So, what are your flaws?

[fopdandyhomo]

For the past few months, I, like most of you, have been reading extensively in my field in order to identify people and programs of interest. Normally, I read these secondary texts mainly for their argument, but this time I've been focusing on trying to get a picture of the author as a scholar. What is their methodology, interests, skills, etc? In short, how good are they at their job?

 

At the same time, I've been working on my SOP and writing sample. Though I received positive feedback on my writing sample when I submitted it to some of my professors, the juxtaposition between my work and the work of the professionals in my field is damning. It's clear to me where I fall short and where my work is simply juvenile. I can see my flaws but I don't yet have the skills or intellect to fix them adequately. I know Adcoms are not expecting professional work on the same level as professional scholars in my field (but wouldn't that be nice!). The problem is that I don't know what type of work I'm up against. If our writing samples are supposed to be like a child's drawing you tape to a refrigerator (as someone once wrote somewhere), how do you ascertain if you have the potential to become a professional scholar or if your work is just bad? Without knowing the quality of my fellow applicants (and what, exactly, that quality means) I'm struggling to accurately assess my chances.

 

Perhaps, after touting your achievements and potential, you share the same anxieties. Maybe none of our work is "good enough" and maybe our criticism is a measure of our potential for success as academics. (What's that Ira Glass quote about taste, again?)

 

So now that many of us have submitted our apps and can't change our fates, what do you think your flaws as an applicant are (beyond low GRE scores and GPAs, even if they are indicative of actual flaws)? I ask not to increase our anxieties by focusing on our flaws but so we can perhaps find some solidarity in our insecurities.

[gliaful]

I really appreciate your openness to discussing this. What are your flaws?

It is certainly hard to tell from a distance whether we "measure up" well, or what the "ideal" matriculant looks like. Of course, as I have been reminded at the lows of my anxiety, graduate education IS education, and even the "perfect" applicant has many things to learn.

 

I am insecure about my quietness. I fear that I'll appear empty-headed while interviewing. I fear that I won't seem sociable enough; that I'll be deemed a "poor fit" simply because I'll be nervous to bits.

 

Substance-wise, I feel like my research experience has been different than that of the average applicant -- and perhaps for the worse. I was tossed into a lab with no formal guidance or training and I've learned most of what I know from youtube videos, protocols posted on the websites of other universities, and "experimentation" in the crazed, laymen's sense of the term. I did come up with a new way of transfecting cells, and I'm first-author on a paper, and for those things I'm proud, but I wish someone bossed me around when I started so I would at least have a technical background. There are two other students in my lab, both busy PhD students, and my PI's approach is hands-off. I feel like she's used to independent students, so I have been treated as such. Of course, this resulted in a great letter of recommendation, but I still feel like I missed out and I'm insecure about what grad schools WANT in terms of "research experience".

YES, I know how frustrating it is when things don't work out and there's nobody to turn to.

YES, I know how to troubleshoot like hell.

YES, I know how to plan my next steps.

YES, I know what most techniques are used for. But NO, I don't know how to do a lot of them, but YES, I know I can figure it out.

[grad_wannabe]

This is a great topic, thanks for starting. 

 

I have a convoluted academic background. I spent two years at undergrad #1, transferred, then spent four years at undergrad #2, then attended a sort-of artsy master's program housed in a tech school, and am now attempting to transition into communications studies.

 

I've never been quite one thing or the other. In art school I was generally more bookish and quiet than my artsy classmates. Then I got to tech school and was suddenly more artsy than all the engineers.

 

I finally found a home doing theory-based business research, but I'm not quantitative enough to make a career in it.

 

I've been a pea without a pod for a long time. I really, REALLY hope one of the programs to which I've applied will see a method to my madness. 

[FinallyAccepted]

After getting my undergrad in Social Studies & Psychology education, I became a teacher. I'm on year 8 of that. Meanwhile, I went back to get a masters in general psychology, so I could be a more realistic applicant for a doctoral program. Now I'm applying for PhD programs.

