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CaneMom
Member
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Posted: Sun Jan 28th, 2007 12:48 am |
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Hello all. I was wondering if anyone here besides me are waiting patiently, (or should that be impatiently?) for their sons/daughters grad school results? If so....good luck and let us know the results. I've done a lot a research for mine and have learned a great deal more about grad schools than I'd ever thought I would during the wait. 
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WestrnMom
Super Moderator
| Joined: | Fri May 26th, 2006 |
| Location: | West Coast, USA |
| Posts: | 1213 |
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Posted: Sun Jan 28th, 2007 04:10 am |
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A year from now, yes. I'd be happy to learn whatever you'd like to share. I won't be too involved in the process, but I offered to help as needed.
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CaneMom
Member
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Posted: Sun Jan 28th, 2007 05:28 am |
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What I have learned from watching him go through this process...of course these are my opinions and I'm known to be wrong at times.... 
1. Grad school admissions are just as much, if not more, of a guess than undergrad. 200 or more applications submitted for 3 to 4 spots per department. And while a department itself may take more students, it seems that they all want to "specialize" in the same general area. (200 apps for molecular bio, but 199 want to study genetics--one wants to study virology. You know who is definitely in...But the rest...) It seems to me that the more obscure the subject, the better chance of admission.
2. Most of the grad programs tell you at least an 1100 GRE and a 3.0 GPA for admissions. These guidelines are so vague, that trying to find those "reach", "match" and "safety" guidelines are an effort in futility. Throw that in with trying to find a professor whose research interests are the same as the students and the word "fit" becomes even more important.
3. As a parent, of course technically these really isn't much you can do...but you can really help out, by helping them organize and doing some basic research for them. Whenever I would find something about a deadline/interesting article/etc., I would e-mail him the link. This past semester taking a full load of classes, doing the apps, doing each SOP, which must be done institution specific, keeping track of 10 deadlines, and getting two sometimes 3 letters of recommendation for each institution has been a daunting task for him.
4. Yale, Harvard, and Princeton are not the be-all, end-all programs. As a matter of fact, sometimes they are farther down the list of rankings, depending on program, than one would have thought.
5. Professors are very busy people. So letters of recommendation's need to be asked for several months in advance of the app deadline. Therefore, it is imparitive that the apps not be finished last minute.
6. ETS is no more reliable for getting reports to the schools on time for the GRE than it is for the SAT.
7. Ditto for the transcripts. And if your student had dual enrollment credits from high school at the Jr. college level, you must also submit the Jr. college transcript even if it was on the offical transcript from the university/college from which they received their degree... Just more $$$$.
8. And speaking of $$$.... be prepared. They are after all, broke college kids, and you just thought undergrad apps were expensive??? LOL
9. Be thankful! You are done with the FAFSA, but they are just still beginning. (I think this may be different for some programs, but at least with mine, he's now independent! Woo hoo!) Of course, this puts a whole new spin on the "Help me do my taxes NOW please Mom?"
10. Be thankful twice! You don't have to push, gently nudge, or remind them this time around. By now, they hopefully have learned how to actually get through this process by themselves, totally. If they don't...it's no sweat off your brow...... Unless of course, your worried that they will be moving back in with you. After all, you've gotton used to the "empty" nest. In that case...change the locks. LOL.
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warblers
Member
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Posted: Sun Jan 28th, 2007 09:45 pm |
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It seems to me that the more obscure the subject, the better chance of admission.
Thank goodness for that!
Most of the grad programs tell you at least an 1100 GRE and a 3.0 GPA for admissions. These guidelines are so vague, that trying to find those "reach", "match" and "safety" guidelines are an effort in futility. Throw that in with trying to find a professor whose research interests are the same as the students and the word "fit" becomes even more important.
I've noticed that. How DID your son get a sense of reach/safety schools- talking to professors?
Thanks for the other great tips!
Last edited on Sun Jan 28th, 2007 09:45 pm by warblers
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CaneMom
Member
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Posted: Sun Jan 28th, 2007 11:52 pm |
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How DID your son get a sense of reach/safety schools- talking to professors?
He did just that. UMiami's Cancer Biology program is pretty new, so he scheduled a meeting with the Chair of the program, sat down and had a very long talk with him. The chairman was quite frank with him, told him which programs he should look at from top to bottom and gave him ideas of some possible mentors to also look for. This Dr. is ivy educated himself, and son was quite impressed with the candor in which he spoke. He told son that while UM was very impressed with his background, and obviously he would most likely get accepted since not only was UM his undergrad school, but that his GRE scores, research experience etc were on target for their program, but that son should also "reach" higher. To make a long story short, this meeting turned out to be an invaluable resource.
