iowaguy

Not to sound like an a#@, but it probably depends on how well you do on your interview, no? Think of your grad school interview the same way you would think of a job interview. They wouldn't invite you for an interview if they weren't serious about you, yet if you don't do well on the interview you might not get the job...

+1 on the research. Plus, if you rock the GRE (you have plenty of time to study since you're only a junior) that should offset your low-ish GPA. Good luck!

Not if you're applying to a school that requires the GRE (most good ones do). Here's why I think schools use the GRE, besides the point that it's an independent equalizer for GPA's (which as stated above are hard to compare across multiple universities). Let's say you're on the adcom of a top program that receives hundreds of applicants. Would you rather scrutinize every single application, utilizing lots of (high-priced) professor time in the process? Or would you like to find a way to significantly cut down the pile of applications that you have to review? Let's say your a quant-heavy program. You can cut 1/2 to 3/4 of your pile right from the get-go by setting a minimum Q score. Same concept goes for a literature/English-heavy program, they can set a minimum V score. And, if you're getting lots of international applicants (in some programs over half the applicants are international), you can set a minimum V and/or AW score to weed out those who don't know English very well (I realize the TOEFL does this to a certain extent, but the GRE would be a 2nd "check" on their English ability). Just some food for thought... In the end I just tried to accept the fact that I had to play ETS's little "game" in order to be a top applicant to PhD programs. Then I studied hard for several months so that I could rock the test. I do find it interesting that some prospective graduate students will work hard for 4 years for a good GPA, yet will only work hard for a few weeks for a good GRE?!?

OK, let me ask this another way. You said when you've taken practice tests that you've had several minutes to spare at the end of the test (yet, you're getting half of the problems wrong). When you get "done" with a Q section, do you feel like you've missed half of the questions? Or do you think that you mostly got them right? I don't understand how you can complete the Q section fairly quickly yet get half wrong? Many people who struggle with low Q scores have trouble getting all of the questions completed, or feel rushed at the end...

IMHO, if you submit 3 LOR's and none are from a professor, that's going to raise a red flag with the admissions committee...

Anyone applying for a PhD at Cornell BEE and want to communicate via PM about notification details? Shoot me a PM if you're interested... Thanks!

In my field, with most programs you won't get accepted unless a professor "sponsors" your application (basically means you'll be his/her RA). Unless you're coming with your own funding (fellowship, self-funded, etc) in which case probably not as big of a deal since you're "free"...

I took the test 10 years ago and got a Q800, took it this fall and got Q168. I just reviewed all the concepts real thoroughly and did a lot of practice tests (even just a smaller section at a time, but under timed conditions). I have always been a good standardized test taker. If you're able to get 16/17 correct out of 20 while practicing, why don't you think you can score that on the Powerprep test? (that would be a Q of 162 assuming you got 16 correct on each section) If you're doing that well with the content fresh on your mind but then only get 10 correct during an entire practice test, maybe it's something about the test itself that is throwing you off? Fatigue? Nerves? I would just keep practicing, trying to study the areas you think you're weakest in. Study close to bedtime so that the concepts really sink in (that works for me, anyway). Best of luck!

Sounds like time is not an issue, that's good. Do you have the Manhattan books on Algebra and Number Properties? I would think going through all of those practice questions in those 2 books would get you up to speed... Another point to consider, are you missing most of your problems on the "quantitative comparisons", "multiple-choice", "numeric entry", or "data interpretation"? The strategy for quantitative comparisons, for example, is quite different from multiple choice... http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/about/content/quantitative_reasoning Have you done the 2 ETS computer-based Powerprep tests yet?

Have you tried emailing him? Profs will generally shoot you straight as to whether they're taking on new grad students...

You're missing somewhere around 20 questions out of 40 total, i.e. you're only getting about half of them right (you could probably get 8 or 10 questions right just by guessing alone). What Q areas are you struggling in? Are you able to finish all of the questions in time without feeling "rushed"? How many times in a Q section do you find yourself using the calculator? I would slow down a bit and really analyze where you're having problems. Geometry concepts? Algebra concepts? Number properties? Probability/statistics?

I personally would not do a PhD unless it was fully-funded. If that ends up being your final offer I would decline it & reapply to your top schools again next year. 25% assistantship means you will either be taking out loans (more cash flow stress when you graduate) or that you will have to find employment on the side (which means your PhD will probably take longer to complete since less time for research, more opportunity cost & stress that way). Once you hear back from other schools (if you don't get a better offer) you could just shoot them straight that you need a fully-funded assistantship or else it doesn't pencil out for you...

Can a POI be "too old"? I'm considering working with a POI who is in her mid/upper-60's. Very good fit between our research interests... But would her age concern you if you were in my shoes? i.e. she might retire sometime during my 5 years of a PhD program (although she hasn't mentioned this and she is still taking on new PhD students), she might not be motivated to continue publishing as she gets later in life, might be harder to get a LOR from her down the road if she retires, etc. Thoughts? Thanks!

Is this for M.S. or Ph.D.?

I personally would not mention another scholar at a different U. The first thought that's going to come to the adcom's mind is "if he/she likes this scholar so much, he/she is probably their first choice of a POI." When reading your SOP, the university you're applying to should feel like they are your first choice... Otherwise, you haven't demonstrated a good "fit" with that university and its scholars...

I botched that particular phone interview. But I learned that I need to really stress my "fit" with a particular professor. In subsequent interviews (phone & in-person) I have emphasized how their current research overlaps with my background/interests...

