hnotis

I definitely think you can see an improvement in 3 weeks. I raised my both my quant and verbal scores 3 points in one week and like 5 in two weeks by doing nothing more than practice tests and practice questions. I would definitely recommend buying Manhatten Prep's 5 lb book of practice problems. I just did 10-20 practice problems whenever I had time during the week and did practice tests on the weekends and it helped so much. It made it so that the question types didn't give me anxiety and I felt comfortable with what was ahead of me. I wish you the best of luck and I hope you can get a handle on your anxiety so that your true abilities can shine through! My family has a history of anxiety and we have all had to find what works best for us- medication for my mom, a healthy relationship for myself- but it is something you can conquer!

@jujubea Thank you so much for this information! I was just actually trying to figure out about MA funding at DU, as the website is kind of confusing. I really needed to know if they fully funded MA students and whether or not there were TA ops, and since there's not, I don't see myself applying there. Again, thank you so much! I really needed clarity there. I will have to look at U of NM.

While looking into the possibility of doing an undergrad thesis, I came across the opportunity to take up to 3 credits of Directed Study in Communication. I'm hoping to be able to use that to work with my advisor on a research project next semester. I hope I can get enough experience in one semester to make an impact on my application!

I think it's best to take regular practice tests- one when you first start out, another a couple weeks in, etc. Then you know if you're improving and you become familiar with the kinds of questions and their formats. When you don't have time to do practice tests, do practice questions and make sure you understand how you got it right or wrong. And also, review the vocab words whenever you have down time. Writing them down helps me, moreso than just looking at them and trying to remember. As long as you're actively engaging in the material once a day, I think your brain will appreciate it. Hope that helps!

On top of what everyone else has said, I'd just like to chime in and say that, at this point, an unsubsidized loan is essentially the best you can get (aside from not taking loans out period). The interest rate is better than private loans and it's even better than a Grad plus loan would be. In terms of loans, Staffords are the way to go if you have to go that way.

Does anyone know what the highest score you can get is if you don't get to move to the hard question section?

Just to clarify, I have many more reasons for wanting to pursue grad school other than what I additionally stated that have much more bearing on my choice. Yes, I want to research. Yes, I want to make a difference and contribute significantly in my field. Yes, I want to pursue applied communication and activism to accomplish my moral obligations I feel I have to this world. Yes, I have goals that could not be accomplished outside of researching at a university and continuing to work at the university level as professor and researcher. But I'm having fun reading about the less crucial reasons that people have. That's where the beauty is, in my opinion.

There are so many blogs and articles out there right now with reasons why people shouldn't consider grad school. While there are a lot of valid reasons not to go, I would much rather find out why each of you want to go. And not the obvious reasons like you want to be a professor or you have a burning research question. I'm talking about the little every day thoughts that pop in to your mind and remind you why you're doing what you're doing. I'll start: I know I'm meant to go to grad schools because... ...I get more excited when I come up with a killer thesis statement than most people do when their favorite sports team wins. ...I'm never satisfied just learning how something works. I want to know why it works and how we can change and manipulate this why. ...I love the idea of eventually having a cozy little office with papers and books scattered everywhere. What about you guys?

Federal loan eligibility is determined based on enrollment of part-time or above. To be eligible for loans, you just have to be part-time (or more) and whatever they offer you is there to stay. What they offered you for full-time is the same thing as what they would offer you for part-time in terms of loans. They only thing part-time vs full-time has bearing on in terms of federal money is grants.

@OP, I can understand why it would make you feel like a baby having to ask permission. There is a difference between asking permission and giving a common courtesy heads up. Asking permission makes you feel as though you're not in charge of your own decisions/career/research because a professor ultimately has the authority to tell you that you can't do something. Giving them a heads up means you have made the decision and you're just being courteous so as to let them know ahead of time. I think this was a great question to ask and I agree that e-mailing your profs directly would probably be your best bet!

What does that have to do with my original photo of myself being amusing? What does that have to do with anything?

eyepod, Amusing, how so?

