Fall 2017 Applications

[St0chastic]

2 hours ago, bdeck said:

I am retaking the GRE at the end of this month and have been studying rigorously for 3 months. Past two have been 4-5 hours every day. Keep in mind I work 50+ hours a week at Penn. I also was thinking that my gpa wasn't so low if you take into consideration the type of courses I had to take as a bio/neuroscience major compared to a normal psychology degree. 

 

Thanks for the advice! 

I feel ya'.  All I can say is keep at it and make sure you are using good sources.  My go-to recommendations are Magoosh, official GRE practice books from ETS, the Manhattan 5 lb. Book of practice problems (math only), and Khan Academy.  Brushing up on vocab is also worth doing using the Vocabulary.com app, Quizlet, Word Power Made Easy, etc. There are also some super nerdy (but kind of addicting) vocab podcasts.  

That's a good point about GPA.  My GPA wasn't all that great either compared to a lot of applicants around here (a little better than a 3.7).  Some of that was down to me not having the best study strategies early in college and some of that is just down to the fact that uncurved bio classes are pretty tough.  I don't know what it was like at your school, but at mine psych classes were *much* easier than bio/neuroscience ones.  A B+ in a bio class was actually quite respectable while as in a psych class it meant you didn't really try.

If you look at UC Berkeley's admissions stats (http://psychology.berkeley.edu/students/graduate-program/faq-gpa-gre-toefl) you'll see that cog neuro people have the lowest GPAs. The sample size is too small to draw any firm conclusions, but my intuition is that's not purely coincidental.  

Edited September 15, 2016 by St0chastic

[neur0cat]

2 hours ago, St0chastic said:

If you look at UC Berkeley's admissions stats (http://psychology.berkeley.edu/students/graduate-program/faq-gpa-gre-toefl) you'll see that cog neuro people have the lowest GPAs. The sample size is too small to draw any firm conclusions, but my intuition is that's not purely coincidental.  

They do have pretty high GRE scores though. 

[bdeck]

11 hours ago, St0chastic said:

I feel ya'.  All I can say is keep at it and make sure you are using good sources.  My go-to recommendations are Magoosh, official GRE practice books from ETS, the Manhattan 5 lb. Book of practice problems (math only), and Khan Academy.  Brushing up on vocab is also worth doing using the Vocabulary.com app, Quizlet, Word Power Made Easy, etc. There are also some super nerdy (but kind of addicting) vocab podcasts.  

That's a good point about GPA.  My GPA wasn't all that great either compared to a lot of applicants around here (a little better than a 3.7).  Some of that was down to me not having the best study strategies early in college and some of that is just down to the fact that uncurved bio classes are pretty tough.  I don't know what it was like at your school, but at mine psych classes were *much* easier than bio/neuroscience ones.  A B+ in a bio class was actually quite respectable while as in a psych class it meant you didn't really try.

If you look at UC Berkeley's admissions stats (http://psychology.berkeley.edu/students/graduate-program/faq-gpa-gre-toefl) you'll see that cog neuro people have the lowest GPAs. The sample size is too small to draw any firm conclusions, but my intuition is that's not purely coincidental.  

Most of my course work was molecular biology etc including bio/chem courses. Molecular biology is my background and at Temple, where I attended my undergrad it was a similar situation. Bio/Chem courses had no curve on any tests, nor did my neuro courses. Funny enough, the easier courses in Psych had curves. Don't really understand that one but okay. 

 

I know that the GRE is by far my weakest point and I have actually been doing everything that you just suggested before coming here and posting. I take the GRE again on the 30th so I'm hoping to score 160 or above on each. I think it would be horrid if the GRE holds me back from a school I believe I would otherwise be admitted to.

 

Thanks for the help!

[St0chastic]

19 hours ago, neur0cat said:

They do have pretty high GRE scores though. 

Yeah. My point was that cog neuro people tend to have bio/chem backgrounds and not just psych backgrounds, so their GPAs might be lower.  

Clinical usually has the highest GPAs just because clinical is so insanely competitive.  Although with sample sizes so small, this isn't always true.  

9 hours ago, bdeck said:

Thanks for the help!

No problem!  I think most schools look at applications holistically, and so research experience + strong letters of recommendation can make up for so-so scores, but if you're applying to really competitive places it may be more of a factor.  

