sofiefatale

Annnd just as a follow up in case anybody ever searches this topic—and because the organizers responded back so quickly—this particular conference does NOT require an accompanying paper, just the presentation. Good to know!

The ambiguity's actually very helpful to know, so thank you!

I was recently accepted to my first conference and wondered if you more experienced folks had any insight on this: the acceptance mentioned only the guidelines for the presentation, with no info about submitting a paper to accompany it. Would you assume that "presentation" means they'll expect a copy of a polished "paper" as well? Or are there cases where a conference would just want the presentation? For context, this is a media studies conference being hosted within a larger (non-academic) media convention. I'm going to double-check with the organizers either way, but I'm mostly just trying to figure out from which assumption I should be framing my question to look least like a total newbie (which I obviously am)! Thanks!

I definitely just used my BA thesis! It was the exact page requirement for most of my schools though, so it was a no-brainer for me, but excerpts should be totally fine and expected as well.

Most schools will need an official version at some point, but I'd try calling the department before you resend if you haven't already. I got an auto-alert that my transcripts were missing from one school, so I had them Fed Ex'd overnight from my undergrad at my expense. When I got the alert AGAIN a few days later I knew something was wrong (esp since I now had the tracking number, proof of delivery, etc.) and called—I'm pretty sure the department assistant was literally looking through the stack of documents while we were on the phone and finally I heard, "Oh yeah, they're right here! I'll update your file."

You should be fine! Could be just "conditional" on maintaining a certain GPA/degree, etc. One of my acceptances is noted on their system as "conditional"... upon the condition of me successfully paying their deposit

These should be the rates for now: http://transnet.usc.edu/index.php/parking-rates/ I think it depends slightly on your luck in the lottery too, though the motorcycle spots may be in less demand than those for cars?

Graduate Application Status The University of Southern California is pleased to offer you the ability to receive online messages regarding the status of your application. -- ...really?!

I would pick one person and write exclusively to them—either the department heads or someone in admissions. Make it clear that you've written ONLY to them in the email. Like Taeyers said, my guess would be that each of the six people assumed that one of the other people copied would take care of the scheduling.

Yuppp, mine went okay, too! I actually also got a 158 quant, which was fine for my decidedly non-quanty field. I only ended up studying for about two weeks, which was... kind of dumb, but whatever. I'm sure you'll do fine. My main problem in quant was running out of time, so I'd focus on learning all the little tricks and shortcuts if I had to do it again. The knowledge is back there in your head, it just takes a little longer to access it. I also would have started with a daily vocab review of some sort well ahead of time—I knew I wasn't going to be able to cram 30,000 words in a few weeks, so I just went with what I knew. In studying for that, I would focus not just on the words, but also learning the types of questions they like to ask for reading comprehension/comparisons/etc. I got 164 on verbal. For AW, I mostly just looked at examples and figured out they all kind of stick to a formula, and then just did that on the test day. I really liked the Analyze an Argument section, where I just pretended I was a prosecutor on Law & Order and my job was to hammer down on the person until they cracked I got 5.0 for the writing section. Anyway! I think the best part of being on the older side was that I was in a really good mind space during the exam. There were lots of 20 year olds there with their parents who looked like they were about to cry before we went in. I got into a very zen place knowing that I'm already an ADULT and I know that I know things and I have a job and that people who love me and that I'm more than just the numbers that the computers spits out, etc. etc. So I felt like that was a good place to be in for taking something as silly and terrifying as the GRE. Good luck!

"Under review" means just that, that they are still reviewing your application and deciding where to place you. At this point, you could still be accepted, you could be waitlisted, or you could be rejected...

I mean, obviously stay positive and optimistic—but I'm not sure I'd read TOO much into this. They may have an auto-generated message that personally addresses each applicant with a friendly message, or the fin aid office may just actually respond to everyone because they know if they don't they'll get a bunch of panicked emails from us

I would definitely print out a few to bring with you just to be safe—even on the slimmest possibility that anybody asks you for one, it's preferable to have one ready to go than not. I think regular paper is fine and more commonly used nowadays, but if you wanted to use fancy resume paper, I'm sure nobody would hold it against you.