Advice for fall 2011

[nominalvorp]

Hi all,

I'm a senior at a mid-level (think top 50) liberal arts institution. Here are my numbers:

3.4 GPA

3.6 in History

590V/580Q/5.5W on GRE

My GPA is dragged down by a freshman year in which I missed three full weeks during spring term due to athletics. In any case, I'm a candidate in the Honors program, which includes a primary-source undergraduate thesis of about 120 pages. My primary interest is modern Britain, and specifically domestic conceptions of the Empire during the interwar period. I've got strong letters of recommendation, plan on working very hard on my SOP, and have a quality writing sample based on a primary source.

I am focused on going straight for the PhD, but understand if I must do an MA program to bolster my credibility.

My list is as follows:

BC

Vanderbilt

Indiana

NYU

Carleton U (possible MA backup plan)

Am I applying to schools out of my range? Am I a lost cause due to a middling GPA? The department at my school is very small, and class sizes are often between 12-17. And the majority of my classes have been with professors who do not give out A's very often, if ever.

Anyhow, thanks in advance!

[Riotbeard]

In general, you are in decent standing. Your GPA is a little low but probably fine. Your list of schools is incredibly competitive though. The one thing is you may want to retake the GRE. Their is a fairly accepted theory that a lot of grad schools have a GRE cut off and your score may be a little low. Talk to your advisor, but I think with a good SOP and writing sample you would be fine as long as you make the GRE cut off.

[nominalvorp]

In general, you are in decent standing. Your GPA is a little low but probably fine. Your list of schools is incredibly competitive though. The one thing is you may want to retake the GRE. Their is a fairly accepted theory that a lot of grad schools have a GRE cut off and your score may be a little low. Talk to your advisor, but I think with a good SOP and writing sample you would be fine as long as you make the GRE cut off.

I guess it's difficult finding any schools that aren't incredibly competitive.

Not that I want that. Certainly not.

[TMP]

I would certainly try to expand to another 2 or 3 schools if you can. It's a buyer's market out there.

At this point for you, it's all by pure chance/luck. Just pray hard. Also, your LOR writers would certainly mention something if they're tough graders to put your GPA in context(I know one of mine did for a past recommendation). And what different does it make if your classes are small? Professors got to know you better that way.

Most importantly, stay positive and confident (enjoy your senior year). At the same time, I do want you to be mindful that you should keep your eyes wide open for other interesting and fun options and sometimes those deadlines are between January and March and I'd hate to see you get shut out just because you were putting all of your eggs in one basket in hopes of getting into a PhD program in terms of future planning. I made that huge mistake last year and by the time the dust settled with PhD programs on April 16th, I had missed all the deadlines for "gap year" opportunities and had to deal with the crummy job market for a while.

[nominalvorp]

I would certainly try to expand to another 2 or 3 schools if you can. It's a buyer's market out there.

At this point for you, it's all by pure chance/luck. Just pray hard. Also, your LOR writers would certainly mention something if they're tough graders to put your GPA in context(I know one of mine did for a past recommendation). And what different does it make if your classes are small? Professors got to know you better that way.

Most importantly, stay positive and confident (enjoy your senior year). At the same time, I do want you to be mindful that you should keep your eyes wide open for other interesting and fun options and sometimes those deadlines are between January and March and I'd hate to see you get shut out just because you were putting all of your eggs in one basket in hopes of getting into a PhD program in terms of future planning. I made that huge mistake last year and by the time the dust settled with PhD programs on April 16th, I had missed all the deadlines for "gap year" opportunities and had to deal with the crummy job market for a while.

That's really thoughtful advice, tmp. Much appreciated.

Another aspect of this that's been difficult is that I feel my CV will be so much stronger by April or May. At the moment, it's rather bare, but there are some institutional honors I may receive in that time-frame. However superficial that may seem (and however meaningless it might be to a committee reviewing my application), it would give me that all-important confidence.