Scarf in the wind

Good luck on getting admitted to UCI. Hoping for the best.

Yes, I am on the wait list as well, but at San Diego State University. I received an e-mail last week noting that notifications are still being sent out to students on the waitlist as accepted applicants decline their acceptance. The applicants have until the 15th but, after receiving that e-mail, I have my e-mail account open from morning til work. Really hope I get in, but I doubt it. There are, or were, 15 applicants on the wait list. However, I was told there is no numerical order. Applicants wait listed are slotted in to openings for the subfield they applied to. So, I have no idea how I am ranked in relation to other applicants and can only wait it out. Academic purgatory indeed.

Well, my approach is to keep my e-mail open at all times for the acceptance or *shudder the thought* rejection letter.

And what if a full-time job is out of the question because you've applied millions of times to work in a research position and receive rejections every time? What if the labs who are researching what you want to research in your Master's/PhD program don't accept you because you didn't attend their school for your undergraduate education? What if your shunned when you volunteer and you don't get called back?

Completely agree. Even knowing that I applied to a school beyond my reach, rejection still stings.

Good luck. I had applied to the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs in December 2013. I received my rejection letter in January.

Hello all. I had applied to San Diego State University's Masters in Psychology program. Today I was notified that I am on the wait list. A bummer, and disheartening. Wish me luck. Thanks.

That's a great score! I doubt it's worth retaking the test and blowing $150. Your verbal is superb. Focus on other aspects of your application, and good luck.

Depends. To access Manhattan's practice tests, one has to purchase an instructional book. This means, a book meant to educate rather than a book whose sole purpose is to provide practice problems. These aren't technically free because they come with the book (it's provided via code in the book). Magoosh's practice tests are only available if you purchase the product. However, their practice test is comprised of practice questions. Nothing original there, but also not free. ETS' Powerprep tests, however, are a little different. A program can be downloaded via ETS' website called Powerprep that provides 2 (I think, it's been a few months) free tests, and you can determine whether a test is timed or untimed. However, were you to purchase the Official Guide, you would receive a CD that essentially has two tests. I do not know if the two tests are exact copies though. As for Magoosh and Manhattan's tests timed and untimed, I unfortunately do not remember. I never took a practice test using Magoosh, and I think you may have been able to install a time limit on the test for Manhattan, but I do not remember. Hope that helps.

You want ridiculous? Here's ridiculous! I took the GRE exam on September 20th of this year. I submitted my score to the the Uni on October 23rd. Today I called the university asking whether my information (transcripts and GRE score) were received, and was told the latter was not received. I asked them to check again as I had sent them. I then called ETS and was told that, yes, my score was sent electronically. They even provided a batch number to give to the Uni. I call an individual at the Uni and am told the university does not accept electronic scores. At this point I am both confused and annoyed. I call the Uni and am told they only receive scores via paper, not electronically. I call back ETS explaining my situation and, through sheer bad luck, placed to discuss the situation with an idiot. I provide the individual with the school code used to send my score, and the school code on the Uni website, and He continuously asks me if I have confirmed it with the school. No matter how many times I tell him the number is indeed correct, and that the number is on the fucking website, I am asked by a bumbling fucking human parrot whether I have confirmed the number. I hang up in frustration. I call the Uni and am told that if I submit my application and am deemed someone who could be admitted that upon receiving my scores, I may be admitted. I talk to someone at ETS and am told that the Uni only receives scores electronically, not via paper. I call the Uni and am told no, they only take scores via paper. I call ETS and explain the discrepancy. They tell me to request the university get in touch with them to update their system. I call the Uni and am told that they don't discuss this with the ETS and that I'd have to submit my scores again. That's another $25 damn dollars. $50 to send my GRE scores to 1 university. I am not going to apologize for my language as it was not directed towards anyone on the forums, let alone anyone who has responded above me in this thread. Quite annoyed. That's ridiculous. Talked to ETS again and spoke with someone who expressed empathy about the situation. Told to speak to another individual at the university. Edited to remove title of university in question.

"Dear test takers, I am sorry to report we were robbed last night and have lost all of our pencils. Looks like you're shit out of luck. Thank you for coming."

Some people are gunning for a Ph.D program. My scores, though not bad by any means, do not reach the 160 threshold but I am happy with it. The reason why is because I, unlike most people who post on this forum, am gunning for a Master's degree.

Only if you work for ETS.

I disagree with awells27. I think you're other scores could get you into a high level Master's program, but your AWA score will definitely hold you back. If possible, I recommend retaking. However, please state what your field is.

