Letter to world class Grad Schools From a desperate person

[christophermccandless]

Good morning America,

 

I hope you'll read my email with much attention, 2 minutes of your time means years of my life, it’s not a complaint, it’s just an experience sharing which is very important for every academic institution.

 

I'm in master degree at a university somewhere in the forgotten side of the world and my dream is or was to get in such a top of the world university as yours in a PhD Program, but let's be honest it's just a dream, and with all the brilliant and perfect applications you get from the best brains from the greatest universities from all around the world my application won't even be considered despite I have a good score in GRE which puts me in the 95 percentile and also in TOEFL.

 

But those were the only good points in my portfolio the sides that I can control let’s discuss the weaknesses, the sides that are out of my contol.

 

GPA

 

my GPA is far below your minimum which is 3.0 I've around 2.4 and it's the case of all my classmates and in university in general the best GPA is 2.6 not because student aren't good but because it's the tradition of professors here maybe to maintain the quota of students who get the degree every year to not increase the unemployment rate in the country, and I'm quite sure that those grads don’t show our real intellectual level.

Universities here give only one copy of official transcripts no more and not in english so a student here can send the official ones.

 

Letters of recommendation

 

Okay you say that recommendation letters can compensate the weakness of the GPA, but seriously, how can it be true if the recommender himself might not be accepted if he applies to your program because all his degrees are not from what they call well “standing universities” of Europe or north America so practically he isn’t really a recognized academic who has an estimable opinion that can make you not consider the weakness of the marks.

And also what if the professors are not english speakers so they refuse to write letters of recommendations most of time I guess to hide their English problems.

 

Application fee

 

Some countries don’t have credit card option to pay in a foreign country so you have to think about a substitute.

 

University Ranking

 

My university’s ranking is around 6.000 so how realistic is expecting to compete with student from top 30 universities for 10 or less full funded places and if you don’t recognize its quality of education you have to not recognize its grading credibility so a student with a 1.5 GPA can be better than a 2.5

 

Writing Sample

 

Some Universities request a writing sample it’s a positive side and for desperate cases like mine it’s a good thing as it gives me a very little chance to expand the attractiveness of my portfolio even if it won’t be sufficient to enter in contest with others who have the “luck” to get transcripts with high grads from highly ranked schools

 

In shade of all this painful facts I thought that maybe I have to complete à PHD in my home country to have a little hope to get in a second PhD program in your University, it’s hard but I couldn’t give up and let down my dream easily, till I asked my cousin who just finished his PHD in finance at Duke University with a full fellowship because he had the luck to be born and raised in USA, and his undergraduate GPA was 3.8 but I know people with much more brilliance but who would never get accepted in Duke only because they have a 2.1 GPA and were graduated from low ranked university, back to my cousin who told me that “ it’s hard to get in a full financed PhD if you already have one because in the point of view of universities it’s pointless to get a second PhD and it’s better to give the chance to a new student who never got it” it was the kiss of death for all my dreams. Also my Puerto Rican friend who’s now in a PhD program at University of Berkley was asking me to help her on her essays in “public choice” so I translated an essay I already presented in here, and her professors gave her very good grads the while I got for the same essay in here 11/20 (2.2) and she asked me to apply for one of the good PhD programs in USA but she didn’t know that the essay that was awarded with an A in Berkley had a C in here.

Now and the while I’m writhing this email a person is next to me got his bachelor from University of Central Florida economics department, with a 3.75 grade and said that he’s preparing himself to get in some good university but his knowledge in economics and his background of mathematics is really low but in fact his GPA in those subjects is good maybe he’ll get a lower GRE but still in better position than me, UCF is recognized, good GPA, good letters of recommendations from professors who’re also recognized, a credit card to pay his application fee, The typical Road for the glory and full funded PhD.

 

So I finally woke up and realized that I can’t get in a top PhD program with my master degree nor with my future PhD.

 

Thank you for reading this, I don’t complain or criticize about your policy your university is such a universal treasure and one of the most credible in the world and I know that the admission must be equal for all the applicants it can’t be equitable and you can’t satisfy the whole world, but if I could never send an application as an applicant it’s still a honor for me to send a mail as a fan of the high quality and top of the world academic institution that you are.

 

[nugget]

Could you ask your professors to comment on how well you did compared to the rest of the class to give the admissions committees a sense of how strong you are as a student?

 

If your profs aren't comfortable writing the letter in English you could always have a professional translator do a translation of it for you.

 

If you look on the international thread of this forum you will find a post written from a german student with a similar problem. She managed to get into a US grad program by having all of her references explain that she was one of the top students in her class (even if she did not end up with an A, because A's are not typically given in Germany).

 

If worst comes to worst, you could always try to do a one year online program from the US to prove your academic abilities before applying to graduate studies.

 

You may also want to consider other countries such as Canada, Australia and England. There are other countries out there apart from the US that have great schools. You may find that they are more helpful in facilitating international applicants during the application process.

Edited July 24, 2013 by jenste

[nugget]

Read the message posted by Arcanen on June 20....

 

[sarab]

I really hope you are not sending this letter to them if you want them to consider you for their programs regardless of your problems because there are things here that you can definitely overcome.

 

First, you can get certified translations for both the transcripts and the letters of recommendation. You may need to check with the university about specific guidelines regarding this, but it can usually be done. Second, they are not asking for the recommenders to be qualified to enter their program; they are asking for letters of people who can attest to your qualifications. Third, are the universities you're applying to really considering your university rank? Usually they will take into account your personal qualifications and achievements, not the ones of your university. Plenty of people who attended low ranking universities have been accepted into high ranking programs. Also, regarding your writing sample, you don't need to explain to them that that is a good thing for them to have because they know that already, and that's why they require it. Lastly, you don't need to compare yourself to others and explain how some do well in some cases and some don't in others.

 

I encourage you to pursue your dreams of going to graduate school in the U.S. Maybe consider universities that aren't so high-ranking, but you can definitely do it. You can explain in your CV your university's average GPA. For example:

University of Ibiza (or whatever) GPA: 2.4/4 (University average 2.6).

 

Also, you can write on your statement of purpose that you have been able to get a degree in a country that is struggling with unemployment which has affected how grades are given at your university. Make your experiences into something positive and something that will make you stand out. Avoid writing contractions (such as isn't or don't and write is not and do not).

 

Lastly, email the admissions office and ask if they receive alternative methods of payment for the application fee.