Chances Please!

[Karajan]

Hello!

I am a new user and just wanted to see what your opinions are on my chances for my applications. Thanks in advance for the help!

About me (briefly): I am 20 years old and currently live near Anchorage, Alaska.

Undergraduate Institution: Ivy League

Major: Music History and Theory

* N.B.: I also have an undergraduate degree in music performance from a conservatory.

I will be an MSt student at Oxford University in the autumn.

CGPA: 3.61

Major GPA: 3.7

GRE: V-740, M-690

Publications: One article -- it is in a top peer-reviewed journal; three more articles will be submitted before the autumn is over and will hopefully be accepted.

Research: Three intensive research projects as an undergraduate; two major projects will be undertaken at Oxford.

Languages: German, French and Italian -- fluent reading/translating.

References: Six very strong letters -- Each is from the world's leader in his respective field.

Awards: Two fellowships from Oxford (full funding granted); fellowship from my undergraduate institution; all undergraduate awards in music available at my university (thesis award, two performance awards, travel and research grants).

Applying to: Berkeley, Harvard, Chicago, Yale, Princeton, Penn, Columbia, Stanford, UCLA, Michigan, Indiana, Cornell, NYU, Northwestern.

(I know that my list is long; it will probably change)

Fit: There are professors at each of these schools whose research interests fit with mine, but, of course, some schools are better fits than others.

Thanks again for the input.

Edited July 7, 2011 by Karajan

[Mal83]

Hello!

I am a new user and just wanted to see what your opinions are on my chances for my applications. Thanks in advance for the help!

Undergraduate Institution: Ivy League

Major: Music History and Theory

* N.B.: I also have an undergraduate degree in music performance from a conservatory.

I will be an MSt student at Oxford University in the autumn.

CGPA: 3.61

Major GPA: 3.7

GRE: V-740, M-690

Publications: One article -- it is in a top peer-reviewed journal; three more articles will be submitted before the autumn is over and will hopefully be accepted.

Research: Three intensive research projects as an undergraduate; two major projects will be undertaken at Oxford.

References: Six very strong letters -- Each is from the world's leader in his respective field.

Awards: Two fellowships from Oxford (full funding granted); fellowship from my undergraduate institution; all undergraduate awards in music available at my university (thesis award, two performance awards, travel and research grants).

Applying to: Berkeley, Harvard, Chicago, Yale, Princeton, Penn, Columbia, Stanford, UCLA, Michigan, Indiana, Cornell, NYU, Northwestern.

(I know that my list is long; it will probably change)

Fit: There are professors at each of these schools whose research interests fit with mine, but, of course, some schools are better fits than others.

Thanks again for the input.

If you don't have a chance then no one does.

[We regret to inform you]

posts like this make me want to throw up.

hey guys! look at me, i'm amazing in everything! do i stand a chance at these great schools?

also, it would make more sense to post this in a forum of already accepted students. that way, some students who got into those schools could tell you about their application numbers. honestly, what could students in the same stage of the game as you have to add to this? none of us have been accepted yet, if we're posting on this particular board.

Edited July 7, 2011 by We regret to inform you

[zernike]

you just did every excellent job! GOOD LUCK！

[Karajan]

posts like this make me want to throw up.

hey guys! look at me, i'm amazing in everything! do i stand a chance at these great schools?

This is extremely rude.

also, it would make more sense to post this in a forum of already accepted students. that way, some students who got into those schools could tell you about their application numbers. honestly, what could students in the same stage of the game as you have to add to this? none of us have been accepted yet, if we're posting on this particular board.

Sorry if I've posted this in the wrong part of the forum. I haven't used this forum before and I just posted were all the other chances threads were.

Thanks to others for the feedback.

[saphhire123]

I am new here... I did my BS electrical engineering with overall percentage 74.71 % . Recently I took GRE and GOT 1400 , ( Q= 770 AND V= 630 ). pLEASE SUGGEST ME , WHAT ARE MY CHANCES FOR GETTING ADMISSION TO TOP LEVEL AMERICAN SCHOOLS IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING?

[Red Bull]

This is extremely rude.

Sorry if I've posted this in the wrong part of the forum. I haven't used this forum before and I just posted were all the other chances threads were.

Thanks to others for the feedback.

I don't think the person was trying to be rude but it is pretty obvious that your chances are pretty good and that you must have some idea. You have great GPA's, excellent test scores, and you have letters from "world leaders" in their respective fields. It is obvious at a glance you have great odds at getting into the schools of your choice if the information provided is correct. If you are smart enough to be so successful then you are smart enough to realize that you are ahead of the curve, so to speak. So, why are you asking other grad students? Well, you either want to brag about your success or you get a kick out of wasting other people's time. The poster above gravitated towards the first explanation and I would have to agree with her. There are a million posts asking about the "odds" of getting in, and there is really no one on this forum that is qualified to answer the question. Most grad students are surprised both by the schools that reject and accept them. If you are still with me then here is my advice: if you are truly worried about your chances getting into programs then make contact with the people running the departments. Schedule a school visit and talk to students and staff. Check out the library, talk to your current professors, and email those in each program. You will get a feel for which schools you are a better "fit" for. You can have the best scores and grades in the world and still not be a good fit for any particular department.