I think it would be really interesting to see how much GRE scores can be boosted with intense training.  My guess is that with sufficient practice and the right strategies you might be able to bump your score up by 1/2 to 1 standard deviations, but that might vary a lot from person to person.  I was able to go from scoring in the low to mid 160s to 168-170 on the official practice tests after a month of doing an insane number of practice problems.  Just familiarizing myself with the different problem types and learning tricks/shortcuts helped a ton.  You will also become really good at mental math if you don't use a calculator when practicing, and this allows you to solve most of the GRE problems super quickly.  This is really important if you're anything like me and tend to make a lot of careless mistakes.  If you finish the sections fast enough, you'll have enough time at the end to double-check your work.  

Best of luck!

Edited September 15, 2016 by St0chastic

[Necrovex]

Since y'all are so brilliant and I may apply to grad school this year, would some of you let me know how strong my application would be?

Looking at obtaining a EdS for School Psychology from one of the following schools: University of South Florida (fully due to the intense funding of grad students, and my Alma mater), University of Florida, Florida State University, and University of Washington. Looking to get funded, at least part of the way, which is why USF is high on my list (paid internship also helps).

My credentials:

Major: Criminology.

Overall/Major GPA, 3.69/4.0. Last 60 credits are mostly As with one or two B+s.

GRE: 159V, 146Q, 4.5 AWA. I know the Quant is bad, but retaking it isn't an option due to money and my living situation. 

Experience: Peace Corps. Two years next January. I am a community health worker, but ninety percent of my work is at the local primary school teaching impovished youth, from grade 5-7. I may extend for one more year to work with an esteem international organization teaching HIV to youth, adults, and training people to implementing the program.

One year of volunteer work at facilitating a support group for stroke survivors at a hospital, and one year volunteering at a hospice, interacting with dying adults. 

I had a leadership role for our local video game club at my university. I was President, assisted in securing official university funds, and organized major events with other clubs. 

No research experience unfortunately. Thankfully it seems EdS doesn't handle much on the end.

That's essentially everything I can think of at this moment. 

[cherry12055]

Hello! Does anyone understand funding? I emailed a professor inquiring about his research and he responded:

"I will be looking to bring at least 1 doctoral students onto my research team to begin Fall 2017 and anticipating that person to be funded as a 50% RA (20 hours per week, considered full-time) on one of my projects."
Does this mean that I would only receive half tuition (I would be responsible for paying the other half)? I'm confused about the lingo of 50%, 25% and what that means in terms of tuition stipends & paying for school.  

Also these are doctoral programs. Thanks!

[Psychologyandpizza]

2 hours ago, cherry12055 said:

Hello! Does anyone understand funding? I emailed a professor inquiring about his research and he responded:

"I will be looking to bring at least 1 doctoral students onto my research team to begin Fall 2017 and anticipating that person to be funded as a 50% RA (20 hours per week, considered full-time) on one of my projects."
Does this mean that I would only receive half tuition (I would be responsible for paying the other half)? I'm confused about the lingo of 50%, 25% and what that means in terms of tuition stipends & paying for school.  

Also these are doctoral programs. Thanks!

It sounds as though you receive full funding working at .5 FTE. In this case the 50% isn't referring to the amount of funding you receive, but the percent of FTE you work per week. If you are still unsure I would consider emailing back to verify that is what is being communicated. 

[transfatfree]

4 hours ago, cherry12055 said:

Hello! Does anyone understand funding? I emailed a professor inquiring about his research and he responded:

"I will be looking to bring at least 1 doctoral students onto my research team to begin Fall 2017 and anticipating that person to be funded as a 50% RA (20 hours per week, considered full-time) on one of my projects."
Does this mean that I would only receive half tuition (I would be responsible for paying the other half)? I'm confused about the lingo of 50%, 25% and what that means in terms of tuition stipends & paying for school.  

Also these are doctoral programs. Thanks!

Second what Psychologyandpizza said. 50%/ .5 FTE RA usually means full funding (full tuition remission + stipend). .5 is considered full-time because you should be a full-time student and 20 hours of work is supposed to be the full load you can take. Some schools only offer 25% with half tuition remission. You can certainly ask the faculty/grad students on the interview day.  

[clinpsyhopeful]

Hi everyone! 

I'm a first time poster and would really appreciate any advice or guidance I could receive. I've been having a really difficult time deciding what I should do and I'm hoping someone here can help me out! 

