Applying to US graduate program

[Flickerdart]

I'm a Canadian undergrad student (currently doing my third year of four), and MIT's Program in Media Arts and Sciences is one of the programs I'm interested in for my master's degree. Their site says that it doesn't need GREs, but is there anything else I should have that isn't immediately obvious to a foreigner? SAT? Some other three letter combination denoting a standardized test?

[Weezer]

I'm a Canadian undergrad student (currently doing my third year of four), and MIT's Program in Media Arts and Sciences is one of the programs I'm interested in for my master's degree. Their site says that it doesn't need GREs, but is there anything else I should have that isn't immediately obvious to a foreigner? SAT? Some other three letter combination denoting a standardized test?

If they don't want GRE scores (which is slightly surprising, make sure that they just don't want Subject GRE scores, I'd expect them to still want general GRE scores), then nope, nothing else. All the other standardized tests at that level are specialized and if you're not applying to a professional school (med school, law school, etc), you won't need them.

[warty goblin]

Yeah, even if the department doesn't care about your GREs, the graduate school may very well want them. Even if they don't demand them, so long as they'll take them it might be worth doing the test anyways. It's not very hard (put in a couple hours of practice a week for a few months and you're good to go), and if you do reasonably well you can make yourself stand out a bit more, which is always a good thing.

Really, the big thing, at least in my experience, is getting good letters of recommendation. I'm sure you know all this, but only ask professors who genuinely like you, and preferably who were your teacher for some higher level classes.

[DabblerWizard]

For 'regular' graduate school in the States, the GRE is the standard (and only) major admissions / graduate school competency test. Specialized admissions tests include ones going into medicine, law, and business.

If your (1) school and (2) program don't require or recommend the GRE for admission, then don't bother taking the test. They're basically saying, we're not using the test to differentiate students. Sending a low or mediocre score could only hurt your chances of getting in. Sending a high score is irrelevant; they can't put a lot of weight on it unless they ask GRE scores from all students.

GRE subject tests are different than the standard GRE. They focus on your knowledge of a subject (like psychology), instead of being a general test of graduate school preparedness (supposedly). The program will tell you specifically if they require, or recommend subject test scores. Same suggestions as above.

The SAT is a general admissions test for getting into undergraduate programs. GRE scores are more commonly required in PhD programs, than Masters programs, in my experience.

[Flickerdart]

The Application Facts (http://media.mit.edu/admissions/how-to-apply/application-facts) just says "GREs not required". They do appear to want a an "International English Language Testing System" score result for international students - does this apply to students from English-speaking countries? I've tried looking for a contact email to ask, but there doesn't appear to be one.

[Weezer]

Then it seems you're all set without the GREs, just make sure you figure out about the "International English Language Testing System" thing, they seem to have a "contact us" link at the bottom that you can use to ask them a question about it.

[WarKitty]

The Application Facts (http://media.mit.edu/admissions/how-to-apply/application-facts) just says "GREs not required". They do appear to want a an "International English Language Testing System" score result for international students - does this apply to students from English-speaking countries? I've tried looking for a contact email to ask, but there doesn't appear to be one.

Contact the admissions office, info here: http://web.mit.edu/admissions/graduate/ .

Even if they aren't the right ones they'll know who the right people to talk to are, and can provide you with the information. From what I understand MIT is one of the schools that has ditched GRE's generally as not being particularly useful. If you can do well they can't hurt, though.

[Savannah]

WarKitty's got it right. We can't possibly know what they want, so you'll need to contact the admissions office and tell them what your situation is to find out. They won't mind; that's what their job is!

[warty goblin]

Contact the admissions office, info here: http://web.mit.edu/admissions/graduate/ .

Even if they aren't the right ones they'll know who the right people to talk to are, and can provide you with the information. From what I understand MIT is one of the schools that has ditched GRE's generally as not being particularly useful. If you can do well they can't hurt, though.

Are schools moving away from the GRE now? It'd certainly be nice, as it doesn't really correlate with actual graduate ability in any meaningful way, and it costs applicants a hell of a lot of money. And as far as I can tell, it's generally easier than the ACT I took to get into college in the first place, which really makes me wonder.

