rising_star

misterpat, I think contacting potential advisors is a terrific idea.

The first year is the worst. Almost everyone thinks about quitting. You have to remember why you're there, what your goals are, etc. If your goals no longer require you to be there, leave. But probably finish the first semester. P.S. 22 isn't too young. I started grad school at 21, literally 2 days after graduating from undergrad. Most of the people I hung out with in grad school were 25-29. Now I'm doing a PhD in another school, at the age of 23, and I'm one of the youngest people here. It's lonely at times but you get used to it. Research is lonely anyway.

Talk to your professors about the possibility of taking an incomplete in your courses so you have time to complete the work later. You may also want to talk to your advisor and/or Director of Graduate Studies about the possibility of taking a semester of leave in the spring so that you can spend time with your mother. Sorry you have to deal with this. Good luck with everything.

In my opinion, 1300 words is way too much over. If they print it out double-spaced, it's an extra page. It's not like they won't notice that and they will wonder why you can't follow instructions.

Your GRE verbal will probably hurt you since most schools like to see over a 500 on each section. I'd talk to the director of graduate studies at your current school and see what s/he thinks (that way you can use that as a guide). I'm unclear what you mean about the published paper. Usually it takes a while for papers to be accepted and subsequently printed.

Look at state schools that offer either the MA is their terminal degree or have a lot of undergraduate classes that they need TAs for.

The field of your MA probably won't matter, since it's in a related field.

They aren't going to demand an explanation from you. I wouldn't address it in a cover letter either. Maybe one of your recommenders can talk about the difficulties you overcame in that semester or something. But I'm not even sure I'd do that. I never explained my GPA to anyone, even though it wasn't particularly close to a 3.5. I wouldn't draw attention to it.

One thing to consider is that ETS does regular mailings of scores on CD/DVDs to the schools. Scores from multiple dates are grouped together before they're sent out, which could cause a delay in when it's sent out. That said, do you really think the grad admissions office is going to be opening mail and sorting through things Dec 22-Jan 2? Because I highly doubt they'll be well staffed then... Oh, and FWIW, I took the GRE the first week of November when I applied. No reported problems of not receiving my schools, including the fact that I decided to apply to schools that I hadn't listed when I took the test. All of my deadlines were Jan 1 or later though.

nabh, was your semester GPA a 3.2? Is your overall (cumulative) now a 3.5? If so, I wouldn't worry about it. I didn't have a 3.5 when I applied and had great success with not only applications but funding. Even if you're concerned, these kinds of things are NOT what you want to be bringing up to a potential advisor before you even apply. It will seem like excuse-making and, if I read your post correctly, you really don't need to excuse anything. Things happen but that doesn't mean you should tell the world. It might make them think you're unable to handle the pressure of grad school, which ultimately would hurt--rather than help--your cause.

Get a job in the financial industry first? Oh wait...

You're way off on the percentiles for the verbal. The low 600s are in the upper 80s, percentile wise.

Check out the program at Columbia. I'm pretty sure the PhD program has a policy orientation. Are you looking in public policy schools for programs?

ridgey, have you considered looking at MPP/MPA programs? Or maybe even doing a joint MPP/MPH?

Well I'd start by not using the US News rankings as a guide, but that's just me.

AKarn, I definitely wouldn't pay a service to help you with the personal statement. Fellow applicants, current grad students, and your professors are your best resource in this area. Interviews aren't all that common. More common is a paid visit after getting admit where you can meet with faculty. So no formal interview per se, at least not in my (non-poli-sci) experience.

I wouldn't bother. I only ever visited places that accepted me and paid my way.

Rewriting whole sections of my SOP for individual schools.

Yes, admission is random. Applying to fewer programs can allow you to submit better materials to each program. Quality is better than quantity. Also, I think the funding at Claremont is notoriously bad.

Don't even worry about it. Admissions committees see this kind of thing. You definitely cannot and should not ask anyone to proofread her letter, particularly since there's usually a confidentiality waiver. Just offer her the same materials you're offering your other letter writers.

As is becoming common, I disagree with Ferraro. I'd start with the school. Call them up, say when you took the test, and see if they'll look again. The scores may have been misplaced. Only after you've done that should you call ETS. They aren't going to believe you so you might as well try the university first.

It's okay, Minnesotan. I'll try not to cry myself to sleep tonight, lol. 15 applications is hard and will definitely require time management. It'll all hit late in the semester, which is typically when courses get busier if you're an undergraduate. So, be careful with that. And definitely don't spend $50-125 applying to some school that you wouldn't really attend if they were to accept you. I mean that in all seriousness. It's hard to know without visiting but you shouldn't apply to U Iowa if you don't actually want to live in Iowa, you know?

1) Not everyone in grad school graduated Phi Beta Kappa. In fact, in my current program, you might be hard pressed to find more than a handful of folks who did. 2) How in the world would you compensate for it?

Given that numbers aren't everything, I'm not sure what you want to get out of having this information. I definitely wouldn't email the programs.

It would probably be useless to study at SAIS, Tufts, etc with a degree from LSE. Even more so if you're just going to be duplicating the degree you already have. Going to school in the states does not guarantee you a job. You still have to deal with the permitting/visa stuff and have an employer willing to sponsor you for the visa (many are unwilling due to the expense on their end).