Should You Submit a GRE Score If It’s Optional?

by Jothsna Rege | Oct 6, 2023 | GRE, Masters Abroad, MS in Canada, MS in USA, Study Abroad, Uncategorized

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is a standardized test commonly required for admission to many graduate programs in the United States and other countries. However, in recent years, an increasing number of universities have made the GRE optional for applicants. This change has left many prospective graduate students wondering whether they should still submit their GRE scores, even when it’s not required. In this article, we’ll explore the factors to consider when deciding whether to submit a GRE score when it’s optional.

Understanding Test Optional

When universities adopt a test-optional policy, they commit to not evaluating applicants who haven’t submitted test scores negatively. In other words, your application won’t be disadvantaged if you choose not to provide test scores. However, if you believe that strong test scores could enhance your application, you have the option to include them.

For instance, impressive GRE scores might be beneficial if you have a lower GPA. This is because, in conjunction with other application components, robust GRE scores can suggest that your academic potential exceeds what your GPA reflects. If you find yourself in this situation, consider addressing it in your personal statement.

In essence, test-optional policies aim to provide flexibility for applicants with diverse academic backgrounds. They allow those with weaker profiles to improve their application by adding scores if they believe it will strengthen their candidacy.

Limitations of Exceptional Scores

It’s important to note that while outstanding GRE scores can help offset a slightly lower GPA, they may not compensate for very low GPAs. In such cases, you should explore other strategies to enhance your application.

Should You Take the Test?

Now that you understand the concept of test-optional admissions, how should you decide whether to take the GRE when most of your target universities don’t require it?

1. Assess Your Academic Profile

Start by assessing your academic strengths and weaknesses. Consider your undergraduate GPA, letters of recommendation, and other application materials. If these components are strong and demonstrate your suitability for the program, submitting a GRE score may not be necessary. However, if your academic record has weaknesses, a strong GRE score can bolster your application.

2. Evaluate Costs and Effort

Preparing for and taking the GRE can be time-consuming and expensive. Additionally, sending GRE scores to multiple universities can add to the cost. Reflect on the effort required to achieve a competitive GRE score and whether that time and money might be better spent strengthening other aspects of your application, such as your statement of purpose and letters of recommendation.

3. Consider Program Competitiveness

The competitiveness of the program you’re applying to can also influence your decision. In highly competitive programs with a large applicant pool, a strong GRE score can give you a competitive advantage. Conversely, in less competitive programs where other aspects of your application carry more weight, you may opt not to submit a GRE score.

If you’ve Already Taken the GRE, Should you submit the score?

If you’ve already taken the GRE and have a score in hand, whether to send it to universities depends on the score itself. For top-ranking universities especially in engineering, we recommend sending scores only if they are above 320, with a quantitative section score of 165 or higher. For mid-ranked or lower-ranked universities, a score in the range of 310-320 is generally acceptable.

It’s worth noting that the absence of a GRE score is not viewed negatively in test-optional universities. However, submitting a moderate or low GRE score may not work in your favor. Reviewers have become accustomed to seeing strong performances when scores are provided, and weaker scores may raise questions about your judgment.

In conclusion, the decision to submit a GRE score when it’s optional should be based on a careful evaluation of your academic profile, program competitiveness, and the potential costs and benefits. Remember that each applicant’s situation is unique, and your goal is to present the strongest possible application that aligns with your academic and career aspirations.

Jothsna Rege

Co-founder , Academy One

How to write a Masters Application SOP (Statement of Purpose)

by Jay Rege | Jul 13, 2021 | Masters Abroad, MS in Canada, MS in USA, Study Abroad

WHAT IS THE SOP

The Statement of Purpose, popularly known as the SOP, is an avenue for applicants to present a brief snapshot of their profile to the admission committee. It is an opportunity to

Highlight one’s key achievements and accomplishments
Talk about one’s specific interests in the domain
Describe skills/knowledge that one has acquired by virtue of her/his past education, internships, and/or full-time work experience
Address any weaknesses or drawbacks in the profile if any
Discuss the applicant’s interest in that particular course at the university

In short, the objective of the SOP is to discuss your future career and/or research goals, and highlight the important educational and work experiences that you believe have prepared you for graduate studies; and your reasons for applying to that particular university.

