DrFaustus666

mad dog

Nytusse: Well said! TickleMePink: My family physician, who went to Yale Medical School, has photos of himself shaking hands with Richard Nixon and George H.W. Bush. AS IF I (one of his patients) WOULD RESPECT HIM MORE FOR THAT!! ! ! To me, an M.D. from a top school has 100 times the prestige of a U.S. President ... but apparently HE doesn't see it that way. My point is, everybody has self-doubts, and as at least 3 or 4 other posters have said, you wouldn't be where you are if the admissions committees didn't have confidence in you. Just keep plugging, do grant yourself at least one night per week off from studying, and keep your chin up. You'll soon realize that you're just as smart as any, and more smart than a lot! John

botanical scientist

Hi newms, The changes in the verbal part are fairly radical insofar as analogies are eliminated from the Aug 2011 GRE, after 30 years at least of inclusion of analogies (my first ever GRE, in 1975, had them). In place of analogies will be many more reading comprehension and some more sentence completion questions. This will make the verbal part considerably easier for many people, and also reflect more of what graduate students in the humanities actually do: read, read, read, read, read, and then read some more. Some very few people (yours truly included) won't like the new format, because the one thing we're good at and most people aren't (analogies) will be eliminated. Boo hoo. But for most people, that significant change (no analogies) will be a big plus. John

secret garden

private message

drug cartel

drug trafficking

Back in the late 1970's, when I did my first Master's degree, ETS offered an "advanced" test in Music Theory and History (no longer offered) ... it was "recommended" ... so I took it. I was shocked to receive a 750, 98th percentile grade on that test. When I did my formal interviews and auditions, two different persons at different places commented on that score. I really think that that was what got me accepted into every school I applied to (6 different mid-ranked universities, and 1 highly ranked (in music) university). Point is, I think you've got it right. If you can score high on the subject test, that may give your application a big boost. Good luck, John

tax reform

candy land

candy stripe

red herring

Hi Taylor, I took the free CAT, and indeed, it resembles the real GRE much more closely than others I've taken (private message me if you want to know which ones). It's a fine program, I'd recommend it to others, and I can certainly see why you're proud of it. I've been studying math HARD for a year now, shooting for upper 700's in Q (verbal is not a problem) --- and Manhattan's Free CAT gave me a 740 .... does that mean I'm improving? I guess the real question is, how closely do you think your CAT is calibrated to the real GRE? (I've taken Powerprep so many times that I know all the questions and can get 800 every time.) Thanks, John

ARE YOU KIDDING? Those are excellent scores; I'm sure the 670-Verbal must be in the upper-90th percentiles for Engineering majors; and the 4.5 AW is definitely well above average for practising engineers (I KNOW from whence I speak; I've made my living from time to time as a technical editor, and the majority of practising engineers, those with whom I've worked at least, are not good writers at all). I think you did a superior job! John

Fantastic!

I think an LOR cannot be too good, unless it says something that is obviously and blatantly untruthful. In American culture, exaggeration is extremely common, possibly ubiquitous: for example, look at the financial crisis of the last several years, particularly at what caused it (over-valuation of questionable investments). I also read (several years ago) that over 90% of ivy league undergraduates receive 4.0 cumulative averages. (Ninety percent of students cannot be "superior" to all of their peers; the whole thing is a non-sequitir.) It's also common knowledge acording to my brother, a career officer in the U.S. Army, that the best way to ruin an officer's career is to write a performance appraisal saying something like, "Lieutenant Jones is a fine and dedicated officer." Superlatives abound in that environment, the more the better, so maintains my brother. It's probably a good idea to be sure that your recommendors did not actually lie about you, but, in the absence of complete untruths, an LOR cannot be too good in my opinion. John

leisure suit

cheap shots

cake pudding

augustquail: you wrote: It's not like only crap papers with no imagination get good scores I've had that experience too, repeatedly, ever since about fifth grade--the papers on which I work hard, think about, try to "craft" in the most logical way with the best rhetorical technique I know---those papers got B+'s---whereas my WTF-papers, written beginning at 5 a.m. on the day they were due for a 9 a.m. class, got A's. Congratulations on your 6.0 !

Hi F.M., (I'm a native born American). I think you can ask the Admissions Office at JFK School but I doubt they'd grant your request . . . not because you're pushy or rude or anything ... MOST schools probably would grant it .... But JKS is such an elite place, there are literally 30 or 40 applicants for every single opening, they simply don't have time for it. I could be totally wrong. You MIGHT try it at a lesser-known university first, just to "test the water" so to speak. If you KNOW somebody at HJKS that would be helpful, or if your father or uncle or mother or aunt is the Ambassador of France to the USA, etc., that would be helpful. I see nobody's replied, and that's the only reason I'm replying to this. I really don't know anything about it. When I applied to the Univ of Maryland, they were happy to talk to me, on the phone and in person, but that's a far less competitive environment. So the short answer is: NO, it's not rude, but I rather doubt they'll interview you until they've reviewed your application ... and it's NOTHING against you personally. Does that help? John

This is just a guess. I assume geography is a science that is midway between the most math intensive sciences (astronomy, physics) and the least math intensive sciences (anthropology or psychology ???). Also, you've picked mainly mid- to upper-mid-level universities. Going on that information, I'd GUESS you need something like: a Verbal score of 480 or higher, preferably 550 or higher, and a Quantitative score of 700 or better. The AW score is not too important for most programs, as long as you score a 4.0 or better. And if you get super scores in the other areas, or if your application is otherwise excellent (great references, great SOP), then the AW score doesn't matter at all. Just a guess. If you can provide more information, I'm sure other posters who are informed about Geography as a discipline can give you more accurate advice.

musing There might be some utility (not necessarily measured by the GRE's AW score mind you), but there might be some utility in testing nurses for fast, accurate, concise and highly structured writing-----which of course IS what the AW purports to measure. Nurses and other practitioners (social workers, for example) constantly write short essays on their latest visit with Mrs. Smith and Mr. Jones, and, as they're constantly under time pressure (thank you managed health care!), they must be efficient. Again, this post is NOT to be construed as saying I think it's a good idea for a nursing graduate program ONLY to consider the AW score. I do think that some measurement of writing ability (coupled with remedial or specialized courses if necessary) may well be useful.

But newms has a point too. It's worth checking the programs you're interested in before you blow off the AW completely. ... I remembered a post a while back ... Some very few programs have minimum AW scores. The vast majority don't but a few do. John