Profile Evaluation Please!

[nivy25]

Hi everyone! I’m new here and I’m incredibly anxious about my applications that I submitted. I was hoping to get some of your two cents on if you think I could possibly get in to any school that I’ve applied to! 
Here’s a quick overview of my profile:

Bachelors: SUNY Oswego, New York

GPA: 3.89 

GRE: Verbal 161, Quants 160, AWA 5

Born in Mumbai, India (so I’ll be an international student).

Experience:

Political Science Honors

TA in International Law for a Semester

I built good professional relationships with some of my professors so I’m not too worried about my letters. 
I’m applying for a PhD with a concentration in IR. My undergrad majors were Poli Sci, Global Studies and a minor in Philosophy.

List of schools I applied to:

1. UC San Diego

2. U Chicago

3. University of Illinois UC

4. Ohio State

5. U Michigan Ann Arbor

6. UC Davis

7. Northwestern

8. Emory

9. UW Madison

10. Yale

11. UT Austin

I might send in my applications to Vanderbilt and Penn State as well. I’m not sure how good the program at Rice is (any opinions on that are welcome as well)

Let me know what you think! 

[StarkDark1]

I think you have a good shot in UCSD, Illinois, Ohio State, UC Davis, and maybe UW Madison.

The others (Yale, U Chicago, Northwestern, etc.) are hard to get into for anyone.  Your Verbal GRE score is on the lower end for this tier IMO (the average is around 164-165), but 161 isn't bad, and it won't automatically disqualify you.  

[Muan1]

19 minutes ago, StarkDark1 said:

I think you have a good shot in UCSD, Illinois, Ohio State, UC Davis, and maybe UW Madison.

The others (Yale, U Chicago, Northwestern, etc.) are hard to get into for anyone.  Your Verbal GRE score is on the lower end for this tier IMO (the average is around 164-165), but 161 isn't bad, and it won't automatically disqualify you.  

So if it won't automatically disqualify her, why would you bring it up? Seems unnecessary and honestly a bit condescending. OP don't worry about your GRE disqualifying you -- most programs don't even require the GRE this year, and what's more, if there is a cutoff, it would presumably be set around 160...so you're fine. 

[Muan1]

My recommendation is to stop stressing about things now: the applications are now out of your control. You've done everything you can. Get off this thread for a bit -- it'll all be fine.

[StarkDark1]

36 minutes ago, Muan1 said:

So if it won't automatically disqualify her, why would you bring it up? Seems unnecessary and honestly a bit condescending. OP don't worry about your GRE disqualifying you -- most programs don't even require the GRE this year, and what's more, if there is a cutoff, it would presumably be set around 160...so you're fine. 

OP has a strong app with their GPA and their letters.  I should have listed those positives instead jumping straight to the GRE score, which is within range, so in that sense you're right.  I apologize to the OP. 

 

Edited December 16, 2020 by StarkDark1

[nivy25]

1 hour ago, StarkDark1 said:

OP has a strong app with their GPA and their letters.  I should have listed those positives instead jumping straight to the GRE score, which is within range, so in that sense you're right.  I apologize to the OP. 

 

No don’t worry! That’s completely alright. I was almost planning on skipping the GRE since it was optional for most schools but I gave it kind of last minute. I know it’s not the greatest score, but I’m hoping that the fact that I’m an international student might help with justifying the verbal score. 
 

Thank you for telling me that I have a shot to get into at least some of them. I know that doesn’t guarantee me getting in, but it just sounds reassuring. At this point, I’m so worried that I just want to get into one school at least so I don’t have to worry about what I’ll do if I don’t get in. 
 

Also, schools like Yale/Northwestern etc. made the GRE optional this year so I’m hoping they won’t give too much importance to those scores. 
 

I think my biggest worry is that I know I am not graduating from a very prestigious school, and I know that a lot of people competing from the same spots come from great undergraduate/Masters programs. 

[nivy25]

2 hours ago, Muan1 said:

So if it won't automatically disqualify her, why would you bring it up? Seems unnecessary and honestly a bit condescending. OP don't worry about your GRE disqualifying you -- most programs don't even require the GRE this year, and what's more, if there is a cutoff, it would presumably be set around 160...so you're fine. 

Thank you! I appreciate it. I hope that they won’t give too much preference to the GRE this year anyway. As I mentioned in the other reply, at this point I don’t even care if I don’t get into most of them, as long as I just get into one or two! 

[Muan1]

8 minutes ago, nivy25 said:

Thank you! I appreciate it. I hope that they won’t give too much preference to the GRE this year anyway. As I mentioned in the other reply, at this point I don’t even care if I don’t get into most of them, as long as I just get into one or two! 

I worry that this year everything is going to be especially predictable. But I very much understand and truly empathize with your anxiety. I wish you all of the best in this application cycle. Even though this stuff is all painfully zero-sum, let's hope for good results for all of us. 

[nivy25]

16 minutes ago, Muan1 said:

I worry that this year everything is going to be especially predictable. But I very much understand and truly empathize with your anxiety. I wish you all of the best in this application cycle. Even though this stuff is all painfully zero-sum, let's hope for good results for all of us. 

Thank you! I don’t know if you’re an applicant too, but if you are, I wish you the same. If not, I still wish you luck on any future endeavours!