Captain Crunch

Hell yea! I mean it depends where you want to go, I guess, but the fact that you have a B.S. in hand, with geography experience, with all of the supporting sciences done, with recommendations from professors you have actually formed a relationship is huge! Congrats, and the GRE scores are really good too. Just keep doing what you have been doing, research some potential schools and make contacts with potential advisors and see if they offer to fly you out. If you want to get into an uber-competitive program, you may want to retake the GRE, but from what I have seen, you can basically (IMO) go any where you want to. Best of luck in your future studies! Wherever it is that you choose!

Not a problem, at all. Basically any reputable school with a decent offer will at least give you a 4 semester TA position. Some extend it beyond that if needed. Lots of schools allow geo 101 to fulfill a science gen ed, so there is big enrollment in 101 classes.

See this:

Great, that is helpful. I know that I recieved a TA position, so I guess I will just have to wait and see on the specifics when I get the actual offer.

Thank you for your response. I will definitely follow up with the school, once I see the official offer. If it is true, I was just suprised that in-state tuition is not waived as well. I know A&M is competitive in many different fields, and this seems like it would be a deterrent to many applicants.

I was unofficially accepted to A&M, so I haven't seen the offer yet, but my POI mentioned that A&M only waives the out-of-state component of tuition for TA's and that students are responsible for the rest. Has anyone else had experience with this? I really would like to attend this school, but having a full tuition waiver is pretty important to me. Edit: I applied for a M.S. degree

I hadn't had any math since trig in high school (well, I took stats freshman year, but that is different). The next time, I had just completed calc I, which had forced me to go back and learn algebra in a way I never had before. The amazing thing to me is just how basic most of the math on the GRE is.

I improved my Q section by 29 percentile points. I was starting at a lower point, but still. I studied like crazy (not as much as some) and it really paid off. You can definitely do it. I would just suggest throwing everything you have at it- including getting tutoring or buying one of those expensive prep classes (I did Barron's, which was reasonable). I also would highly suggest this book: http://www.amazon.com/GRE-GMAT-Math-Systematic-Approach/dp/1453633987 You won't find it in stores, and it isn't just for the GRE, it is also for the GMAT, but the principle behind it is that if you go back and review almost ALL of basic math, starting with the number line, you won't have to rely on tricks to just get by on test day. Buying that book was the single best thing I did to improve my Q score.

Yes it does! Thanks for the info and your response

Amen! It is outrageous. I am thankful that I can afford it, but I can imagine that for some people that it is a barrier to them going to grad school. I mean a test book + taking the gre twice + sending the info to schools is probably 450 bucks. That is an injustice if I ever saw one.

I spent the VAST majority of my time researching individual professors and making contact with them. Probably 4 professors to every program that I actually applied to. Looking back, I wish I would have spent more time learning about the schools/departments in general and that I had applied to more "reach" schools. Also, I wish I would have considered school prestige a little more.

Thanks, that's helpful!

@ruud9 I just checked over my correspondence and the timeline was something like this: 1. Accepted 2. Contact POI that day 3. POI says it will be about 4 weeks until funding decisions are made 4. 2 weeks later I recieved an offer. Hope that helps. This school seems to do things earlier than most however.

Check out this thread: Also, I mentioned in the emails that I had started to hear back from other schools without actually saying "I was accepted at so and so... and now I want to hear your offer." I emailed/ addressed my messages to the graduate coordinators or the department chairs. The two I have heard back from seemed very polite and understanding about me asking.

I realized thats I made a very USA centric statement. That agreement is just for the States. I have no idea if there is a similar agreement elsewhere.