FYI about name changes

[shadowclaw]

Hi everyone. I just wanted to let people know a little bit about what happens when you change your name after taking the GRE.

First, if you want to take the GRE again after your name change, you cannot change your name on your ETS account. That means you will either have to make a new account in your new name, or you will need a form of id with your old name on it (in my case, I hadn't changed my passport yet and used that).

After taking the test (if the scores you are sending are under your old name), you will need to notify the schools which you are applying to that your scores are under a different name. All of the applications that I've filled out have a spot to list maiden names for the purpose of matching up materials. However, that doesn't mean the graduate school actually looks at that information. I had to email 3 schools so far about missing GRE scores, and the response was the same from each: they didn't match my scores to my application because the last name was different.

So keep this in mind when filling out applications. If you've changed your name since taking a test (or graduating from undergrad and have a different name on your transcripts), make sure your materials are matched to your application!

[Cookie]

Interesting! Also it can cause confusion for publication search etc, so most professors I know do not change their names after marriage.

[TakeruK]

Great advice On a related note, I had a similar problem at some schools because my middle name is two words and some documents will hyphenate it, or allow for only one "middle initial" or put it as all one word, or think the second half of my middle name is my last name. To avoid all this craziness in my publication record, I always publish as just "Firstname Lastname", no middle name, no middle initial!

 

Also, you can publish under any name you want, so many academics who do change their name (after marriage or whatever other reason) might use one name in their "academic/work" life and another name in their personal/social life. Many of my friends do this and they find that it has a side benefit of keeping their personal life more private and harder for people to find (e.g. students trying to Facebook friend their TA/prof won't find them under their "work name").

[shadowclaw]

Interesting! Also it can cause confusion for publication search etc, so most professors I know do not change their names after marriage.

 

If I had any publications prior to getting married, I think I would have used that as an excuse to keep my maiden name. I was pretty set against changing it, since I think that it is a silly tradition, but my husband was a bit upset that I didn't want his name. So I met him in the middle and double-barreled my last name, which has honestly been a pain, especially since I didn't use a hyphen.

 

Great advice On a related note, I had a similar problem at some schools because my middle name is two words and some documents will hyphenate it, or allow for only one "middle initial" or put it as all one word, or think the second half of my middle name is my last name. To avoid all this craziness in my publication record, I always publish as just "Firstname Lastname", no middle name, no middle initial!

 

Also, you can publish under any name you want, so many academics who do change their name (after marriage or whatever other reason) might use one name in their "academic/work" life and another name in their personal/social life. Many of my friends do this and they find that it has a side benefit of keeping their personal life more private and harder for people to find (e.g. students trying to Facebook friend their TA/prof won't find them under their "work name").

Keeping professional and personal names separate would be a nice idea. At this point, most students call me by my maiden name (even though my full last name is posted around the building with my tutoring hours). Maybe I should keep it that way!