VBD - it seems like in our field (conservation/environmental stuff) there is quite a bit of overlap and general fuzziness of where one discipline starts and another begins. Here is what my old MS advisor had to say about the dilemma of which program to choose when a given POI is affiliated with multiple programs: "Unless the two programs have the same level of financial support, I always recommend that students go with the program that provides the best financial support. Usually employers don’t care about the exact title of the degree – they look at what courses you took and the topic of your dissertation. And your letter of application for a job will discuss the areas that you emphasized and relate them to the job description – so it’s not critical whether you choose x or y. But it is critical that you get the best support that you can." However, in your case where you would be taking some "core" classes outside your interest/expertise, I would personally start to get concerned. You would, of course, be expected to do well on those courses and material from those courses would likely show up on your qualifying exams (since they're "core" classes). And not having a backup POI could potentially be an issue. Maybe you can feel out your POI during your phone conversation to see what the pros/cons are of choosing program x, y, or z (beyond the competitiveness of the application process)...

Make sure to read some previous publications from the POI's in your department. If you can show you're current on the research the department is doing it will up your odds... IMHO you really need to demonstrate a fit between your background/interests and the strengths/research of the department/POI's you're applying to.

In a phone interview I was asked by a POI "why do you want to work with me instead of the other dozens of professors in this field at other universities".

Looking at Duke's statistics for PhD admissions http://gradschool.duke.edu/about/statistics/admitallphd.htm we see that 8,171 people applied, 49% of whom were international (3,998). Which means that the remainder are domestic (4,173). For admissions, 994 were offered a spot, 34% of whom were international (335). Which means that 659 were domestic. So, 4173 domestic applicants applied, and 659 got an offer of admission (15.8% acceptance rate for domestic). On the other hand, 3,998 international students applied, and only 335 got an offer (8.4% acceptance rate for international). So, my conclusion is that it's a tougher landscape for an international student than a domestic student, for whatever reason (GRE scores, experience, language barrier, etc). At least that's what the PhD admissions statistics would imply...

If anything, international students are held to a higher standard from my understanding, at least for PhD's. Granted, international students often don't score as high in V or AWA if English is not their 1st language. But, for instance, at Duke (arguably not even as prestigious as Stanford) the PhD acceptance rate for international students is lower than for domestic students (49% of all applicants but 34% of acceptances). That would suggest to me that international students need a stronger overall "package" in order to effectively compete... This is for PhD's, for M.S. it could be different? http://gradschool.duke.edu/about/statistics/admitallphd.htm

Your AWA might be a problem (11th percentile) but, IMHO, your V of 149 is your biggest problem with a top program like Stanford. V149 = 40th percentile. The combo of your low AWA and low V might raise some red flags regarding your abilities with English. Do you know what the average percentile is for Stanford admits in your program? I would guess somewhere in the 80-90% range based on the stats I have seen for their other grad programs... Do you have time to study and re-take before your application deadline?

Better to "find yourself" on someone else's dime than by taking out student loan debt (like the OP suggested) and then possibly not like where you end up. Then, you would have some serious cash flow issues (to pay your loan payments) and possibly still not like what you're doing. With loan payments, your career choices are even more limited since you can't take just any old (lower-paying) job. The advantage of "finding yourself" before going to grad school is that it can help you achieve your career/life goals. I personally switched fields from Engineering (which I didn't like and basically went into to please my parents, big mistake in hindsight) into the Environmental Sciences via a Master's Program. In the years since my M.S. I have discovered that I enjoy this field so much that I now want to pursue a PhD. Sure you might be able to find something fulfilling in grad school, but you could probably find that in almost any life path if you are that ambivalent about your goals in career/life. Like the old saying goes: if you don't know where you're headed, any road will take you there...

I have studied vocab for the SAT and twice now for the GRE (tests 10 years apart). Flash cards are my favorite method, I reviewed nearly 5,000 words for my last GRE test and increased my verbal score by 10 percentage points over my last GRE test (from 88th percentile to 98th). If you really want to learn vocab Manhattan has 1,000 flash cards that I recommend you learn pat (500 Essential + 500 Advanced). I also did the 500 Kaplan GRE (most were also on the Manhattan but didn't hurt to see them again & in a different context), the GradFlash computer flashcard program (1,305 words), and the GRE Vocabulary Builder Flashcard Book (900 words). Again, some of these words overlapped with other flashcards, but that only helped to reinforce my learning. For "fun" I did the Vocabulary Synapse computer CD which quizzes your knowledge of 1,000 vocabulary words in context (more like you would actually see the word on the GRE). With all the flashcards the most time-consuming part is the initial pass-through. I went through each flashcard to see if I knew the word really well, without flipping it over (i.e. just looking at the word without any context). The actual GRE is going to also give you some contextual clues, so if you know the word down pat you won't have any trouble with it in its GRE context. Anyway, if I knew the word (after checking its use on the reverse side) then I put it aside never to be seen again. All the words I didn't know pat I put into a review pile. Then EVERY NIGHT right before I went to bed (that's my personal best time for retention of new knowledge) I would review a chunk of the words I didn't know. Once I knew the word pat, I removed it from the review list. This was very intimidating at first when staring at a huge pile of flashcards that I didn't know. Eventually, after 4 months of doing this, I knew every single word from all of those flash card lists. I was also reading the Economist & NY Times online to practice seeing some of these new words in context. The cool thing about learning new vocab is that (most of it) sticks with you after the test. Best of luck!