grad29

"Please click here to accept or decline your offer. Failure to respond within one week of this notification indicates you do not wish to accept our offer. If you accept this offer, please allow 2-3 business days for your account to be term activated for registration." I applied for 7 other programs. I don't find out about whether I'm accepted into those until March. This program was more of a backup to those programs, which I'm more interested in attending; however, if I don't get acceptances to any of those programs, I was planning on going here. Because I only have 1 week to accept or decline the offer, do I just accept it and then renege if I'm accepted into a program I'm more interested in?

I've done it. I've finished applying for 7 School Psychology Programs. I'm going for the Masters/Specialist Degree route. I'm applying for programs in the Midwest. A little bit about myself: I'm 27. I've been out of school for the last 4 years and my undergraduate GPA wasn't all that great. I was actually on academic probation my freshmen and sophomore years. I was a commercial aviation student and once that didn't work out I switched my major into psychology and transferred schools the beginning of my junior year. At that point I had a pretty horrid GPA and didn't have any idea what I was going for, so didn't really care too much about school. Then, I realized midway through my Junior year that many psychology careers required more than just a bachelors, so I started focusing on school more and ended up graduating with "honors" (which was only a 3.25 for my school and they didn't carry over my cumulative when I transferred, so "honors"). I was at a 1.78 or something semester GPA Junior Fall and had only around a 2.6 Freshmen/Sophomore cumulative. Then I graduated 3.26 cumulative the last 2 years. Had like 4 straight semesters of only A's, 3.73 Psychology GPA last 2 years, like a 3.75 cumulative last 4 semesters or something). Since I've graduated, I finished a term in the military and I've been working about 60-70 hour weeks in group homes with the special needs population (was a house manager, worked in a halfway house, and as a direct care staff). I'm a veteran of the USAF, having deployed to Afghanistan/Kuwait and a few other places. I took the general GRE (157V, 155Q, 5AW - definitely upper end of the programs I'm applying to) and I took an optional subject GRE (I get those results back this Monday, I think I scored around the 70th percentile, but it could be a lot higher) to help make up for my undergraduate GPA. Also, a lot of the programs I applied for were in the next state over so they may have not have been familiar with my undergraduate program, so figured it wouldn't hurt refreshing myself and adding a little value to my resume. I also had to write a sample paper for one of the programs - which ended up being a 15 page literature review. That took a ton of time. I've put way more work in than most school psychology applicants and will be really, really upset if I don't get in someplace. I just hope the admissions committee will see through my rough semesters throughout college and say "here's a guy that has turned it around" and accept me. I've pretty much just been working on applications - all while working 60-70 hour weeks and getting in the best shape of my life (lost 30 lbs in the last 4 months or so) - since I got rejected from a late application to a program last March (applied without any GRE scores though, they only looked at my undergrad GPA and life experiences/references). I didn't decide I wanted to go to graduate school until early March of last year, which was around the application deadline for many programs. I emailed a program close to my area and asked if I could apply late, which they said I could, but I didn't get in. That was also probably one of the easiest programs I'm applying to to get into. I was surprised I didn't get accepted. Being a veteran and working 70 hour weeks in group homes for 3 years I guess wasn't as good as some freshly graduated person. So I'm a little stressed and angry that they didn't see through that. But, I've learned a ton in the last year and so it could end up working out for the better. I've done quite a bit of looking into financing school. Apparently after 5 years of employment certain states reimburse you for the Federal Perkin's Loan. Some programs don't offer these types of loans, some do. So make sure when you are applying that you look into that. Every school is also different with how much of these loans you can qualify for - I know the max is $8,000/year. So basically you could be reimbursed for $16,000 of loans (since the programs are usually 2 years with the last year being a paid internship). If you're going for PHD you'll be funded anyways and a lot of programs offer assistantships. But if you're going for just the specialist/masters route like I am you'll be paying around $30,000. Add that to whatever student loans you already have, and $18,000 off that is a huge help. Secondly, make sure you are also applying for a program that gives you a Masters degree halfway to earning the Ed.S. After looking through school psychology vacancies across the Midwest I've noticed about half of these districts require Masters and half require Bachelors. There are some programs that just offer the Ed.S. without giving their students a Masters of Science in Education. It'll also help you be paid a little more since you'll be in a higher salary schedule. I didn't realize that until only a few months back. Anyways - good luck everyone, wish you the best and wish me luck!

