Imaginary

Haha. Thanks for the undeserved compliment, BowTiesAreCool. Some days I'm not so sure about that. I've been taking a look at theses and came to the determination that mine should be roughly fifteen pages, but I'm suffering from performance anxiety and coherence issues at the moment.

Any thoughts on how long an M.A. thesis introduction should be? I know what it should include, but I'm having difficulty determining the length for what should roughly be a 100 page thesis.

Branchout,com might be good.

The whole not having a favorite/top choice just got a lot harder. This program is already my preference for more than couple reasons, and I just found out an amazing conference opportunity in my subfield is probably happening soon. Sure, I could just go to the conference, but I want to be right where the action is.

Me: Checking email. Checking gradcafe. Repeat ad Infinitim.

NOT COOL! I was sure it was acceptance or rejection.. and then I read it.

Also, if you have the opportunity to attend and present at conferences, do research, submit to writing contests, and compete for scholarships, do all of these things. It may be too early to commit to grad school but it is not too early to start preparing just in case.

Because I have been working a full time job or one or more part time jobs the eentire time I have been doing my M.A. (and due to financial difficulties) I have never gone more than part time. This semester I could use scholarship money to go full time but will probably drop one class for various reasons. Does going part time reflect badly upon an applicant to PhD programs?

That is what I was wondering. Not only is Rosetta Stone too expensive for me (I just can't justify spending that much right now), I have heard it is really geared towards spoken proficiency.

What is the best language learning software for reading comprehension and writing? Or, failing that, what are the best videos and/or books? I would prefer software geared towards the Spanish language, but I am also interested in French and Arabic.

Consider that you should wait until you are finished with your MSW and have FMLA at an at least reasonably secure job (obviously, we can't predict everything) before you have a baby. You have probably heard this from family and/or friends but I think it is totally different hearing it from a stranger. It can be difficult to find and keep a job, especially one that doesn't pay very well and/or is part time with no insurance, when you have a young child. As for your friend, maybe you can be part of the baby's life. That might help.

Anyone know if one can apply to Cambridge, then apply for the Gates once they are already there? It doesn't look like it, but wow, this looks like a great opportunity that I wished I had heard of earlier..

Does anyone know if app fees, etc. are tax deductible?

I don't know. I could use some strategies too. Finals ended yesterday, and I was home all day today. I just want to know now about acceptances and rejections.

Holy crap. I've actually applied for grad school- for the third time- but this time I've actually applied to enough schools, and adequately prepared, so I might get an acceptance or two.

You're right. It's not going to happen. I appreciate the advice, though.

Thanks, Pauli, but I do understand the difference between Pre-Doctoral, Doctoral, and Post-Doctoral. What I am not understanding is the multiple applicants discussing supplementary information for Pre-Doctoral applicants.

For those of you who like Parable of the Sower and/or YA fiction, try Nnedi Okorafor's Akata Witch and Nalo Hopkinson's The Chaos.

I have no idea what everyone is talking about - predoctoral and coursework. What is everyone talking about? Is this if you have already started your doctoral degree but still have three or four years left?

When schools don't require a personal statement separate from the SOP, should you include information that would have gone in the ps in the SOP- for instance, reasons for applying to graduate school, disadvantages, etc?

Any thoughts on the rhetoric coming from programs where you've applied (emails from directors, etc) or the lack thereof? I realize they don't necessarily REALLY mean anything..

Ideally, how customized should SOPs/fit paragraphs (especially) be?

Also.. I know this has been asked before, but what are the thoughts on the necessity (not the appropriateness) of including theoretical views/interests in ones SOP? I feel like this knowledge should be covered in the writing sample, but maybe not.

So, yeah, this is a little late.. but what do people think of including "fit" information in the introductory paragraph rather than in a fit paragraph?

Speaking of "reach" schools, I really want to apply to UC San Diego. However, they indicate that they expect a PhD student to come in with knowledge of a second language and "working knowledge" of literature in that language. I have neither. Should I even apply, if all other parts of my application are decent, even competitive in some ways?