a fragrant plant

Only mention the one(s) that has influenced your research/career goal. If none of them I'd just leave them on the CV.

I listed it on my CV too.

I'm not in Government Affairs but your thread makes me smile.

May I ask which California school you're referring to? I may use the money to apply to a non-UC.

A couple things about v7: - I like your new paragraph ("Given my focus in East Asia"). It makes your research proposal much more focused. - The 7th paragraph: it's really good. It signifies the theoretical signifiance of such movements. (It also reminds me of my own research in ethical consumption). Just a sidenote: the concept of authenticity may also be helpful when examining the cross-cultural differences in Buddhism movement. - I think you need to work on the "fit" paragraph. You said "there are a number of faculty who work with either my region of interest, social movements and activism, or both." I think you can talk a little bit about how your theoretical orientation allegn with the faculty members at Duke as well. - superb body of scholarship ---> maybe change it to excellent scholarship?

I agree with modernity. I think you have a good mix of schools. Everyone knows that Berkeley is a brilliant school but California is not the place to be right now. I have qualms about the three CA schools that I'm applying. I like their programs but I don't think they'll give funding to international students.

SUBMITTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :lol: My final version contains 582 words. I emailed the department and they said as long as it doesn't exceed 2 pages it will be fine!

It is much more coherent now! Well done!

I'm going to submit mine in a few hours and am working on the format. Should I use double spacing, 1.5 spacing or single spacing? Do I need a title? If so, what should it be?

I edited mine so many times that I could literally recite it. The final draft was proofread by a professional proofreader. I was lucky because the charge was very reasonable. Do you really need to submit two samples? I worry that the adcomm will end up reading only one. If I had to choose I'd go for the second one. Why would you doubt it? It's been published and used in undergrad classes!

Your reply me reminds me of a question I had after reading your SOP. When you said "I now wish to examine not only the modern institutions and conditions that have produced the extreme disparities in wealth, resources, and well-being endemic to modernity", I feel that you need to be more specfic about what "modernity" means in the context of your research project because the way it is presented here seems a bit tokenistic. Same with "modern institutions and conditions" in paragraph 3, what are they exactly? I understand that you may not want to launch a theoretical discussion on the concept of "modernity" but I think a short sentence or two would show that you're aware of the complexity. Other than that your statement of purpose is very good. I also really like the paragraph on David Graeber. P.S. Consider Boston U and Case Western.

the 80000 number is not the registeration number. Your registeration number is the one on the official score report. If you have not yet received your official report yet you'll have to email/phone ETS to find out what your registeration number is. But even with the registeration number I couldn't get the online system to work. It kept saying there was an error.

I just ordered additional score over the phone an hour or two ago. Maybe try again? I really hate dealing with ETS too.

Your profile looks good. I'm more concerned with the schools you choose. As you know "fit" is the most important thing in graduate admission. Is there ‘fit’ between your project and the departments you're applying to? I'm also doing work in East Asia so I am quite familiar with the schools/people you are applying to. While I see a fit between your research project and Duke's/UCB's department, I don't quite see how other depts you're applying to fit with your research projects: Harvard - I presume you'd like to work with J. Watson? But I am told that he's retiring soon. Chicago - the two China specialists don't work on religious movements. Do you want to work with other profs there? Yale - I know you're deeply influenced by David Graeber, but he's no longer at Yale. He's at U of London Goldsmith. Please don't get me wrong. I find your research project extremely interesting and I like your SoP. I just worry that you're applying to schools where there are no specialists to support your research. "Fit" is directly related to your chances.

I hate schools being equivocal about the GRE. Just apply - the offer may surprise you!

I'd be grateful if you could give me some feedback on my SOP. Please let me know and I'll PM you mine.

Hi IUB fellows, anyone mind reading my SOP? Please let me know and I'll PM the statement to you.

Hiya, I just cut it down to 555. I think an extra 55 words should be fine.

Good luck for the UW. It's a great school. I also know people doing sociology there.

I've already emailed them, no replies yet. Have you submiited your application yet? Deadline is next Tuesday for international students

I think I'll end up with 650. Is it bad?

I found it quite impossible to keep my SOP under 500 words. Anyone who's applying to IUB experience the same problem?

Thanks! Yes I have read that post. I wouldn't describe my first paragraph as the "introductory anecdote" because there is nothing anecdotic about it. I simply wanted to discuss how I came to focus on this particular problem. I'm not trying to be interesting or dramatic although my bad wording might make some of you think I'm!

2) I think you definitely need to give reasons regardless of the school's rank. At graduate level you don't apply to a school because of its big name.

Thank you for your quick reply. My boyfriend actually said the same thing! How about "My interest in xxx is influenced by xxx and deeply rooted in xxx"? Thank you in advance!