I will change my introduction to: Academic achievement has always been an important stepping stone to further success and life satisfaction. Yet as the struggle for economic security increases in the United States, the budget for education continues to be scrutinized (Fieldman, 2011). The funding in return for important resources to learning is often challenged (Zuckerbrod, 2008). School officials are now faced with the responsibility for streamlining an increasingly limited educational budget. This paper investigates one such possible resource to academic achievement that most often requires additional funding: extracurricular activities (ECAs). ECAs “do not involve a grade or academic credit and participation is optional on the part of the student" (Bartkus et al, p. 698). After presenting varying views within the existing literature, practical implications will be suggested to better help aid the budget issue in education. Then instead of going into the methodology of each study, I will give a general overview of the varying frameworks in chronological order, showing the evolution in thinking, and then a general take-away of how this information can be used and what needs to be researched further. Maybe that organization will be more true to what a better literature review ought to look like. Thoughts?

Okay, thanks for the replies. That makes sense. I will try and do that!

I am working on a literature review for a writing sample as part of my application to a graduate program. My topic is on the relationship between involvement in extracurricular activities and academic achievement. My question is in regards to its organization. I have 10 studies I plan on using for the review. This number would be much higher for a published review, but for a writing sample I think anything between 7-12 is sufficient. My idea of a good literature review is an academic paper that summarizes known research on a specific topic, using a decent amount of sources that reflect the broadest amount of variation within the topic choice (for instance for my topic, it would be a good idea to include studies of not just American high school students, but perhaps Korean elementary school students as well). Then, in addition to that, providing implications of the aforementioned studies. Basic APA structure aside (title page, references, etc...) I am having a bit of trouble figuring out how to organize it. My plan right now after this introduction: Academic achievement in high school is an important stepping stone to further education and career success. Yet as the struggle for economic security increases in the United States, the budget for education continues to be scrutinized (Fieldman, 2011). The funding in return for extracurricular activities is often challenged (Zuckerbrod, 2008). In this paper, 10 studies investigating the relationship between involvement in extracurricular activities and academic performance in high school students will be presented to determine whether or not an association exists. The combined results will be analyzed in order to determine what, if any, practical implications for school officials responsible for streamlining an increasingly limited educational budget exist. Is to discuss the methodology and results of each study and then go on to talk about any conclusions, generalizations, limitations, and further suggested research. What do you think about this organization? Feel free to make any suggestions that you think would help make it better.

I actually had a record of it, so it wasn't that big of a deal. It was for the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), but only 1 of the 7 programs asked for that. To order my official transcripts it isn't that big of a headache either. It took like 3 days to arrive to my address and it was only $5/copy. I did transfer to another university my sophomore year, so I needed to submit that one as well. Then, I also had some credits I received from the Community College of the Air Force, which I need to submit too, so I had 3 different transcripts to send to 7 different schools. The USAF's were super cheap, like 25c, and the others were $72 total, so it wasn't that large of an expense. That's what the programs asked I did, so I just did it. Asking for exceptions may have saved me $72, but I figured I wouldn't bother them and just provide them what they required.

2 of the 7 programs ask for a hard copy be mailed in. The other 5 ask that it be submitted online. One of the programs I applied to last fall that I didn't get accepted to also asked it be mailed in as a hard copy. I think I'll choose the paperclip method lol

The immunization records were only due for one of the schools in North Dakota. I guess the North Dakota Board of Higher Education requires every student to have certain immunizations, so as a part of their application process they ask for it to be submitted. I think most other states also require certain immunizations, but they may not ask that you submit it until after you're accepted. As far as transcripts, all of the programs asked for official ones (sealed, directly from the university). I think most other graduate programs would ask for official vs unofficial ones as well, but I may be wrong. That's how it is for all the programs I'm looking at though.

Silly question, but just wondering what you did

I'm working on 7 for the 2016 Fall Semester. It's a lot of work! General GRE, Subject Test GRE - Psychology, Writing Sample, Letters of Reference, Letters of Interest, Immunization Records, Online Applications, Application Fees, Official Transcripts, etc...

