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Yes, this happens. Professors are really busy and sometimes they forget or don't have the time to respond to an email from a prospective student. Perhaps you could try emailing a grad student of the grad program director if you have questions that need to be answered. I wouldn't email a prof who hasn't replied again though.

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Yes, I think it is still pretty important for geosciences people (everybody in the sciences, really) to score as highly as they can on the quant GRE. Your percentile was 60%+, but when you apply, your score may very well be in the bottom half of all applicants for your program, especially for top schools. You want to give yourself as good a chance at getting in as possible, so if you believe you can do better than 670, then I would recommend you retake the exam.

Hi john, That's what I'm hoping too!

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Hey, I'm not in your field but SOPs tend to be similar in structure and best practices. Here is a thread where successful Political Science applicants from last year posted their SOPs: There is also this annotated SOP from a successful Berkeley History applicant: http://ls.berkeley.e...tatement-1.html as well as some pretty good tips from Berkeley here: http://ls.berkeley.e...apply/tips.html Here's some more good advice from a prof: http://www.uni.edu/~...stmtpurpose.htm There's also some terrific advice on this forum. Some posts that I think are really helpful are: (especially the advice by inextrovert) and also this one: (particularly the advice by jasper.milvain) Looking back through my files from last year I came across an SOP from Bianca Williams that she used to get into Duke Anthropology (she's now a prof at Colorado I believe). However, I've searched the internet and I can't find it any where so I'm at a loss as to where I found it. I assume it was posted on a website somewhere with advice on SOPs. Since I can't find it published anywhere on the net, and I'm not sure where I got it, I won't post it here. Perhaps someone can point me to where I found it online, since it seems to be quite good and would be helpful as an example.

Hy rs_nucl, Sorry to tell you, but you are likely to have to wait a while. You can check the grad cafe's survey results from spring application from last year (just search for your program and school) to get an idea of when they sent out their admits for last Spring admission.

Hello all, I have been contacting professors at schools I'm interested over the last few months, but I've always contacted profs who's work is related to my interests. At one university however, I asked an admissions related question, stating my interests and that I had already contacted a prof in the area I'm interested in. The Director of Graduate Admissions replied and answered my question, but he also suggested I make contact with a particular prof who is from the same country as me. I'm not sure if I should do so because this prof's work doesn't seem to match my interests at all, and if I were to contact him I'm not sure what exactly to say. Anyone has any suggestions? Thanks

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Thanks for the reply. I agree, but I was wondering if teaching experience on the CV was limited to tertiary level teaching experience. I'm glad to know its not:)

Yes, most schools recommend that you leave the GPA spot blank or that you put your score on the scale you got, so 77 out of 100 for example. Do not try to do the conversion yourself, the schools will make the evaluation based on your transcripts. Some schools request that you use WES, but as db2290 says they charge too much and their service is not exactly 100% accurate.

I actually think you have a great shot. Your profile is strong, especially with a publication in a top journal. I like your SOP too - it's focused and streamlined. I think the length is ok and I like how you detailed the problem. Yes, the profs know those facts as the poster in that forum said, but here you show that you know them too. I like the detail that you had in describing your fit at MIT and I would have added a bit about how you could be of benefit to MIT and not just the converse. I think applying to Penn State and Duke was a good move too because even though I think you have a good shot, admission to MIT and CMU is so very competitive. I wish you all the best!

I am not in your field so I don't know the specifics for UCLA in your program, but in general just like how a good GRE score won't necessarily get you in grad school, a bad one won't necessarily keep you out. There are some programs (I don't know about UCLA or your field though) that do use GRE cut offs so some schools factor that in. I doubt however, that the very top schools use a GRE cutoff as they will want to look at your whole application and you have an otherwise strong profile. A bad score will raise concerns though and you will probably have to explain why your score is so low. I would still recommend that you try again - you have nothing to lose (besides the test fee, that is) and a lot to gain (including your peace of mind). Do you have a counselor at your school that you could talk to about your anxiety with doing timed tests? Yes! Don't let your bad score prevent you from applying if this is what you want to do. You can overcome a bad GRE score, but you're going to have to impress on other parts of your application and also explain why the score is low.

Thanks for the reply. I'd be happy to review your profile. You can PM me if you wish.

I have a couple questions about a CV and would appreciate some help: 1) I taught high school for a few years after finishing my undergraduate. Can I list this under 'teaching experience' on a CV, or is 'teaching experience' limited to TAing or lecturing? 2) I worked during a summer as an undergraduate in a prof's lab - mainly working on a technical aspect of the project. The work didn't lead to a publication, but would this be something I could put under 'research experience'? Thanks.

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