I will be applying to Canadian clinical psychology programs this Fall and I originally felt prepared to do so. I took a gap year to gain more experience and take more time for the GRE, but the GRE hasn't been too kind to me. This is what I'll have going into application period:

1. 5 years of research experience (currently working as a lab manager at a university and as a research associate in a hospital (~1 1/2 years) and a research assistant in 3 labs during undergrad for 3 years)

2. I have clinical experience working with a young woman with Autism and OCD, at a mental health hospital teaching drama to those with affective disorders and schizophrenia, and various peer support groups in sexual health. 

3. 5 conference presentations, a manuscript in preparation (hopefully submitted for review by the time applications go out), and a publication in an undergrad peer review journal.

4. 3 great references from my current employers/professors

5. cGPA of 3.64 but my last two years came to a 3.89. 

6. Then the bad news: 147 Q, 155 V, 5.0 AWA on the GRE + 88th percentile on the psych GRE

I cannot for the life of me excel at this GRE. Math has always been a challenge for me since I was in highschool and so I'm finding no matter how much time or money I invest in this thing, I'm not improving. I understand that GRE's aren't everything and I should spend more time on other parts of my application...but with scores so low (and likely to be around the same at my retake), should I bother applying this application round? One potential supervisor told me everything about my CV and transcripts are great, but if I don't score at least in the 60th percentile for quant, I won't be considered. Is there any point in spending almost $1000 on applications if I won't even get in? Should I just apply to programs that don't need the GRE (even if they aren't what I truly what?) or wait another year to study for the GRE? 

I rescheduled my test for October 13th, but I think I need to push it back again. I'm not prepared and I can barely finish the questions under the required time since math just completely perplexes me. I've been using Magoosh and ETS materials, but I just can't wrap my head around these math problems. Does anyone recommend Princeton Reviews online course? 

I'm at a loss for words. I'm so frustrated and overwhelmed. I just don't want to push back my career any further and take more time, but I also don't want to apply to 15 programs and not get in anywhere. 

Thanks for your help  

 

[St0chastic]

16 hours ago, clinpsyhopeful said:

Hi everyone! 

I'm a first time poster and would really appreciate any advice or guidance I could receive.

 

Hmmm, this is a tricky one.  I think even if you don't score better in October you should still apply to some schools.  It's really unfortunate that your quant score doesn't hit that 60% cutoff as I think you otherwise have a solid application.  

Are there any particular types of math problems you are having trouble with?  Are there any that you are generally getting correct?  Look for patterns in your reasoning and where you might be making mistakes.  The Magoosh videos were personally very helpful for me, but they don't seem to be working for you.  A free alternative is Khan Academy.  I used both Magoosh and Khan.  I found Magoosh was better tailored for the GRE, but the Khan content is good for building up your basic math sense.  I literally started at the very foundations of math (numbers, counting, and decimals) and worked my way through algebra II.  I made sure to try solving all the problems BEFORE Sal does in the videos so I could benefit from test-potentiated learning.  It doesn't matter if you get the problems right or not, just the fact that you are attempting them in advance will boost your subsequent learning.

With only about a month left to study it's going to be hard to improve your score a ton.  After all, developing math intuition is not something that happens overnight.  What you need to do now is triage where you are going to spend your limited study time.  Here is a breakdown of the math problems by frequency: 

   

So you should focus on word problems, algebra skills, percents/fractions/ratios, data interpretation, geometry, stats, and maybe exponents.  Forget about probability/combinatorics, coordinate geometry, and arithmetic series--this would only matter if you were gunning for a top score.  Also, focus on getting the easy and medium level questions right.  Don't bother practicing hard and very hard problems until you've mastered the medium ones.

It's hard for me to give you more specific advice without knowing where you're having trouble.  My weak spot was combinatorics problems, and I eventually got pretty good at them after spending basically an entire weekend doing nothing but practicing them.  

Make sure you have good foundational knowledge of the underlying math concepts first and then focus on churning through as many practice problems as you can.  If the GRE is the only thing keeping you out of grad school, it wouldn't be unreasonable to work part-time for the next few weeks and spend 6-8 hours a day (or more) just doing math like your life depends on it.  This might not be your idea of a fun time, but if you approach it with the right attitude (growth mindset) I think you might be surprised by the results you'll get. Expect to fail A LOT before you develop the skill and insight to get problems right consistently.  But the feeling when that happens is absolutely magical.

Edited September 20, 2016 by St0chastic

[socialbrouhaha]

Hey lovely folks. I decided rather than just sitting in terrible anxiety reading all these posts, I would share my concerns and maybe one of you has some good suggestions. 

