gk210

Status, pfft. I'm getting this shit tatted on my ass.

Wait what? I thought UChicago was Dec. 15. That's what it said on the MAPH program website...

I guess I can try that. Someone told me that, but then again another person told me that they wouldn't be likely to just completely throw out my application right away just from checking the amount of pages of writing samples. Either way, I'll just reach out to them and see what they say.

So pissed. Or more so, STRESSED. I submitted my first app on Tuesday. It required a 10-15 page writing sample. Or so I was pretty positive about. I look on the grad admissions page (they sent me a confirmation link about supplemental materials/official docs/etc. post-applying.) Under Literature MA it said required materials was a writing sample 15-20 PAGES. I was at 11. I was at ***&*&^*% 11, and submitted it at 11, because it said clearly on the app 10-15. I'm effed.

Wow thanks! I'll definitely do a follow up and then check in with my schools of interests. Thank you so much.

Ah, ok. I mean it is finals week so professors are probably up their necks with that. I just wonder if my app is in jeopardy if I submit the rest of my application but am still missing 2 letters.

My first app is due Tuesday. I'm ready to go, except I'm waiting on 2 more LORs. Is it time to start freaking out yet? Because I'm about ready to tear my hair out.

Whoever submitted that KOD article, my stress level just skyrocketed once again just as I was getting ready to start believing in myself. wHY PS whoever is applying to any UC programs that require a Diversity/Personal History statement and wish to do a quick swap and scan, holler.

people seem to think that if they're not part of a minority or have suffered extremities in familial/economic/racial issues that they can't showcase how they can contribute to a diverse student population. i think that's such crap. it should be more so about challenges you've faced or how they've shaped the way you see things now or how they shaped your academic journey into deciding why you want to attend that particular institution you're applying to. if your life experiences gave you a large interruption in your education, talk about not just how you got over it, but how you overcame it! And yes you are diverse because you're not JUST focusing on the challenges or negativities but because you still found ways to gain such insightful experiences to aid your journey, and you can plan on making that clear in your statement. i think you have the right idea. keep at it!

if anyone wants to swap PHS/Diversity statements, holler

Hey if that's where you'd like to put all your eggs, by all means! like i said there are some rare cases where an SOP would stand out more than any GRE score. best of luck to you! some schools just use that as an easier way of weeding out those who can't make a certain cut but if you want to spend most of your effort in showcasing your academia and discipline in a different way, go for it! thats probably a smarter thing to do. good luck!

Honestly, I'm about ready to ask Kaplan for my money back. I read everywhere (after doing abysmally my first try on the GREs) from users that test preps like the kaplan, princeton review, and barrons all "dumb down" the GRE. I thought they were joking. What the hell is the point of a prepware course dumbing down something, making it easier on people? What a waste of time. Magoosh, I heard nothing but rave reviews. I also heard that Magoosh actually gives you HARDER questions than what you'll see on the GRE so that when the time comes for the real thing, it'll be like a piece of cake. (almost.) Someone who had a 170 on the Verbal recommended Magoosh to me, and told me they only needed to use it for a few weeks. They told me the same thing...that Kaplan dumbs everything down. I still couldn't believe it, so I decided to try out a verbal set practice test from Kaplan, and one from Magoosh. I got about 95% of my questions correct on Kaplan, and about 50% correct from Magoosh. I could even tell just from the questions themselves how much easier Kaplan was...surely enough when I took the actual exam, I felt like the exam was 10x harder than the Kaplan practices. I'm probably going to call them this week to ask for my money back. Luckily I feel like I'm doing a lot better since I started Magoosh. I'm a pretty recent user of it myself, but I've been told from the system that judging from my practice questions, I'm estimating from a 157-162 range, which is definite what I'm shooting for. Hopefully Magoosh will work the same for you. As far as using Manhattan, I'm really not sure; I haven't tried it, but I did read rave reviews about using both preps simultaneously, and that lots of people saw some outstanding improvement. If you can afford paying for another prepware, by all means! And let me know how you like it!

Honestly speaking, it's really tough being able to judge these questions "do I have a chance to get in with X gpa with XXX GRE scores" because apps are like shooting in the dark. We really don't know, unless we have an adcomm board member come in and explain the exact process in which they pick applicants. I say this because after speaking to a graduate programs director a few months ago from the school I'm trying to get my MA at (which, coincidentally, is the same university I went to for my undergrad), she let me in on a little shocking secret: she told me that they actually accepted a handful of students this past year who didn't even have a 3.0 GPA, nor even broke 160 on the GRE, despite the fact that the university's grad program boasts accepting only on average, "11/140 applicants per school year for the graduate program." Of course, it's dependent on the field people are going for. I myself only had about a 3.3 GPA and I'm really banking on at least breaking 160 on the V part of the GREs next Monday. I too really feel like my chances are feeble, and I don't really have thousands of dollars at my disposable to apply to schools only to get rejected, but what the hell, what have we got to lose? Right? At least some prominent writing samples/rec letters/POS's/an excellent curriculum vitae displaying lots of experience in the field can't possibly do anything but help our chances, because lucky for us, the application itself isn't only an emphasis on a GRE score.

I'd say depending on when the rest of your apps are due, look into retaking them again soon, seeing as though you're applying to some very, very competitive schools. I know some apps have different deadlines that come in different waves. (My first wave are due in December as well, then 4 in January, 2 in February, 1 in March.) You can't take the GRE too soon after an attempt, I know you have to wait 3-4 weeks. If you have later deadlines for different schools, by all means, take it again. if it's any consolation, my supervisor at this company I currently work for got into UCI with only a 150 on the Verbal (she got her Masters in mass communication). Who knows, she probably had a kickass recommendation, plus I could imagine had a pretty good GPA (3.7-4.0 range), along with kickass personal statements. So who knows...maybe some schools don't have such a heavy emphasis on GPA or GRE, depending on what exactly you're trying for as a Masters degree. And if you found out about Magoosh so recently, keep using it. I'm using it right now myself, as an ex-Kaplan user.