frankdux

see, that's just it. i'm going into math and my program DOES have a foreign language requirement. and as far as math programs go, it seemed that about half the schools i applied to had one. it definitely makes more sense for programs in history, international affairs, etc, but for math and science it seems like a bit of a stretch.

followup question: is it common for PhD programs to allow someone to option or petition out of the foreign language requirement? although i'm not fluent in any particular language, I have taken one difficult language at the college level and have lived abroad in the country speaking this language. I'd much rather learn an additional computer programming language instead of putting even more time and energy either in mastering this particular foreign language or starting a simpler one from the beginning.

1. the originally quoted post was regarding "advanced degrees", and those certainly are advanced. 2. teaching degrees like an MST, MAT, MEd, or an MA + teaching certificate are all graduate degrees.

If it's in something you haven't yet studied, then i wouldn't see the problem. Why not take some computer science classes? Or get a jump start on a foreign language requirement?

i've heard this many times before on here, but don't you think we should have a more specific mantra? i agree that you shouldn't pay for a research oriented graduate degree, but professional degrees like teaching degrees, law degrees, medical degrees, and business degrees are much less likely to offer funding, and isn't it pretty much the norm to be in debt when finished with one of these? don't most doctors and lawyers typically have anywhere from $50,000 to $150,000 in debt when finished?

This thread reminds me of my favorite scene from Pulp Fiction: VINCENT What's her name? JULES Mia. VINCENT How did Marsellus and her meet? JULES I dunno, however people meet people. She usta be an actress. VINCENT She ever do anything I woulda saw? JULES I think her biggest deal was she starred in a pilot. VINCENT What's a pilot? JULES Well, you know the shows on TV? VINCENT I don't watch TV. JULES Yes, but you're aware that there's an invention called television, and on that invention they show shows? VINCENT Yeah. JULES Well, the way they pick the shows on TV is they make one show, and that show's called a pilot. And they show that one show to the people who pick the shows, and on the strength of that one show, they decide if they want to make more shows. Some get accepted and become TV programs, and some don't, and become nothing. She starred in one of the ones that became nothing.

i applied 2 years in a row as well. in response to your last point: my LOR writers weren't really bothered by having to do it again and it's probably because they had already written the letters and saved them in a file. this seems to be how many profs operate. so it was usually just a matter of copying and pasting, or printing another copy and stuffing it in an envelope. not a big deal. and don't feel embarrassed about having to reapply. it was a hell of a tough year. lots of people didn't get in anywhere either. your profs will understand, unless they're total a-holes and in that case they shouldn't be writing an LOR for you anyways.

i didn't have research experience and one of my advisors told me that lots of incoming grad students don't have research experience, so it shouldn't be a major concern for you. My one piece of advice would be to address in your SOP some specific areas that you know you'd like to do research in during grad school, and perhaps tie it in with research that is being done by a few professors you'd like to work under. Don't make excuses for not having research. instead, focus on the future and what you want to do research in while demonstrating what a great fit you are for the department.

although i'm not familiar with the field, i'm guessing purely based on the reputation of those universities that those are all solid programs. 1. california schools such as UC Davis are probably going to be harder to get funding from. the recession has hit california the hardest and so their public universities probably aren't going to have as many funding packages to hand out. 2. be sure to have some safety schools to apply to as well.

2 years ago i applied from abroad. before i left i made sure to ask my LOR writers in person if they could write letters for me. then, i just emailed them the forms and addresses while i was abroad when it was time to apply. i also had to fax a lot of stuff. signatures to schools for releasing transcripts and some other stuff. it was fine. however, one school offered a phone interview to me instead of inviting me to their open house. (i guess they offered a travel stipend for invitees, but not for me, either because it would have been too expensive or they assumed it would have been too difficult for me.) it was my dream school and i ended up not doing very well with the phone interview and was consequently waitlisted and eventually rejected. that was painful. (thankfully i got a fully funded offer to a great school this year, and even if it's not my dream school i'm still really excited.) applying from overseas is definitely possible. but i'd put aside some money to fly back home for interviews if the opportunity presents itself.

depends on the school, depends on the subject. look at the department websites for the programs you are interested in. they'll usually tell you something. here's an example of the GRE requirements from the nuclear engineering program at Purdue, which is definitely a top tier engineering school: https://engineering.purdue.edu/NE/Acade ... Apply.html another good engingeering school like Florida State University which isn't as prestigious as purdue's program but still really good, has these requirements for their chemical engineering program: http://www.eng.fsu.edu/departments/chem ... admissions as you can see, different schools have different cutoffs. some programs may look at your combined score, some have specific cutoffs for each of the parts of your GRE.

i've noticed that some of my hardcover textbooks are available as international paperback editions (not to be sold in the US) that are actually available for purchase on amazon somehow. and the price difference is over $100! just make sure it is word-for-word identical though.

Asher's book isn't very good. most of the sample essays are gimmicky and highlight extremely unlikely scenarios that just aren't relevant to the average applicant. seriously, some of the essays talk about the applicant witnessing a murder or earning his helicopter's license at age 10 or having escaped to america from a war-torn country. not helpful to a typical 22 year old college graduate who most likely buys a book like this exactly because he or she doesn't have anything extraordinary to discuss.

