pea-jay

Wow, thats one early deadline. What university and semester? My earliest deadline is Dec 10.

Yes those "diversity-seeking" personal statements are annoying. We can't all be children of dirt poor immigrants, lost limbs in traumatic accidents or put ourselves through high school while being homeless. Even being a "boring white american" you can still bring have something of interest to a grad school. You just have to be creative about it. You're focus is middle eastern studies, so something about that region interests you. Does anyone in your family have connections to the area? If not you certainly must have some story to tell how you got interested in it. In that case maybe growing up in an environment where the middle east is viewed in either a disinterested ("a place people hear about in the news") or pejorative ("breeding ground for terrorism and war") sense may be a way of differentiating yourself from those with direct connections to that region. Plus you can answer their question section "grew up in a community where educational, cultural, or other opportunities were either especially plentiful or especially lacking" by highlighting your lack of exposure to foreign cultures and/or non-biased opinions towards mid east. But it probably is your only realistic option, short of getting actual experience. When I left my undergrad school, I had very little to offer grad schools as well. My only options then were certain state schools that did not have requirements such as what you are facing. Since then I bolstered my background with a variety of things schools are looking for. Good luck

My biggest problem with the quantitative portion on any test is the time. If I have a long or unlimited time (as is the case with practice problems) it is quite do-able. THrow in a time element and my success rate falls dramatically. Either I blow a ton of time and cant solve enough problems by the end of the test OR I finish it ok but make sloppy reading or writing mistakes like transposing a number or missreading a sign. As of yet I have yet to get this balance.

I have done my research on this subject but I have two CV questions. Well, one CV question and one that relates to its use. I have perused a number of CV examples and most lead off with educational and teaching experience before going into other subject areas. I used to teach computer classes to children for 3 years but I would hardly say it's relevant to my current Grad school interests. I have a bachelors of course, but also 20 units of Graduate work in my field that I completed with mostly A's, although I did not finish because of funding and family factors. SO...should I lead out with those or stick them after work experience, which is fairly extensive both in and out of my current field of interest? Also will the teaching (and other related aspects like job mentoring) make it more likely that I would be open for a teaching assistant ship? Secondly...at last weeks job fair I was encouraged to contact this recruiter about setting up a visit to the college and meet professors/current students. He gave me his contact info and told me to reference this conversation. I'm now 99% sure I'm going to take him up on this offer. Would it be appropriate to attach the CV to email correspondence. What about the other two programs which an email at this point would be closer to a cold-call?

Well I cant speak to any professors or academic programs specifically, but I know GIS certainly is utilized for political organizing and analysis for election purposes in this country.

In my field (Urban Planning) I have have come across more than one professor that joined academia in their 50s. The catch was, they had all achieved a level of professional success in their career and eased into the teaching role. The planning director where I work teaches part time at the local community college and at least one of my profs from the first grad school experience was a former planning executive that finished his doctoral work and got back into academia. I find these professors especially valuable resources as they maintain a wealth of practical experience and contacts that could be used to find an internship or a job. This may not work in other fields though

Haha, too funny! Boy, did they sure underestimated the number of chairs (and the volume level) for the discussion panel. As for the asking the professor question itself, when I talked to the Baruch representative, he actually identified specific professors to contact and encouraged me to do so, as well as attend their open house. Which I may end up doing. I'm hoping to line up meetings at NYU (also have a contact) and Hunter College (none yet) as well. That would be a sweet set-up and will have made the trek down to SF worth it. Not that I ever complain about going to that city...

After talking to a pair of recruiters from NYC schools, it's became clear from them that they both highly recommended visiting their respective campuses, meeting with the department chairs and in one case the rep offered to find cheap accommodation (no small feat in that city) and work to arrange meetings with profs with similar research interests. Don't know if this was standard salesman ship or a genuine response to my 60 second background of myself but ever since then, the idea of making that trip has been flying around my brain. (pun intended) Price-wise, tickets are affordable in a window I am interested in, but how much weight will face-to-face interviews have on the application process (assuming they are with professors)? Will the fact that I made a cross-country trip (without any guarantees of admission) come across as showing that special level of interest in attending that university give an edge over similarly qualified applicants that did not? Or rephrasing this, do applicants that make personal visits to the university have a tendency to beat out those that do not? My previous grad school admission experience did involve multiple personal visits to my intended school and an eventual admission, despite so-so undergrad grades and a tissue paper-thin resume. (I did not receive funding tho, a factor that lead to my having to leave the program). But that was comparatively easy as I lived in the same city. This time it's transcontinental. Thoughts

How about doing programs that can whack a percentage of your debt if you agree to go serve the underserved. I left my under grad with less than $8K in debt (also not a typo) and volunteered in an inner-city Chicago school for a year as part of Americorp. That whacked 20% off my loan and got me additional funds that could be used to pay additional debt or put towards grad school.

