hj2012

If there's the risk that even one school will reject your transcript because of the page size, I think you'd be better off reducing the page size on your own. Why take the chance? It should only take a minute to do.

Wow -- really informative peek at the admissions committee. Can't say I've spent too much time imagining how my own application is looked at (been trying not to think too much about it), but your adcomm experience jives with how my adviser described it at my undergrad institution: 1. Close to 1/3 of applications are almost immediately cut because GRE/GPA combo doesn't meet fellowship requirements, or the SOP and writing sample are absolutely unreadable. 2. Remaining applications are distributed and graded by adcomm members. 3. The bottom third are slashed. 4. Remaining applications are discussed at an in-person meeting; "short list" of candidates is produced. According to my adviser, getting to this point can be "controlled" to a certain extent by having a superior application. But getting to the admit list will require luck, as slots are dependent on adviser availability, subfield, etc. Anyway, I'm sure this is really specific to my particular field and shouldn't be taken as representative of how all adcomms function.

I'll PM you.

Wow, that's awesome! Yeah, app fees were a big reason why I didn't apply to as many schools. I probably would have tacked on a few more schools without that limiting factor. Mind if I ask about your research interests?

Whew! Glad you sent it in ahead of time. But yeah, that's really frustrating and confusing...

Welcome! Wow, you applied to a lot of schools! And I thought I applied to a bunch with 8.

hah, no need for an apology! And there often is a seed of truth to many of these rumors. I agree that, for now, we should just hope for the best. Perhaps when the acceptances come in, you can ask the department more directly about it.

Man, some graduate school websites are really difficult to understand, especially the ones with separate applications for the grad school admissions dept and the actual department itself. I can understand the confusion, which is why I second Rose Egypt's suggestion to email the department directly to confirm. Best of luck with your applications!

I highly recommend the site lang-8.com if you're looking for free ways to improve your writing ability. You can write posts in English, and native speakers will correct your grammar for you. (Although, from your initial post, it seems that you already have a very high level of fluency! ) I've used it for Spanish, and found it very helpful. Just the act of writing in another language can help increase your fluency.

Oh, wow. I haven't heard anything about the program being shut down, and I'm surprised by that bit of news. One of my former professors (who incidentally did a postdoc fellowship at USC) recommended the program to me, but he didn't mention anything about the program's solvency. Your friend who adjuncts there, however, would probably be the best source of info since he's actually in the department.

No clue regarding the question about one C or two Cs. However, from my understanding a post-bac© is primarily used for people who were unable to fulfill prerequisite courses for grad school during the course of their undergrad career. For example, students who realized they wanted to be pre-med too late, or students who drastically change their majors.

Hey there! I'm not in social work, but you''d probably have better results posting in the Social Work forum instead of the Sociology forum. Here's the link: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/65-social-work/ In terms of tuition costs, you really can't do much better than in-state tuition at SUNY or CUNY institutions.

Sorry -- What is "SC"? I could take guesses, but I'll probably just embarrass myself.

I wouldn't write anything directly on your transcript. In online applications, there is usually an addendum box where you can explain anything else related to your academic performance. I'd write a short description (1-2 sentences) accounting for the quarter of no-shows and leave it at that.

Cool! Sounds very interdisciplinary, too! Good luck to all of us!

LatteArt, the advice I always heard was to submit your strongest writing sample. If that paper is your best work (and indicates your greatest potential), I would go with it. However, if you have another comparable paper that touches upon your interests more strongly (U.S. social history), that would be a better choice.

Hey Striker! Congratulations on the scholarship -- that's awesome. It's really hard to provide an estimate of living expenses because they can vary wildly. It would be difficult to survive on $16,000 in Manhattan, for example, but would be doable in rural areas. If you already have some schools you're interested in, you can use MIT's Living Wage calculator to get a sense of how much you'll need to invest to keep yourself afloat in various places in the U.S. http://livingwage.mit.edu/ Hope this helps!

I'd say the second one -- engineering schools are more likely to care about the Q section, and your AW section increased, too. Good luck with your applications, and happy holidays to you, too!

Is there a particular type of question that you have problems with? I think you could take a look at your GRE score report to check. If not...I have some anecdotal advice for you. My biggest problem with the GRE was also generalized anxiety...and what I realized what simply fatigue. (I missed lots more questions at the tail end than at the beginning of the test.) I started with a score of 156 for the Q section, and studied on-and-off for about two months to review concepts and such. Then, for two weeks, I did the following routine: I took a practice test (including the writing) and also did an extra random practice section to simulate the experimental section. Afterward, I'd review the questions I missed -- every day for two weeks. This got me very familiar with the physical/mental rigors of the test, which I think was my weakness. (As opposed to not understanding the material on the exam.) I managed to score a 167 on test day. Of course, if I knew then that I would be applying to humanities Ph.D. programs with those GRE scores, I probably wouldn't have tried so hard to get my math scores up... Best of luck to you!

My professors used official letterhead, too. It was just a Word doc template though (as far as I could tell), though the letter was converted to PDF.

You're welcome.

If your goal is to become an FSO eventually, you really don't need an MA in IR or anything else; you just need to pass the test. (Admittedly, not an easy proposition.) My friends who are FSO come from really diverse academic backgrounds. Your GPA is going to hurt you in admissions to the most competitive programs, but the longer you're out of school, the less your GPA matters. I'd try to amass work experience (preferably abroad) and study hard to get exceptional GRE scores.

I think it is in our nature to be biased, but the beauty is that we can learn to overcome them. In your course as a social worker (and in life in general), you will 100% definitely meet people who make life decisions that, to you, seem questionable. I believe that to grow and mature, you have to learn to empathize with people whose values and goals are diametrically opposed to yours. This doesn't mean that you approve or support their decisions -- it just means that you approach others with the mindset of helping them, even at the expense of your own frustration. For example, I recently had a friend who got a DUI. In this case, my friend was distraught and came to me for advice. Though my instinct was to tell her off for doing something so incredibly irresponsible -- I am morally opposed to drunk driving -- I suppressed that desire. I tried to weigh my words according to how much they will help HER, not serve as a conduit for my own biases. In this case, berating her and telling her she was irresponsible (something she already knows) does nothing to help her current situation, so it would be for my own benefit and not hers. She was already feeling like a crap human being and was looking for advice, not confirmation that she was worthless. However, I can say that I would have reacted very differently a few years ago. I'm not a social worker, but I've been working as a teacher, and I can tell you that the experience has made me much more open-minded and patient with others. Nothing like hormonal teenagers for testing your patience. Over time, you will find that many of the things that struck you as irresponsible or silly are now just representations of the diversity of the human experience. I'm much more understanding of the circumstances that shape people's decisions and how what seems best to me isn't always best to everyone else. Anyway, if you really can't see yourself letting go of some of your biases and putting other people's needs above your own ... I would really rethink social work. It's a draining job, even for those who aren't judgmental and easily frustrated.

Very interesting. Thanks for the insight. As someone who is not in graduate school, it's really hard to gauge the relative "feel" of different institutions. I've also found that my undergrad professors were often a bit out of touch with the current state of other grad departments ("Oh, so-and-so would be a great person to contact! Oh, he passed away 10 years ago? What a shame!"). UVA was my undergrad institution, and while I didn't apply there for grad school, I've been grinding my teeth over reading the administrative hoopla that's been going on the past couple years.

Yes. This is cyber-harassment. You need to save and document everything -- emails, text messages, etc. If you're still a student, campus police might be a good bet. If not, see if your local police has an internet crimes division.