ahmadka

Well, I actually wanted to apply to about 10 schools, and most have 15th December as their final deadline. Do I have to wait for ETS to first send me the scores before I can request them to be sent to other universities as well ? I mean, I don't see the think between the two. I guess I'll contact ETS and ask them after how much time since taking the test can I request additional universities to be mailed the results. Would like some more opinions if possible.

Hi guys ... I still haven't taken the GRE, but I am currently prepping for it. I just want to know when is the latest when I can take the GRE, given that the scores need to reach the universities by 15th December (program deadline) ? I'm currently thinking of giving it on 11th/12th November, but I'm trying to judge if I can push it further into the future ..

Two questions: 1) Guys, which book is best to *prepare* (i.e. developing strategies, etc.) from for Verbal section ? 2) Which book is best for taking sample Verbal questions (comprehensions, etc.) ? I'm actually a very book-oriented person as all my life I've studied from books, hence the questions

Okay, some questions ... 1) How much time should I person spend reading a comprehension that is, say, 13 lines long ? .. Same question for one which is about 40 lines long ? 2) Is it better to first read the comprehension and THEN look at the questions, or the other way around ? 3) And should you skim through a comprehension ? Thing is, I cannot possibility imagine how ETS expects students to do 25 Verbal questions within 35 minutes, given than about half of those questions require reading and analyzing about 80 lines of dense English .. I just don't see that happening !

So after prepping on and off for about 2 months, I decided to do my first practice test today (official GRE book) excluding the Analytic Writing tasks (haven't prepared for them yet), and was utterly disappointed: V151, Q159 ... However after the practice test, I re-attempted the quant questions I had gotten wrong, and was able to solve most of them .. So maybe I was nervous (the English section was giving me a headache!), or maybe I need to improve my time management .. HOWEVER .. The thing I don't know is how do I prepare better for the Verbal and Analytic Writing sections ... I've read briefly Princeton for these, but I see that Princeton is not a recommended book .. So which book do I study from for Verbal and AW? And any specific tips on how to deal with all those convoluted English comprehensions ?! I'm just amazed there are some sentences there which are literally 3-5 lines long ! Shocking !! I literally had to guess half the English answers because I ran out of time. How does ETS expect us to read through those paragraphs of dense English, AND answer all those questions, 25 all under 25 minutes ?!

So would it be a good idea to just get all 3 LORs from my undergrad Profs, instead of any Masters Profs ? ... The former are in my locality, so if I meet them, I'm sure they'll remember me. If I do this, can it be taken negatively that none of the LORs were from my Masters, or from a job (I have 3 years work experience) ?

Well I must have talked with all the Profs regarding project, assignment, etc., but I don't think that's enough to make someone retain you in memory .. You probably need longer social exposure, which doesn't really come unless you're doing some research with them, etc .. The alternate would be to just get all 3 LORs from my undergrad Profs, who are in my locality and who I can go meet, etc. ... But then the reader might wonder why did I not get a single LOR done from my more recent Masters program Profs .. They might think something's fishy .. Wish I could figure this out

Some universities have a problem with me already have a Masters degree in a 'related field', ECE. So they say that I'm either not eligible to apply, or will most like be rejected if I applied. The universities which have told me this include the following: All California universities (at least all the good ones), Stanford, Berkeley, UTexas, UMich, UIUC, Texas A&M .. So all your suggestions have already been tried I'm afraid .. I don't know for sure if GT requires a thesis or not, but I'm okay with them either way because of their ranking .. Any other suggestions ?

I agree, but when you're a Professor and you're teaching students day in and day out for years at end, how are you supposed to remember each and every student you taught, and what their capabilities were ? I don't think this is possible for them. Yes, they will most probably remember you if you worked with them in some research or something, but I doubt otherwise. I didn't do any research, so I don't have such a professor to ask unfortunately How do I check whether a coursework professor remembers me or not ? ... Do I plainly ask them if they remember me from their course ?

So I should email him, but also politely ask how he thought of me ? ... Yeah I guess this gives him a way out if he wants, but I doubt he'll personally recall me because he must have taught another 200 - 300 students since then. Also, assuming he writes a positive LOR despite the 'B' grade, will the university that I'm applying to take it negatively, that I had to ask a professor for an LOR who had given me a 'B' ? It may give the impression that I was so 'limited' in who to ask for an LOR, that I had to ask a Prof who had given me a 'B' ... They can probably figure this out too (that the LOR is from a Prof who gave me a 'B') by making a few calls, even if the LOR doesn't mention the 'B' explicitly, which it might.