Well I moved around a lot growing up as a diplomat's kid and continued to move about after that so I don't really have a "home" to be homesick about. But some places were easier to move to and adapt to than others. The most important factors in determining how successful I would be in adaptation was the ability to make new friends and having things to do that interested me.

Havent contacted anyone yet but advice from yesterday's grad fair was welcoming if not a bit confusing. No one said it was a bad Idea but the panelists leading a discussion and a few schools wanted contacts routed through their admissions/directors office, either directly or copied. Other programs thought it would be better to go straight to the prof and bypass the admin office. Clarity at last. Sort of.

This past thursday I attended Idealist.org's grad fair in San Francisco, geared to a variety of disciplines related to serving others. I hoped to get some pointers and talk to recruiters from the schools I wanted to attend, then leave. Much to my surprise I found the Grad fair far more useful than expected. I attended the first Panel Discussion which focused on admissions and aid. I asked (and got my question answered) on contacting professors before application and learned a lot about the NYC job market. Sweet. The exhibition hall was useful too. I got to talk to NYU Wagner, which I wanted but had a real good conversation with CUNY Baruch's recruiter which now leads me to believe I will apply there as well. I also chatted with Brown and will have to check them out as well now. Formally ruled out a few other schools. Both Baruch and Wagner strongly encouraged pre-application visits to the campus and meet one or more professors. Dang. Easier said than done, considering the distance. Bottomline: I need to contact professors on research interests and find a way to go visit. Oh yeah, the grad fair also replenished my pen supply.

LOL, yes I'm going there. I live 2hrs north of the city so this is the only nearby fair and the only way I will get to talk to schools back east. That's definitely NYU and Baruch. Id like to see what Boston University and Georgetown have to offer as well. I'm not staying in CA for grad school for Urban Planning/Public Policy. I'm especially hoping to catch the admission and financing discussion from 530 to 615. Looks there will be at least three or four of us Grad Cafe posters attending. It'd be kinda funny if we ran into each other in person (not knowing our online identities) and then discuss the same event from different perspectives tomorrow. Looks like fun and I get to play hookie from work for half a day.

Well, now im going to one tomorrow. Still looking for pointers. Will provide synopsis of how mine went.

I gave up on academia, at least for the next two decades and at the PHD level. I'm pretty pragmatic and took a long hard look at the cost/benefits and where I saw myself. As it turned out, I enjoy what I do now, with a MA sufficient to take the next step in my career. I'm content to continue advancing in my field as I have done the past 8 years + and work another 15-20yrs in the field when Im in my mid 50s. Only then would I consider the PHD track. This fits with my subject area (Urban Planning). A number of my professors were professional planners that reached the pinnacle of their career before taking their vast knowledge (and professional connections) back to the classroom to with them. I like this approach. It may work for other fields as well (though I would imagine the humanities may be tougher in this respect). Has any one else considered this route?

Here's an odd situation I find myself in. My best reference is the director of my department where I work (municipal planning office). Over the past 10 months he has been my boss, I have gained enormous amount of managerial experience (Zero before, 7 years non managerial work tho) to the point where I am now the third highest ranking planner in the dept. My boss sees me as managerial material and actually agrees with the idea that a masters gained at this point in my career would be advantageous. So far so good. What he isnt expecting is that I will depart the state altogether. (he's probably counting on part time masters classwork down the road from us). Which poses a huge problem for him. My role is very important in the dept and with our agency under a hiring freeze, my vacancy will prove difficult to fill. I cant imagine this being good news to him. Yet he is an excellent LOR possibility. I would have to imagine giving notice about a potential departure next august during late october might go over better than the standard 2 weeks but these arent normal times either. Any thoughts on sugar coating this? Anyone else has a good LOR possibility that at the same time would hate to see you leave?

