What are my chances?

[arml101]

Hi everyone,

I am currently in an Asian University for my bachelor's in Psychology with a minor in family and child studies.  I have a very bad cumulative GPA of 3.36, even though it has been increasing per semester (although not by a lot).  I have a lot of hands-on and research internships related to this field especially in the children/developmental area: Since I started college I have had 3 research internships (1 ongoing), currently doing my undergrad thesis which is in the clinical psych field, volunteered with ASD kids, NGOs to do with underprivileged kids and interned at a Family Development Center for 5 months, where I sat in with sessions and also created workshops.  

I am NOT applying directly to Psy.D or PhD but instead am going straight to Master's programmes, namely ones from University College London, Kings College London, VIllanova, Pepperdine and CSPP.  In many of them, the ones I am applying to have something related to development/children/families etc.

Haven't taken my GREs yet but plan to.  Having mentioned this, what is normally considered a 'good' general GRE score?  

 

Thanks for any help! 

Edited October 5, 2016 by arml101

[St0chastic]

2 hours ago, arml101 said:

Having mentioned this, what is normally considered a 'good' general GRE score?  

This varies a lot from program to program, but a general rule of thumb is that a safe score is >80% quantitative, >90% verbal, and >=4.5 writing.  For Master's programs you can probably get away with slightly lower scores (maybe >60-70% quant, >80% verbal, and >= 4.0 writing).  These are generally not hard and fast cutoffs, though, so there is wiggle room to have lower scores if you have exceptional qualifications.  Also, if you are a non-native English speaker you wouldn't be expected to do quite as well on the verbal and writing sections.

Of course, elite universities have higher expectations: http://magoosh.com/gre/2016/gre-scores-for-top-universities/

[transfatfree]

11 hours ago, arml101 said:

Hi everyone,

I am currently in an Asian University for my bachelor's in Psychology with a minor in family and child studies.  I have a very bad cumulative GPA of 3.36, even though it has been increasing per semester (although not by a lot).  I have a lot of hands-on and research internships related to this field especially in the children/developmental area: Since I started college I have had 3 research internships (1 ongoing), currently doing my undergrad thesis which is in the clinical psych field, volunteered with ASD kids, NGOs to do with underprivileged kids and interned at a Family Development Center for 5 months, where I sat in with sessions and also created workshops.  

I am NOT applying directly to Psy.D or PhD but instead am going straight to Master's programmes, namely ones from University College London, Kings College London, VIllanova, Pepperdine and CSPP.  In many of them, the ones I am applying to have something related to development/children/families etc.

I'm not sure if your GPA is objectively bad as some Asian universities are known for grade deflation. You can ask your recommenders to "talk you up" a bit if your GPA is indeed not bad. 

If you plan to get a PsyD or PhD ultimately, a good master's can make up for your undergraduate GPA. I would suggest replacing CSPP with William & Mary though because CSPP doesn't have a good reputation. 

[arml101]

2 hours ago, transfatfree said:

I'm not sure if your GPA is objectively bad as some Asian universities are known for grade deflation. You can ask your recommenders to "talk you up" a bit if your GPA is indeed not bad. 

If you plan to get a PsyD or PhD ultimately, a good master's can make up for your undergraduate GPA. I would suggest replacing CSPP with William & Mary though because CSPP doesn't have a good reputation. 

 

Thanks for your input!  I am choosing CSPP as my safety, and also because it is in a city which is a location type i highly prefer over others.  Also, my GPA is out of 4.3, if that makes a difference.

Most of the schools I am applying to don't have data or have vague answers to my data enquiries like 'minimally GPA of 3.0' which doesn't really help.  Having calculated my GPA my last 4 semesters has a GPA of 3.62 compared to my CGPA of 3.32 which is good, and my GPA in advanced psych courses is around 3.45 - would this help? 

Thanks everyone for the help! 

[transfatfree]

17 hours ago, arml101 said:

Thanks for your input!  I am choosing CSPP as my safety, and also because it is in a city which is a location type i highly prefer over others.  Also, my GPA is out of 4.3, if that makes a difference.

Most of the schools I am applying to don't have data or have vague answers to my data enquiries like 'minimally GPA of 3.0' which doesn't really help.  Having calculated my GPA my last 4 semesters has a GPA of 3.62 compared to my CGPA of 3.32 which is good, and my GPA in advanced psych courses is around 3.45 - would this help? 

Thanks everyone for the help! 

An upward trend would help. As long as you make the first cut-off, your application will likely be looked at and they may consider other components in your application e.g. your research experience.

If location matters to you, you can look at other schools such as George Mason, SDSU, Cal Lutheran and some of the Cal State schools which offer both urban settings and better programs than CSPP. Wasting your money and time at CSPP may not be the best idea even when you consider it your safety. 

[arml101]

On 07/10/2016 at 4:09 AM, transfatfree said:

An upward trend would help. As long as you make the first cut-off, your application will likely be looked at and they may consider other components in your application e.g. your research experience.

If location matters to you, you can look at other schools such as George Mason, SDSU, Cal Lutheran and some of the Cal State schools which offer both urban settings and better programs than CSPP. Wasting your money and time at CSPP may not be the best idea even when you consider it your safety. 

 

What would a normal cutoff be?  I am really concerned about this because my GPA is so low.  

[St0chastic]

1 hour ago, arml101 said:

What would a normal cutoff be?  I am really concerned about this because my GPA is so low.  

That varies from school to school.  Some enforce strict cutoffs while as other programs review applicants holistically.  My advice would be to contact the director of graduate studies for each school and ask if they have GPA cutoffs.  

[neur0cat]

I did my Masters at a reputable UK university, though not in Devt Psych but Cog Neuro. From my understanding, the UK universities do not require nor care about GREs, but your GPA / Honors received.

[transfatfree]

On 10/10/2016 at 3:12 PM, St0chastic said:

That varies from school to school.  Some enforce strict cutoffs while as other programs review applicants holistically.  My advice would be to contact the director of graduate studies for each school and ask if they have GPA cutoffs.  

Second this, but my guess is your GPA is fine, especially when you have a fair amount of research experience.

15 hours ago, neur0cat said:

I did my Masters at a reputable UK university, though not in Devt Psych but Cog Neuro. From my understanding, the UK universities do not require nor care about GREs, but your GPA / Honors received.

I did a master's in the UK as well and have the same impression. Their condition offer may require a certain GPA or honors, depending on your country's university system.

[teds2]

16 hours ago, transfatfree said:

Second this, but my guess is your GPA is fine, especially when you have a fair amount of research experience.

I did a master's in the UK as well and have the same impression. Their condition offer may require a certain GPA or honors, depending on your country's university system.

I did a master's in the UK as well on developmental psyc and the uni did not ask for a GRE score!