history_geek

From what I was told, apply to PhD schools first since they have early deadline dates. However, have a handful of MA schools ready in case you get denied or you get the feeling that you will be denied to your PhD schools. Depending on the deadline dates, your MA applications might have to be sent before you get a response from all of your PhD schools. Essentially, have a back up plan for the worst case scenario.

Send it to me in a pm and I'll read it this weekend for you.

Yeah I believe Dr. Quatert is retiring in a couple years. Dr. Karsteiner would be my main advisor if I attend Binghamton. Both are really nice people, in general.

I'll read it. Send me a pm and I'll read it over this weekend.

Professor Quartet and Professor Karnstein are interested.

After a summer of hell and figuring this out, I'll be applying to Boston University, Boston College, University of Toronto, University of Chicago, Stony Brook, and Binghamton University. My aim is to study 20th Century German Economic History with subfields in nationalism, totalitarianism, and European diplomacy.

Pizza, I actually had 2 log and 2 sin vs cos vs tan problems. I'm not sure if they are handing out more of those problems, but they were clearly those type of problems.

Bit of a gravedig, but I just finished a visit and I am preparing a second. I visited Boston (about 6 hours away from me) as a summer vacation. While I was their I made sure to reach out to the university and talk to the professor I wanted to study under. After our coffee and discussion, he told me that it was a great idea to come see him since it shows devotion to the field and an interest in the school. I was also told how to write my SoP for that university to gain a leg up in the admission process. Overall, yes! I would say go see the university, but if you cannot, then reaching out and talking with them is key.

I got the Kaplan Premier Edition and their flashcards. The book is a little dry and hard to work through, but the flashcards were a blessing. Also, you get access to their online database and tutor services which can help a lot if you are lacking in one area of the other. I might be wrong, but I believe you get an additional 4 practice tests by getting the Premier Edition instead of the regular. I did not use them all, but they are available if you need them.

I finished up my GREs about a week ago and scored fairly decent, 71st percentile (my testing area gave us the percentile not grade ). Anyways, my best advice for increasing your Quantitative would be Khan Academy. I had a problem with some pre-calc and calculus problems and the resources online and in my book were not enough. I popped onto Khan Academy and quickly understood the problems and began to master them fairly quickly. Every math idea or theory is on their and it is easy to pick and choose the ones you want to look at. Pick whichever ones are bugging you and go through the videos and practice problems several times. Wait 16 hours then do it again. Repeat until you master the section.

I wanted to come here and just say thank you to everyone that helped me find material and understand sections of the GRE. I posted a score in the 71st percentile, a 20 point jump. Thank you to all of you! For those of you looking for a bit of advice, take a breath! The GRE is annoying and a bear, if you did not study. However, I'm assuming most of us here are studying and getting a grasp for the actual test. When you get into that room, take a seat and just breath. You have been studying for weeks, some of us even months. You know exactly what is going to be on it and how to approach every problem that will be on it. As the test starts, remember to pace yourself. Do not spend 3 or 4 minutes on any question, mark it and move on to the next question, if you have time at the end then go back and do that question again. I made the mistake of doing a logarithmic problem for 4 minutes and ended up rushing the last 3 questions of the first math section. The next section, I paced myself and realized that I had almost 7 minutes to go back and look over the work. Pacing yourself and breathing makes the test easier and less stressful. Pace is not the only thing to keep in mind. Make sure to take your 10 minute break! I saw several people push through the break and they were losing concentration by the 4 hour mark. The GRE is not a sprint! On your break, go the bathroom, get some water (pop/soda has sugar and will make you tired and so will energy drinks once the chemicals wear off), and bring a small snack (a granola bar or a piece of fruit). Replenishing your body for the final push is going to help you a lot, but do not eat or drink a lot. You have to sit for another hour and a half without a break and going to the bathroom will force you to rush, regardless of your pacing. Remember to breath and realize that you can take the GRE again if you do not like your score. Best of luck to all of you taking the GRE in the coming months!

Awesome. Thank you all for the help. I'll try your tips and see if the test scores change at all.

So I did a quick edit for your essay. I tried to color code it and give you some idea of the mistakes. Hope this helps you out. Green - Awkward opening phrase or misplaced sentence Blue - Grammar and awkward sentence Red - misspelled word Orange - Run on sentence

I have been studying and taking practice tests for about 2 months now. I've noticed that my main problem is the sentence equivalence section. I'm sitting around 50% on that section and it is really dragging my score down. Does anyone have a good way to increase that score, other than just studying vocabulary?

I have been debating this and talking with some professors at my university about putting my DD214, discharge paperwork from the military, into my application bundle. In my SOP, I stated that I served which delayed my entry into my undergraduate program and delayed my eventual applications to graduate programs. As for the application, some schools say they want any relevant forms to be attached to the online application and sent in, while others are even vaguer and just say attach any important information to the application. Should I send in my DD214 with my applications or not?