[Mal83]

I am new here... I did my BS electrical engineering with overall percentage 74.71 % . Recently I took GRE and GOT 1400 , ( Q= 770 AND V= 630 ). pLEASE SUGGEST ME , WHAT ARE MY CHANCES FOR GETTING ADMISSION TO TOP LEVEL AMERICAN SCHOOLS IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING?

seriously?? First, this is not meant to be rude but just honest, you can't give us a GRE score and "74.71%" (which to me is meaningless...is that good?) and expect anyone here to give you honest feedback about your chances because American schools use a different scale for GPA (grade point average) measurement. Secondly, someone specifically created this thread to talk about their chances, not everyone else's. Also, whenever people post like this, it just seems like they want other people to do the work for them or that you're not even close to being invested in the process. If you have internet access you can look up the programs you're interested in and find the requirements and statistics regarding these schools and programs on their websites. By doing your own research you get a good feel for your chances. If you have some serious concerns about your qualifications for the programs of your choice you can certainly describe them here and you would get some honest feedback from people who have had similar circumstances or can advise you on that specific issue. But you won't get anywhere by saying "this is my GPA, and this is my GRE score, will I get into a top school in America?" A graduate school application is a package that represents you and each part is weighed differently by every program. How could anyone possibly know what your chances are based on the tiny bit of information you provided? Many people who regularly come to this forum after they have been accepted into graduate school take advising others who are in the process or about to start applying very seriously because we've been through it and know how hard it can be. So if you are actually serious about seeking advice here you need to provide more information because if it seems like you haven't put any real thought into it then there's nothing really to respond to...if and when you're ready to do that I'm sure you'll get some real feedback instead of just negative votes.

Edited July 11, 2011 by Mal83

[Karajan]

I don't think the person was trying to be rude but it is pretty obvious that your chances are pretty good and that you must have some idea. You have great GPA's, excellent test scores, and you have letters from "world leaders" in their respective fields. It is obvious at a glance you have great odds at getting into the schools of your choice if the information provided is correct. If you are smart enough to be so successful then you are smart enough to realize that you are ahead of the curve, so to speak. So, why are you asking other grad students? Well, you either want to brag about your success or you get a kick out of wasting other people's time. The poster above gravitated towards the first explanation and I would have to agree with her. There are a million posts asking about the "odds" of getting in, and there is really no one on this forum that is qualified to answer the question. Most grad students are surprised both by the schools that reject and accept them. If you are still with me then here is my advice: if you are truly worried about your chances getting into programs then make contact with the people running the departments. Schedule a school visit and talk to students and staff. Check out the library, talk to your current professors, and email those in each program. You will get a feel for which schools you are a better "fit" for. You can have the best scores and grades in the world and still not be a good fit for any particular department.

I understand exactly what you are saying (although, I still do think that earlier post was rude). I am neither trying to brag nor trying to waste others' time. As you mentioned, no one on this forum is qualified to tell anyone else their "odds" of getting into a school -- That includes people who post their own statistics. I don't really know how I stack up against other people who are applying to grad school in my field, because I don't know what other people's statistics are. I don't know if other people are applying with perfect scores in everything and multiple publications, etc...

Thank you for your advice in the second part of your post.

[Strangefox]

I understand exactly what you are saying (although, I still do think that earlier post was rude). I am neither trying to brag nor trying to waste others' time. As you mentioned, no one on this forum is qualified to tell anyone else their "odds" of getting into a school -- That includes people who post their own statistics. I don't really know how I stack up against other people who are applying to grad school in my field, because I don't know what other people's statistics are. I don't know if other people are applying with perfect scores in everything and multiple publications, etc...

Thank you for your advice in the second part of your post.

If you want to know other people's stats you can go to websites of schools you want to apply to and see stats there. They often post stats of students they have accepted. If you don't find this info, try to contact grad secretaries and ask them where you can find it.

I think your stats are great so you will not have problems applying - unless you apply to schools with bad fit. As the other poster has written, fit is far more important than stats. To find if a school is a good fit for you you should read carefully all info about the program, read about profs there, see if there is somebody who can be your advisor. Then you can try contacting this person (these persons), tell them about your research interests/projects that you have in mind and ask them if they will be taking grad students next year.

Good luck!

[Karajan]

If you want to know other people's stats you can go to websites of schools you want to apply to and see stats there. They often post stats of students they have accepted. If you don't find this info, try to contact grad secretaries and ask them where you can find it.

I think your stats are great so you will not have problems applying - unless you apply to schools with bad fit. As the other poster has written, fit is far more important than stats. To find if a school is a good fit for you you should read carefully all info about the program, read about profs there, see if there is somebody who can be your advisor. Then you can try contacting this person (these persons), tell them about your research interests/projects that you have in mind and ask them if they will be taking grad students next year.

Good luck!

Cool -- Thanks! I will try that.