Megan Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 (edited) Your response to my post seems to suggest that I think GRE performance should be the sole criterion. The need for standardized tests seems pretty incontrovertible to me - there is simply not the capacity to scrutinize all applications in detail, so the number needs to be whittled down - and the GRE is, to my knowledge, the best way to do this. That was not at all the intention of my response, as I definitely didn't read that in yours. My opinion, and this has always been my opinion of standardized tests, is that IF you consider all other aspects of an application, the GRE score should be mostly irrelevent. I think this would be true if adcoms could fully and deeply read every application, but they can't. I think it's too bad that the GRE sometimes eliminates candidates completely (or mostly) from consideration, who might have been competetive except for low scores. I get that this is how it has to be for the moment, though. Initially, this was about whether the GRE was unfair for international students, and I think that it is. I think that the GRE is unfair in general, but I accept that it is a reality as I said previously. What I also think, however, is that for international students there is an even greater likelihood that the GRE will underrepresent their actual abilities, and therefor it provides a somewhat unfair disadvantage for those applicants. Maybe I'm wrong though. I'm not a non-native English speaker, and many of the non-natives on this thread seem to find the test completely fair to them. They are probably really much better judges of this than I am. Edited February 9, 2012 by Megan
blaspheming Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 This sure feels like a typical detailed seminar discussion
non humilis mulier Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 Does anyone else feel like today is a super lame day on grad cafe? Why are there no notifications!!! #soimpatient saltlakecity2012 1
non humilis mulier Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 Lol. Is it acceptable to use hash tags on grad cafe? wuerzburg 1
brent09 Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 Lol. Is it acceptable to use hash tags on grad cafe? #yes.
PoliSci27 Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 Does anyone else feel like today is a super lame day on grad cafe? Why are there no notifications!!! #soimpatient I had been thinking that today would be busy. Maybe tomorrow...
non humilis mulier Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 (edited) Lol. To which question? #doubleentendre #ineedtostopobsessing Edited February 9, 2012 by non humilis mulier
non humilis mulier Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 I had been thinking that today would be busy. Maybe tomorrow... They're obviously deliberating now, deciding if they should give us 25 k or 30k stipends. CooCooCachoo 1
iwouldpreferanonymity Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 A UCSD acceptance has been posted. Would anyone like to claim that? I now wait with much anxiety for UCSD, Northwestern, and Pitt. I would not mind so much being rejected at each of those schools, but I would very much like to know one way or another. If only schools notified en masse . . .
ohsnap Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 Does anyone else feel like today is a super lame day on grad cafe? Why are there no notifications!!! #soimpatient Yes. I definitely thought that today would be another day full of notifications. Maybe tomorrow will be more eventful. Alternatively, everyone could be making decisions over lunch, which would make the afternoon much less lame. At this point, I'm more hoping for good news for friends than anything else. I feel guilty for saying that I wanted options earlier in the thread. #friendsdeserveoptionstoo #guilt #fingerscrossed AuldReekie 1
non humilis mulier Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 Yes. I definitely thought that today would be another day full of notifications. Maybe tomorrow will be more eventful. Alternatively, everyone could be making decisions over lunch, which would make the afternoon much less lame. At this point, I'm more hoping for good news for friends than anything else. I feel guilty for saying that I wanted options earlier in the thread. #friendsdeserveoptionstoo #guilt #fingerscrossed don't feel guilty! #youdeserveit
saltlakecity2012 Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 A UCSD acceptance has been posted. Would anyone like to claim that? I now wait with much anxiety for UCSD, Northwestern, and Pitt. I would not mind so much being rejected at each of those schools, but I would very much like to know one way or another. If only schools notified en masse . . . I claim the UCSD posting. I just got an email from the head of graduate studies - no update on the website and no info on funding yet. Yay for San Diego weather, at least for the visiting weekend!