Thanks for the input guys! @victory dance, I think you're right about making those a priority to study. Fortunately, as a former math ed major/general math nerd, I have the mind for that kind of stuff and I'm pretty solid on those types of problems. The only reason I think I need to brush up on Geometry is because I never learned most of it in the first place. I went straight into trig so I have the Pythagorean theorem and stuff like that down, but I never learned the simpler stuff (liked those gemoetric tricks you mentioned). @eyepod, I think the same goes for my field (Communication). But I've also been told that high GRE scores help with getting TA positions, which I need more than anything. So therefore, some ass-busting in necessary!

That is what all the smarties in my life are telling me (with the one exception of my undergrad adviser, whom I admire very much). But I think that's probably the best advice. My plan of study is to: 1. Read the Official Guide to the GRE revised General Test cover to cover 2. Do all the practice problems as I read 3. Do the practice tests from the Guide 4. Review what I don't know/never really learned in the Manhattan Prep book for Geometry 5. Do the online practice tests from Manhatten prep 6. Use my GRE vocab app on my phone every day Other than that, I don't think there's really much else I can do. I can't afford to take a class and I think it would a waste of a large amount of money if I did anyway. I'm really feeling as though exposure to the questions types and formats is really what's helping me the most. Doing the practice problems is really sharpening my skills. I haven't completely decided when I will be taking the test by I'm debating between September and November. September would be nice to just get it done and out of the way early in the Fall semester of my last undergrad year. November would be nice to add extra study time. Either way, I'm not gonna retake it. If I bomb it, then I'm probably not ready for Grad school and I should take another year to consider my life choices. Plus, I am not going to drop $400 in one year on one silly standardized test. Also, I refuse to take in October because October is my favorite month because of my anniversary and Halloween and I wouldn't want to taint my joy with test anxiety. The real point I'm trying to make is that I plan to update this post with my results based on my study plan so as to serve as an either "do" or "don't" story for future GRE takers. Wish me luck! And feel free to provide me with any input you may have based on your experience and evaluation of my plan!

I will be applying to (mostly masters) Communication Studies programs next Fall. My problem is that my strongest example of academic writing is a paper I wrote for a graduate level psychology class that I was able to take as an undergrad. The other potential problem is that the paper is an "issue analysis" and not a research paper. Essentially, I had to apply different theories of learning to an issue of my choosing- my issue being the implementation and execution of a freshman college course that would help students get acclimated to college more efficiently. Though it was an issue analysis, it was heavily research based- taking different theories of learning, analyzing them thoroughly, and applying them to the issue. My main reasons for thinking this would be an acceptable sample and possibly my best paper to submit: 1. Both the paper and my field of interest are in the social sciences so I believe the adcoms will be able to evaluate the effectiveness of my writing. They may not be entirely familiar with all the theories presented, but I made sure to be transparent when introducing the theories so that almost anyone could follow along with the application. Along with this, a lot of communication research is based in psychology methodology and that is how I plan to execute my research in grad school- with a heavy dependence on my background in psychology. 2. I think this is my strongest example of academic writing because it was written for a graduate level class and evaluated at the same level as all the other graduate level papers. This means to me that this is an example of graduate level research work (or it will be after a few revisions- I was a percent away from receiving an A on the paper and my professor gave me plenty of useful feedback). 3. The only other research oriented work I have done essentially boil down to being literature reviews- i.e. analyzing previous works, pointing out limitations, suggesting directions for further research- and only one is in the field of Communication and it is far from anything resembling my research interests. I realize that this is somewhat common in the humanities/social sciences so maybe they wouldn't be the worst choice for submission, but surely not the best. I will be taking my final Communication capstone course this Fall and if I have the opportunity to perform research in my area of interest, I most definitely will, however I do not want to cut it super close and I do want to have a back up in case nothing impressive comes out of this course. What does everyone here think? Would it be worth it to try to do paper independent of my course work that would better fit my field and interests? Or would my energy be best channeled toward studying for the GRE and writing a killer SOP and just go with my issue analysis as a writing sample? I would love to hear your thoughts and advice!