than it truly is.

I would think it's just like how much your high school grades and the SAT mattered after you got into college....they don't. HOWEVER, with that said though, to some people, GPA and GRE still matter all throughout their graduate education. These people are usually egotistical, have nothing else to show for their life other than numbers, and think that getting a 3.8 (or above) and a 800 in 1 or more of their GRE sub-scores makes them the king of the world. My fiance has a "friend" who still goes around bragging about his 7-something GMAT score despite the fact that he's in business school already (and how he only studied 2 weeks for it). He brought it up just about every chance he got, which is about every other minute. There's a grad student at my lab who also does the same thing. Talks about how high his high school grades were, and randomly adding in "I got a 800 in quant on my GRE" when he gets a chance. Funny thing is both of these people don't have much else going on for them. Sad....

Maybe this suggestion comes belated, but have you tried asking if the professor will agree to signing a letter the grad student writes? I don't know if this is usual, and I haven't applied yet, so take my "advice" with a grain of salt. But in my college application, I did research with a *important* person at the university I applied to. Even though he was a really nice guy and really liked me as a student, he was also extremely busy and I probably consulted with him for a total of 2 hours during my whole summer there. I worked much more closely with his grad student (who just got her PhD when I joined). What ended up happening when I asked for a rec letter was that she told me the same thing your PI told you- that I should get a letter from him (the professor), BUT she can write the letter, run it through him, and have him sign it. That way, you kind of get the best of both worlds. Now I may have been an exception, and I don't know how well or how little your PI knows you (or how much he/she even likes you as a student). If you haven't thought of this, maybe you should ask about it since it can't hurt. Just make sure that you get the OK from the big guy, and not just the student's word. This happened in my lab where a former grad student here (he transferred) promised undergraduates that he would write the letter than get the PI to sign it. Only problem was the undergraduate never got the explicit "okay" from the PI, and when he came back for his letter, no one had any idea what was going on. Apparently, the grad student made the promise but never did anything to go through with it.

Hi everyone, I took my GRE last week (Dec. 16), I know ETS says give it 10-15 (or more sometimes) days to get the scores online and in the mail. I want to know my official score as soon as possible, even if I need to pay through the phone. ETS said they're closed today for the holidays (I wasn't aware that the day before Christmas Eve is a holiday), did anyone take their exam around the same time I did, and if so, will our scores be up by the 10-15 day range, or later- say after the New Year? Sorry if this seems like one of those nuance stupid questions. I'm a really antsy person, and want to see the official score so I can finally put this whole thing completely behind me. Thanks!

The good news is that even in your practice test, you're already within the "acceptable" range of Vanderbilt's program (although on the lower end). The even more good news is that the GRE is something you really can study for. The bad news is that you're too nervous about this. You haven't even taken the GRE yet, and you're asking "how much are these scores going to hurt me"?! What scores are you talking about? If you walk into the same exam feeling that lack of confidence, that alone will hurt your score. Plus, you obviously KNOW that you have a great application, maybe you're just looking for reassurance? I can't answer the question of how much your future/hypothetical score will hurt or help your application- neither do I know what PoliSci programs look for (I would imagine they place more emphasis on verbal). You also mentioned that the top programs have really high "quant levels", do you mean the level of computation required in the programs, or the average GRE quant? My advice (keep in mind I'm not a grad student, neither am I in your field, but I did just took the GRE): search the forums on "study tips". Take out some time to work on your weakness. If it's math, just keep doing problems and understand the basics. It's the easiest part to improve in. If it's verbal, start memorizing words and doing practice questions. Also, since the GRE is changing in August or so, make sure you give yourself enough time to take the old one if you end up having to take it a second or a third time. Lastly (but very importantly), which practice test did you take? Are they those diagnostic ones from Princeton Review or Kaplan? If so, then your real score will likely to be much higher. (My Kaplan score was >200 points below my real score.) To get a better prediction of where you stand, I would recommend downloading the PowerPrep software from the ETS GRE website. Stimulate it as a real exam (aka, do all the sections in a library, without stopping to read forums or Facebook), and see what you get. Almost everyone agrees that powerprep was the best predictor of their actual score. Don't worry, after you finish your studying, you can take another PP test to see how you do then. IF you get around the same score on PP- around 1000, then you need to start cracking on the books (not to sound haughty, but while a 500V is around 50th percentile, a 500Q is not impressive to say the least). Hope that helps! Edit: One more tip on the powerprep software. Stimulate it *exactly* as the real exam. For example, I honestly believe that nervousness can dramatically affect your performance on the GRE. If you take a practice exam without feeling any anxiety, in the comfort of your dorm/home listening to your favorite music, you will not get an accurate prediction at all. Try to look at it as if it IS the real test. For me, I actually felt MORE nervous during the practice tests (ironically) than during the actual exam, and I think that play a big part in getting a score higher than all my practice ones.

No offense, but is a 1390 all a sudden a "bad" score now? Why did you have to retake it in the first place? I can understand if you were getting 800Q and 750V on your practice exams and felt like your FIRST score was unwarranted, but if you're trying to get a 750 instead of a 710Q and a 700 instead of a 680V, I honestly don't think that adcoms would care nearly as much as you think they would (but I could be wrong).

Thanks for that reply. I was beginning to think that I've been living under a rock for the past 4 years and didn't realize how much the world has changed! Maybe a lot of people who join forums for the purpose of graduate school discussions are just exceptional students to begin with. (I mean if I didn't care about graduate school, I wouldn't spend time perusing posts on it, right?) Some people on here do mention publications as first author in "high impact" journals though. If that's the case that grad schools care a lot about that, it seems to be a very unfair disadvantage to those applying straight from undergrad, even though I'm not one of them. Sorry, saw some other responses after I wrote this. No doubt I agree that publications will be a plus. But whether or not it's an expectation is something I'm slightly worried about (and by slightly, I mean just something to ponder over in my free time). As far as posters/conferences, I'm definitely not barred from going to them- but I have to do it on my own budget. I don't know if people have full time jobs or mom and pops to sniff up the money for them, but no way am I shelling out hundreds or thousand (for overseas conferences) to go to some conference and do a poster, at least grad students don't have to pay for them. This is kind of off-topic, but it seems like the quality of grad students vary significantly. In my lab, there are 2 grad students, and one's a highly intelligent/motivated being, the other is well.....let's just say numbers aren't everything.

So in reading through many of the posts on this forum, I realize that almost everyone has at LEAST 1 publication under their belt. I didn't even think that this was normal for applicants. Do most people have a Masters (and thus published during this time), or is it the norm now for applicants to already have publications? My name is on one publication, but it was more so due to the generosity of the PI than anything else. The paper was based on the work I did, but heck I was a high school student, I hadn't even taken AP Biology yet lol. I'm currently at a lab now and is *trying* to work towards publishing something (we have mounds of data that just needs to be extracted and published), but my main job is still to be a research ASSISTANT, not a graduate student. Am I missing something here? P.S. sorry for saying publish/publication in every sentence.

I just took my GRE and I didn't see any of the new test questions. I didn't get an unidentified experimental section either. Whoever is telling you that those questions count probably haven't even taken the GREs yet, don't worry. If you're taking yours before Fall 2011, just concentrate on the current test questions. Even if you see them on the test, they're more than likely the "unidentified testing section".