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Some questions about admission process

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2019 3:05 pm
by Oldguy
Hello, guys!

I'm international student. I would like to apply to graduate school in USA. However, I don't want to waste money, so I would like to understand better the admission process. I know that everyone here doesn't know exactly how the selection process works, but I believe you can help me. I have few questions...

First, I have been reading old topics: "201X Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results". There, I understood that almost everyone has 3.7 or more of GPA. So, do I need a really high GPA to have any chance? I was one of the best students in undegraduate university, but I don't have so high gpa. It's 3.2 in general, 3.3 in Math, 3.5 in upper-division courses. In my university, it is a great gpa.

Second, I have already a masters degree. Does my GPA in Masters much more important than undergraduate GPA?

Third, my coursework, due to Masters, is very advanced. I did 10 graduate courses, I read in many department website and I concluded that I have already taken all basic courses of PhD(Complex Analysis, Real Analysis, Algebra(I, II), Algebraic Topologic, Differential Geometry and so on...) Is it a good thing, even with no so good GPA?

Fourth, I have 3 years of undergraduate research. However, I do not have publications. Is it good or bad?

Fifth, I failed one graduate course. I re-took the course and I got A. But the failed is in my transcripts. Is this a really big problem?

I really know what I want to study in PhD, then I will apply only to school where I know there are faculty with exactly same interests. Can it increase my chance?

I believe that I need almost perfect score in GRE and mGRE to make my application stronger, but I am not sure if a good scores will be enough to make a strong application.

Re: Some questions about admission process

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2019 3:19 pm
by Mr.Scholze
Where did u do your undergrad

Re: Some questions about admission process

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2019 3:36 pm
by young556646
1. 3.3 GPA in math seems really low. If your gpa is one of the best in your institute, you definitely have to explain it in your SOP. You can also discuss with your letter writers, if you have one from your undergraduate institute - some of them can explain it in their letters. If you graduated with honors, that would help explaining this a lot.

2. I am not sure about this.

3. Taking many graduate courses as an undergraduate will be helpful, but as a master, it is nothing that special.

4. It will never be bad, but I am not sure how helpful it would be. I believe they will be much more interested about your research as a master. Anyway, you should mention it in your application.

5. I believe that can be a problem - but I never heard of such cases, so I am not sure.

6. If you have any research experience on that topic, and strongly emphasize your interest and experience in such topics in your application, then of course you have higher chances in such schools than others. However, that can also be a dangerous strategy - but given that you believe your application is not very strong so that you want to differentiate it from others, you can give it a try. Try to contact those professors in advance.

7. A 990 in mGRE will help your application a little, but not that much - you better not rely on good GRE and mGRE scores. Try to improve other aspects - research experience and recommendation letters. A well-written SOP may help a lot in some schools, while others just do not care much about SOPs and rely on recommendations, but I do not know where they are.

Re: Some questions about admission process

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2019 5:05 pm
by FtYoU
Be careful with GPA. International schools have a different rating system and the tests are also very different.

A 3.5 GPA in the US is "average" which is definitely not the case in international schools if you were to just normalize your grade between 0-4.

For example, I come from a French institution and we have a scale of 0-20. Having 10/20 is average here, but having 15/20 is already top 2%.
French schools never or rarely give out perfect grade like 20/20. But a 4 GPA is common in the US.

You need to submit your transcript to a reputable evaluation organization to have a US GPA equivalent.

Re: Some questions about admission process

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2019 11:33 am
by Oldguy
I forgot to say. My graduate GPA is 3.75. Is it good enough for some good program or will undergraduate GPA be more important?

Re: Some questions about admission process

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2019 11:34 am
by Oldguy
young556646 wrote:1. 3.3 GPA in math seems really low. If your gpa is one of the best in your institute, you definitely have to explain it in your SOP. You can also discuss with your letter writers, if you have one from your undergraduate institute - some of them can explain it in their letters. If you graduated with honors, that would help explaining this a lot.

2. I am not sure about this.

3. Taking many graduate courses as an undergraduate will be helpful, but as a master, it is nothing that special.

4. It will never be bad, but I am not sure how helpful it would be. I believe they will be much more interested about your research as a master. Anyway, you should mention it in your application.

5. I believe that can be a problem - but I never heard of such cases, so I am not sure.

6. If you have any research experience on that topic, and strongly emphasize your interest and experience in such topics in your application, then of course you have higher chances in such schools than others. However, that can also be a dangerous strategy - but given that you believe your application is not very strong so that you want to differentiate it from others, you can give it a try. Try to contact those professors in advance.

7. A 990 in mGRE will help your application a little, but not that much - you better not rely on good GRE and mGRE scores. Try to improve other aspects - research experience and recommendation letters. A well-written SOP may help a lot in some schools, while others just do not care much about SOPs and rely on recommendations, but I do not know where they are.
Thanks!
FtYoU wrote:Be careful with GPA. International schools have a different rating system and the tests are also very different.

A 3.5 GPA in the US is "average" which is definitely not the case in international schools if you were to just normalize your grade between 0-4.

For example, I come from a French institution and we have a scale of 0-20. Having 10/20 is average here, but having 15/20 is already top 2%.
French schools never or rarely give out perfect grade like 20/20. But a 4 GPA is common in the US.

You need to submit your transcript to a reputable evaluation organization to have a US GPA equivalent.

Thanks! I will look for this service.