This. also, i was a math major and i only took 13 math courses. (but i also took 8 science courses in physics and astro and i don't recall if that counted for anything.)

glad to hear someone else was in the same boat. also, after the grad secretary told me i was accepted (which required multiple emails from me after april 15th) it took an additional month and a half before i even received any further info. it didn't sound like an organized program at all.

just curious, did NCSU give you funding? i got accepted there for math without funding. i took a funded offer at a different university that was actually a much better fit too, so everything worked out well for me. I'm just curious why they'd even bother offering me an admittance without funding, and even worse, they didn't even offer me any info about potential funding in the future. did they honestly expect me to borrow well over $100k to earn a PhD from them? that's despicable. (if it was Law school or Med school, that would be understandable.)

your stats are solid, but you should still consider applying to a broad range of schools. the current state of the economy has given most potential grad students 2 strikes against them; less funding means less available spots, less jobs out there means more people looking to go back to school. put those together and you've got a greater than average number of applicants applying for a less than average number of openings. different people have different arrangements, but at the very least you should apply to 2 reach, 2 middle, and 2 safety schools. although, i'd go 3-3-3 to be on the safe side. perhaps your reach schools might include top 20 programs, your middle schools might be top 50, and your safety schools would be below top 50. just a rough guess. just be careful and don't overshoot and get yourself a pile of rejections. (it unfortunately happens to a lot of people and almost happened to me this year.) and make sure the schools you pick as safeties would still be schools you'd like to go to if they were you're only choice.

Starting in the spring is always going to be more difficult and some programs simply don't allow it because often times there are year-long sequences of classes that only start in the fall. And in the rare case you might be allowed to start in the spring it would be because you have taken the first-semester classes of those year long sequences already as an undergrad. (you might want to look into this and see if you'd be able to take similar classes during your upcoming fall semester) Also, don't count on any funding for a spring admit.

This. A larger school that makes up a college town usually has public transportation geared towards students and sometimes its free (or included in the transportation fee portion of your tuition). Also, there will typically be apartments and houses for rent literally across the street from campus. And there should be multiple grocery stores within 1 or 2 miles of campus as well. Also, college towns are usually very affordable to live in. Many universities in major cities may have their own couple of city blocks where their campus resides, but you'd still have to live in a city and usually rely on public transportation that is NOT catering towards students only. Also, living in chicago or new york is significantly more expensive than living in most college towns. most of the cities you listed would be very expensive to live in. hell, you could probably afford a cheap used car after a couple years with all the money you'd save by living in a college town, having an apartment right across the street from campus, and just walking to class everyday, instead of living somewhere expensive like washington DC.

i'm definitely getting cable, and having already done one master's degree i can easily say it's not too hard to make time to watch a little bit of television on the weekdays, and the weekends are even easier. people who say you'll never have time for it are clearly doing something wrong. if you're taking classes and studying for 16 hours a day, then you really need some new time management skills and you're most likely going to burn out soon anyways.

Welcome to the forum krish! The title of this particular board is confusing. the "comments, questions, etc." label is referring to ways in which the entire forum can be improved. You should copy and paste your thread over on the "Applications" board. You'll get lots more responses.

how were your grades during those 2 years? and how are your grades now? if you spent 2 years studying hard and making excellent grades at your community college and then you continued being a successful student after you transferred to a university, then of course you should apply to grad school. if you spent 2 years slacking off and doing horrible or just mediocre at community college, and your next two years at a university was more of the same, then maybe your adviser is right.

I'm obviously not on any admissions committee, but I'd certainly think that an unfunded MA would be less competitive than a funded PhD. Just think of the difference in what admissions committees would go through: 1. for an unfunded MA: is this person good enough to pay us to teach him for 2 years? 2. for a fully funded PhD: is this person good enough for us to pay him to take classes and conduct research for 5 years? i know it's more complex than that, but the money flowing in different directions has got to take consideration somewhere down the line.

Yeah, basically a school that you would most likely get into, that has research you're interested in, and that you'd still be fine with attending if it was your only choice.

I agree. Also, there's the possibility that this program might just be trying to "string you along." They might be thinking that since you're willing to rack up debt for the first year, then perhaps you'd be willing to rack up even more debt and take up an offer for an unfunded PhD with the supposed 'possibility' of funding later on? And if that ends up being your only option, and you didn't bother applying to any additional PhD programs during your masters, then you've just screwed yourself over. You'd either have to take the plunge and borrow even more, or wait a year and apply elsewhere. And since the thought of waiting a whole nother year and applying elsewhere can be so unappealing to many, borrowing more right now with the possibility of funding somewhere down the road is the only immediately encouraging option. Meanwhile the financial consequences from these actions are ignored by most because they won't be felt for another 3-6 years from now. I know it can be a real downer to have to wait another year right now, but it would almost certainly be for the best. Apply to a broader range of programs next year, particularly ones that typically fund their students. And in the meantime, try to do something to beef up your applications for next year.