history_geek

From what I was told, apply to PhD schools first since they have early deadline dates. However, have a handful of MA schools ready in case you get denied or you get the feeling that you will be denied to your PhD schools. Depending on the deadline dates, your MA applications might have to be sent before you get a response from all of your PhD schools. Essentially, have a back up plan for the worst case scenario.

Send it to me in a pm and I'll read it this weekend for you.

Yeah I believe Dr. Quatert is retiring in a couple years. Dr. Karsteiner would be my main advisor if I attend Binghamton. Both are really nice people, in general.

I'll read it. Send me a pm and I'll read it over this weekend.

Professor Quartet and Professor Karnstein are interested.

After a summer of hell and figuring this out, I'll be applying to Boston University, Boston College, University of Toronto, University of Chicago, Stony Brook, and Binghamton University. My aim is to study 20th Century German Economic History with subfields in nationalism, totalitarianism, and European diplomacy.

Pizza, I actually had 2 log and 2 sin vs cos vs tan problems. I'm not sure if they are handing out more of those problems, but they were clearly those type of problems.

Bit of a gravedig, but I just finished a visit and I am preparing a second. I visited Boston (about 6 hours away from me) as a summer vacation. While I was their I made sure to reach out to the university and talk to the professor I wanted to study under. After our coffee and discussion, he told me that it was a great idea to come see him since it shows devotion to the field and an interest in the school. I was also told how to write my SoP for that university to gain a leg up in the admission process. Overall, yes! I would say go see the university, but if you cannot, then reaching out and talking with them is key.

I got the Kaplan Premier Edition and their flashcards. The book is a little dry and hard to work through, but the flashcards were a blessing. Also, you get access to their online database and tutor services which can help a lot if you are lacking in one area of the other. I might be wrong, but I believe you get an additional 4 practice tests by getting the Premier Edition instead of the regular. I did not use them all, but they are available if you need them.

I finished up my GREs about a week ago and scored fairly decent, 71st percentile (my testing area gave us the percentile not grade ). Anyways, my best advice for increasing your Quantitative would be Khan Academy. I had a problem with some pre-calc and calculus problems and the resources online and in my book were not enough. I popped onto Khan Academy and quickly understood the problems and began to master them fairly quickly. Every math idea or theory is on their and it is easy to pick and choose the ones you want to look at. Pick whichever ones are bugging you and go through the videos and practice problems several times. Wait 16 hours then do it again. Repeat until you master the section.

I wanted to come here and just say thank you to everyone that helped me find material and understand sections of the GRE. I posted a score in the 71st percentile, a 20 point jump. Thank you to all of you! For those of you looking for a bit of advice, take a breath! The GRE is annoying and a bear, if you did not study. However, I'm assuming most of us here are studying and getting a grasp for the actual test. When you get into that room, take a seat and just breath. You have been studying for weeks, some of us even months. You know exactly what is going to be on it and how to approach every problem that will be on it. As the test starts, remember to pace yourself. Do not spend 3 or 4 minutes on any question, mark it and move on to the next question, if you have time at the end then go back and do that question again. I made the mistake of doing a logarithmic problem for 4 minutes and ended up rushing the last 3 questions of the first math section. The next section, I paced myself and realized that I had almost 7 minutes to go back and look over the work. Pacing yourself and breathing makes the test easier and less stressful. Pace is not the only thing to keep in mind. Make sure to take your 10 minute break! I saw several people push through the break and they were losing concentration by the 4 hour mark. The GRE is not a sprint! On your break, go the bathroom, get some water (pop/soda has sugar and will make you tired and so will energy drinks once the chemicals wear off), and bring a small snack (a granola bar or a piece of fruit). Replenishing your body for the final push is going to help you a lot, but do not eat or drink a lot. You have to sit for another hour and a half without a break and going to the bathroom will force you to rush, regardless of your pacing. Remember to breath and realize that you can take the GRE again if you do not like your score. Best of luck to all of you taking the GRE in the coming months!

Awesome. Thank you all for the help. I'll try your tips and see if the test scores change at all.

So I did a quick edit for your essay. I tried to color code it and give you some idea of the mistakes. Hope this helps you out. Green - Awkward opening phrase or misplaced sentence Blue - Grammar and awkward sentence Red - misspelled word Orange - Run on sentence

I have been studying and taking practice tests for about 2 months now. I've noticed that my main problem is the sentence equivalence section. I'm sitting around 50% on that section and it is really dragging my score down. Does anyone have a good way to increase that score, other than just studying vocabulary?

I have been debating this and talking with some professors at my university about putting my DD214, discharge paperwork from the military, into my application bundle. In my SOP, I stated that I served which delayed my entry into my undergraduate program and delayed my eventual applications to graduate programs. As for the application, some schools say they want any relevant forms to be attached to the online application and sent in, while others are even vaguer and just say attach any important information to the application. Should I send in my DD214 with my applications or not?

PPear, it comes down to whether or not you have the room. You need to do all the wonderful explaining of your life, goals, why you want to go, etc. If you can work in the professors some way without hindering the other areas of the SOP, then go for it.

I did a quick scan of the file in the link. It came up as potentially harmful and full of viruses. I would stick clear of it.

I have the Kaplan book and flashcard combo. I'm finding it extremely helpful for a nice refresher on everything from high school that I seem to have forgotten when I came to college. Any ways, I would suggest Kaplan. It explains everything clearly and they have a massive online system that explains things even further. Overall, I'm very pleased thus far.

I completely agree with missmend. I needed to take a step back and decide if I wanted to study Economics, Economic history, or German Economic history. I know they all sound familiar, but deciding what you want to exactly do is crucial. You will allow yourself to look closer at some programs, re-rank your programs, and find new programs. If you think it over this weekend, come Monday, you can effectively sit down and truly critique the programs that you are interested in. As for the SOP, I have been finding it extremely difficult to fit and effectively describe one major research interest. Adding a second interest will probably lead you to lack description on your main interest and make the committee think you do not fully understand what you want to do. Your SOP is tiny, compared to the rest of your application, but it contains some of the most important information in the entire application. Pick one interest and fully describe it, if you have room, then only describe how your main research interest fits into the second interest. Best of luck to you!

So the general idea is that I need to cut out the current research papers and replace it with my goals for graduate school?

My advisor told me to start abrupt because I have only 500 words to play with and need to get into how my undergrad work developed my plan for grad work. I'll play with it a bit and see what I can change up. Thanks for the help. P.S. No I just messed up. I'm applying for fall 2016.

Hey there! I had some extra time this week and started to write my SOP for one of the schools I am looking at. Right now I have 450 words and only have a 500 word limit. Is anyone willing to read over and help me out? Thanks for the help!

I plan on applying to graduate schools in Fall of 2015. Currently, I'm looking at taking the GREs twice before the start of next semester. I would take them in late May or early June then again in early August. First, is this a good idea to take the GREs twice? The advisors at my school have suggested that it is a great idea to take them more than once and to take them before the actual applications are due. Second, is it plausible for me to study through May then take the GREs? I fear that it is too short of a window to study for them properly and prepare myself fully. On another note, I'm looking to get my PhD in History. I have been told that as long as I don't bomb the math section or the writing section, I will be okay when applying. Is it crucial for me to do well on the GREs since I have to submit several papers and do interviews?