<p>I applied to a top 10 Engineering School for a PhD program in Civil Engineering. My GPA is 3.7 overall, 3.85 Major in my Master's Degree. I did the GRE and got 700 Quant, 500 Verbal, 5.5 Analytical Writing (I converted the new scores to old score equivalent). </p>
<p>I realize these scores are very low for top 10 engineering schools. My reference letters are great and so is my statement of purpose. Will the low GRE score take me out of the running ?</p>
<p>Please be brutally honest and frank. Also, if I get rejected should I write it again and apply the next year. I really don't mind doing that.
If you have any advice or tips, please share !</p>
<p>in general gre is not highly valued, unless they are low. your scores are much below average for top schools, or even for below average engineering program, especially in quant.</p>
<p>what is your undergraduate gpa? where is your degree from? if that is also good, you may be ok.</p>
<p>i have a feeling BS grade may be weighed more heavily than MS grade, as MS is NOT needed to gain admission in most schools.</p>
<p>add some next tier schools, just to be safe.</p>
<p>Low score was due to illness. Undergraduate GPA from years back, and was low. MS school is decent, in the top 100 but not top 10.</p>
<p>Any value is emailing to explain low GRE score due to illness ? I wrote the GRE late after I handed in my statement of purpose, so couldn’t explain it there.</p>
<p>Other than that - I have excellent references, statement of purpose, volunteer and industry experience.</p>
<p>So MS is not required for PhD ? Meaning people go straight from BS to PhD?</p>
<p>Do you have any research experience/publications? Without that, it’s going to be very tough with a low undergraduate GPA, not a great university to back up that MS GPA, and a low GRE score. I’ve seen people get placed well with similar stats in the past, but it’s rare.</p>
<p>Are you sure what area of research you what to pursue? If so, I would try contacting the faculty from your target schools in those areas to see if they’ll talk to you one-on-one. If that’s the case, you might be able to convince someone to bring you into their lab. It’s a long shot (they’re contacted by applicants all the time) but it can’t hurt as long as you know what you’re talking about when you meet them.</p>
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<p>Yes, in fact I’m willing to guess that straight BS -> PhD is more common than BS -> MS -> PhD these days. People with only a BS will take some MS courses at the start of their PhD program.</p>
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<p>It’s too late for this year, so all you can do is pray. If you don’t get in this year retake the GRE, try to meet with faculty, and mix in some non-top 10 programs for next year.</p>
<p>Research experience yes, publications no. As for contacting them, that is a possibility. </p>
<p>I guess I will know the decision in a few weeks, by the end of the month. Either way I will contact them asking them what I can improve for next time I apply (obviously the GRE is one of them).</p>
<p>@happytimes One of my professors told me that so many applicants have 800 on the quant that the only way to distinguish is by looking at the verbal. So the answer is, maybe.</p>
<p>@hasuchObe - Isn’t verbal different than AW ? Analytical Writing is the essay part. It’s a bit different than verbal which is reading comprehension and vocabulary.</p>
<p>All I’m saying is that some professors may use verbal or AW to distinguish applicants. Regardless of what you have, you gotta apply and pray. That goes for everyone.</p>
<p>I think your chances are good but I hope you applied to more than 1 school.</p>
<p>Is sending a letter to a professor during the admissions evaluation process a bad idea ?
Is it dangerous ? I want to explain reasons for low GRE score</p>
<p>Do not, under any circumstances, send a letter to a graduate program attempting to “explain” a “situation or score.” It only looks like you are offering excuses, regardless of the validity of the claim. All I can say is this about the current graduate apllication cycle: I hope you applied broadly. Although some markers are pointing to a stronger economy, the job market is still bad; therefore, many people are still applying to graduate programs to “wait out” the job market. So most schools are seeing record numbers of applications to their programs. I only have one acceptance, but the one rejection I recieved stated that over 800 students applied for 45 spots in a graduate program. </p>
<p>Your Q score is a about 50-100 points too low for the top ten, but you are applying w/ a MS, so that gives you some leverage in the application cycle. But as I previously stated, the job market is weak, even for engineers; so, that mean increased competition in the application pool. The 700 is going to hurt, but hopefully the AdCom reads your letters, essays, and transcripts, and gives you a fair shake in the process. If you don’t get into this program, have you heard from any other schools that have offered admission?</p>
<p>I’m really happy I saw your post because I can definitely help. I was just like you, almost exactly. I’m currently a PhD in civil / environmental engineering at UIUC. My GRE scores were also below the average, with 730Q and 650V. My writing score was 4.0 on one test, and 3.5 on the other. I had very strong LORs from faculty members that were well-known in their fields, and a master’s degree from that university with a 3.8 GPA, although when I applied it was 3.75. I got into a great program, and with a fellowship no less. I’m sure that the master’s degree helped me get accepted and made the GRE more irrelevant because of my research experience, but every faculty member I asked about the GRE said it’s one of the least important factors in the application. Also realize that the Indian and Chinese students almost universally have 800s on the quantitative part so don’t let the high average scare you. </p>
