<p>I am considering to enroll in the Master of Education program at Harvard.</p>
<p>My undergradate major was Economics (with a minor in Computer Science) and my cumulative GPA was just 3.04, although I am a member of the International Honor Soceity in Economics (Omicron Delta Epsilon) since my major GPA (which was economics, as aforementioned) is somewhat higher (3.24), but that is irrelevant since I am applying for education right?</p>
<p>I have been out of school for nearly 10 years and have been either teaching English (in Taiwan where my single parent resides) or serving as an executive assistant at a trading company.</p>
<p>So in all I think GPA is my major weakness. I was wondering, if I do extremely well on the GRE verbal and quantative, my package would be more competitive, right? Or do you think my personal statement and letters of recommendation are more vital?</p>
<p>What GRE scores do you think I would need to be competitive, given that my GPA is just above average, and that I was not an education major undergrad?</p>
<p>Thanks,</p>
<p>JC</p>
<p>so GPA and GRE are not very important for a top school like Harvard
you need them to be high enough to make the cut.</p>
<p>then, the most important things are recommendation letter
CV, research exp, and published paper.</p>
<p>But I don’t think your Gpa can make the cut.You should contact the admission office.</p>
<p>I agree with you, but I have heard plenty of stories with people who have very high GPA but did extremely poorly on GRE but still managed to get in, so if GPA/GRE score are indicators of one’s performance/intelligence, it stands to reason that a poor GPA (honestly I think 3.0 is not poor, just average) but with extremely high GRE scores (say both in the 90th percentile, which is extremely difficult, to say the least, especially for the verbal, where the average score of admittance to Harvard ranges from the high 500’s to low 600’s, and the 90th percentile would be at least 700+ I think) can be admitted. I reason such because I know that Harvard places an emphasis on GRE scores; I am unsure as to which of the two (GPA or GRE scores) Harvard places a greater emphasis on, but I know Harvard does care about GRE scores, unlike other schools, say Brown.</p>
<p>Of course, I cannot deny the importance of the likes of personal statement, LOR (letters of recommendation), research experience, etc. Of course the application process is a holistic process but it cannot hurt to have strong points, which can justify other areas of weakness, don’t you agree?</p>
<p>JC</p>
<p>BTW, “Jeff” is funnier than “JC.” You shouldn’t have changed it on this post.</p>
<p>I think there are a couple questions you ought to answer first:
- What do you want to do with your Master’s in Education?
- Why Harvard? What can Harvard give you that other colleges can’t?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This makes your undergrad performance considerably less of a factor.</p>
<p>Personal statement and letters of recommendation will be significantly more important than your GRE, as well.</p>
<p>I’ll suggest that you shouldn’t limit yourself to the Harvard School. There are many other school also which provide quality programs in academics. The Harvard school in general have a large number of applicants which results in the competition. It’s better to keep in hand some more colleges also and apply for them. Following are the sites of two such colleges. Go through them and check whether they are suitable for you or not.
[School</a> of Education | University of Massachusetts Amherst](<a href=“http://www.umass.edu/education/]School”>College of Education : UMass Amherst)
<a href=“Graduate School of Education and Human Development | GW”>http://gsehd.gwu.edu/</a></p>
<p>Honestly its pretty easy to get into schools of teaching. You are better off, applying to a teaching school in taiwan.</p>