katerific

Greetings fellow geologist! The way I've been looking for programs is purely based on my research interests. I've been interested in a certain line of research for a few years now, and I basically looked up the names of people who have been writing cool papers about the topic. From there, I take a closer look at the programs. Basically, I've narrowed down my list to about 6 choices, and the things I've been looking at the most (at this point) are how interesting the professor's research is to me and location. Of course, there are other things influencing me (things I've heard about certain professors, resources available, etc), but a professor of mine told me it'd be better to think about those things later in the process. For me, going to conferences is another good way to hear about programs and talk to potential advisors. A school would have a booth set up or I'd meet someone with a super cool poster and talk to them about the school. (GSA is coming up!) I also had a talk to both my research advisor and academic advisor. They told me about which places have good programs (beyond the usual top-presitigious ones). Anyway, that's just me. What sort of thing are you interested in? I've heard about some programs in different fields.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I have a similar question and a slightly different situation. I just checked my scores and got 650V (93 p.) and a 4.0 (45 p.) in AW. I'm a native speaker, and writing is one of my better assets, and I thought my essays were fine and was expecting 5.0 or 5.5. I'm applying to programs in the natural sciences (not engineering), so I guess in most situations it doesn't matter... but I'm applying to really competitive top programs. That part concerns me. Considering that I have strong Q (770, 87 p.) and V scores/percentiles, would it be worth retaking? I'd love to get it rescored, but I'd hate to waste $55 if it probably won't change. I think my statement of purpose will turn out really great, and I know a least one of my rec writers thinks I'm a good writer, too. Thoughts? edit: oh, just noticed that very last post! interesting, hmm. I do still wonder about how much AW matters for more prestigious schools (even in the sciences and engineering) .

Powerprep was very accurate for me. PR was another issue... Here's how it went down for me. PR1 (two weeks ago) : ~1100 a week later (after some more prep), Powerprep 1: ~1350 PR2: ~1400 Powerprep 2: ~1400 today, Actual score: ~1400 Even though the second PR test was closer to what I got in total, the individual values were way off. Verbal was much higher and quant was much lower on that practice test. The first PR test was probably a fluke (it was my first one, I was rushing/anxious to be done, etc). Oh, and I did think the actual GRE was a little bit harder than the Powerprep ones... but I still got a higher overall score on the real thing. Other than that, they felt pretty much the same.