Heheh, me to. I love NYC and the program looks excellent

My to do list is different. I have been out of school since the late 90s, last time full time in 96. I'm working through the application process, studying for the GREs (my last one is from 96...hahah way too old), ordering transcripts and the applications. By far and away, GREs studying is the most extensive. Im only applying to 3 schools for a variety of reasons, including time constraints. But since I'm working full time and have a family, I'm trying to balance them as well. My most difficult challenge is approaching my boss, who will be an excellent recommender ordinarily, and asking him to put in a good word for me so I can leave the office (my role is essential) and they are under a hiring freeze. That actually warrants its own post. But other work-related tasks interfere with college preps. So while im not in school, yes it is overwhelming here too.

I'm probably going to apply to 3...My topnotch school, my interesting school and safety school. However I will be attending a graduate fair (the only way I can meet eastern schools while living in northern cali) and well, I wont rule out any additions to the list. Geography is key for me. Needs to be a big city and close to relatives. For me that is NYC, Chicago and DC.

Im californian and I must say I'm not considering schools here. Partially because of the budget but mostly because they afford me little professional advantage in this state and exact a huge financial cost on my near term expenses. That said, I've been to Berkeley for a conference and loved the campus. I did meet a few advisors, but really Im not giving this a lot of consideration. Still its a shame to see these great institutions suffer.

I've got experience in both. My educational background is urban planning, big cities are a natural for this subject. I've lived in the DC, NorfolkVA, Chicago and SoCal. Very Urban. On the other hand...my work experience has been in small towns. Without colleges. As a rule, they kinda suck culturally and amenity wise. If you like the outdoors, this is a different story of course .In anycase I have found that WORKING in a rural area has been a net positive for my career. In an urban area, there are far more specializations, which you dont get in a small county. I've become a jack of all trades, professionally and risen far faster than had I stuck around the big city. That said, when it comes time to return for the masters in planning, Im ONLY considering NYC or Chicago. I'm small towned out.

Wish I could attend in person, but this former Chicagoan is 2000+ miles away and is applying to Grad schools, one of which is UIC. Oh well.

Well I'm 35 and this will be my THIRD attempt at Grad School. The first one didnt go to well. I was 23, did a year with Americorp for the tuition assistance and all. But my undergrad gpa somewhat sucked and my GREs were mediocre so I barely made it in and aside from the Americorp award, I was on my own financially. I wasnt working in the field I wanted to be in and didnt have much direction in what I wanted to do. After 20 units, which I took half time with a full time job, my money ran out and I was loathe to take out loans. At the same time, I got married, had to move and wound up starting a family. So much for that attempt. Never the less, my GPA was real good this time, all As and one B. Attempt two failed horribly. Two years later I was working in an unrelated field and had an opportunity to get an MBA. Not my first choice but my employer was good with that. Got in and well it was doomed from the get go. Had a newborn that prevented studying at home...If home I was helping my wife. Motivation for this field was not there nor were hoped for employer funds. Work presented fewer study opportunities than originally anticipated. Then the kicker: got a lay-off notice and academic probation warning the same day. Buh-bye! Flash forward 8 more years. Despite not finishing my Grad school I did get into my field (planning) and now have 8 full years of progressively more responsible assignments. I'm on management track at work. My work before plannning was also relevant too. Now I've come full circle on this and will be applying to grad schools for fall 2010. I know what Im looking for this time, have a plan of action and am doing everything possible to get my schooling funded w/out significant amount of loan debt. We've been saving money to pay for a move (transcontinental) and living expenses. The kids are in public schools, not preschool and are easier to handle. My wife is on board this go-round. I'm far more experienced in what I am going to study and know what I want to get out of it. Hopefully third time is the charm here. So bottom line is you are not too old.

My NYC cousins are clueless in this category so I will throw it out here: I'm married, will be in my mid thirties and considering NYU for Grad school for 2010, but have an additional challenge to address: where are good-ok areas for elementary school children (10&7 next year)? I'm familiar with NYC geography having visited there on a number of occasions and have picked up some good residential suggestions on this site or by personal visits on a variety of other factors. But the school end of things not so much. My wife and I are familiar with urban living, having lived in Chicago (both of us), DC (me), Mexico City (her). Any thoughts...not asking for specific school suggestions but general advice. Also out of curiosity, how many NYU students are parents? It's not a factor that will sway me in anyway but just interested to know. Thanks