Researching Schools and Full Disclosure Data

[cbyoung]

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Hi everyone,
I'm starting to research schools for the 2011-2012 year. I noticed that most programs provide full disclosure data and I'm wondering what is considered out of reach. For example, if you're just 10 points below the mean/median, I imagine that you still have a very good shot. However, if you're 100 or 150 points below the mean/median, is applying a lost cause? Thanks!

Note; I have corrected the numbers.

 

[jnine]

Hi everyone,
I'm starting to research schools for the 2011-2012 year. I noticed that most programs provide full disclosure data and I'm wondering what is considered out of reach. For example, if you're just 100 points below the mean/median, I imagine that you still have a very good shot. However, if you're 1000 or 1500 points below the mean/median, is applying a lost cause? Thanks!

If the median GRE is a 1250 and you have a 250, applying is probably a lost cause

Just in case: you do know that your #'s don't make sense, right?

And to better answer the question I think you're asking: GRE's are typically and mostly used as sort of a screening tool. If you have a good GRE score + good GPA, programs will give your application a thorough look. That's not to say that they won't if you lack in one of these two areas, but they'll be more likely to discard your app without serious consideration.

 

[teo3099]

.

 

[Psy01]

I wish they published a highest and lowest accepted score or 1st and 3rd quartiles to give a better idea of what they normally take, but without that, you can just guess.

Suffolk in Boston is the only place I can recall seeing that did this.
http://suffolk.edu/college/23107.html

 

[cbyoung]

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[VeggieDelight]

Ditto about Suffolk. I didn't apply but that was a helpful extra stat.

You should aim as high as you can, but I still scratch my head a bit when I see some "how to apply to clinical psych programs" write-ups implying that you NEED to get over a 1400, when most of the averages are below that. When I was researching schools, I remember seeing considerable variability in the means and medians for many programs from year to year. GPA varied to a much less extent. A 1400+ is great, but it won't make much difference after you pass the initial cut with folks who have 1200-1300s.