I know that's what one's supposed to do, but reading 20-30 articles is a lot of work. I mean how much time do they expect us to put into a literature review? I really doubt they are expecting us to qualify ourselves fully on the knowledge available before we begin writing. In other words, I don't think the argument necessarily needs to be completely sound. I think a program with the admission requirements they have is looking more for organization, writing ability, potential to conduct research, etc... than they are looking for applicants with publishable writing samples. This isn't Harvard. Plus, I don't even have access to EBSCO. I graduated college in 2012. LOL. I'm going to whip out a 10-15 page research paper with good organization, writing style, near perfect APA format, etc....with the few studies I'm able to find through Google on the above topic and call it good. I appreciate everyone's input. I did learn a lot about academic writing, but I can't spend months on this paper. I have a psychology GRE test to study for and 10 applications to complete - while working 60 hours/week. I'm going back to get the masters/certification required simply in order to be a school psychologist. I get research is a part of that, but I'm not going for a PHD.... so i'm going to get started.

And...we have a third answer! Now we've covered them all. Last 4 terms, last 60 credits, the past 2 calendar years. I think basically if I need to calculate it for anything I will just ask for clarification (or just take whichever GPA measurements ends up yielding the highest . Fuzzy's conclusion confirmed.

I could make that conclusion or I could perhaps more accurately make the conclusion somebody doesn't know what they are talking about, considering this is an internet forum. Although it doesn't seem a stretch to say there are different ways to measure a student's cumulative over the "last two years". It was more a question of curiosity than anything. I don't need to put it on my application but I like to see how I stand compared to other students who have already been admitted to the program, which is why I wouldn't bother asking.

I've read the links that explain more thoroughly what a literature review is. The one from the University of North Carolina (http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/literature-reviews/) was especially helpful. Although the more I'm researching my topic, the more I'm realizing how little there is to review on it. Like you said, 3 studies generally isn't enough for a literature review. Additionally, after looking at the 3 studies more in depth I'm noticing they aren't even really studying the relationship directly, so maybe I can turn this into a research paper after all instead of a literature review. I could create an interpretation of the results in a way which shows a possible non-relationship between intelligence and graduation (which I think I can do by building the studies upon one another) and then explain why the research is significant. The thing I dislike when trying to do a research paper is giving this naive impression that I'm trying to contribute to a field I'm not even a part of - which looks silly (?). A literature review is a way of saying "hey I'm new here so I'm gonna do me some readin' up on a topic" but whatever... "A study by the U.S. Department of Education found that 25% of high school freshmen fail to graduate on time and 1.2 million high school students drop out of school every year (2008). Not graduating high school inhibits many things, such as future job opportunities, higher wages, college admission, and confidence. Numerous research has been conducted on the various causes of high school drop outs. Some factors involved include the cultural frameworks the students are a part of, pregnancy, the health of family members, and financial difficulties at home (Eckland, 1972; Griffin & Alexander, 1978). However little research has shown whether a possible relationship exists between a student's level of intelligence and the likelihood of graduation. Three studies will be presented that suggest a student's level of intelligence has a very weak relationship with graduating high school. In knowing such a weak relationship exists, schools districts will be able to more effectively address the high school dropout rate. Lastly, studies which can further explore this relationship will be proposed."

Two different answers. One saying the last 4 terms and one saying the last 60 credits. The later seems more logical to me?

Okay - what about if in the summer term I took 9 credits, where in the fall/spring semesters I took 18? They would still look at the last 4 terms?

Is the last two years of GPA the last 60 credits? The last 4 semesters of transcripts? The last 2 calendar years?

