Admissions Advice Online

SOP longer than 2 pages are not a good idea unless specifically required by a program. Try to keep your SOP under 1500 words. Also, here is a general outline for writing an amazing SOP for any program; 1. Your Background 2. How your interest developed in your area of study 3. How you pursued your interest (here you can talk about your education, research etc.) 4. What are your future goals 5. How will this program help you achieve your future goals 6. Final summary. Admissions Advice Online

This depends. Is your cousin faculty or do they work in the cafeteria? Are they somehow involved in the field that you want to study? If so, weaving him/her into the SOP might be beneficial. -Admissions Advice Online

Here is a general format for a SOP. 1. Your Background 2. How your interest developed in your area of study 3. How you pursued your interest (here you can talk about your education, research etc.) 4. What are your future goals 5. How will this program help you achieve your future goals 6. Final summary. Admissions Advice Online

Sure, I will take a look if you send it within the next few hours.

You will have a very very hard time getting into any top MFIN program with a GPA just above 3.0 irregardless of what university you currently attend. More specifically, if your math and higher level calculus scores are lacking you will almost certainly be rejected. To give yourself the best chances, you should absolutely take additional courses and if possible make sure that they are math /comp sci related and ensure that you earn all A's. -Admissions Advice Online

Yes, you should send this information to the school. If your quant scores are as bad as you say, you will need to show them that you can handle the work as these graduate programs are normally quant heavy. - Admissions Advice Online

You should only;y list 2-3 other programs even if you are applying to 50. Show the schools that you have really put thought into the programs you are applying to and that they are a top choice. -Admissions Advice Online

Once again, since you are applying for a PhD program, your research will be king. Obtain as much research experience as possible and then be sure to write an expertly crafted SOP that highlights this experience and how the PhD is the next step in achieving your goals. -Admissions Advice Online

First off, for PhD programs, being out of school since 2010 will NOT be considered too long ago, so you should have no problem needing to prove anything. As long as your math grades were up to par when you graduated, they should still be relevant today. If you wanted some level of comfort, you should just do well on the quant section of the GRE and that should be more than enough proof. Also, most Phd programs really want a LOR from a faculty member rather than a work experience reference. Since you will have two "strong" LOR's the third can come from any professor that gave you a A grade. Most professors will gladly write a LOR for students that received an A grade in their class. Since it has been some time since you graduated, you should provide them with a "Cheat" sheet so that you can remind them of what happened during the term as well as providing them with more information about you. -Admissions Advice Online

Without a doubt, the best way to get into these programs is research. If you complete undergrad research, you will be very valuable to most top programs. Your GPA and GRE scores are in line with most top programs and the math courses that you have already taken show that you can handle the quant nature of the program. You also have varied experience. You just need to mix everything together for a powerful SOP and you should have no problem with admissions. -Admissions Advice Online

To be a successful applicant to these programs, you will need to show that you have a specific goal in the engineering industry. To prove this normally involves some mix of engineering research, job and project experience. If you have this experience and can tell a great story via the SOP, you will have a great shot at these programs, especially coming from UIUC. - Admissions Advice Online

While coming from a big name school will help your application, coming from a small school will not exclude you. The most important aspect that schools look at is the courses that you took. Did you take the most challenging classes offered to you? Were you in the honors college at your school? Via the SOP can you portray that you can handle the rigors of graduate study. Does the program require a standardized test? If so, performing well will certainly make you competitive at any program. -Admissions Advice Online

All you have to do is email the office whatever you want to say and ask them to print it out and include it with your file for review.But only do this if you have a very good story as to why your grades were low. You can only explain away one, maybe two semesters of bad grades. Anymore than this and your story will fall upon deaf ears so it would be best to not mention it at all and hope for the best. Just make sure that your SOP is as strong as it can possibly be. -Admissions Advice Online

You should never, and I mean NEVER address a low GPA or GRE score in the Statement of Purpose. The SOP should only come from a standpoint of strength. If you really feel compelled to discuss why your grades may not be where you would like them to be, feel free to include this is a separate short essay or an email to the admissions office. -Admissions Advice Online

First, Unless you have a really compelling reason as to why you are leaving your current program(Which you may have), it is advisable that you not mention this. This is because most schools will feel that you did not do your due diligence beforehand to really learn about the resources and approach your current program has/utilizes. This will be a major red flag for programs as they might believe that you will do the same thing at their school. Most PhD. programs accept a handful of students and schools will be very cautious to give away a spot to someone who will not follow through with the program. As for your SOP, the length is fine, but the content is lacking. Once again, you do not show that you understand fully the resources and approach that this new school has. You need to show 1) That you have a clearly defined career goal. This needs to be very very specific. Then you need to show that this school will provide you the best resources to obtain that goal. To do this you will have to go into detail about the program and match resources with your needs. -Admissions Advice Online

Yes, send over your SOP, I will take a quick look.-Admissions Advice Online

Send it over. I will take a quick look at this for you. -Admissions Advice Online