Competition for Grad School Scares Me

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I'm applying to grad school for fall 2013 (for urban planning), and will submit most of the applications either January or February. I wasn't the best student (3.24 GPA, 1260 GRE), but I feel those would be great numbers in most years. This year, the competition makes me feel like I can't stand out.

The job situation in the U.S. has meant that many, many individuals who would otherwise be in the workforce have come to grad schools. Indeed, virtually all grad schools have seen a surge of applicants, and yet enrollment has barely budged. Recent grads who can't find jobs are probably the largest cohort, but a lot of older professionals in the workforce are heading back to school. In this economy, everyone wants an edge, and everyone is going out of their way to get it.

I have read some guides and seen sites graduates in my program use, and it's obvious to me that the most desirable candidates (summa cum laude from Ivies, etc) are moving into second tier schools. That crowds out people like me who'd normally be qualified at these schools. It makes me wonder if I can get in anywhere. I definitely cannot get funding, although thankfully I won't need it.

Should I still apply? For what it's worth, I am working at the moment. The money is okay, but the job is so unchallenging and there's no room for advancement at my company. It'd all be different if I graduated in the mid-2000s.

Are you getting your Master's or your PhD?

I don't think a 3.24 GPA is very competitive at all. Did you take the new GRE or the old GRE?



It isn't surprising that the best students go to "second-tier" schools. Often, these schools give them more resources and financial aid as a graduate student than Ivy schools. If I was accepted into the Computer Science program of University of Washington Seattle (7th in the nation), but I got crappy aid I wouldn't go there. Nor MIT, Purdue University, Duke, etc. I'd take the lower-ranked program here at UC Riverside (top 40) if it meant I had more resources.

It doesn't matter which school you go to. It doesn't matter how high it ranks. If you don't have financial and personal support, you will fall through the cracks; you will never get your degree.



Question; do you really need to go to graduate school?

If I was you, I'd to this:

1) Take a year or two off. Continue to work your job. Save frugally, pay off debt, and save money.

2) During your spare time, do an independent/community based research project based on urban planning. Write down what you've learned and how you've grown as a person. Maybe even develop a graduate thesis based on that project.

2) Get a GRE-prep book and re-take the GRE to get a better score. If you have a higher GRE, you have a better chance of qualifying for more funding as a graduate student.

3) Find a graduate program where a professor has done something similar to your project. Or you have direct skills that you can help them with their research agenda. First, talk to the graduate students and make sure they aren't miserable with the person. After it seems the person is amiable, explain to them that you would basically fund yourself throughout grad school.

You being able to help fund yourself will lift a huge burden off the professor's shoulders. Otherwise, they'd have to write to get you grant money. What professor would say "no" to free labor? Especially if it helps them with their research goals.

4) Ask the professor that, if you applied to the program and got accepted, if they'd be willing to take you into the lab. If they say yes, then apply to the graduate program.