<p>Assuming that the average master's degree program lasts 2 years and the cost of annual tuition is about the same for undergrad, I think I might be able to afford grad school and still manage to pay the rent and buy food.</p>
<p>However, I worry about the fact that my credentials suck. I mean I've been out of undergrad for more than 5 years and other than a few dead end jobs unrelated to my major and periods of unemployment I have done nothing. That is, no extracurriculars, no volunteer work, nothing.</p>
<p>My undergrad GPA probably won't be a deal breaker (3.5+ from a decent university) but I worry about letters of recommendation and possible GRE scores (I imagine I could end up with something like 600 M / 500 V).</p>
<p>Assuming that I can afford the tuition (I don't expect to qualify for any grant/scholarship), that I take the GRE and end up with a score like the one I have in mind, and that I somehow manage to get letters of recommendation from professors who probably don't remember me, can I go to graduate school? The subject that I'd like to study, by the way, would be math or statistics. (haven't decided yet).</p>
<p>If so, what type of school would we be looking at? Would the average "university of ___" be a good choice or should I aim lower?</p>
<p>I am not overly obsessed with prestige. I'm not even thinking about using my grad degree as a platform to obtain a 'good' job. I'm just interested in getting a grad degree for my own personal satisfaction, hopefully from an average school.</p>
<p>So can I go to grad school? And if so, what type of grad school should I be thinking of?</p>
<p>A master’s program at a middle-of-the-road university might be within your reach, but you should try to do a few things before you apply next fall. First, if you are going to major in math or statistics, I’m guessing that you’ll need a GRE score over 700 even for a middling school. The GRE tests high school math and mental calculations, so, if you are mathematically inclined, then you should score well after practice/study. (For the Q GRE, a 700 is around the 75th percentile.)</p>
<p>Next, contact your old professors now to re-introduce yourself and to discuss your plans. If you cultivate your contacts over the course of several months, they will get to know you better and then be able to write a more current recommendation.</p>
<p>If you absolutely cannot get employment that is even vaguely related to mathematics or statistics, then at the very least, you should be reading academic papers in your field. Your statement of purpose can reflect this knowledge through your discussion of what you want to study within your chosen field. </p>
<p>No one can really say what kind of programs you are qualified for. If you majored in math or statistics, you’ll be better positioned than if you majored in, say, French. Your undergraduate coursework should have prepared you for advanced study in the field; otherwise, you may have to go back to school to get the credentials. If you impressed your professors as an undergraduate, then chances are that they still remember you, so that could help as well. </p>
<p>My best advice is for you to take a look at prospective programs to see how your background may stack up against their current students.</p>
<p>Sorry – I’m not familiar with math or statistics, so I don’t know which programs would be “average.” You can go to phds.org and search for a ranking of programs, then take a look at those below the top 25.</p>
<p>BarrSyd, I would characterize “middle-of-the-road universities” (using momwaiting’s term) as state schools that may not necessarily be the flagship school. For example, I live in Colorado and the <em>flagship</em> school is University of Colorado at Boulder- you would probably have an upward battle getting admitted there. However, there are two other campuses (CU-Denver and CU-Colorado Springs), as well as Univ. of Northern Colorado that are still solid schools that your numbers would probably line up with. These schools still have funding available and cheaper tuition to boot. Perhaps look at more regional schools instead of national schools, and you’ll do just fine. Of course, you’ll have to do some exploring and see which schools offer the programs your looking at. I’d recommend for GRE Prep the Kaplan guide (big purple book It was a lifesaver for me; without it, I can’t imagine having done nearly as well. </p>
<p>Anyway, this is my 2 cents. Take it or leave it ;)</p>
<p>I went to grad school after being out of undergrad for 10 years, and no employment for 5 years prior to applying (at-home-mom at the time to a 4 and 6 year old). I applied to 3 schools and got into all three. I had a much lower gpa than you did and I know my GMATs were not beyond average. I ended up going to the school with the class schedule that worked for me and finished in 2.5 years! It was something “for me” and I graduated with a 3.7 which is big deal for me considering my undergrad gpa :O. </p>
