PhD applicant rejected at a handful of top-25ish programs, wrestling with the idea of giving it another go next year. Aside from applying to a wider range of schools, what are the one or two things that could be done to strengthen my candidacy if there is a next time? My general profile: terminal ma with 3.75 gpa from a mediocre state school, no pubs, one summer research fellowship (data used for ma thesis), great writing and solid/generic/unknown lor's. This scenario is hypothetical, I may simply heed the lesson of this year and look in a new direction, but statistically there should be a lot of people in the same boat as I am wrestling with the same decision.
next time around
(18 posts) (2 voices)-
Posted 4 years ago #
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The most important things which determine grad school admittance aren't listed in your paragraph. Top programs put a lot of stock into undergraduate GPA and GRE scores. Unfortunately only one of these is under you control as of now, so the best thing you can do for yourself is to take the GRE again and get a better score (no matter what your current score is). Other things to consider. First, who's writing your letters, and what are they saying? If any are non-academics, drop them right now. When I'm on a grad committee and I see a non-academic letter writer I just ignore it. Among the academics, are they saying detailed things about your work habits and intellectual abilities? That's what I look for. Next, what's in your personal statement? I like to see some evidence that the applicant has an idea of what s/he wants to study and knows what research is all about.
Last thing, stop mentioning your master's GPA. It's meaningless. Grades in grad classes are ridiculously inflated and nobody is impressed by even a 4.0.
Posted 4 years ago # -
OP. Re:^ No non-academic letter writers; all are tenured at my MA institution. I've not read what was written so I can't speak to the details of what they included, but I was assured that they were positive and laudatory. GRE scores of 620/600/5.0. I'm confident in my SOP (outlined area of interest, specific research idea & methodology, and department fit in equal proportion) and writing samples, and received positive feedback on both pieces from advisors.
I understand grade inflation but thought mentioning my gpa was somewhat relevant to a profile, if not a selling point. Thanks for your feedback though, I do appreciate it.Posted 4 years ago # -
Apply for Canadian Ph.D. programs. GRE scores do not matter. Grad students are less competitive, more collaborative, and the quality of education (in my opinion) is much better than state-side. University of Ottawa has an excellent Ph.D. program. Don't give up. Go north to the "kinder, gentler nation."
Posted 4 years ago # -
Definitely get the GRE's up. 1300 or more would be good. 5 on the writing is fine. I say this as someone who just reviewed for a top 5.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Admission rates to Canadian Ph.D. programs hover around 10% at most departments, and cohorts tend to be a lot smaller. The odds will not improve much simply by heading north.
Posted 4 years ago # -
There's nothing wrong with going to a lower-school (and, yes, I went to a lower-tier school). There are also some nice advantages. For example, I was funded throughout my program. Sometimes, it is better to be a big fish in a small pond. The disadvantages are obvious and are real (or, at least, they should be obvious) so I won't belabor that point. Nevertheless, going to a lower-tier school is not the worst thing that can happen to a person.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Getting the GREs up would probably help.
Posted 4 years ago # -
^ I agree. It's easy to increase your GRE scores to over 1300 and schools are impressed by GRE scores. So that's where you should focus your energy. I spent 6 months working on the GRE and I scored over 1400. Got into a top school, so I'd say it is worth it.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Not OP, but in the same situation with a comparable pedigree. A prof told me to get a publication under my belt to bolster my credibility. Sound advise? and would this be sufficient?
Posted 4 years ago # -
600 on GRE math is not impressive at all, you should go up a hundred points or more if you work on it.
Posted 4 years ago # -
And if your SOP says you're interested in formal modeling/econometrics then 600 on GRE math is just kidding.
Posted 4 years ago # -
^ Yep. I'd be willing to bet you were sunk by your GRE score. At my top-25 we'd discount an application with a score less than 1300-50. Harsh? Maybe, but you have to cut the files somehow. To the pub. question, I'd say for a student with a terminal MA from the sort of program you describe, that may be easier said than done. The better investment of time IMO is to get that score up.
Posted 4 years ago # -
I disagree with the 2nd poster. In my experience, committees give priority to the most recent evidence of performance. Both MA and BA grades can be pretty inflated. We don't ignore either. We just think about the GPA in context. And, as long as your performance meets our standards, the most important factor is often letters from people we know and trust.
That being said, PhD admissions are a crap shoot. The number of qualified applicants far exceeds the number of spaces.
Posted 4 years ago # -
I would also revisit your SOP to make sure that it fit each of the schools you applied to. We get plenty of good applicants but if their SOP is not a clear fit with a faculty member who goes to bat for them in the admission process, we are unlikely to make an offer unless the other factors (experience, GPA, letters) are very, very good (and even then we often do not make an offer). I am assuming that your letters were customized for each school (topics and people you will work with) but just make sure you did it well.
And yes, get your GRE up.
Posted 4 years ago # -
OP. I realize that my math score is low and clearly didn't appreciate enough the weight given to these scores in the selection process. That being said, I targeted departments carefully and was clear about my proposed methodological approach (ie. not formal modeling or econometrics, thank you). I also understand that in some ways this alone might affect how I'm perceived as a candidate. I wagered heavily that writing samples and an SOP which demonstrated a firm grounding my subfield and a coherent research agenda would tilt the balance in my favor, but clearly not the case. Mr. Slippery's contribution provides some consolation. Thanks all for the perspective.
Posted 4 years ago # -
I'll add another voice to the GRE chorus. My two application cycles presented fairly similar CVs, except I took a class and raised my verbal GRE by 150 and the math by around 50. The difference resulted in being admitted to 9 schools the second time, vs. 1 the first time.
Posted 4 years ago #