biisis

While I can't really speak to your chances in getting into a PhD program, I can offer a few suggestions, based on how you presented yourself above, that might serve you well in how you present yourself when you apply. Firstly, I'd leave out any mention of the unprofessional conduct of your former adviser in applications and in interviews. It's quite the tale (and man! sorry your had to go through all that!) but it's the sort of association that can stain an applicant. Folks aren't going to have the time or inclination to hear about personal conflicts in detail when reviewing your materials, and you run the risk of coming off as a 'difficult' advisee, even though this might be wholly false. Instead, I'd explain (very briefly) that your progress was delayed by personal events in your life (the illness and death of your father, managing his estate, etc.). Definitely bring up the rigor of your thesis' primary sources and the scale of the project, but maybe not in reference to how long it took you to complete your degree. These are things for which you should be rightly proud, but admissions committees are also evaluating candidates on the basis of how likely they are to finish their PhD (and, increasingly importantly, finish on time). Using the nature of your project as an explanation for your delayed completion may suggest a lack of pragmatism on your part. I imagine that this might be a bit of a red flag for the committee. I think it's best to mention it in a wholly different part of your admissions essay. Best of luck! I don't think your chances are ruined by any means- I hope you give it a shot.

Hey Spammers, this is what I think of your essays:

Scam or not (and I think the legitimacy of this company is highly dubious) fuck publishing behind pay walls, particularly creepy for-profit non-refereed online presses.

What your describing financially is the economic norm for many grad students, particularly in the humanities (a funded MA, no matter how meager, is still better than no funding, which isn't uncommon for MAs). I'd say do it- learn to be comfortable being poor, and find a good part time gig that won't interfere too much with your studies.

Feel free to reach out if you want to talk McGill or NYU. I don't know if rehearsing our research interests will be all that helpful though- COMS is such an interdisciplinary field and within all the departments I've looked into diversity is the norm. Eh, but what it's worth, I work on the media history of computer technology over the past 60 years, focusing on how computer failure is anticipated and metabolized (poorly).

As best I know, there is no comprehensive 3rd party comparative review of any substance. I'd venture to say that you'd be hard pressed to find any object measure of what makes for "the best career services office" and the like. The best I've found is just combing their websites and compiling information into spreadsheets of my own creation for later comparison. Also, ask around for anecdotal accounts from current/former students but take them with a grain of salt.

Yes you should be eligible! (Unless there's some arcane provision in your internal funding package- be safe and double-check). You would apply directly to SSHRC, and receive a cheque in the mail twice a year in the local currency if you're successful. Best of luck!

Healthy cookies are the lies we tell ourselves to get through the 3 o'clock energy lull. I add nuts and seeds to this recipe to keep up the ruse: http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-best-oatmeal-cookies-youll-ever.html

No idea about the story, but as someone who's done a bit of research on gender and sexuality, the concept of "the gay community" and needing to hide pederastic sex from one's wife strikes me as rather anachronistic for the Greeks. You may already be aware of this, of course, but to me it would at least narrow your search to 19th/20th century stuff. Unless that's just your own phrasing?

You can also bake, proportion, and freeze slices of banana bread or 'healthy cookies' in small ziplock bags. I'll grab one or two when I'm heading out the door and I know that it will be a long day, or if I suspect that what I've scrounged up for lunch will be insufficient. My other suggestion would be to invest in really excellent containers for carrying your food. If you can toss something like soup into your bag without fear of it spilling, your options increase tenfold.

Apple purports to have superb image quality in its newer line of laptops, but it's technological politics are pretty abysmal so it's hard to endorse them for anything. Honestly, most anything made in the past few years will be able to keep up with your needs. Eye-strainy screens are few and far between. It's scan quality that can be the most limiting...

It's always good to check on what their current research involves, particularly any working groups/grants/community outreach initiatives. Do as much research in advance, and then sort of fact-check what you've been able to find online with what they say they're actually doing. Ask about the intricacies of the program's structure, its resources (collections, museums, satellite campuses, etc.), and activities (lecture series, journals, etc.). It's also valuable to raise more pragmatic questions- what's the average time to completion? what funding opportunities are available within the department, or through your professor? what sort of TA/RA load would be expected? Also- use pen and paper, my friend. Write out questions/talk points in advance, and take notes during the conversation. It will help keep you focused, and provides a bit of a social buffer between you and the stranger on the other end of the phone.

From what I hear, the job market is really, really bad; perhaps to the extent that I'd question the value of getting a full on bachelor's degree to this end. It seems like a more industry-focused, accredited, but not necessarily 4-year program, could maximize your cost/benefits. Find a program with good placement rates, maybe at a trade school, that's teaching a very current curricula (knowing that the tech changes really rapidly and people are constantly retraining throughout their careers). More important that your education, however, will be any experience you can muster within the industry. Finding a route that involves an internship, or making a concentrated plan to network and build contacts, could provide you an in that your degree/diploma won't. Finally, I hear that a lot of folks get started by just having a go with Game Maker or Unity, learning to program on their own, and making some indie projects they can share. Even though you want to focus on the art side of things, coding knowledge is still very much to your advantage. Your art will always have to be constrained/dictated by the code.