Hi guys .. Another LOR question .. I took this course during my previous Masters, and the Prof gave me a 'B' .. However, I feel that the course has really had an impact on me the way I think of designs and interactions now .. It was truly one of the most influential courses I've ever studied, so I personally would really want if I can get an LOR from this Prof ... HOWEVER, I don't want to do it if it can have any negative impact somewhere down the line .. I mean the Prof might write a 'B' grad LOR, of the reader (admission committee) might view it negatively (applying to a few top grad universities too), etc ... I have a decent amount of other Professors from whom I got an 'A', and I have no problem contacting them instead .. But most of those 'A' grades didn't teach me as much as this 'B' grade did .. So need honest opinions regarding this dilemma ..

Would love if someone can chime in ... I'm pretty much clueless ..

Hi guys ... I'm trying to come up with a list of universities where I should apply for Fall 2015 CS Masters. I have chosen 8 universities, but I'd like to choose 4-5 more. A lot of the reputed CS universities I'm looking at seem to be interested in research, and are inclined to admit MS students who have research experience, and are likely to go onto do a PhD as well (e.g. Purdue, Virginia Tech, etc.). I'm not one of those people, as I want to enter the industry after finishing my CS Masters. So I'm looking for universities which are better for me. So here are the universities I'm currently thinking of applying to: CMU Cornell, UWaterloo, USC, Georgia Tech, U of Florida, Northeastern university, NC State Which other universities should I look into, which have reputed CS Masters programs designed to cater for career-oriented students ? I'm prepping for my GRE and haven't taken it yet, but I took GRE 6 years which and got Q: 780/800, V: 520/800 .. Loosely translates to Q: 163/170, V: 154/170

Hi guys .. So pretty simple question .. How much time do they typically need for writing and sending LORs ? It's mid October now, and I still haven't emailed any prof about it. Considering most application deadlines are in the 1st half of December, am I too late ?

Another question ::: What do I write in the subject of the email ? As professors get a lot of emails, it needs to be something which stands out, but not something cheesy One way is to just write something like: "Would be honored if you can write an LOR for me", but it seems too forthcoming. Suggestions ?

Would love to get some more opinions regarding this ...

So you're counting 'double burger' as a single burger too ? Doesn't a 'double burger' mean two burgers. I mean, buy one burger for $1, buy 2 for $1.50, and save 50 cents ? The way I see, Caleb can just as well buy 50 single burgers and still the total would be $50, not $72.50. If he buys double burgers too (two burgers), the total cost would be less than $50 .. The wording is ambiguous probably, or is it just me ?

Hi guys ... I've come across a math question which I want to get everyone's opinion on: "Caleb spends $72.50 on 50 hamburgers for the matching band. If single burgers cost $1.00 each and double burgers cost $1.50 each, how many double burgers did he buy ?" The answer for the above question is 45, however I don't see how that is calculated. Can someone explain ?

Hmm ... Some good points there .. Anything else which I can do to tip the favors in my direction ?

I downloaded the Magoosh ebook and printed it to make it into a book (I can't study directly from ebooks - old fashioned I guess) .. Went through it .. The concepts seemed to be spot on, but the ebook is very very short, almost like a 'sample' of something bigger (ironically, that's probably true considering their paid services) ... I've managed to find the Manhattan math books and am going through the first 3 of them to see if I like them or not .. Again the concepts are good but very few questions to practice on ... I want to get the Manhattan 5lb book *so bad*, but sadly its not available in my country, and importing it takes the cost to $100 or so, considering its weight

Hi guys ... I want to contact my previous Masters degree professors for a LOR for my upcoming applications for a second Masters (reason already discussed in my other threads) ... However I feel it might sound too self-centered if I email them out of the blue and ask if they can write an LOR for me .. Unfortunately I cannot meet them in person as I'm half-way around the world, so email is the only way I can contact them (cold calling them seems even worse) .. Do professors mind if some student who took their course a few years ago, cold email contacts them and asks for an LOR ? What's the best way to approach and ask them without coming off as being a self-centered guy ?

150 questions isn't too much I guess ... Where do you find more questions from ?

Would appreciate if someone can give me some valuable advice ..

I don't think GRE for Dummies is such a mainstream book, is it ? ... I've never had any mentions or recommendations of it .. Rated C at Magoosh .. Link

Before going on, just want to say this: Yes, I HAVE read the suggestions suggested .. ----------- Hi guys ... I'm prepping for GRE and am currently confused regarding which book or resource to use for practicing accurate questions ... I know there are many books out there, but most don't have good reviews according to Magoosh .. Manhattan 5 LB book :: Is generally recommended, but sadly that isn't available in my country .. Princeton Review book :: I have it .. Strategies are good but questions are too easy so I don't trust them .. Official GRE book :: Covers all concepts, but has very few questions for practice .. Lastly, I'm aware that there are free prep exams from numerous books, software, etc., but I want to save those for the end when I'm done prepping first .. So I'm looking for book suggestions .. I need a book which has a significant amount of Math problems which resemble actual GRE questions fairly well, and are also outside of any 'prep exam', as I want to save those for the end ..