I'm going to lay down the facts for you to judge. My GPA is 3.5, my major is Psychology and will finish my bachelors in the Spring, my minor is Air Force science which is essentially buisiness leadership and politics. I'm kind of stressing about the GRE which I will soon take but assuming I do fairly well, what are my prospects for getting into a good school like The University of Chicago, Harvard, or Yale? My interests are economics and political science especially in relations to globalization. <br /><br />I know for instance the application deadline for the university of Chicago is December 15 and the GRE I'm taking is electronic; the results are immediate. Would it be good idea to take the test around December 7th so I can have more time to study?<br /><br />The underlying question is how realistic or feasible would it be to get into a good school with the pre-requisites mentioned and also strong recommendation letters from an Air Force Coloncel, Captain and Econ professor?<br />

hint; go to one of those courses that prepare you to take the GRE. I didnt and my score just missed being good enoug and I did not gt my Phd

I am applying for graduate school as well and have learned a great deal over the past few months.

As far as when to take the GRE, depending on the school, I would recommend taking it earlier than December 7th. You get your math and verbal scores immediately; however, you have to wait for your writing score. Also, scores require that official scores be sent to them. You cannot do this until 15 days after the exam. Of course, some scores will hold your application until this happens so it'd just be best to check. I took the test October 26th and have yet to receive my scores in the mail.

As far as getting into to graduate schools, it depends on what you are aiming to study. It seems like you are going to pursue your advanced degree is economics or political science.

Your GRE scores will have to be very high to get into a school like Chicago, Harvard or Yale--probably above 1400. For example, the mean score of Harvard PhD students on the GRE was 1388. WIth a 3.5 GPA you will need to score above that. If you are applying to an economics program you will need a GRE, most probably, at least above 700.

You should apply to several schools. I would recommend at least 8 or 9 with 2 or 3 safeties.

You said you were a psych major, but I gather that you are not applying to graduate programs. However, in case you are, I would not even bother with University of Chicago because other than Stanford they probably have the rigorous requirements for admission and I do not think a 3.5 would get you in, no matter your GRE score. This is not a knock against you at all. I have a 3.4 GPA, 3.88 last 2 semesters, and received a 1410 on the GRE and the best school I am applying to is Northwestern. Graduate admissions are a very very competitive process. Just remember, that there are a LOT of very very very good graduate programs across the country. I would recommend looking at all of the programs that you can and deciding which one interests you that most--that is the most important thing, not the prestige of the program. Often, schools with average or slightly higher than normal presitige will have an excellent program in your specfic field of study.

It is great that you will have strong recommendation letters, they will serve you quite well.

Good luck on the GRE and with the admissions process; I hope this helps.