What are my chances getting into graduate school?

Question

I am almost finished getting my B.A. I have experience in my field of study. I am in Religion and I am studying Hinduism and Buddhism in terms of modern devotion. I am learning Sanskrit right now. I have a pretty high G.P.A. The only thing is is that I have not worked a lot, I mean little having jobs. I do help people out, when they need it, either on - line or in person. I don't volunteer, but I do work hard in school. Will I be accepted or not?

I am in religion, studying Hinduism and Buddhism. My goal is to learn more Sanskrit and Hindi. My M.A. thesis will be on looking at Hindu and Buddhist families in the diaspora. I will be looking at what values existed in the old countries and how those either remain or change in Canada. I will consult different Hindu and Buddhist material on the values of the religion are, diasporic information on what could have brought these families over and interviews with families to actually hear experiences from people.

Answer 1

that depends... what sorts of programs are you applying to? If you are applying to the most competitive programs, then the details of your GPA, what courses you took, your grades in the classes in your major, letters of recommendation, GRE scores (if that applies), etc are the most important factor. But, you will also want to mention everything good you've ever done in addition, because competition is pretty stiff. There are a lot of brilliant people, around the world, looking for a place in grad school.

The trick, in my opinion, is to apply to a wide enough variety of places that you know you will come out with options to choose from. Like undergrad, choose some "safe" schools and apply to those, but also apply to some that you feel would be more competitive. It can be hard to tell which is which sometimes, as grad schools don't include as many stats on their student body, but if you talk to some current graduate students you can get an idea of what types of schools they came from, what their grades were, and what their extracurricular/work/volunteer experience was.

Also, look for programs that have faculty specifically interested in your area. Look for a "good fit" - that is part of what grad schools are looking for -- students that will make good TAs for the classes they offer and RAs for the professors doing research.

And get started finding professors to write your letters of recommendation - they are really important!!

Good luck, I'm sure you will find a program to fit you!

Answer 2

where, what program? what do you want to study? what do you want to do?