BlueSwedeShoes

Just be happy that you have the opportunity to improve, and make the best you can of that chance! And if I end up at NCSU I'll gladly take some pointers

I did this too. Preparation? Well, apart from spending 4 months learning 1 200 new words from a "2 000 most common words"-list (of which I knew ca 5 words total to start with) and taking the one free practice test, it was all in the last week. Crammed math formulas I hadn't seen since high school and all that. I blame my poor preparation on being busy with actual research and grad school, but whatever reason; little preparation = low score. Good night sleep? No, had to get up at 0230 to take a night bus to the city where the test was held. Breakfast? A cup of instant coffee and an dry baguette from the expensive train station café, eaten while walking to the test center. Do I know what I got? No, I'll get the results at the earliest Nov 23 (if I call and pay extra). Not that it matters, as they only offer the test twice a year here, so I can not do a retest anyway. Oh, and they only give the paper-based test of course. So approx. 2 weeks before most my deadlines I'll know if there's even a point in me applying or if my GRE-scores are way too low... So I guess my only advice is...don't do what I did. And don't live in a country where you can't take retests.

Don't worry, you're very helpful! And I think I'll settle in that camp as well, it seems like a good common sense approach. I mention the year and the title as well as who wrote it. That should be enough. I'm just afraid I'll miss something obvious and screw my whole application. Not only have I no experience with SoPs from before, but since I'm a foreign student in a foreign land I have noone to ask either! Well, except you guys, bless the internet...

Hm, I looked for a similar question before I posted but could not see one. And if there are two schools of thought here I guess I'm still left with a choice

So I am currently working on my fiftyeleventh rough SoP draft, and I wonder what the norm is when citing works in the SoP? I want to say that in Dr. A wrote in YEAR about TOPIC, which mentioned INTERESTING RESEARCH that I would like to build on in grad school (sort of). So do I do a correct APA-styled reference; "According to Dr. A (YEAR)..." with a proper reference list at the end? Or should I assume that they know (or don't care) about what specific work I'm talking about; "Dr. A has done some interesting research yadda yadda omgI'msuchaperfectfitpleasepleasepleaseacceptme..."?

That's a good idea. I'm on good terms with the department secretary, the only problem is that she might not have stamps or official school envelopes simply because...there are none. We're not terribly big on the whole stamps-and-seals thing. But who knows, there might be one for the purpose of impressing on people who like stamps, like American universities

I'm facing a similar problem. I'm a foreign student applying to US schools, and virtually all schools have requirements concerning my transcripts; several copies, certified translation, seals and signatures and so on. Problem is, first of all, that the schools rarely specify just what is a "certified translation". Do I need to hire someone with a special license or what? Also, the requirements are that the transcripts are "officially issued", and I guess they prefer it to have signatures, stamps, and embossed seals and all that. Here's my second problem; I "issue" my own transcript. I log on to our electronic service, create a transcript (I can pick language, my native or English, if I want only completed courses or also include courses I'm taking at the moment, and so on) and then I get a pdf with my transcript. I can print it, but it will just be a printed pdf...there's a verification number on it so anyone can go to the university website and check to see that it's a real transcript for up to 3 months after I create it, after that it's no longer valid. Would this be sufficient for all requirements concerning the official, signed, sealed, stamped, verified, certified, fancy-pantsy part? And if I choose English; will that count as "official translation", since the English name used is part of the official course description?

I'm sorry to quote and bring up a post that is a few months old, but, with all due respect, most of it is wrong and misleading. No, you're not guaranteed a spot with ok grades. For undergrad level it varies a lot depending on program, school and other factors such as the current economic downturn which has increased the number of applicants significantly. Since we're talking grad schools here; no, there's no admissions committee, no GRE's or anything like that. It's like a job. You contact a business you want to work with (i.e. a school and professor you would like to work with) and if they have funding (to spare), time and no other interested applicants that look better than you in their resume/CV you might get lucky and get an interview! While simpler, not necessarily easier. And guaranteed spot? Forget it. Many, many Swedish students try every year to get a PhD position but fail. Why would an American then be guaranteed a spot? All in the above post is wrong. While it was true about 3 years ago that Swedish students generally applied to a 4-year master program right out of high school, the so called Bologna-process has changed all that. The Bologna model is supposed to make all European (rather, EU) educations comparable, and has brought with it a lot of changes to Sweden. You now typically apply for a 3 year bachelors program first, and then you can apply to a 2 year (terminal) Masters program after that. PhD, again, is a separate process and more like an employment than an educational program. State funding? No, sorry. While Sweden has no tuition fees at any level, they don't give a dime or nickel to foreign students. In fact, due to the last election resulting in a more right-leaning government, they are now contemplating making all foreign students pay a tuition fee as well. While I personally believe it will hurt Sweden more than help it, that's how it is. For a PhD-position however, you're normally paid a normal salary, since it is, as I've previously mentioned, more like a job position than a position in a educational program. Right, we're just chilling here not doing much work because, hey, we got a dumb general public who we stupidly offer free higher education rather than weed out the top 5% and therefor dumb down everything in a "No University Level Student Left Behind"-policy....right... Ok, seriously though. It used to be that 1 Swedish academic "credit" was equal to a workload of 1 week of 40 hours of work. Due to Bologna, it's now 1.5 credits to 1 week a 40 hours of work, don't ask me why. With this come the two 20 week terms. So at a normal university you have two 20 week terms with each week being 40 hours (8 hours a day) worth of work, as you're expected to take 20 credits per term (now 30 credits per term). I can't speak much for a PhD level, but apart from grad classes, TA'ing and conducting research, you're employed like a normal employee at the university, so don't expect less than 40 hours a week. Which, of course, might be what efagerho meant with "don't work nearly as hard as in the best schools in the US". Courses are easier? I can only speak from my experience, but my year at an American college was like revisiting high school. I breezed through with 21 credit hours per semester (= 21 hours per week for 15 weeks, which was "overload" by 2 credits at the college but still far less than what was required of me in Sweden), while working 15 hours per week extra just to fill some time and earn some money. 4.0 GPA. Classes ranging from 100 to 400-level, and my major was Psychology/Neuroscience. Also had the time to be involved in a number of extra-curricular activities, fraternities and organizations as well as do some independent research with one of the professors for a work that ended up being a poster presentation at a major science conference. In short; Sweden is easier, lazier and less time? Bullcrap. To be objective though, depending on what you study there is more or less scheduled time. Technical areas are likely to have far more scheduled time (often ca 8 hours per day), while the humanities may have just a few lectures per week. The independent reading you're supposed to do, along with assignments and reports, however, will most likely fill your time just fine. Also, I understand that "the best" American schools (I'm guessing those "top-ten" ranked ones) often require you to do insane amounts of work and I frequently hear people complain about spending 60 hours per week working. Well, if that's your benchmark and what you're used to, good for you. You'll probably find Sweden easy then. If anyone else has questions about Sweden or the Swedish educational system, just ask away. I'm from Sweden, I study at a Masters-level program, I have studied in the States and my American fianc