Late application to grad school without GREs

[mars41]

Hello everybody,
I will be graduating with an undergraduate degree in physics this year. I am not an American and I would like to go to graduate school in the US.

Last semester I failed some upper level classes and because of some personal stuff and my GPA is lower than 3 now. I want to apply to graduate school in December/January. I know it's after deadline for most schools, but are there schools that accept applications after that?

So my question is: I know I have no shot at any competitive school but do you think I have a bit of chance at not competitive schools? I guess it's a big disadvantage (maybe a dealbreaker) that I don't have any GRE, but do you think couple of good recommendation letters would help? Do I really have to take GREs to even be considered?

Would you suggest me to visit a website about this?

 

[TMFKAN64]

The vast majority of schools in the US, but not all, require the GRE. If you don't take it, your application will be considered incomplete and it will not even be evaluated.

You need to find a school that doesn't require it and apply there. Or just take the test.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I think you are not in a very good position.

• Very few schools have midterm admissions.
• Very few schools do not require the GRE.
• You have demonstrated by failing classes and a low GPA that you couldn't handle physics at the simpler, undergraduate level.

You haven't stated any reason why a school should accept you.

Your best bet is to start by retaking the classes that you failed.

 

[Stengah]

You want to apply IN December/January? That's when most deadlines are. I've seen some as late as February 1st. Like others have said, take the GRE.

 

[Choppy]

Maybe it's the way you've worded the question, but what you're asking doesn't make sense to me. If you want to apply to a program, then apply to the program BEFORE the deadline. If you want to get into a program that requires the GRE, then TAKE the GRE.

If you're worried that your marks aren't sufficient for applying this year and you want to apply late because fall courses (which you hope will raise your GPA) will then be included in your transcript... then rather than selecting from a limited pool of schools, just wait and apply next year.

Also, while there are some schools that are more competative to get into and some that are less competative, they pretty much all have a base level standard for admission.

You're much better off going into the specific program that you want to get into rather than aiming for "any program that will accept you."

 

[Lavabug]

[*]You have demonstrated by failing classes and a low GPA that you couldn't handle physics at the simpler, undergraduate level.

I would be wary of making a clear-cut assessment like that. In some countries, grading is substantially harsh and failing undergraduate courses is relative commonplace. Because of this, my university offers 3 examination attempts per year for every course, with no penalization and generally, very rarely do more than half the students pass on the first try all the way up to senior year courses.

But yes the GREs are a requirement for most graduate programs I've seen and it is especially important for international applicants from what I have gathered, as it can really normalize harsher grading schemes that result in grades that are not directly comparable to those awarded at US universities. The ones that don't explicitly require GRE's all state it is still strongly recommended afaik.