MidwesternAloha

I wouldn't. Most POI's aren't the ones making the final decisions and genuinely don't have the answers to that question. Just move forward, making your application and yourself the best you could be.

They want to see improvements. If you do things before you apply again to boost your credentials, that will work in your favor. However, if you reapply, having done nothing in your year off, you probably won't get a second chance.

I would never go to grad school without funding and wonder why anyone would go if they had to pay.

Okay, I'm naive when it comes to grad admissions. I have my second and final interview this weekend. I'm excellent at formal interviews, but our first event is on the evening of arrival is a social mixer with faculty and students. What do you do? Am I supposed to know the faculty based off website pictures and go up and act like I know them??

Also, for what it's worth, I guarantee did not expect you to interview the next day. It's usually schedule a couple weeks out.

Holy cow. Did you ever ask why you didn't get an interview? That's baffling. I'm so sorry.

Congrats! Did you wind up getting an alternate date for Vanderbilt? Just curious.

Give him a couple days. Professors are busy people. If he doesn't respond by the Friday afternoon, maybe send a follow up.

That seems like a lot of emails.

Don't worry, they will not forget about you. You will receive an itinerary a week to one day before.

Pastel, I just wanted to say how cool it is you got into Vanderbilt. Just saw that in your signature. Congrats!!

Pursue YOUR goals- don't sacrifice or compromise your dreams to lessen the distance between two hearts. If it's meant to be, you will find a way to strengthen yourselves and each other as you support each other's educational endeavors. I'm not dating, but actually married, and will be moving away from my husband. His job does not allow him to move/follow me and he will pursue his graduate education at another school in a few years. I suppose it's comforting to have the certainty that "he'll be there," but I can relate to the tension nevertheless.

Thanks!

If you can say what you need to say in 700 words, you are certainly meeting the requirement. Brevity is a good thing. A concise essay is more appealing to the adcoms than a long one.

My advice for young students would be not to compare yourselves to different age groups of students. You're like apples and oranges. I've seen a lot of young students dive straight into grad programs and they are generally more driven and self work harder at school because they aren't committed to a spouse, family, whatever other obligations the older students tend to have. That being said, there is an air of ease that exists among older students, so, whatever you do, just don't try to be or fit in with your peers if you simply do not have commonalities. Learn to exist professionally and you'll be treated with respect by your cohort. It's how I became a manager of PhD candidates and teaching their lab skills when I was 22 and only had a BA. Most of them were in their thirties. They could tell I was young, but they didn't know how young. It'll all work out. Age is nothing but a number.

I don't think you'll be in an awkward spot. Alcohol consumption of grad students is limited... They can't afford that on their stipend pay lol

It's never too early to contact professors. While you may not want to boldly ask "are you going to be taking new graduate students?" just send them an email with the title "inquiry from a prospective graduate student" and ask a concise but thorough (maybe a paragraph in length, professors are busy people) set of questions about the program and research going on at their institution in general. Ask what advice they have for preparing: this is an underutilized approach and you are a few years away from applying, so they will be a gold mine for this type of guidance and it won't count against you when the time comes. Honestly, graduate programs give a lot of preference to prior military. Like the first respondent suggested, there are great GRE prep guides and a lot of free practice tests to familiarize yourself with the format on the Princeton Review website, I believe. Sidebar: are you currently at Fort Bragg? My husband is in a similar situation and will be applying around the same time as you, although his is a requirement to make Major.

Also wanted to share a website I found with really good advice on what to wear and stuff: www.corporette.com

I think that's perfect, as long as the blouse has a collar. You can remove the jacket if needed.

Regular copy paper I fine. I wouldn't invest in heavier weights or cardstock because most of the interviewers probably will decline the CV.

If a vegetarian does Crossfit, what do they tell you first?

4. If you find $100 bill on the ground, do you pick it up right away or pass it by to see if there's $1,000 down the sidewalk?

It varies from program to program - some start in the summer, (July) while others start late August. You may be able to find the curriculum on the departments' websites.