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Verbal GRE scores in 90 percentile (not 95), international applicant to Columbia English and Comparative Literateure


CrP

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Hello. I'm freaking out a little bit, so it would be really helpful if someone with relevant knowledge could help me. 

I'm a foreign student (and non-native English speaker) applying to Columbia's graduate program in English and Comparative Literature. I just sat the GRE and got 162 (91 percentile) for the verbal section (my quant score was 159, but I have read that's basically irrelevant, right?). The program's website states that successful candidates "trained in the U.S" have "almost always" verbal scores in the 95 percentile. As previously stated, I'm not a U.S. trained applicant; however, I'm freaking out that not having reached the 95 percentile would disqualify me from such a competitive program. Have any of you have or know of someone admitted to that program with verbal scores below the 95 percentile?

This is my first choice and my dream program and I want to be realistic about my chances, which I might have overestimated. I have a GPA equivalent to 4.0/4.0 both from my alma mater (which is not a top university, but the best one from my country and one of the five best from Latin America/Spain, and certainly recognized worldwide), as well as the highest grades possible from a semester abroad at a top university in the UK. I have relevant work experience, (non-academic) publications, merit-based scholarships, academic translations published by one of the most important publishing houses of the Spanish-speaking world, very strong recommendation letters from professors from the two universities I attended, and I strongly believe I'm a good fit (I also think my SOP clearly illustrates that).

I'm I delusional or I might have a chance even with the subpar GRE scores?

Thank you in advance!

 

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I believe that as long as your SOP is super solid (like no grammar, spelling errors etc especially since you are a non-native english speaker) and your LoR writers can vouch for your writing abilities in English, you should not have a problem. Focus on these things you can control for now :)

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On 11/3/2018 at 7:09 AM, loffire said:

I believe that as long as your SOP is super solid (like no grammar, spelling errors etc especially since you are a non-native english speaker) and your LoR writers can vouch for your writing abilities in English, you should not have a problem. Focus on these things you can control for now :)

Thanks! :)

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