<p>I am positive that being out of school for a long time prior to applying actually helped me get accepted. Statistically they know that you are more motivated when you return to school later. Think you will be suprised… Apply to schools you can afford and actually look at their class schedule in your program now to get an idea of how you will work around it (P/T work, etc.). I did have to take one more semester to finish because of working PT during the program. </p>
<p>GO for it! It’s one of the things I’m most proud of…it’s about you.</p>
<p>forgot to say that it doesn’t matter whether you’re going for a big change or not. I have a BA in interior design and got my MS in physiology! Colleges are certainly used to people changing their field of study ;)</p>
<p>First of all, I’ve been out for twelve years and have been staying at home with babies for the past 4.5, and I got better than that. My college GPA was lower than yours. I am sure that if you take a decent online course and study for a month or so (I did an hour a day, however, tip: spend at least three weeks learning to beat the CAT if you’re taking it soon), you will do much better than that.</p>
<p>Aside from the fact that I worked in the interim, save a generous work-from-home-part-time maternity leave, I should be way worse off than you. But I applied and I think I have a decent chance. I think you should look at colleges as if you could go anywhere, then choose a dream school and a couple of schools where you have a good chance and a safety, just like in undergrad, and apply.</p>
<p>My field of study is also totally different. No biggie, in my opinion. Go for it.</p>
<p>Oh, and I also used Kaplan. I was disappointed with my math score, which percentile-wise was 48% lower than what I used to get when I was in school, but that was my fault. However, I got more points on verbal so it worked out to a 1380–worse than my SATs or previous test scores from when I was in school, but very respectable for someone who’s been out for some time. Overall, the sheer number of practice tests they offer should put any reasonably intelligent person way over 600/500 easily.</p>
<p>And I did every practice with a 1.5 year old at my feet, and have not had a full night’s sleep in four years. If I can do it, you can.</p>
<p>Though I would give an additional vote of confidence on the GRE.</p>
<p>You should definitely look to score over 700 on the Quant, and if you are inclined towards math and stats you should have no problem with that. I would agree with previous posters that Kaplan GRE prep is certainly a good investment. I think their strategies for the Quant section are very helpful, and they will help you avoid many common mistakes and traps. The GRE is a trick test, there’s very little material that you won’t understand at a fundamental level, but you will need to be very familiar with those concepts to really maximize your score.</p>
<p>I don’t know how soon you are going to take the test, but I wouldn’t waste any time. The test is going to change significantly in the very near future (I think april?) and chances are that groups like Kaplan are going to take some time to adjust their approach.</p>
<p>Don’t put a great deal of effort into the verbal section, but try to score over 500. In my opinion the verbal section is very outdated. This section of the exam emphasized vocabulary that, for the most part, has not been in use in common english (even in academia) for several decades if not longer (really, how many words do you need to communicate that someone is a nag? according to the GRE about 20). The reading comp is really the only section on the verbal that really demonstrates academic abilities.
This is only my opinion though, so take it with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>I hope you have an undergrad degree in math or statistics (or something related to those fields, i.e. a quantitative degree that required high levels of math), because almost every math and stats grad program requires some minimum background. Usually Calc 1-3, linear algebra. For stats programs you’ll need an undergrad class in mathematical probability. For most math programs you’ll need differential equations. It’s difficult to get into math and/or stats grad programs without these.</p>
<p>If you don’t have those prereqs complete, you might be able to get a conditional acceptance based on you taking those required classes.</p>
<p>Also, in case anybody missed it, the format/scoring of the GRE is changing after August. I’m not sure what the exact change are, but I think the test will be on a 180 point scale (similar to the LSATs).</p>
<p>From what most of my professors have told me at UC Davis, they consider the GRE a joke. It is nothing more than an initiation trial. That said, if your GRE score is a 200 in one of the subjects, that’s a red flag, and you should take it again.</p>
<p>Your GPA, and individual grades in particular courses, are much more important. Your personal statement and letters of recommendation help as well, but they will probably not be a game changer.</p>
<p>Please note, however, that what I just said came from professors at UC Davis, and this advice may not apply to other colleges.</p>