<p>I got rejected from Wisconsin Madison, which ironically was my safety school but I applied to 2 programs there which might have given the impression that I didn’t know what I wanted. Before I stated the application process, I also wanted to visit the faculty members I wanted to work with at many of these top 10 universities. Nearly every e-mail I sent out got a positive response. I flew to three schools, and at times I even met with 3 faculty members at the same time. I went on tours of the labs, had lunch with potential advisers…then when it was time to fill out the applications I mentioned in my personal statement who I had met. If you know what kind of research you want to do and can narrow your search to 1 or 2 faculty members, send them a well-written e-mail about your interests. It can only help your chances. Just don’t try to contact too many people because they DO communicate with each other and it got me into an embarrassing situation one time.</p>
<p>One word about Stanford and Berkeley. Getting in may be hard, but getting funding as an RA is much harder in our programs. I know many people who applied and got accepted but were not guaranteed any funding. In fact, I don’t know a single accepted applicant who was funded.</p>
<p>Long story short, I think you will definitely get into more than one top 10 program. Just apply to many of them! A good plan would be to apply to 4-5 top 10 schools, 2-3 schools in the top 10-20, and about 2 schools in the top 20-30.</p>
<p>Let me respond to your last question as well. Contacting the professor DURING the application cycle looks bad in my opinion. Contacting them BEFORE the cycle is fine. I only recommend contacting them during the process if you have talked to them previously. For example, I flew out to see one faculty member, and sent an e-mail during the application process to ask how it was going. By that time, he knew me fairly well.</p>
<p>Thanks for your response. Not sure if you are exactly the same as my situation, my GRE scores are worse and also I did not go to a good MS school (sounds like you did - sounds like you went to Berkely or Stanford). My MS school is just top 100, so I am at a huge disadvantage there.</p>
<p>Anyway, it sounds good. Maybe I will pop an email to that prof and see how it is going.</p>
<p>My impression of Stanford and Berkely is you need near top GPA, about 3.9 and above, so I am definitely not going there and a super LOR from faculty. </p>
<p>Oh no, I just went to an average school for my BS and MS, also just top 100. It’s similar in ranking to Drexel I’d say. It’s still worth it to apply to Berkeley or Stanford though. I even e-mailed the chair of one of those schools and got a phone interview before the application process. </p>
<p>What also helped me I believe was the Powerpoint I sent to each potential adviser of my research results and a nice description of the experiments on the sidebars next to my graphs. </p>
<p>Don’t look down on yourself too much, because I even asked the chair about my GRE scores and that person said it’s not really important unless they’re below 700. GPA is probably second to least important unless you do very poorly.</p>
<p>You know, in the end I didn’t even apply to those schools! I had a bad impression at Stanford for reasons I won’t go into, and the research being done at Berkeley was not what I wanted to be doing. I was told by various faculty at these top institutions that if you’re looking for a job in academia, any school in the top 15 will help you get into anywhere. May some carry a “little” more sway than others, but generally they’re looked at all the same. If you go into industry, I can’t imagine much deviation from this idea either except for the fact that a well-known name will help a bit more.</p>
<p>For me culture is king. I don’t care where the school is ranked, if I am not happy, I don’t care. MIT, Stanford - I have visited and they seem very serious and old fashioned which is not for me, even if I could get in. I would rather be happy. Berkeley seems more laid back anyhow. </p>
<p>Well I didn’t email a powerpoint but we will see. Like I said, I could be at a superstar school with a superstar prof, but if I am not happy - like in a job - then so what ?</p>
<p>You are right about Top 15 - it really does not matter at all. As long as you do good work.</p>
<p>I just wanted to sharey experience as a graduated masters student in CE. I think it’s ALL about finding the right fit in trying to decide where to apply. At this stage of someone’s academic career, I think one should care more finding the right adviser and mentor than whether or not a school is top 10. Top 10 based on what? Those rankings are silly. </p>
<p>Hope you got into a great program! I’m currently in the process of applying to PhD programs and what I am looking for in potential schools is whether they have faculty that have the se research interest as me (and you should really know by now what those interests are - if not, I don’t think it’s such a good idea to pursue a PhD). Communication with potential advisers is very important. I think that if the professor is interested at what you have to say, they will get you in.</p>
<p>In fact I’m in the process of applying to UC Davis now and the application asks for professors that I have talked to and what we talked about. </p>
<p>I feel like the GRE is definitely important at the top ten schools. But I believe GPA is even more so. The GRE supplements your GPA during the decision making process. In the end however, the admissions people look at your whole application. Just hope they like parts of your application enough to accept you regardless of below average areas. </p>
<p>Pardon the bad grammar, I’m on a smart phone and I have large fingers, a small screen, and autocorrect :-)</p>
<p>Your AW score is great! It shows that you can write well enough. I would think Professors get irritated at grad students at times for writing at a fifth grade level. So I’m thinking they look at the verbal and AW scores more closely (especially top 10 programs)</p>