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Posts Tagged ‘graduate schools’

1)For some graduate schools this is a must have, for others is not required. Why?
2) Does graduating with high honors help or count for anything when applying to graduate school ?

I just don’t see the need for this type of exam if your degree is for example in Foreign Language or Art.
Thank you for your explanation.

I am currently a senior and will be graduating this December with a double major in History and Anthropology and a minor in Islamic Studies. I have a cumulative GPA of 3.68, but my last three years are a 3.94. Both of my major GPA’s are above a 3.8 and I received a GRE score of 1280. I was wondering if I should go ahead and apply to the graduate schools listed below, or should I wait and get my GRE score up and take more courses? I also have research and internship experience. I will be applying to programs in Middle Eastern/Islamic Studies.

The schools I am applying to are:
Harvard Divinity
New York University
Georgetown
University of Michigan
University of Washington

Hello, in the fall, I will be a senior at a 4-year university. Currently, I have a cumulative GPA of a 2.3. Granted I work as hard as possible and pull off a consecutive 4.0s in the next 2 semesters, the highest cumulative GPA that I can leave here with is around a 2.6, 2.7, depending on my course load.

I will be graduating with my BS in social work. Naturally, I am looking into graduate schools to continue my education, and work towards getting my Master’s degree. I don’t like talking up about myself, but I know that I have a lot of things to contribute towards a graduate school application: lots of volunteer work, good letters of recommendation, positive internship experiences, leadership roles during my time spent here, and more.

However, it does bother me that many graduate schools I’m looking into applying for (specifically, SUNY Albany and SUNY Stony Brook) require a 3.0 cumulative GPA. I’ve talked to several professors in my major here, as well as some peers, and they have been telling me to go for it; apply anyways. It’s still a little discouraging anyways, when reading that some schools won’t even [I]consider[/I] an admissions application of anyone with a cumulative GPA of below a 3.0.

I could much definitely be worse off, but I plan on working my tail off these next two semesters by getting a good GPA, as well as hopefully scoring well when I take my GRE exam.

Should I continue with applying to these schools? Or should I seek graduate schools with lower GPA requirements?

Any advice is extremely helpful, thank you!
Not that it’s any consolation, the I know that my GPA is so low because of some early classes I had taken in my freshman days. I didn’t take college too seriously at first. However, I had calculated my major GPA, and it amounts to about a 3.4. I think they’d rather look at my cumulative GPA anyways, rather than the GPA of my major classes :\

I am getting ready to take the GRE exam in December so I can start applying for graduate schools in the Spring. I am planning on getting a Masters of Public Health degree. I am fairly confident on my quantitiative reasoning, but my verbal reasoning might be another story.

For anyone who has taken the GRE, if I score good my goal (500 or more) on quantitiative, but score under my goal (500 or more) for verbal, but then the 2nd time score over 500 on verbal and my quantitative score is less the 2nd time, can I combine the scores from Test 1 and 2 to give me the best results? Or do I have to take both scores off the same test day?

Thanks!

I am getting ready to take the GRE exam in December so I can start applying for graduate schools in the Spring. I am planning on getting a Masters of Public Health degree. I am fairly confident on my quantitiative reasoning, but my verbal reasoning might be another story.

For anyone who has taken the GRE, if I score good my goal (500 or more) on quantitiative, but score under my goal (500 or more) for verbal, but then the 2nd time score over 500 on verbal and my quantitative score is less the 2nd time, can I combine the scores from Test 1 and 2 to give me the best results? Or do I have to take both scores off the same test day?

Thanks!

I recently graduated college and my GPA was not great at all. It was a 2.4 , I had a really hard time at college my freshmen and Sophomore yr. of college-I even pleaded with my parents to take off some time but unfortunately they did not let me.Things got so bad that i was actually almost suspended from the institution,fortunately I was allowed to take summer courses on Academic probation. During the summer course my grades started to improve tremendously and I was even doing a lot better emotionally. My Junior and Senior yr. of college turned out a lot better than the first two.You can even see on my transcript where things started to improve. Well my problem is that I’ve wanted to be a psychologist for a very long time. But i know my undergrad GPA is not up to part and not only that put I am not receiving any support whatso ever from family. I have been trying to find ways to get into graduate schools so I can reach my dreams. I was wondering what are some things I can do where graduate school is possible. I recently had an idea of getting my Masters online(and working hard) to show schools that I could do it. I’m pretty sure I could get recommendation letters from teachers that are good and do test prep for the GRE but I’v been looking online where some have said that having a Masters from an online program will be frown upon on PhD programs.So now i feel kind of stuck. Can someone give me some advice on what I should do? Please no rude answers I feel so defeated right now. I really really want this really bad,so i know i can find someway. Thanks.

I will be able to graduate with a B.A. in Psychology in December (’08). I know I want to pursue my Doctorate, but am still somewhat unsure of program focus and even specific research focus. Up till recently I had assumed I was going to go into a Neuroscience program, but recently a professor who I have been working with closely suggested I might be more at home in a more technical and hands on program like Bioengineering (And I’m in somewhat agreement with him on this).

