To do or not to do?

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vvega
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To do or not to do?

Post by vvega » Wed Oct 07, 2009 9:22 pm

Hello,
I would like to have some opinions on my current status, since I am not so sure on what to do.
I took the gre phys test last spring and i got 930, 89%. Then I have been selected (which does not still mean I've won it) for the Fulbright fellowship (IIE placed, not the Sci and Tech Award), for which you get the first year more than partially granted. One negative point is that I'm not a domestic, I'm European, and one positive point is that I'm taking two years to get a master in math and one in physics (the legal duration is two years each).
Do you think that I have enough chances to get into MIT?
I ask you this because I am going to take the gre physics again to try to do it better.. but I had only about a couple of weeks to prepare it this time.. at the test I may decide to renounce to the scoring process basing on my feeling to have done it well but that is quite risky !

Thank you

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twistor
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Re: To do or not to do?

Post by twistor » Wed Oct 07, 2009 9:46 pm

Quit bitching about your 930 score, asshole.

vesperlynd
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Re: To do or not to do?

Post by vesperlynd » Thu Oct 08, 2009 11:22 am

..
Last edited by vesperlynd on Wed Mar 02, 2011 1:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Mataka
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Re: To do or not to do?

Post by Mataka » Thu Oct 08, 2009 11:26 am

vesperlynd wrote:vvega asks a valid question, considering that he is an international applicant, and especially since many of the internationals on this forum who get 990's are still rejected by most of the top schools.

I don't think an improved GRE score will be enough, but it will most likely help.
Well he says he is European, he's not Chinese of Indian, so 930 is fairly good in that case.

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WhoaNonstop
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Re: To do or not to do?

Post by WhoaNonstop » Thu Oct 08, 2009 11:49 am

First of all, answer the question... What if I don't get into MIT? Because honestly, even with a 990, that doesn't mean you'll get into MIT. As has been said many times on this forum in other places, they'll look at many things, research experience, GPA, nationality, etc. We can't evaluate exactly what MIT will do, so it is always good to plan for less than what you expected.

The reason I think many international students are declined (my opinion) is that they aren't on par with English literacy. If you're coming to America, and you want to go to a top school, make sure your sentence structures when writing your SOP are correct. I feel they could care less if you received a 900-990 if you can't communicate correctly in the language of the country of study.

-Riley

physics_auth
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Re: To do or not to do?

Post by physics_auth » Thu Oct 08, 2009 2:56 pm

vesperlynd wrote:vvega asks a valid question, considering that he is an international applicant, and especially since many of the internationals on this forum who get 990's are still rejected by most of the top schools.

I don't think an improved GRE score will be enough, but it will most likely help.
This is misleading information. The 990 limit is necessary principally for Indians or Chinese candidates because there are much more candidates from these two countries compared to the European ones. On the other hand, some applicants that got 990 in PGRE and were finally rejected didn't have physics background ... they were electrical/mechanical engineers or sth ... but not physicists. Since some schools strongly require a physics background, I suspect that this is a good reason for rejection ... regardless of the result in PGRE exams.

Vvega I would advise you send your PGRE results first (i.e. earlier than the November test date) and then judge according to your perfomance during the test day. If you feel that you did better (i.e. you hit 990, not 940) then arrange for your scores to be sent to MIT. In the opposite case, you can cancel your scores or avoid having them sent to any school. The second time is risky sometimes ... (let me give an example of it -> some people think that because their first trial was highly successful, with a less effort the second trial is going to be perfect ... but this is sometimes misleading since the second trial might be less or much less successful compared to the first and this may create a negative impression on the admissions panel ... ). If you still feel stressful about his fact, why don't you attempt to send a "reconnoitering" e-mail to them to have an answer for your dilemma? And take everything written here with a pinch of salt ... since no one of them belongs to an admissions committee. Some aspects presented in this forum can really cause stress and discomfiture to sb without reason ... so it would be better simply to ignore them ... .
Last edited by physics_auth on Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:28 am, edited 5 times in total.

excel
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Re: To do or not to do?

Post by excel » Thu Oct 08, 2009 9:28 pm

physics_auth wrote:On the other hand, many applicants that got 990 in PGRE and were finally rejected didn't have physics background ... they were electrical/mechanical engineers or sth ... but not physicists.
What is the source of this piece of information?

physics_auth
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Re: To do or not to do?

