Rural_America

Thanks for the reply. I had previously come across Ohio State as having a late deadline, I'll look into the others you mentioned. I honestly don't know how realistic it is to be admitted at an institution this fall. It's also highly impractical for me to consider applying during the "typical deadline season" which would mean starting a program in fall of 2010, some 17 months away!

So my real GRE scores ended up being pretty much at the high end of all the practice tests I took. 720 Quant 530 Verbal

Thanks. I've done a bit of research today and have discovered that several "regional state universities" offer rolling admissions up to 6 weeks before the start of a semester for grad programs. Going to grad school is something that I have wanted to do ever since finishing undergrad. I'm not one to look at grad school as an easy way to make "big bucks." I look at it as an opportunity to further my knowledge. I'd much rather have to live the rest of my life making minimum wage as an engineer, than make triple the minimum wage doing a mindless job.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try to take it easy today and go in tomorrow with confidence knowing that I'm well prepared!

OK, second question after joining yesterday evening ... Is there such a thing as a graduate program that is constantly admitting students each semester for graduate study? Is it possible to apply to a graduate program today and start courses later this spring or in August? I have been pondering the idea of going to grad school ever since finishing undergrad and now that I'm unemployed, that time is now. I live in the middle of nowhere, so regardless if I find a job (have sent out probably close to ~1000 resumes/apps with no luck) or find a grad program, I'll be moving, so location of programs means nothing to me. My undergrad was Environment, and my goals for career/future study involve sustainable urban planning or sustainable engineering.

So, I'm taking the GRE on Thursday. For the past 4 days I have taken an online CAT practice test. My results for each test have been completely different. For example on one test I scored in the 84% for both Verbal and Quantitative. However on a subsequent practice test I scored in the 18% for Verbal 60% Quantitative. On another I scored 70% Verbal, 60% Quantitative. On another I scored a 60% Verbal and 78% Quantitative. Obviously these scores are so drastically different that my confidence has just been crushed. I take these practice tests at the same time, under the same conditions, and take them all very seriously. So frankly, I have no idea what to expect come Thursday afternoon when I take the GRE for real. Perhaps I'll score in the 84 percentile and be super elated, or I'll score well below the 33% and be crushed. Just out of curiosity ... of those who took the practice tests did you notice a huge disparity between subsequent tests? When you finally took the GRE for real, was your score comparable to that of your practice scores?