So my problem, and subsequent question, is this: Because I never for saw this course in my academic future, I never really pursued any high level math or science. I have a basic Biology and Physics class under my belt but nothing advanced. I feel fairly confident that my current background is not good enough to get me accepted into programs at highly competitive universities (examples choices of mine: UCLA, UCSD, USC) and so as a result I’m stuck with a few possibilities.

1) Graduate and return for a second a B.S. in Bioengineering or even just take a collection of extra classes in Biology, Math, and Physics. This option would allow me to continue taking classes at a low cost since I’d be paying in-state tuition where I am.

2) Apply to the graudate schools I’m looking to get my Doctorate at but get a Masters in Bioengineering instead. As I understand it, sometimes people will use a Masters to supplement the courses they need to get into a Doctorate program. Also this route has the potential of providing me contact with professors I might later take on as my doctoral adviser. One problem with this option is the fact that people in Masters programs rarely get financial assistance from Universities in the way of assistantships and such. Compound this with the fact that I would be paying out of state tuition at most graduate schools I’m looking at (Tuition waiver is only available to in state students).

3?) Apply for doctorate programs and hope I wow them with good essays and good GRE scores. I don’t think I have to point out that if I can succeed on this option then financially I should be "OK" since graduate schools are almost always very nice to their doctorate candidates.

Are any of these options better than the other?

Thanks.
It seems I may have been a little unclear. The end result in either course is to still get my Doctorate. The issue is, which is better considering my predicament.

I’m in my second year of undergrad, and I’ve taken my school’s maximum course load every quarter(including summer). My grades started out alright(around a 3.6), but I ran into some problems last fall(house got broken into, car broke down, identity was stolen, engagement was broken off) and I found out that I didn’t like the major I was in. So my GPA took a nose dive over the fall and winter quarters while I was in my depression, and it is now around a 2.5(I failed about every course I took). I got some therapy, and I am doing much better this quarter. Plus I figured out the major I intend to pursue. My question is, do graduate schools look at the course load you have each quarter? I plan on taking an extra year to finish out the degree, and by the time I graduate, I’ll have around 380 quarter hours(I only need about 230 for my 2 majors), and a cumulative GPA of (hopefully) around 3.3. Will they take my improving grades into account? How about undergraduate work experience? Will high GRE scores offset my sub-par GPA?

Hello all,
I am interested in getting a Ph.D in political science, and I have been reading a lot of threads online about how graduate schools are interested in more than just GPA, GRE scores, etc. I am currently a freshman at the University of Scranton – it seems odd that I would be looking into Ph.D. programs at this very early stage, but the intensely competitive nature of vying for a Ph.D slot depicted from these forums and threads have piqued my interest a little early.
My first question concerns MA programs. My school does not currently offer an MA program in political science, and I am applying to grad school for an MA/PhD program. Forums and threads seem to indicate that applicants with an MA already have an edge in the process. Is this rumor found to be more accurate than not?
In addition, I currently have a 4.0 GPA. I realize, of course, I’m a freshman, and that GPA is bound to decrease (although it’s certainly not my intention). I have been invited to join an Honors Program. However, my school lacks many publishing opportunities. This program offers me the ability to write a thesis, but there is no public outlet to publish this at my school. This being considered, will grad schools take my school’s lack of publishing opportunities against me in the admissions process?
Finally, should I adopt a mentality to preserve my GPA at all costs – including taking more challenging and diverse courses? Which is more important – a rigorous academic curriculum or a pristine GPA?
If anyone out there can offer any insights, I would greatly appreciate the help.

Many, many thanks!

Hello, I need a little bit of advice as I am trying to determine the best course of action in pursuing a career in forensic science.

I graduated with a BS in human biology at a top tier university with an undergraduate GPA 2.84 and unfortunately this does not meet the minimum 3.0 GPA requirement of most graduate schools in the country.

Obviously a high GRE score would be beneficial, but I have heard that even with a high GRE score a GPA under 3.0 may not even be considered.

Any advice as to what my next step should be to make myself more competitive would be appreciated.

I’m pursuing an undergraduate degree in animal biology and I’m in my last year. However, as soon as I started taking my electives, only one professor taught the bulk of the courses and I made C’s in every single one of them. Therefore, my major gpa has plummeted extremely within the past two semesters. I have heard comments about his teaching style and his testing style. I have even approached him on what I could do to do better on his tests, and all he said was to study with a group. Problem is, I’ve asked everyone if I could study with them and they reject me, telling me off. Independently, I’ve studied about seven hours a day for each of his courses, one per semester while taking other courses. I’ve even sacrificed other courses just for each of his difficult ones, but I never made anything higher than a 70 on his tests. Through confronting him, finding new study methods, searching for a study group, and making notecards (we don’t have tutors for upper level courses), I’ve still nearly flunked out of his classes. My GPA is 2.36, where it used to be 2.6. It is already too late to raise it, but I’m not even sure if I’ll ever get into graduate school and get a masters degree.

