Seeking

Two of the schools on my list indicated they didn't receive the GRE scores. I wrote to GRE and they have been kind enough to immediately mail my scores again without any extra charge. I don't like the idea of GRE test itself, but I have to compliment them for their professionalism.

This is a brilliant thread - shows how creative everyone around here is! "This is the most weird application I ever came across. Is this supposed to be a joke, or is she crazy?" (I'm not crazy, nor is this is a joke. I'm serious.)

About uploading scanned transcripts vs sending official copies - it varies from school to school. Some want official hard copies - often two of each - I also came across a school that wanted three of each, some want both scanned uploaded copies and official hard copies mailed in, while some just want uploaded scanned copies and ask for official copies only if they offer admission. All the schools I applied to want only scanned uploaded copies, but I came across the other 2 kinds too during my initial schools search. One of the schools on my list doesn't even want the official tests scores reports till they make an offer - they just want the candidates to fill in the test scores online.

She can make a limited Google-Book preview kind of file, showing front and back covers, with introductory pages and few pages from the beginning, middle and end of the book. Attaching a description-page in the beginning, giving details of when, how and why the book was produced, its subject matter and the nature of readership will make the context clear to the selection committee.

If you know any professor in your discipline who is willing to comment on your research potential, your academic achievements and your potential to do graduate research in the program you are applying, this letter will serve the purpose of a 3rd recommendation. It's not necessary that you should have studied, researched or interned with them. It's better to find such a person than to submit without a 3rd reference.

I recently met one of my potential advisers - he asked me to come and see him. It was an informal meeting, but he asked me questions to gather as much information about my academic background as possible. He asked about what I had done before, why I wanted to apply for this PhD, how it was going to help me, what major questions I would explore in my research, what preparations I had in this area, about my writings, language skills and about other authors I had read in my discipline. He also advised me about some points I should discuss in my Statement of Purpose, which might make my application stronger. I don't know what prospects I have of getting selected, but I feel this discussion helped me a lot in understanding the admission process to some extent.

Happy New year Write to some professors you would like to work with in these 2 fields and also to the Department Chairs and see what kind of response you get. That will give you a fair idea of whether you should apply.

Thanks for this very sound advice! Every applicant should read it.

They will be the same scores, with percentiles mentioned. See percentiles here - http://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/concordance_information.pdf

Perhaps you can present a conference paper or publish a paper or two in the field you want to switch to. A couple of well-researched papers will enhance your chances. Of course, this means you apply in the next season.

I took my Computer-based GRE outside North America on 17th of Nov. Scores were posted online on the 24h of Nov and in a few days' there was a message saying my scores have been sent to the institutions I had selected. I haven't received a hard copy of the scores yet.

It looks like East Asia is by far the most popular region in Asian Studies. There was a time when South Asia had that honor.

See this concordance table on ets website - http://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/concordance_information.pdf

PS - Shambhavi, Even if you find places where they don't place too much emphasis on GRE score in your area of research interest - and it may be difficult to find such places, these places are not likely to have proper financial assistance for International students.

Rachel B, Thanks for your concern and advice gain. Your comment is really helpful. For some time, I have been exploring departments, even talking to the faculty to understand how the GRE score works during selection. It appears it varies from discipline to discipline and upon how large the application pool is. For example, in your discipline of Environmental Sciences, GRE score plays a major role and a person has to have a high GRE score to get admission and funding. In my subject, it plays a minor role. In Shambhavi's subject, it varies by the nature of research. More often than not, it's the disciplines using quantitative research that use GRE score seriously for selection and funding. Non-quantitative-oriented disciplines seem to make the GRE a deciding factor in cases when there is a large pool of applications. Shambhavi, The nature of your research interest suggests that GRE score would play a significant role in selection and funding. Eventhough your research interest is theoretical, it does require quantitative analysis and there would be a lot of people applying with similar or related research interests.

