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As long as you have the funds to apply and don't apply to any school you would be unwilling to attend, 7-10 is good. I only applied to one but I had decided to back door my way into the program if they didn't accept me.

Ask the university. I was only required to submit transcripts of completed degrees.

A lot of universities have a directory of faculty levels. You might contact the grad school and ask if this one does. At my university faculty listed as M3 can chair (and serve on) a PhD committee, those listed as M2 can serve on a PhD committee or chair a Master's committee, and those listed as M1 or lecturer cannot serve on committees at all. It depends on the department but mine doesn't care who I have as my primary advisor as long as that individual is M3 - a status which is reached by serving on 5 or more doctoral committees of individuals who have graduated. This gives faculty the experience necessary to effectively guide students.

You're in a different field but my Master's is in Emergency Management and my PhD is in Communication. People switch fields all the time. As long as you can clearly elaborate as to why you're making the switch and how your previous studies will help you in your new interest you should be fine. (I even switched areas of communication after I was in my program and when I was worried about it the graduate liaison said that this type of thing happens all the time).

I have a Sony PRS-T1 (love it!) and a Nook Color. Both are good devices. The Sony is lighter weight and I carry it pretty much everywhere. It's great for on the run reading when I'm stuck at appointments for various things and don't have time to start reading something more academic. That said, I've found my tablet to be the best for studying. It is bigger and I can zero in on the graphics used in some journal articles better, I can run multiple apps (Kindle, Nook, Kobo), and I can run ReadCube and Endnote. This means that I can purchase ebooks in multiple formats, because not every company sells in epub format or to Amazon.

Where are you in school? If it's the US some of those things don't sound legal no matter how much the landlord has them written down. I would contact student affairs and see if there is a legal assistance office on campus that can find out what the landlord is truly able to enforce.

I use a combination of ReadCube and Endnote. I like both but find ReadCube easier for annotating PDFs.

My entire SoP was 1 page. Depending on length I'd say keeping the hook to 10% or less of your total statement.

In Comm contacting professors you would be interested in working with is recommended.

OU funds MA students at the same stipend level as PhD students. Many go on from here either in-program or elsewhere to complete doctorates but if you choose to terminate at the Master's level that is okay too. I'm a 2nd year PhD student and my incoming cohort had 5 MA students and 6 PhD students. Those who go elsewhere for the PhD receive multiple offers. And I can think of 3 people who did the MA here and then chose to stay for the doctoral program. If you are interested feel free to ask me questions. I love it here.

Have you looked at the NCA guide? http://www.natcom.org/Secondary.aspx?id=4420 I know someone who went to Rutgers and really liked the program.

Can you join an immersion program?

My husband used to be an essay grader and spacing between paragraphs had absolutely zero impact on the rubric/scoring. Essays were usually graded by at least two people (and I doubt that has changed) so I doubt anyone would use that as a scoring standard.

You're probably more likely to get into an EdPsy program but it may not take you to where you want.

It depends on the university you are coming from, but my guess is that your letters of recommendation and GRE scores will have more of an impact than they are for those who have actual GPAs. Although, some universities are considered suspect because of either real or perceived grade inflation, so GPA may not matter as much anyway.

I had professors tell me that when studying it is more important to work to improve the area where you excel than the area you are weak. It seems counterintuitive because I know i really wanted to do well on both but often disciplines care much more about one (quantitative vs qualitative) than the other.

Homesickness is something that hits people at varying levels. I left Alaska in 2000. I've been gone 14 years and I still get homesick frequently. In the early years I frequently considered giving up everything I was working on (marriage, undergraduate) and going back "home." I didn't have strong ties to anyone other than my husband. I was given advice by someone to not give up on a location until I had been there for a minimum of 18 months. That gave me the chance to build relationships with people where I was living rather than focusing on being back home. It helped. The other things that have helped me is to network as much as possible. I have relationships with my cohort, with other department's cohorts (because I take classes from other disciplines), from church, from my kids' soccer/baseball teams, etc. The more I do and the more I invest in others, the easier it is to be happy where I'm at rather than focus on where I miss. You might also consider contacting student services and making an appointment at your university's counseling center. The staff there can help you come up with ways specific to where you are that will allow you to build relationships and cope with the homesickness. It's hard getting used to a new place and you have my empathy.

I don't know but I'll try to find out. I know he made the switch in departments recently.

I use Outlook's calendar which syncs through my university account to both my phone and my computers. I also have monthly whiteboard calendars mounted on my desk in the TA office that I write major appointments and assignments as a second line of defense against forgetting something.

When I took the GRE I found that GRE for Dummies was the most helpful. How are you studying? Are you taking practice tests? Are you using flashcards to review concepts you miss when you practice? Are you asking friends/family to quiz you on concepts? Are you taking the time to read ideas/say things aloud? Are you writing concepts? Are you making up a dance or workout routine that you discuss/associate with concepts? The more learning styles you hit while you practice the better you will retain the knowledge and the easier you will find accessing that knowledge during stressful situations like testing.

I would definitely redo it.

I think those scores are great and the likelihood of increasing your score enough to make a difference is probably pretty low. I wouldn't invest the time and energy into retaking it.

I can't really answer most of your questions because engineering is not my field but my husband's family is from Youngstown (near Akron) and your stipend will go a long way there. When we lived in the area we purchased a house for under $40k in a decent area because real estate costs considerably less than other parts of the US. Renting a 3 bedroom house with garage and basement cost $425/month.

Knowledgeable letters from references are a big deal. If your letter can talk specifically about you and your strengths and weaknesses a lot of programs put weight on that. Too often people have generic references that can't talk about the time "x student" did "y." There are tons of factors, though. Someone applying to graduate school who has been in the workforce for 25 years and doesn't have academic references is not going to be evaluated the same way as someone who has been in college for the past 5-10 years.

If it's not already on your list you might want to consider University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. My husband's mentor (Dr. William Keith) is there and he LOVES both of your interests. We often joke that even those who aren't rhetors or interested in philosophy will join that dark side after a 30 minute conversation with Bill.