I’m just not sure what to do about his teaching method and how to improve my grade. I study way the hell ahead of time, yet it never makes a difference. What am I doing wrong? Most graduate schools require at least a 3.0 for admission, but I’ve never even made close to that.

I want to pursue a career in wildlife filmmaking for either National Geographic, Animal Planet, or the Discovery Channel, as my dream job. But for now, working for field research is alright to me. I just don’t know if I should work with Texas Parks and Wildlife for five years and gain professional experience, rely on GRE (which I know I won’t do good on because I couldn’t even pass the SAT), or go back to school another year and correct my mistakes. Can someone please offer me advice on to how I should approach this so I can be qualified for admission one of these days?

Note: I also was thinking about attending the one month course at the Wildlife Filmmaking Academy in South Africa and get hands-on experience with creating wildlife documentaries. But I’d have to save up money to do that.

I attended a top 100 university, majored in journalism and earned a 3.3 GPA. I received some awards from my school for achievement in journalism and have extensive internship (12+), fellowship and freelance experience but I am worried that as a candidate who wishes to pursue a MBA at a top tier business school, I will be out of the running because of my GPA and lack of full time work experience. I have not taken the GRE yet but I plan to enroll in a prep course to ensure a high core. Additionally, I am a first generation Afro Caribbean female and I understand minorities and females are underrepresented in graduate schools. With that said, how likely is it that I will be admitted to a top school, even those with interests in "early career" applicants?
What are my chances OF getting into a top B-school as an early career minority female?*
The schools I am most interested in accept the GRE in place of the GMAT. As a journalism major I would like to take the GRE as it is verbal heavy–it is also less expensive and opens doors for other graduate programs. Also, I only mention gender and race because I noticed in other questions the respondents often mentioned minority and gender status as something to take into consideration.

I am graduating with a bachelor’s in psychology this Spring 2011. I intend on going to graduate school to obtain a Doctorate and practice counseling and potentially teach at a university in the future.

I am only 19 years old (I skipped a couple grades) and I feel like I am being rushed. I have taken the GRE and I am not too happy with my results. My GPA is excellent; however, I know most graduate schools require a minimum GRE score, and unfortunately, mine isn’t very adequate.

I am not sure whether I should graduate undergrad, and then go immediately on to graduate school for my master’s, but not have my heart set on the school. Or, I will graduate, and then enroll in a GRE prep course, while working, and hopefully bring my GRE scores up greatly, and then apply to more desirable schools.

Graduation is rapidly approaching, and since I don’t have my heart fully set on a specific school(s), I feel like it is foolish to rack up my loans by attending graduate school that isn’t my first choice. Unfortunately, I feel like a loser by taking time off school.

I scored a 930 total: 380V, 550Q, and 5.0AW

I will have 2 years of research experience in a clinical oriented laboratory, 1 year of research experience in a social oriented laboratory, and I should be helping with research in a third laboratory this fall. My undergraduate GPA was 3.7; I’m also taking a few more statistics courses this year: regression analysis, ANOVA, experimental social psychology, and experimental methodology to bolster my statistics area. I will have my name on 3 abstract posters this year, and I’ve started to write the literature review section for a manuscript where I will be the second author.The only annoyance in my application is my GRE score. I studied for about 3 months; I did not take more than two practice exams, however. Perhaps this was my downfall? I felt so stressed before the exam and during. I have a passion for writing, so my verbal score does not accurately reflect my ability whatsoever. I’d appreciate any advice or feedback that anyone can offer me, or any insight as well. I currently own "Barron’s GRE 2009" preparatory book, and I have about 50 practice exams. Should I finish going through the book first and then try some practice exams when I have the chance? I feel like I should finish selecting graduate schools before I begin studying for the exam again, as most deadlines for M.A. psychology programs aren’t until later in the year (i.e., January, February, etc.).

I know l have to take the GMAT because I will be going for my masters science in Accounting, however, l ‘ve notice GRE is required in most graduate schools too. Do l need to take the GRE if l be mastering in accounting??

Just decided to go to graduate school,. but if I want to apply I have to take GRE’s in September. Not a smart move, because I have only one month to study. Do you think I can do it or should I wait for a year and take a course.
P. S. I did not do too well on SAT, because English is my third language. However in three years I am pretty sure it improved and I am a walking proof that tests like SAT are b.s. With low SAT scores I am a top student at my university. Should I go for low GRE score and hope that Graduate schools select me because of my good grades, or GRE is a very important factor?

I am getting ready to take the GRE exam in December so I can start applying for graduate schools in the Spring. I am planning on getting a Masters of Public Health degree. I am fairly confident on my quantitiative reasoning, but my verbal reasoning might be another story.

For anyone who has taken the GRE, if I score good my goal (500 or more) on quantitiative, but score under my goal (500 or more) for verbal, but then the 2nd time score over 500 on verbal and my quantitative score is less the 2nd time, can I combine the scores from Test 1 and 2 to give me the best results? Or do I have to take both scores off the same test day?

Thanks!