After the meeting, he went and researched the schools and using the rankings as well as the admit percentages that he could figure out he narrowed his list down. Knowing that places like Yale, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, etc., only admit a very small percentage of their applicants to a specific program even though his stats were competitive put them and similar programs as High reaches, while a couple of other places which might have also been considered reaches became "matches" due to the sheer higher numbers that they accept. He threw quite a wide net as far as his schools therefore, applying to 10 different schools. Although each one in its own right, excels in one way or another. And each one has at least one professor that is doing reseach in his area of interest.
We have yet to hear just how much success will happen as far as his reaching, but he has received interview invitations to 3 of the top Medical Center Phd Biomedical programs in the country. He also has an interview at his "safety", so I'd say he was pretty much on taget.
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Shennie
Member
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Posted: Sat Feb 3rd, 2007 12:02 am |
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I will add my 2 cents:
Admissions to grad school are not quite as bleak as Canemom states, at least not in many areas. Hubby is an administrator at the UW Madison Chemistry dept. He is very involved in grad school admissions at the department. UW Chemistry is a top 10 grad program. He states they get about 550 applicants each year. Of that, they will usually accept around 180 and hope for around 60 incoming grad students. He does the first read of all the applications and assigns a number to them based on grades and GREs. Higher numbers are morely likely to be admitted than lower numbers. It is very difficult to get admitted if your GPA is below a 3.3 or a 3.4 unless you have some pretty compelling research on your resume.
Once he is done reading the applications, they go off to the faculty who look for recommendations and research. If you have high grades and a high GPA but have not done any research, it is highly unlikely you will be admitted. UW and similar institutions only admit students to Chemistry who are seeking a PhD. Master's degrees are only given to students who leave the PhD program after having completed certain requirements. Because of the research focus, you have to have some research credentials on your resume, either as an undergrad or through employment after graduation.
For non English speakers, students also must reach a threshold TOEFL. If they don't meet this threshold they will not be admitted regardless of anything else. If they do meet the threshold, they must also demonstrate reasonable speaking skills since they will be required to do some teaching. The university has representatives in many countries who will meet with students personally to assess their speaking skills.
Trying to come up with the typical reach-match-safety is not really doable. It is very dependent on who is doing the kind of work you want to do or who has the kind of program you want. Higher ranked programs are going to be harder to get into than lower ranked ones. However, the process is a bit clearer in that you don't have to worry about ECs, class rank, AP credits, etc. Mostly the decision on who to accept is based on grades, GRE and previous research. The students current professors are the best resources for appropriate schools to apply to.
It is not uncommon for graduate applicants to wait until AFTER they have been admitted to visit a campus and see the program. It is too difficult to do this during school and is often done over a long weekend or spring break, after acceptances have come out.
On a personal note, my oldest is currently applying for grad schools in music performance. This process is very similar to applying to undergrad for performance. In fact, undergrad performance is more akin to applying to grad school than it is to regular undergrad. I have stayed out of the process all together. If he needs something from us he asks, but otherwise it is all up to him.
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bc
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| Joined: | Fri Dec 29th, 2006 |
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Posted: Sat Feb 3rd, 2007 02:24 am |
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My d graduated from a Loren Pope LAC last spring and is doing her graudate study at one of the southeast's top hair schools. So let me know if you need guidance on beauty school admission.
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Lynda
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| Joined: | Mon Mar 6th, 2006 |
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Posted: Sat Feb 3rd, 2007 02:46 am |
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I haven't a clue what son's possible grad plans might be-I think they change everytime I hear them. So happy to hear music performance isn't more complicated than undergrad.
Son's stock answer to "what are you going to do with your music performance degree?" : "put it in a nice frame and hang it on the wall". This answer seems to make old ladies melt.
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warblers
Member
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Posted: Sun Feb 4th, 2007 08:33 pm |
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| Thanks for the info, CaneMom and Shennie.
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mackinaw
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| Joined: | Mon Mar 6th, 2006 |
| Location: | Michigan |
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Posted: Sun Feb 4th, 2007 08:58 pm |
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To CaneMom's and Shennie's good advice I would only add that the applicant's personal statement/career goals statement is also very important to doctoral program admissions, along with GRE, grades (and strength, content of undergrad program), research experience, and letters of recommendation. You can help your chances a lot if you write a convincing statement of why you want a doctorate and why you are applying to this particular school or program (including which professors you might want to work with).
Last edited on Sun Feb 4th, 2007 09:04 pm by mackinaw
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CalifCarolyn
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Posted: Mon Feb 5th, 2007 02:33 am |
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how about a Husband who had decided to go for a PhD now that we have a HS senior and a college sophomore 
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