I'm hoping that who I am can shine above a sometimes negative view of American educators (greed, laziness, lack of knowledge or ability [i.e. "Those who can't DO, TEACH."]). I know teachers like this, but I also have some amazing colleagues.

My major flaw is the perception of my first chosen profession.

[Machaon01]

I don't know what my flaws are, but I guess they must be legion, I haven't heard anything back yet.  I got my first application in in mid-October, the next 2 about a month before the deadlines of 12/1 and 12/15 and the 4th right on the deadline.  I'm applying to the 5th right now.

 

Meanwhile, I've read through these posts, checked my spam folder and have gotten nothing, except "we have received your application and it is complete."

 

I'm applying to graduate programs in epidemiology, specifically interested in genetic epidemiology.  My major flaw and one that I can do nothing about is that I'm 52 and am sort of changing careers. I've practiced medicine for the last eight years or so. There's was a stint in corporate America, doing work on genetic diagnostics before high throughput sequencing, and a fellowship at Berkeley where I picked up the basics of molecular biology and phylogeny.  I was an English and Classics major before medical school.  I'm applying to schools of public health, I already have my MPH from Berkeley and am boarded in Preventive Medicine and Public Health.  I have good grades, pretty good GRE's (160Q, 169V, 5.5W), I think pretty good recs.

 

I still haven't heard anything.  My first application went in October 15th.

 

Am I pretty much doomed?

[drownsoda]

I have a lot of personal flaws which I'm not even going to get started on, but academically, I think my biggest flaw is that I have no research experience to speak of; then again, I majored in English, so the research field is kinda funky, and the program at my university was not that helpful when it came to internships, publication opportunities, etc. I had one internship at a community college working in their writing center, and I spent most of that time helping students with their research papers, taught grammar, and worked with a lot of ELL students, but I have no real-world experience with academic publishing or anything like that.

 

That said, I didn't meet any undergrad students in my department with academic publications under their belts either, so maybe it's not that common for undergrads? I don't know. Regardless, that's my main flaw I think, is that I don't have the work-related experience. I worked my way through school waiting tables, so I was strapped for time and had a tight schedule between full-time course loads and my job. 

 

I was a really good student and am graduating with a 3.8 GPA— almost a 3.9 in my major— but where I fall short is the experience outside of the classroom. That's been a big point of anxiety for me with my applications, but there's nothing I can do about it now, so I'm trying to make peace with it. Still my main weak spot though.

[drownsoda]

I don't know what my flaws are, but I guess they must be legion, I haven't heard anything back yet.  I got my first application in in mid-October, the next 2 about a month before the deadlines of 12/1 and 12/15 and the 4th right on the deadline.  I'm applying to the 5th right now.

 

Meanwhile, I've read through these posts, checked my spam folder and have gotten nothing, except "we have received your application and it is complete."

 

I'm applying to graduate programs in epidemiology, specifically interested in genetic epidemiology.  My major flaw and one that I can do nothing about is that I'm 52 and am sort of changing careers. I've practiced medicine for the last eight years or so. There's was a stint in corporate America, doing work on genetic diagnostics before high throughput sequencing, and a fellowship at Berkeley where I picked up the basics of molecular biology and phylogeny.  I was an English and Classics major before medical school.  I'm applying to schools of public health, I already have my MPH from Berkeley and am boarded in Preventive Medicine and Public Health.  I have good grades, pretty good GRE's (160Q, 169V, 5.5W), I think pretty good recs.

 

I still haven't heard anything.  My first application went in October 15th.

 

Am I pretty much doomed?

 

I don't think you're doomed at all. Your GRE scores are killer and you went to medical school for crying out loud. I've heard that it's a good thing if they don't get back to you early on— it means you weren't weeded out right in the beginning. It's kind of a debacle though being on the student end of it, because we naturally want to know the answer as soon as possible.

Edited January 2, 2015 by drownsoda

[isilya]

I don't know what my flaws are, but I guess they must be legion, I haven't heard anything back yet. I got my first application in in mid-October, the next 2 about a month before the deadlines of 12/1 and 12/15 and the 4th right on the deadline. I'm applying to the 5th right now.

