btsulliv

Rejected as well, congrats to those who were selected!!!

My status has also gone through several iterations, "Matched", "Released", and now "Held." Honestly I have no idea what to make of all this, and in candor I know that my profile is not very competitive in comparison to the rest of you guys (apart from decent GRE scores). All the best though, good luck!

How exactly did you update your GEM profile to indicate that you were accepted into a program? I was under the impression that the university itself changed that. Do you mean you changed your status to "Applicant Self Reported Accepted"?

Did anyone applying manage to get perfect GRE scores in either quant or verbal this year? My understanding is that a stellar performance on the GRE can be the difference that makes a difference in the selection process...

If you didn't make this Arrested Development joke I would have ;-)

Good luck!!!

Mine was "Matched" since the application was completed, but went to "Released" this afternoon. ;-(

Those scores are probably fine (especially with your high GPA), but if you think you can do better then retaking may be a reasonable option. The first time I took the GRE I got a 170V and 164Q, but I still decided to take it again because (1) quant is more important than verbal in my field (Engineering), (2) I needed to mitigate a poor undergraduate GPA, and (3) I made a serious goof on quant akin to your own the first time I took it. The second time around I was lucky enough to score 167V and 170Q, so for me it was absolutely worth it to take the exam a second time. If you have enough time before your deadlines and an identifiable reason to think you can do better, I think you should cram hard with a math workbook and take it again to improve your chances.

The "InstaVocab" Android/iPhone app is extremely well polished and pulls words from a number of sources. It is by far my favorite Android verbal app. "Flashcards" by Dictionary.com is also great for referencing word definitions, but sadly does not come with a "quiz" feature that I found to be useful enough to pursue.

I think the issue is that jung108 is intent on going into a math-heavy field. From my understanding, it would be much more advantageous to have a perfect quant score than a perfect verbal score for engineering graduate students. In fact, I got those exact scores my first time taking the GRE and I still retook it because I needed to mitigate other, less impressive aspects of my profile.

I too am applying for MS in Fall 2015, but in Aerospace Engineering. My GPA is also a weakpoint of my applicant profile, but in my SOP I drew attention to the composition of my GPA more than the overall number. Specifically, my academic performance was highly correlated to specific subjects that I was innately interested in. Although I graduated with a B average overall, my GPA within the specific area I plan to study as a graduate student was actually closer to 3.85. Drawing a connection between the courses you excelled in as an undergraduate and the area you are intent on researching as a graduate may go a long way towards mitigating a relatively uninspired overall GPA. I would also comment on the amount of time that has passed since you earned those marks, and the maturation that has occurred in the intervening years.

Just my two cents, employing a quote in your SOP need not always come off as cheesy or amateur. The problem is that most people attempt to gain credibility by the renown or fame of the person being quoted, and fail to unambiguously link their own thinking and motivation for pursuing a graduate degree to the actual ideas contained within the quote itself. If the concepts contained within the quote are in no way germane to the burden of your SOP, then why should the adcom care about who you are quoting? The philosopher and author A.C. Grayling was so cognizant of this fact that in one of his collections of pithy maxims and aphorisms (The Good Book) he deliberately chose NOT include the names of the original authors, just so that the ideas can stand or fall on their own, independent of their provenance.

I would think not. What is provided seems to be a generic outline of things to be cognizant of while writing your SOP. So long as you do not completely forget about any of them, the order need not be precisely replicated.

I have not had time to go through your SOP in rigorous detail, so what follows can be considered a first impression. Firstly, it would be beneficial to have your full name up front, right in the beginning of the document, and to clearly state what your objective is as a graduate student. It might also be a good idea to spend more time talking about your specific research interests/exactly how you plan to contribute to the university than on what your exploits have been up to this point. Don't misunderstand me, your personal history is an integral part of your SOP. However, it is arguably less important than detailing what you plan to do in the future. Showing the acdom that you have carefully considered and researched your intended field of study will help differentiate your SOP from the many others they will see. What are the cutting edge technologies in the field of embedded systems? What ideas do you have that can shift the paradigm? How do you plan to move the ball forward with your efforts? I would focus less on explaining who you are, and more on what you plan to do. As a final note, you can indicate new paragraphs with an indentation, as opposed to leaving a blank line. It will make your document look much nicer.

I agree with Clonazepam, most people need 3 months+ of study time to really acclimate themselves, not only to the test material itself, but also to working within a finite timeframe. Studying for quant requires you to sit down and devote long blocks of time to working problems under pressure. The reading comprehension section is equally labor-intensive, requiring a big time commitment to just sitting down and practicing. The vocabulary sections can be a bit easier, however, because you can study for those compulsively—anywhere and anytime—with books and phone/notebook apps. Instavocab and Painless GRE are two of the best Android apps out there IMO, plus Flashcards by Dictionary.com is great for memorizing your own vocabulary lists. These mobile apps are perfect because you can practice easily while you are doing laundry, waiting for a friend, or are just bored. Trust me, those spare minutes add up to a lot of time over a period of months.

From my understanding, an applicant's academic record is not just about their numerical GPA, but also about the composition of that GPA (difficulty of coursework, relevant trends in grades, etc). While of course an academic committee would prefer immaculate grades every semester, the next best thing is for the applicant to show a major upswing in motivation and grades before graduation, giving the admissions committee some inkling as to the student's true ability to perform at the highest levels. I am not privy to your complete application profile, but if the elision of final year grades did hurt your chances in your initial run at applying, then their inclusion may just be the difference that makes the difference this time around. I would not take up too much space on the subject in your SOP, but a line or two describing your renewed commitment to academics would be bolstered by the hard evidence of a stellar final year.

Nice article, thanks for posting the link.