youngcharlie101

I would have loved that. It's just the professors at my school are so difficult to reach by email. It's better for me to visit them during office hours. I just wasn't sure if I needed a different approach. Many others would have done differently.

My adviser always told me that email is a deceiving thing. This is why I refused to email my professor for a letter of recommendation. My adviser encouraged me to visit my professors during their office hours and ask them. At the same time, most of the professors where I did my MA don't respond to email. It's actually a bit embarrassing. What's the best approach?

Yeah, the campus seems nice. I'm talking to some members of the Comp Lit department, and they seem pretty nice. Thanks for the wise words and encouragement.

Thank you. I definitely will. Meds and doctors are on my agenda this year.

I'm just curious about this. I've had colleagues tell me that the paper-based is easier and less adaptive than the computer-based one. Of course, the scores take approximately 6 weeks to arrive, but wouldn't it be easier to take an exam where you can scratch off the wrong answers right in front of you?

Thank you so much, everybody. In the words of Nike, "Just do it." Lol.

Hi, everybody. I'm feeling a bit nervous. I guess it's my anxiety acting up again, but any advice would be appreciated greatly. I graduated from Columbia in May with my MA in Anthropology. I had an unfunded PhD offer from Syracuse, but I deferred it. I decided to take the year off and get healthy. My health is not up to par, as you can tell. I spoke to my adviser from Columbia a few months ago, and she recommended for me to take a class at one of my potential PhD schools (Rutgers). She said it would be a good way for me to network and explore the program. The professor teaching the course is one I wish to work with if I were to get accepted at Rutgers for Fall 2015. I registered for the course, and it starts today, but I cannot help but feel overwhelmed and anxious. Should I still go to class, or am I wasting time, money, and effort that could be placed into studying harder for the GRE and making my application brilliant?

Thank you.

I agree. It's better to have full confidence in the professor rather than "double check."

*assist your application. Not essay. Sorry, I'm high on Dayquil right now from this awful cold.

If I see what my professors wrote, and mark my application as declining to waive my rights, would this hurt my application? What did you guys do?

Sounds great. Thank you so much. This definitely helps a lot.

I'm a New York girl, and I feel pretty close to home, especially since I was sick for a long time and need my family, friends, and doctors close by. I don't want to apply to schools too far away. Is it possible to become a competitive applicant and stick to schools that are close to home? I graduated from Columbia with my master's in anthropology, and I actually got accepted to Stony Brook for the PhD, but I deferred admission since it was unfunded and since I have some severe health issues that need to be taken care of before I commence my doctoral studies. Thanks in advance, all.

Most students like this website: www.magoosh.com The lessons are really fun and easy to follow. They can also help you out with pivots and direct you to the type of sentence you're working with. That way, it'll be easier to detect the correct vocabulary choices. Good luck!

Hi, everyone. My target test date is November 15, 2014. I'm applying to some PhD programs in anthropology for Fall 2015. I was taking a year off, but I figured it would be best to study for the GRE and hone in on my applications. I am currently taking a Manhattan Prep online course. They sent me all the textbooks. It was not cheap, but I'm grateful that my grandmother loaned me some money for it. I also have Magoosh and the ETS Official Guide. I have roughly three more months to study. My Manhattan Prep course ends on September 12, but I have fallen behind on the syllabus. I've been in and out of the hospital for x-rays. There is so much material sitting on my desk and I'm not sure how I can finish it all. What did you use to study for the GRE?

I'm tempted to take the paper-based version of the test in October, specifically because I have really miserable eyesight and cannot read for prolonged periods of time on a computer. Has anyone taken the paper-based version of the exam? How did you do, if you don't mind my asking? Does it differ immensely from the computer-based version in terms of performance?

AMEN TO THAT!

I bow my head in shame... Lol. I'm a miserable test-taker. My verbal is too low (150s), so I definitely need to retake.

A friend of mine suggested retaking the GRE in efforts to get a higher score for my PhD applications this fall. So, I bought the Manhattan Prep books and am slowly working my way through the Verbal section. However, just out of curiosity, how important a factor does the quantitative (math) section play in admissions decisions? Overall, how important is the GRE to admissions committees? Thanks in advance.

Thanks, everyone.

I decided to defer my admission to Syracuse for one year. It's an unfunded offer, and to be honest, I'm going through some health problems at the moment. I realized that perhaps it's best to take a year off from school and focus on myself. I also want to take this year to reapply to some PhD programs in efforts to obtain a funded offer. My field is anthropology. I do want to keep myself academically stimulated though. There were some courses I was interested in taking at Cuny's Graduate Center. I may also take some courses at Columbia. That's where I did my Master's. But the thing is, I may be applying to these schools for my PhD. Would it hurt to take some courses here? I don't want them to think I'm trying to network or get in through the "backdoor approach." What do you think?

Thanks a lot, everybody. Your words really have comforted me. I'm definitely going to take this year for myself to get better and start living to the fullest.

Thank you so much. I definitely will. It's about time for me to start living.

Thanks so much. This puts a lot into perspective for me.

Thank you.