Meanwhile, I've read through these posts, checked my spam folder and have gotten nothing, except "we have received your application and it is complete."

I'm applying to graduate programs in epidemiology, specifically interested in genetic epidemiology. My major flaw and one that I can do nothing about is that I'm 52 and am sort of changing careers. I've practiced medicine for the last eight years or so. There's was a stint in corporate America, doing work on genetic diagnostics before high throughput sequencing, and a fellowship at Berkeley where I picked up the basics of molecular biology and phylogeny. I was an English and Classics major before medical school. I'm applying to schools of public health, I already have my MPH from Berkeley and am boarded in Preventive Medicine and Public Health. I have good grades, pretty good GRE's (160Q, 169V, 5.5W), I think pretty good recs.

I still haven't heard anything. My first application went in October 15th.

Am I pretty much doomed?

You're not doomed at all! Just because you got your application in early, doesn't mean they started looking at it. I've heard that at most places, the admissions committee looks at all the applications at once at least a couple weeks after the deadline. Don't stress!!

[snyegurachka]

I transferred twice in undergraduate, managed to graduate in four years but my transcripts reflect the craziness that was going on in my life. I graduated with honor in one of my majors, but my GPA was 3.4. I double-majored in Russian and Studio Art and then entered a visual studies/critical and cultural theory graduate program. I am going to be graduating from my MA program this spring, but I did a semester at another program before switching to this one. I have a better GPA now (3.8-3.9), but I have definitely switched around my schools and departments quite a bit. This may not be a big deal for the more interdisciplinary programs I applied to, but I have a feeling that comp lit and English admissions committees might think I am un-focused or not committed to the discipline. I'm hoping that my statement makes it clear that I have cohered my research interests and it just took me a long time to find the right place(s) to pursue them.

[hcstritz]

This may not be a big deal for the more interdisciplinary programs I applied to, but I have a feeling that comp lit and English admissions committees might think I am un-focused or not committed to the discipline. I'm hoping that my statement makes it clear that I have cohered my research interests and it just took me a long time to find the right place(s) to pursue them.

 

I have a similar worry. I'm weirdly self-conscious about the fact that I started undergrad majoring in Art History, decided to stop at a minor, and then switched to Sociology and Women's and Gender Studies. I'm afraid it will look like my interests are all over the place and that I'm not committed (although in my personal statement I did try to explain how my interest in art history was actually sociological in nature). I also go to a small private university, not a big name school.

 

I'm also concerned about applying to almost all combined MA/PhD programs as an undergrad. One of my professors repeatedly mentions that programs want students with real world experience. Although I do have research and internship experiences, I'm afraid that I'm too young and inexperienced to be shooting for PhD programs. 

[smichelle]

I think mine would be that I have my BA and MA in english lit while I'm applying to doctoral programs in sociology. After speaking to some poi's, they tell me it's not a big deal since I have real world experience ( 2 years as a high school english teacher, fulbright scholarship), research (independent study in education program, coauthor pub in the works, 2 conferences), and semi-relevant coursework and a strong gre score. Although one prof did tell me that while my app would be "seriously considered," the weak point is the humanities background.

 

As a result, I read and read and read seminal and contemporary texts in sociology hoping to compensate...

[anotherapplicantanotherapp]

My flaws are as follows:

 

1. My undergrad GPA - 3.75, not great for an English major 

2. It took me a long time to find the areas of study that really interest me, and so my background is a little all over the map. 

3. It took me a long time to find a job after college graduation, so my resume is all over the map.

4. I am just generally unhappy and pessimistic right now, so when I'm trying to write my SOP's, I just get depressed about all the brilliant faculty I won't get to work with, in the college towns and cool cities where I'll never get to live. And then I get so nervous that I submit my SOP's with typos in the tailored part at the end. (Like, INVARIABLY there is at least one glaring typo in my last paragraph, and invariably, I don't see it until it's too late.)