So I'm basically throwing a hail mary with applications for Fall 2017. I did a MS in an applied field and worked in that field for ~2 years but since then have decided I want to go into Social Psych and that I really want to be a professor/be in academe. In the beginning of the year I decided I was going to take my time and work on my apps and get more research experience before applying Fall 2018 but then after a few long pub conversations, I decided why the heck not apply this fall.

I wanted to know if a. I have a chance in hell and b. if it's wiser for me to hold off PhD applications and just apply to Social PSYC focused MA programs for the fall (reason being that i feel my research experience isn't where it needs to be for PhD programs).

GPA: BA- 3.78 MS - 4.0

RESEARCH: 4 month lit review (independent study w/ professor during masters) + 3 month lit review (working remotely for a prof from my undergrad) + currently a research assistant for a non-profit (working through their data but might have an opportunity to do a project on my own)

WORK EXPERIENCE:  worked in academic, marketing, and non-profit industries as well as have a side hustle doing freelance content creation 

GRE: **this is the hail mary part tbh** taking it for the first time on November 1st (am I just a glutton for punishment with a deadly affinity for procrastination or what!? )

In terms of the app process, I have researched programs and POI but haven't reached out to anyone (should I, does it honestly matter?). I also have a 2pg draft of a SOP which I intend to finish this week and mail out to my Reference writers nxt week. 

Am I crazy? Should I just stick to the original plan of applying in Fall 2018 or does it not hurt to take a "test run" at applications this year? If I apply to the same programs nxt year, will they shun me because I submitted a horrendous application this year?? Or maybe I can just try MA programs (which I've heard are easier to get into) this year and take the time to work/refine my interests before applying to PhD program in 2/3 years????? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

[t_ruth]

25 minutes ago, socialbrouhaha said:

In terms of the app process, I have researched programs and POI but haven't reached out to anyone (should I, does it honestly matter?). I also have a 2pg draft of a SOP which I intend to finish this week and mail out to my Reference writers nxt week.

Yes, it does really matter. Showing interest before applying is a fine way to get on a professor's radar. What is your research interest? Are you sure you are applying to places with the best match?

[socialbrouhaha]

17 minutes ago, t_ruth said:

Yes, it does really matter. Showing interest before applying is a fine way to get on a professor's radar. What is your research interest? Are you sure you are applying to places with the best match?

Generally I'm interested in prosocial behavior, group conformity and identity formation, primarily in how they interact with technology. Most of the programs/professors I've looked at thus far are touching pieces of my interests and there are a few that are really strong fits. I've been told to look into sociology programs for perhaps a stronger fit with the technology portion but I think the social psych lens gets at my research interests better than sociology or comm programs will. Thanks for your insight about sending emails to POIs and getting on their radar, I just wasn't sure if profs took those emails seriously since I've been told they get inundated with them and often nvr reply. Any suggestions on what to say in these emails? I've read up on their labs current projects and a few papers here and there but how much should I research the profs work before reaching out to him/her?

Edited October 6, 2016 by socialbrouhaha

[t_ruth]

On 10/6/2016 at 5:13 PM, socialbrouhaha said:

Any suggestions on what to say in these emails? I've read up on their labs current projects and a few papers here and there but how much should I research the profs work before reaching out to him/her?

Short and sweet. Show that you have read some of their work and you know what they study and how you are interested in it. Maybe even note a few research questions you'd love to explore (that relate to their work). Ask if they are accepting graduate students this coming year. You could attach a CV if you have one--just for their information--don't ask for any feedback on it. Entire email should be a paragraph.

[cheesecafe]

General question I'd like to out here since the last posts have been about emailing professors: If a professor's website says that it's too early to know whether they are taking students, and you know the website has not changed since early summer, is it a bad idea to contact them? I'd hate to get on a prof's bad side before I even meet them, but I would really like to know whether I can save myself an application fee and spare my recommenders one less letter.   

[St0chastic]

24 minutes ago, pbjcafe said:

General question I'd like to out here since the last posts have been about emailing professors: If a professor's website says that it's too early to know whether they are taking students, and you know the website has not changed since early summer, is it a bad idea to contact them? I'd hate to get on a prof's bad side before I even meet them, but I would really like to know whether I can save myself an application fee and spare my recommenders one less letter.   

Given that it's October I think by this point it's worth taking the risk and reaching out to professors.  Worst case scenario you'll get a curt reply and can contact them again in another month or so.  If you do receive a rude response then that's a cue that you might not want to apply to work with that professor.  Just be sure to keep your message short (one paragraph).