Magoosh at magoosh.com and Manhattan at http://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/

Funny thing is, I'm applying to SDSU's Master's Psychology program. For Psychology, a GRE score that exceeds the 50th percentile in all three sections is required. I don't know what program you are applying to, but I don't think you're score is good enough to enter a Ph.D program, nor is it good enough to enter SDSU's program, but maybe SDSU's program (which I assume to be a Master's program) does not require a strong GRE score. Then again, you're verbal is quite low and it may disqualify you from being admitted. How much did you study for the test? As for performing better on the next attempt, I recommend Magoosh and Manhattan. Magoosh has online lessons that provide great structure and around 900 total practice questions for math (over 500) and verbal (over 400). Manhattan is another GRE Prep company that have 8 textbooks that provide many of what Magoosh overs but in a different package. I recommend both. If you are able to fit it into your schedule, Manhattan also has a book called 5 pound book of practice problems (or a title with a similar style) that provide excellent practice for the test.

Self deprecation. I have a knack for it, and you're welcome. Bold text # 1: Speaking from experience? Bold text #2: "that"...? "Pretty indicative that"...? Bold text #2: "pointless energy inflicted on a random incident..." repentwalpurgis, I know where you're coming from and understand, however, in powerliftery16's defense, he has written above that he is suffering from a cold that has deterred any plans for studying once again for the test. Sometimes, as repentwalpurgis wrote, you have to do what's necessary. That doesn't mean you must devote hundreds and hundreds of hours to studying. You have to figure out how well you know the topics you're being tested on and schedule your studying time accordingly. Some argue people shouldn't devote hundreds and hundreds of hours to studying because nothing enters the brain and it can't stop to rest and process the information it received. That was my error. I studied too hard for far too long, day by day I would study for over 8 hours a day and I got burnt out and discouraged many times. I had come to hate the test, hate math, and hate the sight of flashcards. Mind you, I did this for months, not for half a month or 1 month but many months. Now, imagine studying in that fashion for a year. Imagine how discouraged and angry I got by the sight of math problems. To make things worse, I was unemployed and hated myself and my life, and the only prospect was entering graduate school. And, day by day, that prospect was fading away as I performed poorly on practice problems and practice tests. Yes, it worked out in the end, but I had to expend many resources to make it happen.

Agh! Don't remind me. Doth phrase blinds me, away with thee. Okay, I'm done with my piss poor attempt at playing a Hamlet character (don't deride me, I said piss poor). Powerliftery16, please know there is no way you suck more than me! That is not possible. Would you like to know how much I studied for the test for my initial attempt at the GRE? I studied for 7 months. I took a Princeton Review course that taught me very little with instructors who only know how to spout vapid slogans and techniques without showing me how to solve the problem. Okay, that's over 1 grand wasted. I then spent months studying for the test in preparation for the exam date. However, this proved to be a fruitless endeavor as I was stricken with the worst cold or flu I have ever experienced as I was rendered bedridden for about 10 days. before the test. I was unable to get any studying done during that time due to my throbbing head ache. On test day I was rendered stupefied that I had no choice but to cancel my test scores. I then studied for another 6 months hoping I wouldn't get sick. Test day comes and I perform less than mediocre. I receive a 560 for Quaint (this was before ETS revised the test to its current state), and a 480 for Verbal. With a range of 200 to 800, I received a score of 480. I was beside myself. How the hell did I do so bad at Verbal after I spent hours, and I do mean hours studying vocab words. More importantly, I was surprised by my Quaint score. It was higher then expected. I apply to the programs and I get admitted to my preferred school. However, upon visiting said school I find it not to my liking (it was a Master's program), and decide to reserve the right to abstain from entering for a year (I forgot the phrase schools and students use, so I hope that sentence makes sense). I then decide I would like to enter another sub field and realize my scores from my previous attempt at the GRE were woeful. I then devote 7 months to studying for the GRE. I first started with Princeton Review's Cracking textbook. I studied for about 2 months until realizing the material did not, in any way, prepare me for ETS's textbook, nor did it prepare for ETS's Powerprep practice test where I received a 150 for verbal, and 149 for Quaint. I then resigned myself to failure before discovering this website and reading glowing reviews posted by other forum goers for Magoosh and Manhattan's respective products. I decided to buy said products to better myself. Another gamble, yes, but I felt it was a necessary one. This followed 4 months of agonizing studying where I poured through the books, performed practice questions, and went back to the same material that became new to me, adding to my ever growing frustrations. My practice scores were all over the place. A week before the test I took one last practice test where I received a score of 157 for verbal, and a 147 for Quaint. This discouraged me greatly and I was ready to resign myself to another failed attempt at the test. However, after composing myself, I decided to study as much as possible during the days I had left and poured through materials that covered areas I was weak at and areas that I had not devoted as much time as I should have. On test day, I did not have a great sleep and worried I would fail, despite my attempts at reassuring myself with "positive thoughts". During the test, I was a wreck. I worried I was failing, that I should just cancel after the test is done, that my heart was palpitating while I performed practice problems causing me to feel every heart beat, that another test taker was really cute and I would like to talk to her after the test...all of these thoughts went through my mind while I took the test every second of the way. Heck, when I opted to take my scheduled 10 minute break I forgot how to count 10 minutes and nearly started late as I only had 30 seconds remaining before the program resumed with the test. After completing the test, I had to ask myself that oh so dreaded question - "Do I cancel or accept my scores?" I decided to accept as I needed to see my actual scores to determine whether I would need to retake. I saw my scores and my mouth fell agape. I was shocked that I had done as well as I had hoped I would with a score of 159 (verbal) and 153 (Quaint). Those were my official scores after spending months on the test. One could even say years. That was the culmination. Powerliftery, you scored around the same area as I did with very little studying. Don't you think, if you applied yourself, you would exceed the scores you've received? It stands to reason that you would do great, and there's nothing wrong with attending a Master's program if that is what's necessary to assist in achieving your career goals. Many people who enter academia and go on to work in Ph.D programs are not necessarily smarter, they were just more willing to jump through the necessary hoops to get where they are now. We all just have to jump through those hopes to achieve success in whatever field we'd like to enter ( and for us, that's Psychology). I will leave with this one video link to cement my initial point above - I had a GPA of 3.1 in my undergrads due to a number of reasons. I have research experience, but have spent most of my life unemployed. I studied for the tests while being unemployed. I have no job right now. No girlfriend (I've never had a girlfriend, and will never have one unless I get admitted to a school away from home), and very few friends. Powerliftery, you cannot suck more than me so, please, "a little respect. For I am Constanza, Lord of The Idiots!"