 

#3 on the list is clearly the most problematic and the thing I *should* be able to fix, I guess. It's just, you know, I come from the recession generation and have experienced lots of failure over the past several years. I'm still plowing through these, though, and clicking those submit buttons. So, that's something, I guess.

Edited January 6, 2015 by anotherapplicantanotherapp

[autumn]

4. I am just generally unhappy and pessimistic right now, so when I'm trying to write my SOP's, I just get depressed about all the brilliant faculty I won't get to work with, in the college towns and cool cities where I'll never get to live. And then I get so nervous that I submit my SOP's with typos in the tailored part at the end. (Like, INVARIABLY there is at least one glaring typo in my last paragraph, and invariably, I don't see it until it's too late.)

 

^ This. 

 

I, like many people here, have an interdisciplinary background (English lit to art history to practical communication to comm/media studies). Like hcstritz, I followed the same research interest(s) through each field and I think my research is the stronger for it but it could look choppy to an outsider. 

 

I think the biggest flaws in my application are 1) interdisciplinary background, 2) no publications, and 3) practical masters to theory-heavy PhD. I've done everything I could in the last year to round out my application but I'm worried it'd be breadth without the depth they're expecting. 

[shadowclaw]

Interdisciplinary background. That's perfect! I never had a concise way to describe my undergraduate experience. I feel as though I am more interdisciplinary than most. It went something like this (with some concentration changes left out): computer science (school A) -> English (school A) -> information technology (school B ) -> computer forensics/computer science double major (school C) -> English (school C) -> business information systems (school B ) -> computer information systems (school D) -> computer forensics (school C) -> anthropology (school C) -> environmental biology (school B ). I graduated from school B with honors and several awards, as well as minors in math and chemistry. I was one course away from a minor in information technology (due to all of the computer coursework), but I needed an upper level course that I could never fit into my schedule. I am also at school C now doing my masters in biology.

 

So my interdisciplinary background is definitely a flaw of mine. I also don't have degrees to show for my work in all of those previous majors. If I felt so inclined, I could enroll at school C as an undergrad and I could earn a degree triple majoring in computer science, English, and anthropology in one year (if one could triple major... I don't know if that's even possible). I also have low GPAs at schools A, C (undergrad), and D. It's not that I couldn't do the work. Life and stupid stuff happened. On the bright side, my major GPA was beautiful, as is my masters GPA.

 

The adcomm for my masters program saw past my "checkered background" as the graduate coordinator put it, apparently due to the strength of my LORs. I'm really hoping my research experience, LORs, and good fit with several of my POIs will deflect the adcomm's eyes away from my crazy background.

 

On a side note, avoid placing a B next to a ), or you will emoticons with sunglasses.

Edited January 7, 2015 by shadowclaw

[jujubea]

I have several W's on my transcripts. And B's in important classes. (I worked two jobs and volunteered and was dealing with some family trauma though...)

My GRE scores were just OK.

I have a bit of a question-mark LOR, that, if this person was having a bad day, could be a big negative. 

I don't have a track record of committing to anything longer than about 2 years (even though grad school is a lifelong dream, and I have zero doubts about my ability to complete a program).

I don't have a degree or classes exactly in the fields to which I'm applying- and I am quite worried this is apparent in my SOP's.. that I'm not totally familiar and immersed in the field... 

Hopefully the schools can "hear" my genuine eagerness to learn and to be trained, in my statements...!

[Lexifer]

My biggest flaw would definitely be my GRE scores. My Verbal and Analytic scores were quite high, but my Quant scores were on the low side  I also don't have any publications or conference presentations despite being involved in research for the past 4 years. Hopefully these flaws can be overlooked though... 

[BeatrizBear]

My GRE scores are definitely not great, but I'm hoping it won't mean that much since I'm going into the Spanish department. Also, the fact that I didn't major in Spanish might be bad. My Classics background means I took Latin so that might count for something, but definitely I have less literature training than a Spanish major.