Can anyone put my mind at ease?

[Dash]

Hello,

 

Just wondering if anyone can take a look at this posting and give me an idea of how much I should be worried, or if I'm fretting over nothing! I'm currently applying to MS Programs in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the US.

 

My background is probably pretty similar to a lot of people. I did not apply myself that hard in undergrad, and finished with a 3.08 GPA overall, 3.3 in major (Biology). However, since graduating (2010) I've held three internships and two full-time positions doing active field-based research concerning wildlife biology (mostly mammalian and amphibian). I have authored a few articles for newspapers, and currently have my first lead-author publication in prep for submission.

 

I've made lots of contacts for graduate school, and at two of the schools I'm applying to UF - Gainesville and FSU - Tallahassee, I have worked directly with faculty members who will serve as my major advisor. In both of these cases, they wrote letters for admission. Other letters came from a promiment wildlife biologist and a former boss at an environmental consulting firm.

 

Averages for the programs are around a 1200 (old GRE) and a 3.4 undergrad GPA

 

GRE Scores

Q: 145 23% (God-awful.)

V: 161 84%

AW: 5.5 96%

 

I've also had recommenders fill out the ETS PPI and have submitted fellowship applications to both NSF GRFP, NDSEQ, and EPA STAR. I am confident that the individuals who will serve as my major advisor WILL go to bat for me if need be in front of the admissions committee. I was apparently the first person to complete my application for admission (Fall 2013) to both of these programs per the grad coordinators I talked to (don't know if that has any relelvance)

 

Do I stand chance, or is it just a matter of time for rejection?

 

Thanks,

-Dash

 

 

[juilletmercredi]

There's really no way of telling you.  Even if I was in evolutionary biology and knew about the caliber of the programs you're applying to, I don't know the other applicants' packages, nor do I know the content of your letters of recommendation or your statement of purpose.  It may be that your research is so great, and fits so well with the program, that your 3.08 GPA and that low quant score is overlooked and they admit you.  Or maybe everyone else in your application cohort is a superstar and you don't get admitted (and wouldn't even if your GRE score was higher).

 

Being the first person to complete the application package doesn't matter; the committee cares about the credentials in it.  Often they don't even know who was first, because the departmental administrator assembles the materials for them and gives it to them.  If you are confident that professors in the department will go to bat for you, then that's a powerful thing (although I am curious as to how - do you know them personally, have you worked with them before?)

 

Do you stand a chance?  Yes.  Will us telling you on the Internet assuage your fears?  Not really, because we don't really know.  I say this genuinely - take up something else you can do to get your mind off the worry.  Read books, play video games, go shopping, take up running or something…something…that can distract you from the anxiety!