Post by physics_auth » Fri Oct 09, 2009 3:39 am

Search at the profiles of 2008 applicants more carefully ...

pqortic
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Re: To do or not to do?

Post by pqortic » Fri Oct 09, 2009 5:21 pm

physics_auth wrote:Search at the profiles of 2008 applicants more carefully ...
that is not a source and I think it's not a logical conclusion.

physics_auth
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Re: To do or not to do?

Post by physics_auth » Sun Oct 11, 2009 7:49 am

pqortic wrote:
physics_auth wrote:Search at the profiles of 2008 applicants more carefully ...
that is not a source and I think it's not a logical conclusion.
@pqortic
Then none of the conclusions stated in this post are exact. Some of them simply seem plausible ... but they are not exact. :roll:
I say this ... since some people who answer use as a source the "2008 profiles" ... .

Finally, you may be right ... since I don't know a better source to invoke for this situation. But, I still wonder how vesperlynd states that many 990-PGRE applicants are rejected? What are their sources? How is it testified that many (and how many and for what reasons) of them are rejected? This answer is also obscure ... and arguments such as these can cause stress and anxiety to others! Therefore, it is better for all people who post and answer such "critical questions" to attest what they say or post (this is my opinion).

excel
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Re: To do or not to do?

Post by excel » Sun Oct 11, 2009 9:53 am

physics_auth wrote:
pqortic wrote:
physics_auth wrote:Search at the profiles of 2008 applicants more carefully ...
that is not a source and I think it's not a logical conclusion.
@pqortic
Then none of the conclusions stated in this post are exact. Some of them simply seem plausible ... but they are not exact. :roll:
I say this ... since some people who answer use as a source the "2008 profiles" ... .
We are not talking of "exact" conclusion here, but of logical conclusion.

The 2008 profiles thread consists of mainly physics majors, and quite a lot of them. It is one thing to use it as a sample to draw some conclusions about physics majors, and quite another thing to claim that it can be used to say something about non-physics majors who get 990 and get rejected from all physics PhD programs. How many such cases are there in the 2008 profiles thread? 0?

It is misleading others to state one's opinion as a firm fact, based on a database that does not have cases to remotely support that opinion (and in this case a database that could not possibly have supported that opinion).

As for vesperlynd, if someone is interested to know, he can directly ask him to show his source or reasoning.

physics_auth
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Re: To do or not to do?

Post by physics_auth » Sun Oct 11, 2009 10:54 am

[quote="excel"]

It is misleading others to state one's opinion as a firm fact, based on a database that does not have cases to remotely support that opinion (and in this case a database that could not possibly have supported that opinion). [quote]

I disagree ... it is as misleading as to induce sb to retake the test owing to the untenable fact that ... many 990-PGRE test takers are rejected ... . And a final piece of word: an argumentation can be considered logical when it is accompanied with solid proof... and as I see, some of you tend to present your arguments as logical without attesting why you do support this or that viewpoint (this is what I imply when I use the term "inexact"...).
Last edited by physics_auth on Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

excel
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Re: To do or not to do?

Post by excel » Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:32 am

physics_auth wrote:
excel wrote:
It is misleading others to state one's opinion as a firm fact, based on a database that does not have cases to remotely support that opinion (and in this case a database that could not possibly have supported that opinion).

I disagree ... it is as misleading as to induce sb to retake the test owing to the untenable fact that ... many 990-PGRE test takers are rejected ... .
:lol: Ok, so both your and vesperlynd's posts were misleading! (sb=vvega?) (though I personally dont know how right or wrong vesperlynd's post is).

However, on a related note, vesperlynd has 7 posts here, you have 100+ posts and I find your posts generally reasonable. So, I gave much more weight to what you wrote, which is why I was interested to know the source of your firm claim, even though I chose to not pay much attention to vesperlynd's claim for the time being.

physics_auth
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Re: To do or not to do?

Post by physics_auth » Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:38 am

excel wrote: :lol: Ok, so both your and vesperlynd's posts were misleading! (sb=vvega?) (though I personally dont know how right or wrong vesperlynd's post is).

However, on a related note, vesperlynd has 7 posts here, you have 100+ posts and I find your posts generally reasonable. So, I gave much more weight to what you wrote, which is why I was interested to know the source of your firm claim, even though I chose to not pay much attention to vesperlynd's claim for the time being.
Ok, calm down ... I don't mean to create a friction a with you ... . Ultimately, what I want to stress is the fact that such subtle questions (as the one posted here) should be treaded with "special care". That's it.



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