Edited October 9, 2016 by St0chastic

[sackofcrap]

On 9/17/2016 at 6:15 AM, Necrovex said:

Since y'all are so brilliant and I may apply to grad school this year, would some of you let me know how strong my application would be?

Looking at obtaining a EdS for School Psychology from one of the following schools: University of South Florida (fully due to the intense funding of grad students, and my Alma mater), University of Florida, Florida State University, and University of Washington. Looking to get funded, at least part of the way, which is why USF is high on my list (paid internship also helps).

My credentials:

Major: Criminology.

Overall/Major GPA, 3.69/4.0. Last 60 credits are mostly As with one or two B+s.

GRE: 159V, 146Q, 4.5 AWA. I know the Quant is bad, but retaking it isn't an option due to money and my living situation. 

Experience: Peace Corps. Two years next January. I am a community health worker, but ninety percent of my work is at the local primary school teaching impovished youth, from grade 5-7. I may extend for one more year to work with an esteem international organization teaching HIV to youth, adults, and training people to implementing the program.

One year of volunteer work at facilitating a support group for stroke survivors at a hospital, and one year volunteering at a hospice, interacting with dying adults. 

I had a leadership role for our local video game club at my university. I was President, assisted in securing official university funds, and organized major events with other clubs. 

No research experience unfortunately. Thankfully it seems EdS doesn't handle much on the end.

That's essentially everything I can think of at this moment. 

Your credentials are perfectly fine. The Quant could definitely be higher. That is one weak point. Having teaching experience is very good. You don't really need research experience. It would be nice if you had at least taken an undergraduate course with a research focus (like an experimental psychology type of course), but even so, you seem to be a good candidate. Also, keep in mind that with the EdS, you can really do your internship just about anywhere in the country. I know in my program, we get emails all the time about internships in Colorado and Washington (most of them are paid), and our program is in Texas. South Florida certainly isn't the only place with paid internships for school psych students. Not by a long shot. 

[Necrovex]

3 hours ago, sackofcrap said:

Your credentials are perfectly fine. The Quant could definitely be higher. That is one weak point. Having teaching experience is very good. You don't really need research experience. It would be nice if you had at least taken an undergraduate course with a research focus (like an experimental psychology type of course), but even so, you seem to be a good candidate. Also, keep in mind that with the EdS, you can really do your internship just about anywhere in the country. I know in my program, we get emails all the time about internships in Colorado and Washington (most of them are paid), and our program is in Texas. South Florida certainly isn't the only place with paid internships for school psych students. Not by a long shot. 

While it wasn't a specialized course, I did take a social science focused research methods course. Got an A in it. Also took Psych Stats back in my undergrad (B+) if that means anything. 

I was disappointed with the quant score, since I averaged with a 150 for most of my practice tests. But oh well, I was content enough to get what I would need for a fellowship at my school of choice with the verbal and writing. 

Quite appreciate about the heads up involving paid internships in other states. I knew some EdS students went to Georgia and other states. Glad to hear I have the likelihood of going to my state of choice like Washington or Colorado, even if I live in a southern state.

Thanks for thoughtful and candid feedback too! I should know if I'll get my desired job for 2017 by next week (a lot of monitoring and evaluation and training people throughout the world). If so, I'll hold off from applying until next cycle. If it doesn't pan out, I'll be going into overdrive during these next couple months. 

Edited October 10, 2016 by Necrovex

[HopefullyDr]

I'm applying for next year as well. I have decided that this year will be my last time applying, as it has been stressful enough going through the process twice.  I am taking the GRE once more on 10/24 and am really hoping to get scores in the high 150's for V/Q. I have been studying a lot so hopefully it will happen. I am graduating from my MA program in January, which I think may help my application this time around.  I also have increased my research experience to two full years, with an additional independent research study that I presented at my university's conference. I have also spent this year as a TA and as a workshop leader for research poster construction, which should reflect well on me.  My GPA is not very good (3.5), but I am prepared to talk about it in an interview.  I am concerned about my applications primarily because, aside from presenting at the conference, I do not have any publications. I am also concerned because I only have one summer's worth of clinical experience.  I am confident about the schools that I have chosen for research fit and I have reached out to all POIs.  The fear of rejection is hitting me hard today.  If I don't get into a program, I will definitely be devastated. 