Ideal length of the SOP: 700-800 words

NOTE: Some universities have word limits on the SOP. Many universities ask you to limit the SOP to 500 words or around 1 page. When a university gives a word limit for the SOP, up to 10% over the limit is fine. If a university has a 1-page limit for the SOP, please keep the SOP around 600 words (DO not increase margins, decrease fonts, and try to fit 1000+ words in a single page)

HOW TO STRUCTURE YOUR SOP

While most universities do not prescribe any predefined structure for the SOP, you may follow the following structure:

1: INTRODUCTION (about 100-150 words)

The first paragraph of your SOP can be a brief introduction. In the introduction you may discuss your career goals, future aspirations, and/or research interests. You may talk about how these interests developed, and what skills & knowledge do you intend to acquire during your Masters to achieve your goals.

NOTES:

NO Quotes Please – Avoid starting your SOP with random quotes or philosophical sayings (unless you can actually demonstrate how you have imbibed the philosophy in every aspect of your education/work)

NO Generic Statements – Most Students make the classic mistake of writing several generic statements in the SOP. For examples, most Computer Science applicants talk of the advancements in the field of Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning over the past decade and the possibilities that it presents for the future. Environmental engineers write about the impact of the climate change and so on.

You need to understand that the SOP is not a magazine or newspaper article where you have a broad audience. The readers of your SOP are experts in the field. You don’t need to tell them about the wonders Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning or Bioengineering can do. They know it, and far better than you do. Rather you should talk about what have been your experiences in the domain and what aspects of the domain would you like to further develop your knowledge in.

NO World Change please

Keep your career goals realistic. Don’t say that you want to pursue a Masters because your goal is to of save the world or bring about a global/national revolution by implementing advancement in a certain technology. Your career goals should be realistic. It could be as simple as detailing the kind of job/career opportunities you aspire for after completing your Masters. If possible, articulate your short term and long term career goals; short term being plans immediately after your Masters, and long term being about 5 years post Masters.

2. EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND (2-3 paras of 100-150 words each)

Briefly describe the KEY projects and Internships that you worked on during your academic term. Do not focus a lot on the description of the project (try to summarize the overall concept in a sentence or two). Rather try to highlight some of these aspects of your projects:

What was the outcome of the project? Was it a success? What was the impact/success factor of the project? (If possible, quantify your impact)
What was your specific contribution to it (in case of a group project)?
What were the key challenges/hurdles you faced and how did you go about solving them?
Did you do something innovative in the project?
Did you adopt a novel approach?
Did you go beyond the scope of the project to improve its efficiency?
What was your learning by working on the project? What skills did you develop?

Be it a project or internship, try not just to write only about ‘What you did’, but rather try to highlight ‘How effective were you at doing it’.

NOTES

NO Subjects/Courses please – Do not list down courses/subjects that you have studied during your bachelors. Almost everybody who does a similar degree takes more or less the same courses, so no point in mentioning about them. Plus, your transcripts reflect the courses you have studied.

You can however, mention about a course you took, if you really went out of your way to take it, and do explain your rationale behind it.

Extracurricular involvements don’t matter in most cases – Extracurricular involvements, especially those that don’t directly relate to your field of study, don’t really matter. So don’t waste space writing about them. Your resume is a good place to mention them. If you however believe that your extracurricular activities are important and are relevant to the program that you are applying to, then you can write about them. But don’t just mention the activities. Also mention the skills and traits you developed by participating in them and how they would help you during your Master’s program.

Not every project, paper, activity etc needs a mention – Mention only relevant stuff in your SOP. Do not mention everything that you have done as a student.