Right. That makes sense. That would be closer to a research paper than a literature review, which is what I don't want to do. How about rephrasing it to: A study by the U.S. Department of Education found that 25% of high school freshmen fail to graduate on time and 1.2 million high school students drop out of school every year [shows a problem exists]. Not graduating high school inhibits many things, such as future job opportunities, higher wages, college admission, and confidence [shows the consequences of the problem]. Several factors are thought to explain the reasons why high school students fail to graduate. Some factors involved include the cultural frameworks the students are a part of, pregnancy, the health of family members, and financial difficulties at home (Eckland, 1972; Griffin & Alexander, 1978) [shows causes of the problem]. It's been demonstrated that a student's intelligence has a very weak relationship with the likelihood of high school graduation [summarizes significant research (literature review) and introduces the topic of the paper]. In this paper, three studies will be presented that have investigated this relationship [provides an overview of what to expect in the paper]. I do have three studies that show this. Do you think I should add one more sentence? Something like: (1) Lastly, implications of this research will be suggested that may help school districts more effectively address high school dropout rates [explains the possible significance of the summarized knowledge]. Or is that not something that a literature review normally would have in it... Once I form this introduction it'll be much easier to construct my paper, having a clear topic, knowing what to write about, etc... So this: A study by the U.S. Department of Education found that 25% of high school freshmen fail to graduate on time and 1.2 million high school students drop out of school every year. Not graduating high school inhibits many things, such as future job opportunities, higher wages, college admission, and confidence. Several factors are thought to explain the reasons why high school students fail to graduate. Some factors involved include the cultural frameworks the students are a part of, pregnancy, the health of family members, and financial difficulties at home (Eckland, 1972; Griffin & Alexander, 1978). It's been demonstrated that a student's intelligence has a very weak relationship with the likelihood of high school graduation. In this paper, three studies will be presented that have investigated this relationship. Lastly, implications of this research will be suggested that may help school districts more effectively address high school dropout rates. Anything you think would be better left out or added? Would this be an appropriate literature review topic?

Okay, so they are actually referring to a psychological evaluation report when they say "psychological report", got it. I was thinking that meant something else. So my topic obviously isn't the type of psychological report they are looking for. So, correct me if I'm wrong, but the way I think of it now is: (1) Research Paper: Looks to add something new within the field. It builds upon the knowledge of others. It does this by first presenting the information others have gathered up to that point and then adding to it. (2) Literature Review: Looks to present an argument of what is already known (and also what isn't) about a certain topic (3) Psychological Report: An assessment/evaluation and referral of a person's mental health (4) Etc... It seems like #1 wouldn't work very well for me since I only have so much knowledge of the field (like you said in my other thread, sometimes it can work against a person to attempt doing a research paper without enough knowledge) #3 could possibly work. I could use a psychological evaluation report in one of my group homes as a sample and create an imaginary psychological report. However that might end up only being 2-3 pages or something and I feel like I should give them something which also shows my writing "ability" - or at least something I've spend a little more effort doing. #4 I could do it on something other than what they mentioned, but the risk in doing that is giving them something they aren't really looking for. However at the same time by attempting to do one of the others and failing, may work against me. #2 seems like my best bet because of the limitations of the other three options I've decided to make my topic a little more specific, if not because they require it, but because it'll make writing the paper easier and be in line with what a typical academic paper may look like. I decided to take a look at the role a student's intelligence has on their chances of graduating high school. I've written this introduction. A study by the U.S. Department of Education found that 25% of high school freshmen fail to graduate on time and 1.2 million high school students drop out of school every year. Not graduating high school prevents better job opportunities, higher wages, college admission, and confidence. Several things are thought to explain the reasons why high school students fail to graduate. Some factors involved include the cultural frameworks the students are a part of, pregnancy, the health of family members, and financial difficulties at home (Eckland, 1972; Griffin & Alexander, 1978). In this paper, the role a student’s intelligence has on the chances of graduating high school are investigated. It’s hypothesized that the level of intelligence has very little effect on a student’s likelihood of graduating high school. Three studies will be analyzed that demonstrate and support this hypothesis and further research will be suggested in order to more thoroughly address this relationship. What do you think about that?

That PDF you provided, which I doubt you actually read, was a guide for parents and teachers on what a "psychological evaluation report" includes. That is much different than the "psychological report" they are asking for. After seeing the "reasons for referral" in bold letters all over, it was pretty clear.

