Arcadia

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MuscleHead

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anyone else get rejected? just got a letter in the mail stating the only reason i wasnt competitive was because my GRE's weren't high enough. idiots. what a great reason to reject a candidate.

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what were your GRE scores?
 
Don't feel bad I was rejected from a small town school in mo with a GPA of 3.77 and a science GPA of 3.64 for the same reason. I'm waitlisted on my first choice school but have a pretty good shot at it. Like I said, I hate timed test! Some of the people on this site are getting accepted with GPA's lower than mine so I have to think it's the GRE.
 
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Don't feel bad I was rejected from a small town school in mo with a GPA of 3.77 and a science GPA of 3.64 for the same reason. I'm waitlisted on my first choice school but have a pretty good shot at it. Like I said, I hate timed test! Some of the people on this site are getting accepted with GPA's lower than mine so I have to think it's the GRE.
wow those are good grades. kinda surprised to hear that actually. i dont feel bad at all. theyre one of the more competitive schools and they seem to pay more attention to numbers than people in the admissions process. i never wanted to go there anyway i just get annoyed when i hear a program says im not good enough for them!
 
950...520(q) 430(v) 4.0(a)

According to PTCAs their minimum verbal GRE requirement is 450 and composite is 1050. Did you contact them before you applied to see if they would accept your application before you submitted to see if they would still review it? Some schools throw out any application that doesn't meet their minimum requirements without even looking at it unless you get prior approval.
 
According to PTCAs their minimum verbal GRE requirement is 450 and composite is 1050. Did you contact them before you applied to see if they would accept your application before you submitted to see if they would still review it? Some schools throw out any application that doesn't meet their minimum requirements without even looking at it unless you get prior approval.
no. to simply rule out an entire application because the verbal section of the GRE is low is just flat out stupid. it means their admissions director is either lazy and doesnt feel like looking at every application or they really just care about numbers. i never wanted to go there from the beginning but i thought i would apply anyway bc its right down the street from my house
 
I too, got rejected from a school only because my GRE score wasnt high enuff, especially in the verbal section and the Advisor told me that herself! I think that schools need to eliminate standardized tests from the applicants requirements.They really dont serve a purpose in determining a students success rate in a program. Complete cliche

Dont let it get to you! If you've made it this far, you are going to make it! Goodluck! :)
 
no. to simply rule out an entire application because the verbal section of the GRE is low is just flat out stupid. it means their admissions director is either lazy and doesnt feel like looking at every application or they really just care about numbers. i never wanted to go there from the beginning but i thought i would apply anyway bc its right down the street from my house

For the initial selection process it is all about numbers, alas. You have to meet their minimum requirements: if you don't, you need to contact the school prior to applying as a previous poster stated. Just because you have a low verbal score doesn't mean that you have poor verbal skills, but on their end it means either you probably do have poor verbal skills or you just froze up on the test. If it's the latter, then they are asking themselves why you didn't retake them.

For most, not all, candidates there is a correlation between GRE score and succeeding in graduate school. Are they fair? No. They are not meant to be fair. It's meant to be hard and competitive. If you have 2 qualified candidates, but one has better GRE score and you can only invite one to interview, you'll invite the one with the higher score.

Does it mean that they loose out on some wonderful candidates, like yourself, who will flourish in graduate school? Yes. But it's not laziness, just the formula they adapted to predict who they think would be a best fit for their program to weed the group down to a size that they can manage to really look at and interview. Unfortunate for you. Also their loss...
 
If you didn't meet the GPA requirements would you have the same complaint? The line has to be drawn somewhere but your right it doesn't always correlate with success but it usually means something. I hope you get in somewhere but please don't complain about the rules when they are presented to you from the beginning.
 
no. to simply rule out an entire application because the verbal section of the GRE is low is just flat out stupid. it means their admissions director is either lazy and doesnt feel like looking at every application or they really just care about numbers. i never wanted to go there from the beginning but i thought i would apply anyway bc its right down the street from my house

Yeah, the GRE doesn't have any type of predictive value regarding a student's performance in PT school:

http://physicaltherapyjournal.org/cgi/reprint/87/9/1164

Oh wait, maybe it does...
 
i'm sure there are an equal number of documents out there supporting the side that standardized tests are not great indicators of academic performance.

Sorry to say this and I'm not trying to be mean at all... But to state this this and not support it without a scholarly journal article is, one could say, lazy. How can you be sure without researching this and supporting it with documentation like jesspt? Just saying...be careful what you call lazy and stupid, because things have a way of coming back and biting you in the butt. A mere flippant statement in response to another's that is backed by a journal article won't fly in graduate school... If you find articles in a scholarly journal that state the GRE's are not a good indicator of how a student will perform in graduate school, please share them. I'm sure some of us would like to read them!
 
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Sorry to say this and I'm not trying to be mean at all... But to state this this and not support it without a scholarly journal article is, one could say, lazy. How can you be sure without researching this and supporting it with documentation like jesspt? Just saying...be careful what you call lazy and stupid, because things have a way of coming back and biting you in the butt. A mere flippant statement in response to another's that is backed by a journal article won't fly in graduate school... If you find articles in a scholarly journal that state the GRE's are not a good indicator of how a student will perform in graduate school, please share them. I'm sure some of us would like to read them!
sorry...hear you go...it was the first hit i found on google when i searched "GRE predictive validity." its not a journal article but it lists statistics indicating the GRE's poor predictive validity. http://www.fairtest.org/examining-gre-myths-misuses-and-alternatives
 
Read the PT journal article. For one thing, it analyzes that predictive ability of the GRE in reference to a student's performance in Physical Therapy school, rather than just looking at graduate school in general. PT school isn't really graduate school. It's a professional program and isn't set up like a Master's program in Biology/Chemistry/Physics, etc. So, I'm not sure that the resutls of the web page you referenced are specific to PT school. If fact, I would bet that they are not.

