socialcomm

While you were looking for jobs, were you volunteering? Gaining any other experience? It sounds like you were working for your dad? For the schools you're applying to, do you need to submit a resume/CV?

Do you make sentences for the analogies? Like teacher : school would be something like, teachers work at schools... of course when they get more difficult, that doesn't always work. Then you go to positive or negative, and strategies like that. You could pick up a kaplan/princeton review etc workbook to see if they give any other suggestions.

I would guess (and this is strictly a guess) that if you have a great SOP and writing sample, programs will overlook the low AWA score. From what I've read, most schools rely more on the SOP and writing sample to gauge individuals' writing abilities than the AWA score anyway. But it may depend on the particular program and specific department...

I'm applying to 3 because I have to stay within this area. While I believe I would be happy at any of the three I'm applying to, I wish I could apply to more to give myself a better chance of being accepted somewhere!

If you're pretty sure you can self-teach yourself what you've forgotten, you could pick up a barron or kaplan (or both!) quant workbook.

Don't put it in your SOP, but from personal experience, it certainly does make things more difficult (not being able to apply just anywhere).

Have you looked at the schools' websites to see if they indicate what GRE scores they're looking for? That might be a good first step. Your score seems a bit low, particularly the quant, but it may be ok for the schools you're applying to.

Completely agree with Serric! Some of what you've included in the original draft would be better in a statement of purpose, other parts will be in the application itself. Keep it as brief as possible.

Don't worry about her writing letters to other schools. Everyone (ok, almost everyone) applies to multiple schools. It may turn out another school is a better fit. You don't want to shut yourself out of other options.

I believe, in most cases, if you're getting funding from a school, they won't allow you to work. So it may depend on your situation, I know some people are ABD and working in their industry of choice, but at that point they aren't getting a stipend from their school. The answer may change from school to school.

I don't think anyone can tell you for sure what your chances are. There are way too many unknown factors at work. But based on what you said, I think with a strong personal statement and good networking you'll be a strong candidate. Do you have contacts at the schools you want to attend? Do what you can to build relationships before/while you're applying.

You're not too old. I'm older than you and I'm applying to graduate school, and there will be people older than me who will also be applying. Most people have multiple careers over their lifetime. I don't really think (or at least I hope) we'll be asked to 'explain our ages.' For me, based on family/live circumstances, this is the first chance I've had to pursue my PhD. Can you explain why you want to go back to school now -- what goals you're hoping to acheive? Your work experience (terrible work experience as you describe it), even if it's not directly related, gave you experiences others may not have. Make that a positive for you. Good luck!!

This is how I felt last year. I finished a math section, and BAM, other math section. It did NOT indicate which was experimental. Not the way I wanted to end the test.

I'm applying to UCI's visual studies program this year. I'm particularly interested in combining components of art history and media studies so it works for me. If you're only interested in Art History, you might want to look at more traditional programs. While you might be able to transition to other departments upon completion of the program, I would guess those in traditional programs may have an advantage. To learn more about the VS program, read Visual Culture by Margaret Dikovitskaya.

Thanks for your advice! Any more specific suggestions for creating an emotional bridge?

I sent the scores in in September and didn't have any problems. Like pps said, if you wait until the last minute, you may have more problems.

Last year I was probably at close to 1,000 and I'm on the way to doing the same this year. I did fairly well on the verbal last year, it was my quant score that ended up being an issue. I didn't see many words on the GRE that I actually studied, but it's knowing what different parts of words meant that helped.

I've contacted prof's asking if they were avaible to take new advisees at X time (make sure you know if you need an advisor coming in, or in your second year etc...). And I've found most programs have lists of current and sometimes past students -- most are open to speaking to potential students! Good luck!

I'd consider it a positive thing too. You want as many people in your corner as you can get!

I understand your concern, but I think the approach you're taking (discussing your research ideas) is the right one. You need to garner professors interest in working with you. Use the energy you have being paranoid to spend more time worrying about other parts of your application.

If you're interested in USC, you might want to contact current or past students -- often schools have a list on their websites. What kind of management consulting do you want to do? You might want to look at I/O psychology programs and MBA programs (I know you said this was in the future...) as well.

I'm in a similar situation -- I'm starting with a writing sample that is close to 10 years old. I've found that some schools specify writing samples can't be more than X pages long (I've seen under 10 and under 15) -- so you might want to check with each school to which you plan to apply.

I agree with the previous poster. There is a difference between more business oriented research and academic research, but it sounds like you definitely do have some research experience that will be good for your application. I'm in a similar situation, with many years of business research experience but not so much academic research experience.

I also had a high verbal and low quant score. After applying last fall (PhD programs), I received feedback that people did question my scores because they were so far apart from each other. I'm retaking the GRE this fall -- I'm not overly optimistic the same thing won't happen again, but I'm trying my best!

As someone who is also only applying to a handful of schools because of life situations, I understand where you're coming from there. As for the consultant -- I've heard that the more Kaplan/Princeton review individuals are often too broad to be very helpful, but I like the idea of hiring someone from within your area to see how they might help you. Good luck!