awells27

Depends on how tired the grader is. I would pray every night, seriously.

THE RC is what kept me from getting 95th percentile on verbal. Normally you can narrow the choices down to two options, and then the overall vagueness of the answer choices - none are really that good - becomes a problem. I would go with your first instinct once you've narrowed them down, and then, if you have time, come back after answering all questions. Only change it, however, if you figure something out beyond a guess. Those questions generally suck.

If I were you, if you don't get accepted into one of the top schools, I would seriously consider Fuller if you want to study NT. Joel Green is one of the top NT professors in the country, and a recommendation from him carries a lot of weight - if, you are now in a position to study hard and get good grades, because Fuller generally does not have grade inflation for MAs and MDIvs. I studied with Dr. Green, as well as Dr. Hays in the ANE studies dept, and got admitted into UCLA. Fuller's biblical languages sequences are excellent, which will help you avoid the plight of most students who do not demonstrate strong skills in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic coming out of an MA program. This can be accomplished at Fuller.

UCLA admit: Undergrad: 3:79; MA, 3.9; GRE: 164V/160Q/6- AW. I seriously doubt my Undergrad and GRE had significant impact. I went to community college and then Kent State. Verbal was 93rd percentile, which many applicants surpass.

Okay that make sense. Those are great admits, way to persevere!

If you don't mind my asking, why did you apply a fourth round when you netted 4/8 in round 3? Was it funding?

I received my email at 4:30pm Pacific time yesterday. I don't know how they prioritize the emails, but I'm sure more are forthcoming.

If you want, I can PM you my opening paragraph for my SOP, just to give you an idea of what has netted so far two acceptances and, I'm sure, some upcoming rejections.

I just received my funding offer from UCLA. Can someone explain why the TAship salary for years 2 and 3 is less than the first year stipend, and then the stipend for years 4 and 5 goes back to the amount given in year 1?

UCLA has now sent out official email notices. Received mine today.

That's the track I applied for. The email I got said they were impressed with the app and wanted to speak further. Better retrieve my SOP for the interview.

Univ. of Denver wants Skype interview.

I'm hearing about delayed decisions due to weather closings, but who knows?

The two best resources for essay preps are the Manhattan book, VOl. 7, reading comprehension and essays, and Barron's GRE, 20th ed. These give you a time frame for setting up your essay, writing it, and reviewing it. Note, for most people to do well, 90th percentile or above, on essay, they need to practice under timed conditions on a regular basis. People who do well without prep are often from writing intensive majors.

I have not and have an app in. Hope you get in.

Par 1: Good setting of context. Good introduction to the argument. Avoid a lot of state of being verbs. Active mode should be most common, with occasional state of being. Never use the same construction twice. Par 2: Continue using transitive and intransitive verbs rather than State of being verbs, as a rule. Par 3 should start the second part of your argument. Par 4 is well thought out. The same problem exists as in the previous paragraphs. Summary: Your opening paragraph providing context is appropriate, but make sure you use more active verb constructions. For each supporting paragraph based on your intro, give a practical example supporting your argument. Also, you must provide instances when the prompted argument might be true. Then identify the conditions that must hold up for it to remain true, and finally to give your reasons, already stated above, why the argument will likely not hold up.

Wouldn't even worry about it. I petitioned my POI at UCLA to read my longer writing sample, as the required one for the dept. was 10 page max. Another POI read my SOP before submitting it to the dept. I totally went out on a limb and have received my first choice first. They've all been there before.

The 144Q is low, but since you have your apps in, the results will tell you whether you have to take them over again. If you get no solid admits, then you know its the GRE that likely held you back.

If it was a PHD program, I might take them over, but a Masters degree would probably be okay. If I had a month or longer, however, to get the app in, I might prep and take them one more time, since you got those scores without prepping. Really your choice.

Why do POIs notify of acceptance prior to official letter/email? Is this in case other offers have been made or are looming?

1. You have I agree with this comment. First give your intended research emphasis in broad terms. Then give specific specializations that you intend to pursue. This can lead right into your next paragraph, which should state at least one primary faculty member at the school to which you were applying. You should demonstrate knowledge of their work and why their research interests match yours in terms of both content and methodology. In other words, you want to continue and expand upon the research already being done where you are applying. Your next paragraph can then demonstrate how your academic and professional background has prepared you for the PhD program. Finally, you can then list your career objectives and how the PhD program will prepare you for these. Also, have a native English speaker and writer edit your SOP, so that the common errors of non-native speakers, totally understandable, can be fixed. Keep at it!

Sorry to be so harsh. Think of organizing your essay as follows: opening paragraph introduces your argument and gives 3-4 reasons in support of your argument. Then each paragraph discusses one of your reasons and gives a relevant example. Then, your concluding paragraph summarizes what you wrote and gives some sort of future implication (autocracy and despotism) of what you are arguing. I can sympathize with having English as a second language. For now, work on subject-verb agreement and finding sentences in real articles that use your vocabulary words. The NY TImes has a search engine that does this.

Looking back, if I were to to apply for MAs again for ancient history, I would look at schools where the History, Near Eastern Studies, and Classics departments have a good degree of interdepartmental communication. Ancient history is tricky, since the best language acquisition is often gained from the classics and Near Eastern/Religious studies depts., while historical research methods are often best learned in History departments. For MA work, I would not only look to one core faculty advisor but also that the school will have two other professors of note from whom I can take classes and receive LORs. Schools like Michigan, Univ. of Chicago, and UCLA fit this profile.

German is generally the second most common language in the humanities after English. It is essential for several history concentrations: European, ancient (both ANE and Greco-Roman), medieval, Jewish, etc. I would take advantage of the free link below, although April Wilson's book is more user friendly. Duolingo is a great starter tool, as one has over 2000 words and all the grammar upon completion, as well as access to intermediate articles. LOL, thanks. For French, Sandberg, as was previously stated, is the best, along with duolingo for basic reinforcement.

Any school that is honest will tell you the percentile scores they are looking for. Most top programs want to see above 90th percentile in either math or verbal, depending on your degree choice. They will also prefer to see the writing portion at 90 percentile or above. Look at Magoosh's avg GRE scores for admits in top universities and this becomes obvious. http://magoosh.com/gre/2013/gre-scores-for-top-universities/ If time constraints prevent someone from scoring well on GRE, then one must rethink what they are doing. The whole point to the app process is to make time to get into a good school. I would not think twice about retaking the test. Some people prep for months.