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Everything posted by PizzaCat93
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Just got off the phone with an Ohio State POI. Conversation was very positive and mostly about fit and what the department has to offer. Decisions will be arriving within the next couple weeks.
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Phone interview? I got an email today requesting one. Maybe it's the same school.
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Thanks for doing this! I have a few different questions. 1) Do you feel that there is a high degree of competition and tension within your cohort/peers? Or, is everyone fairly helpful and encouraging? 2) Is your advisor often too busy to meet with you/respond to emails/etc? Or is s/he very supportive and available? 3) What was the first year and adjustment like for you? Did you ever regret your decision to attend grad school?
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On applications, there are certain options for race/ethnicity - white, black, Asian (maybe?), Native American/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino. There is really no other place to state one's specific ethnicity other than, say, in an SOP, but that would likely be fairly irrelevant, I think. If you are not an American citizen, they will obviously know your nationality, but otherwise, no. If you have European ancestry, for example, you would just be choosing "white" in that section of the application. Does this answer your question?
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I agree. I'm a straight, middle-class, white woman applying to Yale, and I did not submit one. Oftentimes, I think, when there are optional statements such as this, it's more the graduate school itself asking for it, not necessarily the department. If the department makes no mention of it - and they don't - then I don't think they place much importance on it. That being said, if you already have one written - and have something compelling to say - then you should submit one, by all means.
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You're applying this cycle, and you're just now beginning to think about schools? That's problematic in and of itself; most schools' deadlines are within the next week or so, and some have already passed.
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Why are you even here? You most certainly are trolling, big time.
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Not true. PS programs care fairly heavily about quant; both sections are equally important. Although the verbal score on test 1 is certainly impressive, I would choose test 2 if I were you. The verbal is sufficient either way, so go with the higher quant score. Also, some schools take the highest score from each test, so you might want to check with your schools to see if that's an option.
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I just submitted by NSF application for political science yesterday! Also applying for the Ford Fellowship.
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Background - I'm at a small LAC in the south, currently applying to PhD programs. My research advisor moved to another school this year, although we are still in contact. My academic advisor is not in my field, although I took methods from him as well as another course. I'm asking for letters from both of these professors. The question is this - I was meeting my academic advisor last week to go over a few things in regards to my applications. He suggested that I talk to another professor in my department for more advice, even though I have not taken courses nor had interactions with this other professor (who is in my field but does not share my research interests, hence the lack of interaction). He specifically said, "We want to have the entire department behind you and your application". I have no clue what this means and think it's an odd comment. I feel that he is uneasy that I don't really have any strong connections to the department anymore since my research advisor left and since he himself isn't in my field. The implication is that I'm out there flailing without any support, and this is not the case at all; I also have connections at about a third of the schools to which I'm applying. So, any advice? Does anyone understand what's going on here? It made me a bit uncomfortable, honestly.
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Also, try to log on to your GRE account so that you can check to make sure you entered your email address correctly. And, check your credit card statement to see if the fee got charged; if not, then the registration might not have gone through. If that's all good, try calling the testing center to inquire about your reservation.
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At my university (undergrad), we have the option of taking up to 12 credits (3 courses) pass-fail instead of for formal grades. Does doing this look bad on transcripts for PhD applications? The courses I am considering using this option for are electives, nothing pertaining to my field or anything.
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Is it plagiarism to substitute a similar, yet different, idea?
PizzaCat93 replied to grad29's topic in Writing Samples
Disclosure: I am not in the same field as you, so everything I say may not apply (although both are social sciences). A few comments - - If you have read many academic papers, you will realize that there almost always are more than 1 to 2 citations per paragraph, especially in literature review sections. Papers often have literally hundreds of in-text citations, and in regards to my thesis (which got the highest grade in my class) I have sometimes as many as 5-10 citations in one paragraph. We cite to credit others for their work - that is the only reason - and it is honestly better to over-cite than to under-cite. - You must cite not only if you quote, but also if you take an idea from someone else's work. When do you not have to cite? When you're writing about something that is common knowledge. In some fields, you don't have to cite what is common knowledge for those within the field. This is not the case for my field, but it may be for yours. - Your concerns about "flow". See above. But also, this is an academic paper; it's a work of scholarship, not a work of art. No one cares about "flow". That said, if you're seriously concerned, maybe consider using footnotes or endnotes, as they are not as disruptive. - You don't necessarily have to "intend" to be "deceptive" to engage in plagiarism. In fact, it could purely be an accident, but that doesn't mean it's not a problem. If you've repeatedly had teachers/professors think you're plagiarizing, you probably should start listening to their advice. In my opinion, it's not your writing style that's making them think this; it's that you're not citing enough. That's just my two cents. I hope I was not too harsh. -
The same thing happened to me (only worse)! I got 151 on my first quant attempt, after making between 159-163 on practice tests, including PowerPrep. I retook it in three weeks and got 159. What I did in the meantime was look at what types of questions/formulas I always got hung up on and practiced a lot of those problems; I did not take any more practice tests during that time. Although there were some things that I did not know and needed to learn before the retest, I think nerves and not knowing what to expect at the test center were the biggest issue because even my verbal score was several points lower than expected (raised as well on second attempt). I know it's easier said than done, but try not to freak out too much about this result. I am sure you will do better next time, especially considering your field. As far as resources, you may want to look into the Manhattan 5 lb. book, the official ETS quant guide, and especially the free ETS math review (https://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/gre_math_review.pdf) if you haven't already checked that out. BTW, I actually read the Princeton Review book before my second test, and it did help a bit, so you may want to read it more closely as well. Another tip to keep in mind during the test is to do the easy/quick questions first. Skip any questions that you don't automatically know the answer to or that you see are going to take a while to figure out. Then, you can go back for a second look.