I get that you are frustrated that a school turned you down because of your GRE score. You're not alone in that frustration. But, making comments that belittle a school with a good reputation is hardly the right vehicle to use to vent that frustration. Rather, in my opinion, it makes you sound unprofessional.
 
Read the PT journal article. For one thing, it analyzes that predictive ability of the GRE in reference to a student's performance in Physical Therapy school, rather than just looking at graduate school in general. PT school isn't really graduate school. It's a professional program and isn't set up like a Master's program in Biology/Chemistry/Physics, etc. So, I'm not sure that the resutls of the web page you referenced are specific to PT school. If fact, I would bet that they are not.

I get that you are frustrated that a school turned you down because of your GRE score. You're not alone in that frustration. But, making comments that belittle a school with a good reputation is hardly the right vehicle to use to vent that frustration. Rather, in my opinion, it makes you sound unprofessional.
i agree. i was wrong to do that and i apologize.
 
heres the thing that bothers me. i didnt put in a great amount of time and effort into the GRE because i was convinced it was a waste of time. and as i look back it would have been because ive been accepted to a couple good programs. if i had put in the extra time i would basically be in the exact same situation im in now.

nonetheless, say i really wanted to get into arcadia. so i took a class and got the guaranteed 200 added points onto my score. are you telling me by getting that score i now am a better prepared pt student? cmon man! you learn nothing of value with that test. as that article i attached points out, that test is coachable. you learn tricks and strategies just to earn a higher score...but did you learn anything applicable? no. and youre not all of a sudden more intelligent bc you learned how to take a single test.

the same goes for the SATS. more and more studies are coming out indicating the SATS are biased and have poor predictive value. however years back...people were saying the exact same thing you are about the GRE's. let me give you an example.

i went to a top 30 liberal arts program, very well respected. i only got an 1140 on my SATS which made me at the very bottom of the accepted students (with SAT scores). my roommate however, got a 1500...and guess what, i graduated with a better GPA than him!!

im just saying its not fullproof. i understand why the GRE is used, however i think some schools put too much weight on it. even at temple when i visited this past week, the admissions director would say, "your GRE score and GPA have been found competitive...blah blah." and he kept saying it in that order, implying that GRE's are as important, if not more than your GPA. i just dont believe that.
 
[QUOTE/]so i took a class and got the guaranteed 200 added points onto my score. are you telling me by getting that score i now am a better prepared pt student? ...but did you learn anything applicable? no. and youre not all of a sudden more intelligent bc you learned how to take a single test.[/QUOTE]

No you are not a better prepared pt student. BUT here's the thing. You DID learn something. A test taking strategy. Why is that important? Our Boards! It doesn't matter how good of a PT you'll become, because you can't BECOME one until you pass the national exam. That's why the GRE is a factor. By mastering the GRE to significantly improve your score...that is a sign of intelligence, persistence and dedication, desirable traits for professional and graduate work. It shows that you did what you needed to do in order to reach the minimum needed to get into their program. If you don't, they have every right to deny you. Why? If you don't do it now, will you fight and work hard to make sure you'll pass that national exam? A valid point from an administration/acceptance perspective.

If one don't test well, should a program take a risk a in taking that student and reducing their pass rate on the exam? That hurts their stats and they are not going to do that.

[QUOTE/] .and guess what, i graduated with a better GPA than him!![/QUOTE]

I could play devils advocate and state that maybe his professors or school had a harder grading system than where you went. I breezed through a Physics class...easiest A of my life. However, if I went to a different school, I know that it would have not been a case. I have issues with the GRE too, BUT it does provide an even playing field for all students.

[QUOTE/] the admissions director would say, "your GRE score and GPA have been found competitive...blah blah." and he kept saying it in that order, implying that GRE's are as important, if not more than your GPA. i just dont believe that.[/QUOTE]

Honestly, Dr. Carp most likely wasn't stating that the GRE was more important then the GPA. It's probably just a pattern of speech: he just happens to say GRE before GPA. However, kudos. He said that you're GRE score was competitive. :thumbup:

You seem passionate about this GRE thing. Why not do a lit review of scholarly research (the one you posted merely stated an opinion, a brief lit review: it's not research with methodology and suggestions for future research.) in regards to GRE as a predictor of success for DPT students and post it here? Of course you need to review those for and against it. I'm sure many of us would like to see what you find. I think an exam is needed, but I too question whether the GRE is the right one for potential DPT applicants.

Note that the article you posted is outdated somewhat and I'd be intrigued if the changing the analytical section of the GRE and modality improved its predictive nature or not. I took the GREs back in the mid 90's (I know, showing my age here...): we didn't have a writing section. I think the getting rid of the multiple choice analytical section and included the writing section was a good idea in terms of predicting how a student will do in terms of writing and critical analysis. And a safeguard: if you just don't test well in verbal, you have another chance to show that you can write and that you have critical analysis skills. This is essential for school, since DPT programs have 30+ students, there is no time to hand hold in terms of those basic skills.

But yes, I agree and am not fight with you. GREs are biased. But I understand and respect their place in the admission process.
 

For anyone still waiting on an official decision, I received this message from Arcadia's Admissions Dept. today:

"We are still forming our class, so the final determinations have not yet been made. You will receive an official letter detailing the status of your application within the next two weeks.
"
 
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