3. WORK EXPERIENCE (1 -3 paras of 100-150 words each) – If applicable

If you have relevant work experience, then write a para or two about it. Again, do not mention a lot of what you do/did or get into details of your day-to-day activities at work. Also avoid using jargons and terms that someone outside of your company/industry may not understand. Instead, highlight on these aspects about your work

What was/has been your contribution at work?
What were the challenges/hurdles you faced and how did you overcome them?
Did you do something innovative at work?
How did your contribution add value to your organisation? Quantify it.
Did you adopt a novel approach at solving a problem?
Did you bring about any improvements in processes?
Did you go beyond the scope of your assigned work and if yes what was the impact?
What was your learning at work? What skills did you develop?

NOTES

If it’s not relevant, don’t talk about it- If your work experience is not relevant to the field you want to pursue your Masters in, then do not write a lot about it. A short para (or even 2-3 lines) describing your work experience and the skills that you developed, by virtue of your job, is good.

4. WHY MASTERS (and WHY NOW?) (1-2 paras of 100-150 words each)

Mention the reasons you wish to pursue the proposed Masters, what topics, courses would you like to study during your masters, what skills would you like to acquire, and how and why are they relevant to your future aspirations. If you are applying for a research-based program, you could also talk of the kind of research you wish to pursue during your Masters. For students who are applying after gaining some work experience, if possible, also highlight why you believe this this it the right time for you to pursue a Masters.

5: WHY THIS UNIVERSITY (1 paras of 100-150 words)

In this para write about your reasons for applying to that particular university. You could highlight some of the courses that interest you, some research labs/projects that you would like to be part of, some professors whose work you like, and so on. If you are applying for a professional/non-research programs, you could talk about the industry/capstone projects, internships, and other initiatives that the program offers.

PS: If you do not have a lot to write about ‘why this university’, you may club this para with the earlier para on WHY Masters.

OTHER POINTS TO CONSIDER

1: The SOP is NOT your life story

Remember that the SOP is not your life story. AVOID talking about your childhood, family background, or giving explanations on how and why you chose your undergraduate field of study. No one is interested in knowing it, and it doesn’t really matter. For instance, if you have completed your degree in Mechanical Engineering, it really doesn’t matter why you chose this field. What matters to the admissions committee is how good are you at it now, and what knowledge have you garnered over the years.

2: NOT every project, activity, work detail goes in the SOP

The SOP should ONLY focus ONLY on the relevant and important educational and work details that you believe have prepared you for graduate studies. Do not mention every project/experience that you have in the SOP. All those can be in your resume.

3: The SOP need not be in chronological order

The contents of the SOP may or may not be written in a chronological order. Based on your profile, you could write details in chronological order or you could mention events in your SOP in the order of importance – talking about your most important projects/assignments first and then going on to the lesser important but still relevant ones. The choice is yours.

Additional reading material on SOPs

Here are some links you may refer to

https://grad.berkeley.edu/admissions/apply/statement-purpose/

https://gradschool.cornell.edu/diversity-inclusion/recruitment-2/prospective-students/writing-your-statement-of-purpose/

https://www.northeastern.edu/graduate/blog/how-to-write-a-statement-of-purpose/

https://ed.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/statement-of-purpose_revised_4.pdf

Click Here to download Sample SOPs

Jay Rege

Co-Founder of Academy One

Transfer universities after a semester or year – (Tips to get into top universities) – :)

by Jay Rege | Feb 17, 2021 | Masters Abroad, MS in Canada, MS in USA, Study Abroad

Arjun had a high GRE score but a poor GPA. He had some good research background too. Most top schools he applied to rejected his application. One of the profs at CMU whom he contacted said that if he could improve his GPA, they could consider giving him an admit the following semester. So Arjun joined a low ranked university in the USA for his Mechanical engineering program. For a year he worked hard., managed to get a 4.0 GPA and that helped him transfer to CMU a year later. While CMU did give him credit for some courses he had taken at the other university, it still did take him a semester longer than his counterparts to complete his MS. But with a degree from CMU, it’s worth the time.

While everyone wants to get into a top university, always have your plan B ready. Apply to top universities, but also apply to a couple of programs where you have a high chance to get in. If your think “I would rather study at a top university or not study at all”, that at times is not the best decisions in life. It’s always best to pursue your higher education even if it’s not at your most preferred university. There are options of transferring to a better university after a semester or a year that can be explored.