You cannot pick and choose parts of a score. You must pick the score associated with the particular day you took the test. Say you take the test on Monday and receive scores for the 3 sections of the test. Then you take the test on Friday and received scores for the 3 sections of the test. You can only choose to send scores associated with either Monday or Friday, not pick a certain score from Monday's test and certain scores from Friday's test. Either Monday or Friday, not an amalgamation.

ETS will send an e-mail (the same e-mail account you used to register for the test) when your scores have been calculated.

Call them and ask how long they keep GRE scores for prospective applicants. Some schools delete the scores after a year I think.

In my opinion, Manhattan's Text Completion/Sentence Equivalence book pales in comparison to the rigorous workout you'll receieve from both Magoosh and Manhattan's 5 pound book. Manhattan's textbook on TC and SE lacks any breadth with a small amount of questions for both sections. The best part of the book is the Vocab lists in the back of the book. I found Magoosh's verbal workout more thorough and akin to the actual tests. Note that Reading Comprehension is packaged in another book alongside Essays, and will not appear in the TC/SE book. Furthermore, Manhattan's 5 pound book has abundant questions for Text Completion, Sentence Equivalence, Reading Comprehension and Logic-based Reading Comprehension, though no lessons. It is, through and through, a workout book. For lessons, I again recommend Magoosh. However, were you to purchase the books off Amazon they will be significantly cheaper than if they were purchased one by one from Manhattan's site, so for a lesser price you could obtain the TC/SE book and get access to the Vocab lists. Furthermore, I recommend Barron's 1,000 word list or something to that effect. I forgot the complete title name but it is similar to that. Good luck.

Congrats. Glad I could help.

You cannot pick and choose parts of a score. You must pick the score associated with the particular day you took the test. Say you take the test on Monday and receive scores for the 3 sections of the test. Then you take the test on Friday and received scores for the 3 sections of the test. You can only choose to send scores associated with either Monday or Friday, not pick a certain score from Monday's test and certain scores from Friday's test. Either Monday or Friday, not an amalgamation.

Was she that attractive? Kidding aside, give it a chance. You may get lucky. A friend of mine talked ETS into rescheduling his test date after He missed the appointment, so it's possible. As for the joke above, I was reminiscing about my testing experience. And that's exactly why I am pursuing a Master's rather than go straight for a Ph.D