School Cut-offs

[schoolpsych1]

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Hi, I was wondering about school cut-offs on GPA, GRE, etc. Are they usually strict or a guide? Is anyone applying where they might be on the edge?
My quandry, as simply as I can put it is I'm applying to School Psych programs, mostly MA/EDS. I have so far a 3.66 overall GPA and a 3.90 Psych GPA. My GRE scores last week after 2 hours sleep were not up to my practice scores, low 500 in verbal and over 600 in Quant. I will re-take this Fall, but it's harder to study while in school, writing thesis, etc. but I will do my best.I never did well on long tests but always did well in school and college.
I really want to apply to Lehigh's program, I'm from a multi-cultural background, have a Spanish minor and want to work with at-risk children.
My verbal is under what their website states for education(75%) but I've seen stats stating lower verbal scores elsewhere for Lehigh.
If I still can't make 75%, do you think having other good things in my application package would help? Luckily, others are fine, but this program is more geared to what I want.
Thanks for any help.

 

[lookitssara]

I'm not positive about for EdS certification, but I know I've read on some school psych program websites that state certification mandates a particular GRE score (generally 900-1100) for PhD school psychologists. I believe each program website generally states whether or not it's a strict cut off, or if other positive factors can override a lower than average minimum GRE guideline.

Lehigh's program manual/policy book says "The general (including writing) portions of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) are required although there is
no minimum score requirement." It also says the Psych GRE is recommended.

 

[futureapppsy2]

Lehigh's weird GRE requirements confuse me to no end. However, your scores should meet the cut off!

http://www.lehigh.edu/education/cp/apa/

Look at the mean GRE scores for the Counseling Psych PhD, which has the same strangely worded cut-off. Considering that some people scored below that mean by definition and that they all had to make the cut-off, you should be fine, score-wise, and you have an excellent GPA to boot.

Good luck!

 

[schoolpsych1]

Yes, I see what you mean. I hate "vague" very much.
On the school psych page it was this:


Minimum admission criteria are as follows:

• Must meet minimum University criteria of 3.0 undergraduate GPA out of 4.0 or GPA of 3.0 out of 4.0 for the last two semesters of undergraduate study OR graduate GPA of 3.50.
• All applicants:
  Graduate Record Examination (GRE) with minimum 75th percentile (in education).
• At least two letters of recommendation (preferably from university faculty).
• Completion of responses to three specific questions related to graduate education in "School Psychology" :
  
  Click here to for the pdf of the three specific questions.

This was on another site:
Sample approximate percentiles within the score range of 200-800. Percentiles may vary from year to year. 96-99th percentile720 79-90th percentile630 61-75th percentile570 37-50th percentile500


Different Uses for the GRE

The importance of your GRE scores varies from graduate school to graduate school and from field to field. State schools will often have minimum GRE score requirements. More competitive programs will often put more value on the GRE score. Certain technical majors, such as Engineering, also tend to put more value on the GRE.

Some graduate schools will not include a section and only require two sections, meaning a score potential from 400 to 1600. Technical graduate programs may require high Quantitative scores. Psychology programs and those that emphasize reasoning skills often have minimum Analytical scores.

Graduate Program Quant Verbal Cal Tech Engineering 767
Iowa State Engineering 765
Columbia U. Education 628 564
Lehigh U. Education 560 526

 

[futureapppsy2]

The "education" part separates their score cutoffs from the general GRE percentiles, I think. Anyway, judging from the data above, I really do think you will be fine. You could alwys email them regarding it, but--just FY--I tried weeks ago with no response. And, yes, it is painfully vague!

 

[lookitssara]

I agree with above poster. I believe they mean that the percentile applied to people that took the GRE and listed "education" as their current or intended field.

No offense meant to those that did so, but I have a feeling that the scores in this subset are lower than the overall (which makes you even safer).