The subject tests make a bit of sense to me, but those are an entirely different kettle of fish.

[DabblerWizard]

I've only heard of a few schools moving away from the GRE. I imagine it won't become a popular trend.

Even if the GRE disappeared, another test would replace it. I can see two reasons for this. (1) Schools want a standardized way to measure aptitude, i.e. have a legitimate way of selecting some students over others. (2) The test is a hurdle meant to make sure that a smaller set of people have a chance to get into graduate school. In other words, tertiary education is a "privilege".

[Joe the Rat]

In practice, it's a dipstick of "being a student aptitude" - did you already learn this principle or bit of information, or are you capable of learning and retaining enough of the principles to score well. If you can't hack it, you probably don't have the raw aptitude or serious dedication needed to be successful as a grad student. (Yeah, the same can be said for the ACT & SAT as well). They prefer students who can actually finish the degree.

Note I'm not saying ability to learn, I'm saying ability to be a student. Can you learn in the classic book-and-bench approach. Obviously, a more nontraditional approach or more dynamic field wouldn't get as much utility from this type of testing - suggesting other approaches would be more informative (Portfolios, for example. Oh, and check and see what you need in that regard as well).

Yeah, check with their grad admissions - they are there to help you get your application in. You're between summer registration and the "Oh crap I got to get my thesis printed" phase, so you should get a good turnaround.

[warty goblin]

In practice, it's a dipstick of "being a student aptitude" - did you already learn this principle or bit of information, or are you capable of learning and retaining enough of the principles to score well. If you can't hack it, you probably don't have the raw aptitude or serious dedication needed to be successful as a grad student. (Yeah, the same can be said for the ACT & SAT as well). They prefer students who can actually finish the degree.

Note I'm not saying ability to learn, I'm saying ability to be a student. Can you learn in the classic book-and-bench approach. Obviously, a more nontraditional approach or more dynamic field wouldn't get as much utility from this type of testing - suggesting other approaches would be more informative (Portfolios, for example. Oh, and check and see what you need in that regard as well).


And if it actually measured anything, I'd be fine with it. But it doesn't. According to various studies its predictive powers are between minimal and actually non-existent (http://fairtest.org/examining-gre-myths-misuses-and-alternatives). By some measures apparently success on the GRE is actually negatively correlated with success in grad school. It may be a better indicator of socio-economic background than it is of scholastic ability.

I'm all for schools having informative measures to judge their candidates by, but the GRE is barely informative, and it costs applicants a lot of money. Even ETS admits it's close to meaningless, which I guess gets them points for honesty.

Although it does test your ability to jump through stupid, arbitrary hoops. There's no question that's a valuable academic and life skill.

[Flickerdart]

Yeah, they do want a portfolio - I may actually have to take some time to build that up before I apply, since they're really research-oriented.

[ClaireBear13]

I agree with the other posters that GREs aren't a great measure of aptitude for grad school programs. However, there has to be some standard measure of intelligence/preparedness. This is the argument for and against all standardized testing. Without a standardized test, it is hard to measure ones strengths and weaknesses compared to others. Colleges do not have the same curriculum.

It's hard for me to imagine that they don't need GRE schools but, I suppose there are always exceptions which may be why they include that they aren't required.

[Telonius]

I'm a Canadian undergrad student (currently doing my third year of four), and MIT's Program in Media Arts and Sciences is one of the programs I'm interested in for my master's degree. Their site says that it doesn't need GREs, but is there anything else I should have that isn't immediately obvious to a foreigner? SAT? Some other three letter combination denoting a standardized test?

I'd be most worried about your USD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_dollar)'s. Grad school is very expensive here, especially if you're looking at something like MIT. Their site (http://web.mit.edu/facts/tuition.html) says $40,732 for a nine-month semester, and that doesn't count housing or other living expenses. Be sure to check with their financial aid department; most schools offer quite a bit of aid to foreign students, since having non-US people studying there makes them look better in the rankings.

[Flickerdart]

See, that's what I thought too, but then:


"What is the cost of attending the Media Lab's graduate program?

All graduate students are currently fully supported (tuition, medical insurance, plus a stipend)."