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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Depends on field. I can't believe nobody mentioned GRE or other relevant exam. At my "very good" state school we immediately delete any applicant who scores below the 97th or so percentile. Also, math and stats grades are extremely important if the area is at all quantitative (even psychology does a lot of data-heavy work these days). Communication ability also important. Prior research experience a plus. Rec letters come next. Undergrad school least important of all factors, at least for our program. We barely look at it.[/quote]

Except many schools are still not requiring GRE’s. [/quote]

Which is why this PP’s response is suspect and the other two researchers ring true. Even in their heyday, standardized test scores didn’t have this much impact. [/quote]

I'm the humanities prof above, and even when we were considering GREs, it was always just one factor among many.  We typically maintained a floor at the 80th percentile, but we found anyone above that certainly had the intellect to conduct scholarly research.  So then we were looking for the other factors--the passion for research, experience managing large projects, aptitude for reading, listening, and collaborating, etc.  I would a thousand times over rather have a 80th percentile GRE student who excels at these other things than a 97th percentile GRE student with no demonstrated track record with research projects.

On that note, I want to clear up another misconception that seems to be emerging in this thread.  In our admissions decisions, we simply **never** advocate for or against a particular student based on the caliber or character of their undergraduate institution (CTCL vs. public flagship, for instance).  Rather, we are looking for significant research experience and collaboration with research-active faculty (which can be evidenced in the research products themselves, the student's personal statement, and/or or in letters of recommendation from faculty).  Students coming from certain types of schools--those without graduate programs, in particular--more often have that kind of research experience.  But it's not like we ever compare a student from College of Wooster with one from Ohio State and choose the Wooster student specifically because of their undergrad.  It's always because of the experiences that their undergrad experience has afforded them.  (Of course, the Ohio State student might be just as capable, but if they haven't put together the same portfolio of experience, they're a way bigger risk for us.)[/quote]

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