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Old 2008 March 2nd, 09:29 PM   #111 (permalink)
mathgrad
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 46
mathgrad just joined TestMagic.
I perfectly agree with you,zw849.With the present strict rules about Math GRE for international applicants ,their not-so perfect GPAs,not-so-effective recommendation letters,not that much research experience;it is much more DIFFICULT for an international applicant to get admission in a good school.But without the Math GRE,it would have been IMPOSSIBLE,perhaps.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zw849 View Post
From an international point of view:
I think it's good that the GRE math subject scores is taken as a objective measure of the applicant. Now, it's true that is expected that foreigners get higher scores in the test and that's an extra burden domestics don't have. For example, you may have a strong international applicant with excellent letters of rec and all, but when it comes down to the admissions committee, they evaluate domestic students with excellent rec letters from 'famous' professors who have connections with faculty and so on, and those international students don't have those references. Another aspect to consider here is the high grade inflation in the US, with the consequence of students having perfect GPA's, and that's rarely seen outside.
Summarizing:
*domestic students with good (not top) gre scores, perfect GPA's, excellent rec letters from known people and often research experience and
*internationals with top scores, excellent rec letters from unknown people, not so perfect GPA, who may not have had the opportunity to do research, but their intrinsic abilities are no lower than that of domestic students.

Now, do you guess who has the most chances to get in a top (say top ten) school?
That's something to think about.
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