Hi all. So I am currently an undergraduate history major at a small private Christian liberal arts college and was wondering if my hoped for GRE scores are competitive enough for the schools I’m applying to.So far I’ve taken several GRE practice exams and my scores are-Quantitative: 161, Verbal: 165.
I plan on applying to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton for the history of science graduate program. Also my current GPA is a 3.58, but will likely become at least a 3.6 before I graduate.
Are my credentials competitive enough for Harvard graduate school?Also my essays are very good-I’ve written an excellent statement of purpose as well as a 20 page writing sample(20 pages is the max) for this program that I am interested in.
What are your thoughts?
Google: magoosh + GRE + (name of college) for some unofficial GRE parameters.
Did you purpose-write the writing sample? usually they want a section of something that was written for a class (thesis, etc).
The .02 change in GPA won’t be what makes the difference.
If you want to make yourself really nuts, google GradCafe Admissions Results and put in the name of your course.
It’s kind of cruel to suggest GradCafe. Everyone regrets undergoing the pain of finding that website. Plus only gunners post on the results section.
Usually you can get a feel for the expected GRE scores by looking at the admissions page of graduate programs. They often tell you the average GRE score from the admitted class the previous year. It is likely at least one of the programs have them listed.
You can always contact the graduate program coordinator for the specific program or graduate admissions department for the school and ask.
Do NOT however ask if you would be a competitive applicant because of x,y,z. They will very likely ignore you if you ask about yourself specifically.
Ask instead about the profile of the enrolled class in terms of average GRE scores, undergrad GPA, things like that. You might be able to get away with asking how strongly they weigh GRE scores compared to other things when considering applications if you are concerned about that specifically.
I love thegradcafe’s forums, but I wouldn’t recommend checking out the website’s admissions statistics for any indication of your stats compared to theirs. At best, your school/program simply won’t have enough entries for you to make any determinations. At worst, the data is unrepresentative - not everyone reports there and some people may be disproportionately more likely to report than others, so you’re not getting a great objective handle on scores.
I would say that your GRE scores are fine. I certainly wouldn’t retake them, were I you.
I’d like to note, though, that the entire purpose of the admissions process is to see whether you are a competitive applicant. Basically, to find out if you can get in, you have to apply. I know that’s not a satisfying answer, but it’s really the only way to go about this. You can ask about the profile of the enrolled class to see if you are way off - but I don’t think you’re way off. It would be nearly impossible to be - you have very high GRE scores and a pretty high GPA. your numerical credentials, on face, are good enough to get you through the door. But decisions are made on a lot of nebulous factors that are not purely numerical.
Provided that your other non-academic activities, such as research or work experience, are up to par, I would say that you are qualified for Harvard grad school. However, you will be hard pressed to receive scholarships and funding from your first year. I also recommend that you take the time to ask your advisor about your class ranking, since a 3.6 GPA without any context is below average to average unless its considered as top percentile in your department in your university.