 

Edited October 13, 2016 by HopefullyDr

[wrackani]

I will also be applying. I am a international student, I will be applying for Social Psych PhD programs. I have worked on two independent research projects, one conference presentation (small, unknown conference though) and have been an RA and TA in UG. My BS is in psychology, and I have a large number of research and stats classes. My Masters is social/health psych, with one semester being one of the independent research projects. 

- Undergrad GPA: 3.8, Masters GPA: 4.0 

- GRE: 159V, 158Q, AW still waiting (fairly happy with them, although I would have liked Quant to be a little higher)

I have worked with POI on one of the independent research projects (i.e. POI was my advisor), and I have expressed my interest to join the program where he works for next fall. Naturally, he could not promise anything, but he said he has enjoyed working with me and that it would be great to have me back. I am good friends with other grad students in the same program, which can't hurt I think. There are three more faculty members in the program that I could collaborate with. Everybody tells me that I should have pretty good chances of getting in. 

I have a question though, I would love to get a LoR from POI, because I think it has been my best work so far and he knows me very well. Would it be strange to ask him for one, even though he knows I am probably only applying to him? 

[FacelessMage]

Ugh quant on the GRE is killing me! I write the real deal on Saturday, but can't pull it above the 50th percentile in practice no matter how much practice and review I do. I dunno if it's worth spending the money to apply if I can't do well on it.  

[yiasouyianni]

Hi all, I'm applying for fall 2017 and really quite unsure about whether or not I should delay it by another year. I'd appreciate any honest feedback. Applying to PhD clinical psych programs.

Undergraduate cumulative GPA: 3.47 (BA Religion); completed post baccalaureate coursework in psychology ~40 credit hours just shy of a major, GPA 3.92

Research experience: About a year in anesthesiology as RA and now 2 years as RA in a dept of psychiatry with suicidological focus (although this content is not the same with what I'm hoping to study at grad level)

Clinical experience: Year as residential counselor in residential treatment facility for adolescents

Publication: 1 so far in peer reviewed journal, another one in the works likely to be submitted for review before apps go in. Conference poster presentation also submitted for review.

Recommendations: Should have 3 good recommendations, not concerned about securing these.

GRE: This is where I'm quite anxious, in addition to GPA. V: 159, Q: 145, AW 5.0. GRE Subject is 720 which is 83rd percentile. I am going to retake the GRE in early November to try to bring up my quant score, but I'm really not sure if it'll 

I'm applying for a couple top 10 tier schools but I'm not banking on getting in. My more preferred schools aren't super competitive relative to others. Nevertheless, am I living in a dream here? Should I wait another year to bring up my GRE score? Thanks!

[St0chastic]

5 hours ago, yiasouyianni said:

I'm applying for a couple top 10 tier schools but I'm not banking on getting in. My more preferred schools aren't super competitive relative to others. Nevertheless, am I living in a dream here? Should I wait another year to bring up my GRE score? Thanks!

My two-cents: unless you are very tight on money and can't spare the application fees, I think it's still worth applying this year to at least a few schools. It might be worth reaching out to the directors of graduate studies at the schools you plan to apply to and ask if they screen applicants based on GRE scores.  

In previous posts I've written about how to boost GRE quant scores.  To reiterate, use a combination of Magoosh, Khan Academy, the Manhattan 5 lb. Book of Practice Problems, and all of the official materials that ETS offers on their website and in books (you can find these on Amazon).  Start by learning the core math concepts using Magoosh or Khan Academy and then focus on doing as many practice problems as you can.  Don't be discouraged if progress seems slow.  Just keep at it every day and sooner or later you will begin to improve so long as you believe that you can.  

[wrackani]

Finally received my official GRE scores: 159V (82 %) / 158Q (70%) / 4.5AWA (82%) 

Generally speaking, are these competitive scores for a PhD program?

 

[t_ruth]

2 hours ago, wrackani said:

Finally received my official GRE scores: 159V (82 %) / 158Q (70%) / 4.5AWA (82%) 

Generally speaking, are these competitive scores for a PhD program?

 

Depends on the field. They aren't bad, but they aren't stellar either. In my department, each faculty member chooses who they want based on whatever criteria (some hate that we have to consider GREs at all, so they don't look at them). These choices are almost always respected unless the applicant has a GRE below a cut-off (lower than yours). We can only admit a small number of these, so then the faculty who wants a below-cut-off student has to argue for why they would be good despite the GREs.

The other time the GRE matters is if there is someone who is at the tippy top of our applicant pool and no one has indicated wanting to accept her/him. In that case, the dept. chair might encourage everyone to take another look.