On the other hand, it might mean that it's been a very bad year for the admissions committee, which casts a worrying light on the standing of the program. But that would perhaps be an overly pessimistic thing to focus on. Broken_Bottle is right- you'll get lots of individualized attention, much to your benefit.

Tried using the uhaul pods service to move from Montreal to New York. Their phoneline (located in the Southern United States) gave me a quote for door to door service that seemed sort of reasonable. When I contacted the local franchise to work out the fine details, however, I was told that they flat out didn't offer the service, so I should just tough it out and hire someone to ship my stuff to their Montreal storage depot. After a lot of ridiculous customer support drama I decided to just walk, sold most of my furniture, and moved my odds and sods via Greyhound. Moral of the story: if you book with Uhaul, don't trust the guys at the end of the international phoneline!

It sounds like you have some fundamental weaknesses in your applications (and aptitude as a student). Getting accepted isn't simply a matter of meeting minimum requirements, it's a question of being persuasive as a candidate and uniquely compatible with the program. By the sounds of things, you very obviously need to retake the GRE, improve your written English, and find a few programs that specifically suit your research interests (rather than just spamming everyone that qualifies for the grant you're trying to win). An academic/admissions coach could help you. You may also need to rethink the wisdom behind getting a second MA in the same discipline. I reckon that most admissions committees would find that pursuit to be pretty pointless from their perspective- why bother giving you a spot to repeat an MA when there are lots of promising BA students with a much more direct trajectory?

Says the user who changed their location/gender/program after a big rant about how he'd absolutely cheat on the GRE "for justice". Says the user who's wasting everyone's time asking forum members information that can be found on program's websites or posting multiple threads complaining about your lack of admissions. This sort of behavior denigrates the community here. You have 0 credibility and 0 value, sir.

Haha, let me guess- you're trying to get into McMasters because they don't require the GRE? You are becoming somewhat notorious on these boards for your horrendous attitude, lack of ethics, and enormous victim complex. I suspect there are more fundamental issues at play in your application than just your test scores.

Best of luck in your search! I fear that you may encounter a few obstacles, however. Most countries are not as generous in provisions for free education as Iran; the MA in particular is a difficult degree to fund. Cynically put, the program is often a means of generating revenue for a department's PhD program. I wonder if you would have an easier time securing funding if you were to enter a direct PhD program in the states?

Arguably it's more relevant on Academia.edu than LinkedIn?

Just retake it! The verbal is just route memorization and test-taking finesse- this is easily learned.

Grades do not bear much importance on one's job qualifications, I'm afraid. Certainly not in the non-profit world. Folks are looking for experience, aptitude, and passion- Did you do any internships? Field work? You're going to have to work in your cover letters to connect your education with the work of the NGO, rather than taking it as a given. Alternatively, perhaps you've done this, and the job market's just wretched. In that case, maybe you should broaden your search to entry level office stuff or editing. You don't have to get a job in your field as your first job (and working for NGOs, you really can't go into it for the money). Going to law school without the resolve seems like a recipe for getting crushed. Plus the job market for law school graduates is pretty flakey these days too, so you can't count on it as an economic safety net for the overqualified arts degree conundrum. Blended solution? Look for work in legal offices, to see if you can get a feel for the practice. Paint yourself as a highly intelligent person looking for experience leading towards a career in law. That way, if it pans out and you do like law, your application will be even stronger.

Alternatively, a good entry point might be to join someone else's existing lease. Look for roommate openings, thereby avoiding broker's fees and weird citizenship scrutiny in the process. Then, if you're determined to live on your own, you can hunt locally and with a bit less desperation. I've also found the Listings Project to be an interesting source for leads for no-fee apartments/roommates, with an emphasis on students and the creative industries. It's free to subscribe to and always has some gems. (http://www.listingsproject.com/)

Good on you for what's very evidently a lot of drive and passion! Yay history! I wonder though, do you necessarily need to provide a formal (and external) assessment of your language abilities? In my discipline it's nothing but self-reporting, with kudos to those who demonstrate their knowledge in their work via primary sources/secondary literature. Oral skills are far far far less important and are never evaluated over the course of your degree. You could also mention/reaffirm/emphasize with flair your language skills in your statement of purpose. Talk about how engaging with primary sources, in their original language, has dramatically deepened your comprehension and enthusiasm for the work of history or somesuch. Also- don't be afraid to jazz up the way you describe your competency. Being tied to google translate and needing 3x time to get through a text still = "reading proficiency" with a language. No need to call yourself a beginner.

While other aspects of your application can offset poor grades, grades are still the primary mechanism by which admissions committees conduct their first cull: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/07/14/scholar-explores-how-graduate-admissions-committees-view-measures-merit-and