Qualified for acceptance?

[frogskin]

Hello,

My fiance has applied to some top schools, Cornell, Brown, Boston U., American U., John's Hopkins and a few others, for a PhD in Sociology, or more specifically, Development Sociology. I think I am more nervous than she is while waiting for acceptance/rejection as I will need to move with her and get another job, which is not a fun thing to do in this economy. I was wondering if any of you could evaluate my fiance's general qualifications and if she has a decent chance for acceptance.

She has a BS in English from U. of Costa Rica, Latin American Studies from University of Guatemala, and International Relations from Universidad Nacional. She has a MS in Women's Studies with a 3.98 GPA from University of Cincinnati. She has some Letters of Recommendation from Prof's who are alumni of schools she applied to. She has work experience in Development at Amnesty International and she also has work experience at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. She has taught at the college level for 7 years. She has given some speeches at conventions and received a few research grants for her work in Women's Studies. She has had papers published both for work in International Relations and Women's Studies.

The only things that make me nervous are we did not have much time to put together her applications and her GRE scores are not good at all. I really hope they ask her for an interview as she will definitely earn acceptance. She wow's all professors who speak to her.

[nyghtfalls]

before i start preaching, i have to qualify this post by saying that this forum is full of people (myself included) who really don't know what the hell we are talking about half the time (though we like to be douches and think we do). none of us are on admissions committees, nor do we have PhDs, so please PLEASE do not take any one person's opinion to heart! :-) like they say, opinions are like assholes... everyone has one. okay so, having said that, let's get to mine... my opinion that is, lol.

maybe I'm just a hopeless optimist, but in my opinion, you should start packing your bags and getting ready to move, because she's BOUND to get in somewhere. Even though her background is not in Sociology all of her other awesome qualifications (i.e. Master's degree, experience in developmental projects, teaching, etc) are bound to impress admissions committees at at least one of the schools. As for the GREs... typically, for people coming from a multicultural background these scores matter a little less (a LITTLE, not a ton) but it really depends on how her GREs came out. Did she at least break 1000? If so, then I would say don't worry too too tough. If not, you might hit some challenges. Also recognize, however, that any good Sociology program realizes that the GRE has only mild explanatory power in regard to one's success in graduate... and for all intents and purposes, mild correlations alone hardly hold up (at least statistically) in the field of Sociology!

In conclusion, don't worry! With all of her qualifications, I think your fiancee has a phenomenal chance of getting in. Start packing, and report back the good news when you get it! :-)