asha

No, I don't think it's reasonable. If you compare it to other nonprofits http://aetr.org/big-profits.php, it seems high to me. The profits don't go to the CEO, the CEO receives a very large salary that is not included in the profits. Anyhow, we can all look at the numbers and think what we want.

I wasn't debating anything about capitalism's merits. Actually, ETS is a non-profit monopoly, so it has nothing to do with capitalism. I fail to see why you're comparing it to a publicly traded health care company which has shareholders, pays taxes, is subject to scrutiny by outsiders and is in competition with other companies ... it virtually has nothing to do with anything I said about ETS. I never said for-profit publicly traded companies shouldn't make profits, so bringing up Wellpoint is pretty silly and distracting. I think that $94 million in profits is excessive for a company that has been granted non-profit status based on their mandate to serve the education system. You can think differently; it is subjective.

I stopped reading before the end of this thread because it got too off topic, so I am sorry if this has been covered. I understand the necessity for a standardized test due to differences in grading, both in the US and abroad. I understand that it is probably best if it is administered by a monopoly for logistical reasons. I don't mind the employees getting paid fair wages. What I do mind is the fact that ETS is a non-profit organization, which means they don't pay federal taxes (on most of their profits). They were granted this status because they are supposed to be serving higher education. Surely this includes the students in the system? Yet, they made $94 million in profits in 2007. I think that is excessive. I don't know if the $23 fee is excessive, or if the test fee is excessive, or if the profit isn't tied to the GRE at all. We probably never will know because they don't have to disclose anything. I understand that they need to keep investing money into the system, but there is no way that they need $94 million a year on top of their operating costs. It is more likely that they will use that money to expand into other markets, such as NCLB testing. Like I said, I don't mind paying for a service. I do mind excessive profits from a company that is supposed to be serving the educational system. I got all my information from here.

Definitely with denial... I go check not only my email, but my junk/spam folder too! Although I am applying for masters programs, so I also wonder how people are hearing so soon since I thought masters programs don't admit until later. See, denial!

I had one that was 300!

Hmmm... I am at the second page around 330 words, but I have a four line header, maybe that is why. Or I use really long words (not really). I am going to take a break and reread it later. It's my last application out of 7 and I am just sick to death of messing with the SOP.

So if they ask for about 500 words, is 567 too many? I don't know what to cut. Bleh.

because the original poster did the opposite... he/she went BACK to va tech, I failed out of va tech and went back elsewhere.

I did the same thing at 18 (at Va Tech ha) and then went back at 30 to a different school. I asked all the schools I am applying to and none of them even want the transcript, so I am not going to mention it. I am just happy that I don't have to pay for another set of transcripts at this point.

Thanks for the reassurance. It is nice to hear while in the middle of the stress of trying to assemble all these applications. So should I talk about it in my SOP or just let my record speak for itself? My life has been kind of crazy, so my resume is going to look odd. I lived in England for several years, for example, because of a relationship. I don't know if I should be explaining these things in my SOP, or just focusing on my research and career interests.

Oh sorry, it's a stupid term. I didn't want to say which school I am in for privacy reasons. It's a top-30 university, top 10 public university.

I went to a good public university straight out of high school and fell flat on my face. I ended up dropping out with all incompletes or F's after one semester. I then went on to live my life for 12 years, working at a few unimportant jobs. Eventually I decided to return to school because I hated mindless work and wanted to do something I love. I went to community college for spring and summer, earning a 4.0, then co-enrolled between the community college and a public ivy. I earned my A.S. degree in 1.5 years with a 3.9 including 4 courses from the public ivy (A,A,A-,B+). I then transferred fully to the public ivy and currently have a 3.6 which doesn't include any of the grades (including classes that I took here during co-enrollment!) from my A.S. degree. I graduate with a BS in may 2010. I anticipate that I will end up with a 3.6 or a 3.7 from the public ivy, double majoring in Biology and Env. Science & Policy. I have done independent environmental research and worked in the biology lab (paid). I will have references from 3 very respected professors here. I took the GRE and got 650V 760Q. I want to get a master's degree in envir. science and am applying to Duke, Yale, UVA, UCSB, and UO-Eugene. My question is how much will my epic failure at age 18 affect my chances now at age 32? I think that I have to disclose the fact that I went for a semester, even though I have no credits from there, right? Do I discuss it in my SOP, to what extent? Will they count those incompletes or F's in my GPA?