Jay Rege

Co-Founder of Academy One

Tapping into your personal network – (Tips to get into top universities) – :)

by Jay Rege | Feb 15, 2021 | Masters Abroad, MS in Canada, MS in USA, Study Abroad

When Nikhil decided to apply for his Masters, he knew his GPA was not that strong, although he had done some great projects during his bachelors. Fortunately, for him, his brother was an recent graduate at UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles), and that too from the same department Nikhil planned to apply to. His brother spoke to one of his professors at UCLA and explained Nikhil’s case. The professor agreed to speak to Nikhil over a video call, that although started off as a general conversation, ended up in an hour long interview which ended with a note from the professor saying “Nikhil, I strongly encourage you to apply to our program.” Nikhil put in his best application, and few months later was on a flight to LA.

Like Nikhil, there are several examples where informal referrals by a family member have helped students get admission. Tap into your network, be it friends or family. If you have a friend or family member who is studying or an alumni of the program you are applying to, ask them to refer you to the program.

Jay Rege

Co-Founder of Academy One

Contacting Faculty – does it work and how? (Tips to get into a top university) – :)

by Jay Rege | Feb 14, 2021 | Masters Abroad, MS in Canada, MS in USA, Study Abroad

Kunal graduated from a college in Mumbai with a average GPA and had an average GRE. Here is his story of how he managed to secure admits from Georgia Tech for the MS in Electrical Engineering program.

During his undergrad, Kunal worked extensively on research on ‘Antenna Designs’ . When it came to applying this is what he did:

Researched universities which had research groups relevant to his research interest
Made a list of professors with info about their ongoing research projects
Sent an email explaining his interest, background and how he could contribute to their ongoing research work. This helped him start a conversation with those professors.
He then requested those who replied for phone/video call. Some of the professors agreed to have a discussion with him where they spoke about their research and also tried to understand his background and research.

Mentioning all this in the SOP of the university and keeping the professors updated about his application status helped him secure some top admits.
He eventually went to Georgia Tech where he also managed to get a Research Assistantship with the same professor who had interviewed him

Kunal is not an isolated cases. Contacting faculties at your target universities works provided you have some research experience to discuss with them.

Jay Rege

Co-Founder of Academy One

What’s good about Canada ?

by Jay Rege | Feb 8, 2021 | Diploma PGD in Canada, MS in Canada, Study Abroad

Canada is emerging as a popular destination among students seeking quality yet affordable education. Lets us explore what makes Canada such an attractive destination.

Canada offers Bachelors, Masters as well as Certificate, Diploma, and Post Graduate diploma programs for students to choose from. After 12th grade a student can opt for a 2 year Diploma program or a 4 year Bachelor’s degree whereas a student who has completed his/her bachelors from India can opt to pursue a Post Graduate Diploma/Certificate or a Masters degree. Irrespective of the degree, diploma or certificate program a student opts for, international students become eligible for a Post Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) – which gives the student the option to stay back and work in Canada. Students can get up to 3 years of Post Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) (if the duration of their studies is 16 months or more) thus allowing students to work up to 3 years in Canada after graduation. What is more lucrative is that this 3 year period makes students eligible to apply for and obtain Permanent Residency (PR) in Canada.

The cost of education in Canada is low when compared to the USA, UK, or Australia. The yearly tuition in Canada in colleges could be as low as $12000-$15000 (Approx INR 6-8 Lakhs). Plus many colleges offer Co-Op options which allows students to take paid full time work for a period of 6-10 weeks as part of the program. Additionally students can work up to 20 hours a week while studying, which helps them cover up their living costs.

All this makes Canada a perfect destination, especially for those who are slightly low on budgets, have a 3 year bachelor’s degrees, and are looking at long term stay back options in a foreign country. Not to mention, the ample job opportunities in the IT, technology, business, design, animation, and hospitality sectors, makes Canada a perfect choice for students exploring careers in these domains.

Jay Rege

Co-Founder of Academy One