Shambhavi, This is what I am trying to figure out too, as you can see above. But I am in a discipline which has nothing to do with quantitative analysis. On the other hand, Sociology does have some quantitative analysis, unless you choose a topic that is purely theoretical and qualitative-analysis based. Most of my programs state clearly that GRE is not a decision-making factor, there is no minimum GRE score required and it only reflects a candidate's ability for a "standardised test." I guess the competitive programs in Sociology would regard GRE as having some weight at least. But you need to look for universities that don't ask for a minimum GRE score for Sociology and apply in some of them. If your research topic deals with quantitative analysis, GRE score would have some bearing on your selection. But if you are interested in a purely theoretical topic, which doesn't deal with quantitative analysis and can demonstrate a strong research potential, I don't feel your GRE score should deter you from applying, especially if there is no minimum GRE score requirement mentioned. If a program states a minimum GRE score requirement higher than what you've got, in that case, you should re-take the GRE if you wish to apply for such programs. Going through the various departments of different universities, this is the impression I have got.

"safe School" can mean different things to different people. In terms of admission and funding, you do have some "safe schools" on that list. But do look at the past success rate of the PhD graduates from these schools - how many of them completed their PhD, how many got a job of what kind and so on - that will give you a clearer idea of what may be a "safe school."

The person who could take school codes in was fortunate to be testing in a nice Center. At my center, we were forbidden to talk even before entering the test room, were not even allowed to look at the school codes even before entering the test room, forget about carrying the codes in on a piece of paper, had our pockets turned inside out, we were scanned with a metal detector and a surveillance camera, were not allowed anything inside except our passports, even wrist watch had to be taken off and kept in the locker, during the test, when we raised hand, it was seldom that anyone appeared, on the whole the staff was rude, hostile and most unhelpful. Two pencils and 4 sheets were provided by the staff and we could ask for more paper during the test. While selecting schools, we had a choice between 2 lists - one by school code and the other by the American States - if you forgot your School code and couldn't remember the State's name, there was no way you could select your school and the staff wouldn't help you with the list of school codes - despite a promise in advance that they were going to help us find the school codes. I do wish that they would provide the school name list apart from the code list, rather than having the US State list.

Rachel B, Thanks for your response. Funding comes along with admission offer in these programs - i.e., either you get an admission offer along with funding, or you don't get admitted.

This is a related question - all the 4 schools I'm applying to stress in clear terms that GRE is not the final decision-making factor in selection, it's a reflection of how a candidate performs on a "standardised test" and that there is no minimum cut-off GRE score required by these departments. My discipline (I'm from Arts) uses no quantitative analysis and is entirely based on qualitative research. Having said that, I am applying for 2 prestigious and 2 middle-range schools and all selected candidates are offered funding. Besides, all of them are small programs and they admit a small number of candidate in a single year. How much would the GRE scores count in the selection process in such a situation - especially if they are not high? I'd appreciate any insights. Thanks.

Done. If you have questions about why I answered certain questions the way I did, you may send me a PM at this site.

It is very legitimate for every applicant in every program to ask if they are applying to a legitimate program. But it's rather unusual to ask this if one has already got a generous funding from another world-class institution - and more unusual to not even know that this program they applied to was reorganised to be included in another centre with all info and the course work on public display on the website. I would think one would research the websites of the programs one sends one's applications to and go back to these websites a few times.

Believe me, I have 10 time your qualifications from a well-known university and I'm beginning to ask if I shouldn't start all over again because I feel I don't know much. No one knows much while beginning a Graduate programme. Only by years of training do they acquire expertise in their subject. So it's normal that you feel you don't know much - if you knew, you wouldn't be applying to Graduate School. That's what Graduate education is all about. So you should just have faith in yourself and take one step at a time. You will see the end of it with your perseverance. How you'll use it in professional situation is what you have to figure out. But a PhD in a discipline related to industry can lead many kinds of professional paths.

That's very true. If one has had an interdisciplinary education, a degree in a related social science or humanities subject can give the person insights to pursue political science or another humanities/social science subject at graduate school - that's what interdisciplinary education is all about. Sciences in most cases don't gel with humanities and social sciences - except a few disciplines such as Philosophy/History of Science or Science Policy. This is why I suggested an MA in Political Science or a PhD in Science Policy for the poster above.