DeanDough74

Thanks for the input and more importantly, the encouragement I keep telling myself that 8 weeks in long enough to continue what I've been doing and I can still make lots of progress. I think it's just bothering me more b/c it's been so long since I've taken any type of standardized test, gee, the SAT in 1991 LOL I wondered if part of this was the type of delivery method of the instruction, maybe that the online instruction would be more helpful? I was looking at the Kaplan On-Demand course, but wasn't sure if it was a waste of money or anything different than what the books have to offer? Thank you!

A little bit of background on me first----I'm 38, returning to grad school next Fall. I was attending an online school and finished about 12 hours (with, but I want to transfer to a local school to work on my PhD. I never had to take the GRE and this new school will not waive the GRE requirement (despite my grad GPA thus far and my work experience). It's been 17 years since I finished my undergrad. I took a practice test and realized I need major help in all areas (specifically math and vocab issues). I reviewed the boards for resource suggestions and for the past several weeks I've been reviewing several books (ETS, Kaplan, Manhattan, Gruber(sp?)) and watched all of the Magoosh videos. I still have 8 weeks until the test but it just seems like the material is not soaking in or "sticking" for some reason. As an example, I'd watch a section of Magoosh videos, read through a couple books on that same topic then try the example questions on Magoosh and totally bomb it. I'll understand the particular topic during the lecture or reading it in the book but when it comes to actually applying it to a question, or reading a question and realizing I need to do this and this to solve it, I'm bombing that part. I'm getting SOOOOO frustrated!! I'm not sure what to do at this point. Do I just keep chugging along? I have most of my notes from several book consolidated together on the math and I have tons of vocab notecards but I just feel so overwhelmed, confused, upset, stupid, nervous etc. I contemplated taking a Kaplan online course and I also saw a suggestion about using mygretutor.com? Should I take those routes? Something else? Keep doing what I'm doing and keep the faith?? HELP!!!

Thanks to everyone for the comments. I actually went back this morning and took a lot of things out and re-worked some other sections. It's now 1 page (and I didn't even use a 6 point font! ) I guess I was ultimately afraid that by not knowing about my work experience, the reader would not see what I have to offer. I'll double check with their office on Monday to see if I can include a resume or not. I know it's not required, but I don't want to upset someone by sending it in if they don't want to see it at all! Thanks again! Now off to study for the GRE.........

So should I include my resume even though it says no resume needed? Does that mean DON'T include a resume or just that it's not required? Thank you for your help!

Hello everyone! I've been lurking around the boards preparing for my GRE but I have an issue that I really need some opinions on. I'm applying for a Masters/PhD program. It's technically a PhD program and you achieve your Masters along the way. The program has about a 50% acceptance rate or a little higher, so I really feel the need to show what I have to offer. I've been reading suggestions about personal statements, being creative, standing out, etc. So I started writing! I received my bachelors degree almost 20 years ago and I've been working in the industry in various ways since then. I was initially told I needed to write a personal statement to includee my work history, accomplishments etc. But NO resume. OK fine. I was perusing their website this evening and saw something that said the personal essay should be 1 page? I'm basically at 2 1/2 pages already! Even my resume alone isn't one page?! 1 page to describe my work experience and accomplishments will literally not leave much room for anything else?! What do I do? I want to show my writing skills and I also want to show all that I've done through my career?!!!! Any suggestions??? I plan on calling to discuss this with them next week but in the meantime, I'm just sitting here stewing! Thank you so much!

Funny you should ask this, because I've been debating this issue with a few schools I've been considering. From what I've seen (in Texas), the GRE can be waived depending on your undergrad GPA, your professional experience and a few other things. I have taken a few courses online with a college that didn't require the GRE. I took 4 classes and had a 4.0 GPA, graduated with honors in my undergrad. However, my top 2 choices for grad school will NOT waive the GRE at all, period. I've asked a few times, in a few different ways and they refuse. What they've told me is that once they start waiving the requirement, it invites a host of problems with candidates in so many situations. So basically, some school will waive with their own set of requirements, some will not. So here I am, 15 years later from my undergrad, 15 years of work experience, now studying all the basics for the GRE. But it's necessary for the college I want to attend Good luck to you!