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That is true - I should have mentioned that I was speaking from a Science background, and yes some Social Sciences do recommend this, but as you said, it's not necessary at all for some fields.

Absolutely. And as I said, I'm a science guy so I can't say for certain how it is in Humanities, I can just speak to my own experiences.

I disagree with the advice about not mentioning profs in the SoP since pretty much every source I've seen says you should. This may be different for the Humanities, but as I'm a science guy I'm not sure. I don't think mentioning that your interests are similar to a prof's necessarily is presumptuous - particularly if you have contacted that prof before and talked about your interests. I also think that it takes two to tango, meaning that yes, the prof has to believe that your interests are similar, but so do you.

I think it's still useful to contact profs when you're applying to a MA. There's a lot of advice on this forum about what you can say, but the email can be just a paragraph (at most 2) introducing yourself and your interests and asking if that prof would be advising new students next year. You can also ask the prof to suggest other profs at that school who's interests would match yours.

Ah ok. It might be valid to ask but I'm guessing they'll probably state what's on the website, but there's no harm in asking.

Is it possible to tailor your 1000 word version down to a 500 word version for that school? It will take a little more work but I think it's best to give them what they ask for in their instructions.

Well, BSing and marketing yourself well are not usually compatible things, so the fact that you want to avoid BS will not hurt your ability to market yourself, in fact, it will probably enhance it. 'Fitting' with a program does not necessarily mean 'I want to do the exact same thing you are already doing, the exact same way'. You can show how your approach would complement what they are already doing and how approaching the topic from a different angle could add value to their work (without coming off as arrogant). I'm not in your field, but those are my $0.02.

Just ask the professors and make sure you give them a lot of time if you're going to be sending them 15 applications. Remember though, that they are not writing 15 letters from scratch, mostly they will be reusing the same letter at the different schools and maybe filling in different forms.

Hey PhD IR, I'd be happy to look it over for you. You can PM me if you'd like.

Strangefox has this right. You need to carefully look at what each program wants, usually you only have to mail transcripts (and some schools might want 2 copies and some might not want you to mail it until after they have admitted you). As for the GMAT question, I think its best if you were to email the departments and ask. I've seen where some schools do not want the online version, so you really need to ask the schools.

Hey saicharanp, You have posted in the right section, but it's not as busy yet. I think you have a decent shot at most of not all of the schools you have listed. Do you have research experience? If so, that will give your application a boost. Are you applying for a research based MS or a terminal MS? If you don't have any research experience you will have to show the admissions committee that you have the potential for research in your SoP and in your letters of recommendation. You also didn't say what area you are interested in - you will have to show the unis that your interests will be a good fit for their research. If you're applying for the research based MS and want to do research, it might be better for you to apply for a PhD, since most places have more funding for the PhD than the MS. All the best.

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Congrats for getting a sub-forum for Earth Sciences!

Sometimes programs specify what exactly they want in the header so you should look out for that. I've seen some people also state what program they are applying to, i.e. PhD or MS.