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I cannot speak for international test centers, so YMMV, but I assume it is fairly similar since the security procedures are mandated by ETS. At the test center, there are usually lots of people taking all different sorts of tests. You should arrive at least 30 minutes early, and you will check in and be given a locker to put all your belongings (except your ID). After this, I was taken back and went through all the security measures (metal detector, photograph, etc.). Then, they assigned me a computer and let me begin the test early. Basically, you begin the test in order of arrival. This is good because 1) you will probably get to start early and 2) everyone will have breaks at different times, so no bathroom lines. And, you do have to go through all the security procedures when you return from breaks, so make sure to leave enough time for that.
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No, not undergraduate journals. The coauthored paper is in a fairly reputable political science journal, and my solo authored paper is in a decent area studies journal.
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Can my publications make up for it?
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Hey everyone, As I was browsing my GRE account just now, I noticed and clicked on the "GRE diagnostic service". It's free and gives you a list of the questions you got right and wrong, by question type and difficulty level. (It doesn't give the actual questions, of course). Since I have never read anything on here about it, I feel like most are unaware of this service, but it's very useful and interesting!
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An update - my GRE retake yielded 166V 159Q. Last AWA was 5, so I believe this one should be comparable.
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Well, I just got back home from retaking the GRE, and I got 166V and 159Q! I'm very happy with this improvement, of course.
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I took the GRE two weeks ago, and this is not correct, although I was confused about this topic as well. At the end of the test, you have the option of canceling your scores or reporting your scores. If you choose to report, you get to see your scores, and then you can choose whether to send to schools or not. What "report" really means is that the scores become part of your "official record" as it were. Anyway, after I saw my scores, I did not send them to any schools. So, don't worry.
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I agree that Khan Academy is helpful, but the GRE does not have pre-calc, and definitely doesn't have calculus. That would only be needed if you were taking the mathematics subject test, and since your program is history, you would not be taking that, so...
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Current student at small liberal arts college in the south, 3.8 GPA, 3.9 major GPA. Political science major, Middle East studies minor (4.0 in minor). Need to retake the GRE, but hoping to have 160+ on each section (somewhat concerned about ability to get quant score that high, but I'm working on it). I have two peer-reviewed publications, one solo authored, one co-authored with a professor. I also have 3 published book reviews. I worked as an RA last summer and a TA for one semester. I've presented at 4 political science conferences and won best undergraduate paper at my state's annual political science conference. I know French and can use SPSS. I want to do qualitative CP research (can get more specific if needed). My LORs will come from the professor for whom I worked as an RA and published with, my major advisor/statistical methods professor, and the chair of my minor (religion professor). Latter two are tenured. I'll be using my senior thesis for my writing sample as it's most indicative of the path I want my research to take. Hoping for top-10 but also applying to schools in top-30. UMich is probably my ideal school (two profs with whom I would love to work).
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Hello everyone. I took the GRE today and got an abysmal 160V 151Q. My practice tests have been in the range of 163-167 for verbal and 159-164 for quant. What went wrong? I honestly had a higher quant score when I took my first PowerPrep before I even started studying. I've been studying 6 days a week, roughly 5 hours a day for the past 2.5 months. I think the writing section went well, and I am fairly certain that my first section, verbal, was the experimental section. Things went south when I realized that my second quant section was significantly easier than the first (making me feel relatively ambivalent about the last verbal section). I registered today to take the test again in 3 weeks because I don't think a lack of studying had much to do with it. What to do?! I am afraid that I'll blow the second test, worrying that what happened this time will happen again. I really don't know why his happened. FYI, I definitely need 160+ on both sections for my applications. The higher the better.
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I believe the answer cannot be determined because it says RS is greater than ST. In other words, S is not the midpoint. If S were the midpoint, then the angles would all be 60 degrees. Since you don't know how much greater RS is than ST, we cannot know the angle measure. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.