<p>I know of two schools in the California Silicon Valley whose engineering departments do not require letters of recommendation – San Jose State University, and Santa Clara University. I don’t know about their math departments, however. You might consider these two schools, as they are not too hard to get into, and they have great connections to employers in the Silicon Valley.</p>
<p>Yes, if the OP can delay taking the GRE, he should delay it. The present curves are absurd. Especially if he’s going to do better in math–because the curve in math is insane, 6% get perfect scores, and like 30% are above 720 or something ridiculous like that–he should consider taking the next one. Percentile-wise it’s impossible to shine in math on the present GRE. I don’t know how the ETS gets away with that.</p>
<p>It’s supposed to be a lot better for the verbal section as well.</p>
<p>I just wanted to add that I took a free, paper & pencil Kaplan GRE practice test and while I found the math section either easy or tedious (especially the parts that required looking at graphs and making calculations), I am disappointed that I did not score well.</p>
<p>My only relief is knowing that at least my prediction was accurate, and my scores were roughly 600 M (40 percentile) and 500 V (65 percentile). I don’t care about the verbal score, but the math score, especially given the type of graduate program I have in mind, is disappointing.</p>
<p>I do think I could improve my Math score with enough timed practice (I knew nothing about the GRE before I took the practice GRE) but I am not expecting to score 800. Perhaps a score in the 670-700 range is realistic for me?</p>
<p>As for the verbal section, my weakest performance was when it came to the analogies, in which I got only 60% right. For the reading comprehension part, which I thought was going to be the hardest part of the entire test, I got 75% correct answers.</p>
<p>I don’t know if I should take my practice GRE score seriously and use it as inspiration to make an effort to see if I can improve my real GRE score or if I should put this experience behind and take the hint.</p>
<p>I think that with the GRE you really need to see what questions you are missing and why. I have tutored people for the SAT and GRE, and have seen many cases where scores could be raised by 50-100 points with some practive. Of course, I have seen other cases where a lack of fundamentals meant that further improvement was unlikely without more work than was worthwhile.</p>
<p>Do you know what questions you missed, and why?</p>
<p>I know that for me, studying brought my score up (on the CAT) by nearly 100 points. I have been out of school for over a decade, so there was a lot of room for improvement, but still.</p>
<p>Also, the paper-and-pencil test is not indicative. The CAT favors quick computation and a few key skills (for example, if you’re accurate in the “lower” maths but can guesstimate functions, logic and higher algebra, you’re bound to do good).</p>
<p>Statistically, it’s impossible to tell whether you’d get a 620, 640, or 760 or in-between. The curve suggests that chance, as much as anything else, is sorting out test-takers at that level.</p>
<p>Since you must have the fundamentals, I would take a CAT test before making judgments, and then go back and see what you missed. Unless you are delaying until much later this year to take it–in which case, wait until you get the practice computer tests for that version–the CAT will give you a much better idea of where you’ll score.</p>
<p>I’d say the verbal on the CAT is easier and the math is harder for people with slow computational skills, like me. (I used to guesstimate and then refine my answers going back–you can’t do that on the computer tests, but I hear they’re bringing that back.)</p>
<p>Cosmicfish, I know the math fundamentals. The problem was my lack of practice (I haven’t done math in almost half a decade) and the fact that I was unfamiliar with the GRE. For example, it took me a while to understand the thing about Column A vs. Column B. (I didn’t see any columns.)</p>
<p>The breakdown of my practice score is as follows:</p>
<p>Math
Data Interpretation: 80%
Problem Solving: 75%
Quantitative Comparisons: 70%</p>
<p>Other than memorizing words and taking more practice math GREs (I don’t need to “learn” math, I just need to practice) I think I might be able to see improvements. But then again, if I am going to end up with something like 650 M and 550 V, why bother? Those scores suck, especially for the type of quantitative program I have in mind.</p>
<p>I am just not sure I should sacrifice my mental health worrying about this stupid test.</p>
<p>My only saving graces are affirmative action and the fact that English is not my first language, but I am not even sure those things matter at this point. (ie: affirmative action hasn’t been of much help to me when it comes to finding employment.)</p>
It was a lifesaver for me; without it, I can’t imagine having done nearly as well. </p>