kolja00 Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 I claim the UCSD posting. I just got an email from the head of graduate studies - no update on the website and no info on funding yet. Yay for San Diego weather, at least for the visiting weekend! Congrats! My one regret is not applying there. Seems like an awesome program.
iwouldpreferanonymity Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 I claim the UCSD posting. I just got an email from the head of graduate studies - no update on the website and no info on funding yet. Yay for San Diego weather, at least for the visiting weekend! Congratulations!
wuerzburg Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 Anybody want to claim UNC? Group DSG email or personal POI email?
grantman Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 I claim the UCSD posting. I just got an email from the head of graduate studies - no update on the website and no info on funding yet. Yay for San Diego weather, at least for the visiting weekend! Congrats, that is an awesome program!
saltlakecity2012 Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 (edited) Also, just found this - ranking of global poli sci institutions based on "impact" of research, essentially. http://www.political...pdf/psr/hix.pdf Edit: Thank you! I'm excited to check it out, I think it's a great fit with my interests. Edited February 9, 2012 by tergellian
hiphopopotamus Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 Funding info out from Duke. Full funding for five years, $20,950 stipend for the academic year, fees and health insurance premium covered, but no mention of guaranteed funding for any summer.
brent09 Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 I can claim UNC. Can't tell if it's a mass e-mail or not. Not from my POI. CooCooCachoo 1
blackcoffee64 Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 Also, just found this - ranking of global poli sci institutions based on "impact" of research, essentially. http://www.political...pdf/psr/hix.pdf Edit: Thank you! I'm excited to check it out, I think it's a great fit with my interests. #congrats #poundsign ## (see what I did there?)
grantman Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 I can claim UNC. Can't tell if it's a mass e-mail or not. Not from my POI. Congrats! On another note, a Pitt reject came up on the results page, I am getting close to a full blown panic attack.
orst11 Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 I claim the rejection from Pitt. I tried to at least add a comment for those wondering about them. Best of luck to all of those still waiting on them, it's a solid program.
erobson Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 Long time lurker, first time poster. I can confirm acceptance from UCSD. My subfield is IR with a secondary focus in methods. CooCooCachoo 1
saltlakecity2012 Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 Oh yeah - I'm comparative with a focus on comp pol econ and IPE.
bauhaus Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 That was not at all the intention of my response, as I definitely didn't read that in yours. My opinion, and this has always been my opinion of standardized tests, is that IF you consider all other aspects of an application, the GRE score should be mostly irrelevent. I think this would be true if adcoms could fully and deeply read every application, but they can't. I think it's too bad that the GRE sometimes eliminates candidates completely (or mostly) from consideration, who might have been competetive except for low scores. I get that this is how it has to be for the moment, though. Initially, this was about whether the GRE was unfair for international students, and I think that it is. I think that the GRE is unfair in general, but I accept that it is a reality as I said previously. What I also think, however, is that for international students there is an even greater likelihood that the GRE will underrepresent their actual abilities, and therefor it provides a somewhat unfair disadvantage for those applicants. Maybe I'm wrong though. I'm not a non-native English speaker, and many of the non-natives on this thread seem to find the test completely fair to them. They are probably really much better judges of this than I am. Allright, sorry for getting stuck with this, but the schools i applied to are not making any progress as it seems. So. My problem with using the GRE Verbal as ANY kind of criterium is that it measure entirely different abilities across natives and non-natives. I am kinda ok with speaking and writing in English (and guess I d be pretty much ok after 5 years of grad study in the US) but learning hundreds of word that you d learn at some point anyway seemed pointless. I think native speakers would be a bit more symphatetic if they we re to learn the kind of "GRE-words" in another language. As for the interview: I am scared because i graduated from an international school in the summer and since then I had no opportunity to speak English daily. Thats why i feel uncomfortable with the scenario that i ll need to convince faculty members that i am cool. My point is that the "language skills" needed for an academic job (like talking eloquently in a stressful situation) are very easy during grad studies in the US and very hard before it.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now