<p>S2 has asked me to help him find admissions information for some of the grad school programs he is considering applying to for next fall.</p>
<p>It seems to me that most of the websites are a lot more vague than those for undergrad admissions....sort of "grades above a 3.0 and acceptable GRE scores".</p>
<p>I am trying to find the grad school equivalent of the 25%-75% SAT scores ranges that were used for undergrad, competitveness of entry to various programs etc.</p>
<p>Does any one have info on a resource or website with this kind of info?</p>
<p>If you provide more specifics, it might be easier to assist. Thus for example, do you mean mba, law school, masters/phd program in a given field or something else? </p>
<p>I will just add that if it’s for a masters/phd program in a given field (given you mention the GRE and not LSAT or GMAT), the best source is talking to his professors in that field of interest. He would need them for reference letters anyway and people in the field have a far far better understanding of where to apply than any website (and those faculty can also provide guidance on the application process as well). On average, these programs tend to involve much smaller numbers and the process can be very individualized, so you don’t have the same kind of machinery behind them like you would with undergrad application processes. I have not found any of the more general websites related to the three fields I know best to be of any value at all (the ones I found were very inaccurate- thus when they say these are the top schools in X field, I’m absolutely positive that no one I know in X field who would agree- and I say that as someone with 20 years in the field, one of the most published in the field, and the recent former president of our professional association). I’m not even sure where they could possibly get their data from.</p>
<p>A grad school application is a completely different animal from an undergraduate application in that research experience, what you want to study and professor recommendations count for A LOT in whether you get the nod. It doesn’t lend itself to the 25%-75% GRE range sort of analysis.</p>
<p>I agree with starbright that the best source of info is a professor at his school in the study area. He may know someone who knows someone who knows someone…you get the picture.</p>
<p>^ Good additional point. All of the above is really important. </p>
<p>And as for standardized test scores, the higher the quality of school the more they demand a certain cut off level on the GRE, give or take (it’s not written anywhere but norms within a given school and department develop over time). Thus where I currently work, we would never consider someone below the 80th percentile, and most of our offers go to students at the 90th or above. But even I could not possibly tell you the distribution of accepted scores. </p>
<p>If a student sees me about grad school, I can give them a rough idea of where they could get in within my field based on their GRE.</p>
<p>There is also a site called the Student Doctor Network, which functions kind of like a College Confidential for grad programs, with forums and information.</p>
<p>S is looking primarily at public policy masters programs, and he is getting a lot of help from his professors getting him pointed in the right direction. He took the GRE last month and did well but doesn’t know if he should take it again and see if he does even better, or if doing well was good enough…we just wish there was the black-and-white info available for grad programs like there is for undergrad!</p>
<p>He asked for a little help because between taking 19 hours this quarter, doing the applications, and the other things he is involved in…he just didn’t have time to dig in to each schools common data set, etc.</p>
<p>There isn’t the same type of data for grad schools, because grad schools (at least research based ones, so a research masters or a phd) just don’t care about things like GRE scores or even really grades, its more about recommendations and previous research experience. Talking to his professors and asking where they think he should aim is probably the best bet.</p>
<p>That’s an important qualification – many grad schools * do * care about grades and GREs quite a bit. </p>
<p>I agree that professor recommendations are very important.</p>
<p>I’d add that the overall quality of the application (usually there is a personal statement and/or letter required) and writing sample ( if asked for) are also extremely important: does the student know/understand the field of study he/she is entering?</p>
<p>I know in the fields I’m most familiar (I really don’t have a clue if these generalize to other fields), GPA matters a lot. We look at particular courses as well, especially ones in mathematics. </p>
<p>I would also add that he should find out how departments in his field feel about retaking GRE. I have been on admissions at one top school where it worked to the applicants disadvantage to retake it. It could also result in a downward change on one of the subscores- it’s pretty common. And I have not seen the notion of ‘superscore’ be embraced in graduate school admissions.</p>
<p>I know a student who retook the GRE three times in an effort to raise his verbal score which was pretty low. If I remember, he got the identical score each time … that couldn’t have been impressive or overlooked by grad school admissions committees.</p>
<p>If your son doesn’t have time to look at grad schools now (and if he’s a senior taking advanced courses, it’s very understandable that he wouldn’t) I would suggest to him that he consider taking a year off. He can still talk to his professors and get advice and counsel, as he should. They can advise him about retaking his GRE based on his score and his goals and point him in the right direction. But there is no need to rush into grad school the year after graduation. In some cases, it’s actually better to have some work experience behind you. If public policy is his interest, he might be better off with an internship or job in public policy for a year while he thinks about what direction he might take. That would only strenghen his application.</p>
<p>My son graduated this year with a concentration in environmental policy. He has a fellowship this next year in Sacramento in his area of interest, which is in effect, a paid internship. He’s not sure he’ll do grad school, but if he does, I imagine he’ll have a much better idea of what direction to take, and why he’s there. A little maturing before rushing to graduate school is always a good thing, imo.</p>
<p>^ Agreed. I’ve found myself in a position in having to take a year off in preparation for applying to PhD programs. I’m glad that it happened (although I was disappointed at the time of realizing this reality…)</p>
<p>It’s so much more relaxing this way in terms of putting together a thoughtful application (including the statement of purpose essay), creating a list of schools that I can be much more confident that are better fits for me than in the past cycle, and having a chance to re-take my GRE (3 years later!) by studying more thoroughly.</p>
<p>I was saying to my mother a few weeks out how stupid I felt that I didn’t really take the time to actually learn how to take the GRE before. She said, “Well you had too much on your plate and it just wasn’t the priority for you.”</p>
<p>At the time, I was just too scared of taking a year off (what would I do with myself?!) so I just rushed through it. I probably would’ve enjoyed my senior year a lot more if I didn’t spend any time working on my grad school applications.</p>
<p>Tell your S if he doesn’t have time to apply to grad schools right now, then don’t go next fall. He should be happy with his choices and not regret it because he didn’t take the time to explore other programs that may not have been on his radar in the first place.</p>
<p>GRE scores are good for five years. If your son has time to prepare for the test, it might be good to get that out of the way now. (I don’t think much prep is needed for most kids. My daughter went through a Princeton Review book and took a practice test online.) Other than that, I agree with the above posters 100 percent that getting some work experience is an excellent idea and will help them figure out what they really want to do with their lives.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help—I’ve told my S about this thread and I hope he looks at it!</p>
<p>S is working an unpaid internship right now, in one of his areas of interest.</p>
<p>But there has been an interesting development…he is thinking of studying national security policy/anti-terrorism in Israel for a year and delaying grad school here for
a year. So far he is not quite sure how a year in an Israeli grad program works/counts in the U.S. so he has a lot to investigate.</p>