I think I'm finally starting to freak out now.

[Gooop]

Well, first of all, here are my vital statistics:

Institution: Illinois State University

Major/Minor: English Studies / Japanese

GPA: 3.4 Cum, 3.7 Major, 3.7 Cum (Last two years)

GRE: 630V, 640Q, 5.5 Writing

Concentration: Lit/Crit theory, Creative non-fiction (especially short stories and personal essays)

Research: Did some research on an unpublished Hemingway short story that will be credited in an article that my professor will publish

From everyone I talked to before, it seemed like I had a decent shot at getting into a good Master's program, but eight rejections later, I started doing more research, and the more I found out, the more abysmal my chances seemed at getting into the school I wanted. Now I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to improve my chances. I got rejected from NYU, Columbia, UChicago, UPenn, UIowa, WashU, Boston U. Some of the new schools I've picked for the next try that I thought were a bit more reasonable are Penn State, Sarah Lawrence, Pitt, U Washington, Miami Ohio, Oregon, Mizzou. Do I stand a chance at any of these schools? Should I be looking at lower-ranked schools? What can I do to improve my chances? I plan on taking the GRE again and trying to do some more research, but what else? Is my GPA really going to hurt me, especially coming from a smaller state university? Can I take classes over after graduating to improve it? So many worries, and I have no idea what to do. I have the low GPA/small UGrad institution blues, for sure. Any advice would be very much appreciated!

[pizzatime]

Your GREs and GPA don't look bad at all. From everyone I've talked to the SOP and recommendations matter as much as test scores and GPA, so make sure your recommenders are really willing and have the capacity to write a good letter. On the SOP, I think its function is to help you create a fit between yourself and a prospective school. Also do you have any work experience in the real world or through internships? A lot of programs find that to be very valuable.

I don't know anything about your interests, but were the schools you applied to really a good fit with your interests and background, or did you apply based on their US News ranking and location? (sorry to be blunt)

Finally, applying to grad school isn't a fly by night process and it takes awhile to get your act together with necessary prerequisites, recommendations, SOP; and I can't tell one way or the other if you threw your app together or have been planning it for awhile.

Also, your ug school doesn't really matter. I went to a good, not great state school and got into 3 of the 5 top programs in my field with stats similar to yours.

Good luck!

[gwydion]

You should also remember that getting into a program is not just about having good "vital stats." Adcom people will be looking at your application to see if there's a good fit between your interests and their program. Are you researching the programs you apply to thoroughly to look for overlap between your potential research/career interests and those of the faculty? Are you calling those schools and asking about what qualities they are looking for in potential grad students? Are you discussing those issues in your SOP, to show that you're not just a good student, you are a good student for that particular institution? If not, then this may well be the reason why you are getting rejected.

[Gooop]

Thanks for the responses. Looking back on everything, I did just sort of hash together applications, and I kind of did choose schools based on ranking and location. In my defense, I didn't have a whole lot of time to do this, because I was still in classes while I was doing a lot of this. I plan on doing a lot more research this time around and talk to professors and people on the adcoms. I suppose I was just very discouraged by the rejections and I started looking for reasons for it. It is encouraging to know, though, that my UG Institution won't matter as much as I thought it did. @pizzatime: Bluntness is appreciated. Thanks for the advice. I plan on using my "year off" wisely.

[commcycle]

Thanks for the responses. Looking back on everything, I did just sort of hash together applications, and I kind of did choose schools based on ranking and location. In my defense, I didn't have a whole lot of time to do this, because I was still in classes while I was doing a lot of this. I plan on doing a lot more research this time around and talk to professors and people on the adcoms. I suppose I was just very discouraged by the rejections and I started looking for reasons for it. It is encouraging to know, though, that my UG Institution won't matter as much as I thought it did. @pizzatime: Bluntness is appreciated. Thanks for the advice. I plan on using my "year off" wisely.

If it makes you feel better, I got rejected from every program I applied to two years ago, and this year got into 4/5 and was waitlisted on the last one. You're on the right track! Think about revising your SOP and getting killer recommendations from people that the admissions committee knows. Getting an article or two published (or even a conference paper) would speak volumes. You could also up your GRE a bit, probably - most people get a bump the second time they take it. These are the things that separate you from the hundreds of other applicants out there.