So you have reports (which are not academic research papers or literature reviews), then there are research papers and literature reviews (both of which require arguments according to you to be successful), & articles. "preferably of a psychological nature such as a summary of literature, research paper, psychological reports, etc. It must be writing using APA format and be your own work. Please include a note describing the sample (PDF)" I'll be daring and assume that the "summary of literature" is the same thing as a "literature review". Topic: A Synopsis of the High School Drop Out: a Historical Overview, a Contemporary Analysis, and Resolution. Would you consider that topic to be a "report"? Even if it is, it seems to be meeting their criteria. "preferably of a psychological nature" - is it possible to write a report that is psychological in nature? Of course. They didn't say "write either a literature review, research paper, or psychological report" they used those as examples of writings you could do that would be acceptable including "etc...". Why can't the "etc..." include a report?

Why does a research paper need to have a defined argument? Isn't there such a thing as a research paper that presents a general overview of a topic? ("a synopsis of the high school drop out: a historical overview, a contemporary analysis, and resolution"). It seems like you're saying that because a topic is too broad, it can't be a successful research paper. Take this article for instance: http://gradnation.org/sites/default/files/DCTD%20Final%20Full_0.pdf Or this study (psychological report): http://sgo.sagepub.com/content/3/4/2158244013503834 They are researching the same broad question. Would you say this isn't successful research because the topic it covers is too broad?

These were the instructions given to me for a writing sample: "preferably of a psychological nature such as a summary of literature, research paper, psychological reports, etc. It must be writing using APA format and be your own work. Please include a note describing the sample (PDF)." I'm applying to a Master's Program for School Psychology. It seems to me as though those instructions leave quite a bit of room on what type of writing to give them. Whether it's a review of an article, an essay, research in the field, etc...it seems like there's a lot of flexibility on my end. Is there some sort of unspoken expectation within those instructions of what they are looking for that I'm not reading into correctly? To give you an overview of the program I'm applying to - this isn't a top 10 program, this is a program that is somewhat "easy" to get into. To give you a better idea the mean GRE scores for this program are a 152V and 149Q and a 3.48 mean GPA. My GRE was 157V/155Q/5AW. My cumulative was a little lower than there mean, around a 3.26 ( (not including first 2 years, when I transferred into a school they didn't carry that cumulative over, altogether it's about a 3.0 - I had switched majors from aviation into psychology after completely losing interest in it, I have kind of a weird transcript, a bunch of D's/C's and then last 4 semesters I pretty much earned straight A's). I graduated about 3 years ago and never planned on going back to school, so I didn't earn as good as grades as I was capable. I plan on taking a psychology GRE subject test that they "highly recommend" for students with GPAs below a 3.25 for the last two years (even though I'm at a 3.26) to show them I have knowledge of the subject. I'm confident I can score in the 80th percentile on that test. So I feel like I'll be above most of the other applicants already. I'm also a veteran and have worked with the trouble youth/special populations for the last 3 years - one place I was a manager in. It's also not the only program I'm applying for, although this may be one of the easier ones, I'm applying for 7 other school psychology programs as well. With all that being said: I'm wondering if the topic of "why students drop out of high school" would be appropriate. I'll phrase it in a way that sounds less "general", but basically that's what I was thinking of writing about. I know it's a broad topic, but the instructions above they gave me didn't state any specific requirements. I know academic literature generally follows certain expected standards - one perhaps being a more specific topic, but if I write a paper using APA format as specified, including various summaries of literature, psychological reports, articles, etc..on the topic as requested, I don't see why it's not meeting the criteria they listed? It's not like this is a PHD program for clinical psychology, where they might expect a "more condensed" piece of academic writing. A program which may have 250 applicants and only accepted 20 or so. Of course I want to do the best I can, but I already have a solid 6 pages or so on that topic, with a good organization. It'll probably be around 20 pages by the time everything is put together, including reference, cover, abstract pages, etc... Perhaps it'll be closer to an essay than anything, but it'll include a historical overview, a contemporary analysis, and a resolution. The organization will make sense and even though it won't fully cover the topic because it's so broad, it'll definitely give a decent overview of some of the reasons students choose to drop out of high school. Thoughts?

Yes, I agree with that, but I don't really have much of a choice. Thankfully the entry requirements of the school that's asking for one don't seem that demanding. It's definitely not a program that has 200 applicants and only 20 are accepted, or anything like that. Although PsycInfo is obviously helpful in research, you don't really need it. I can work off a lot of the more popular studies that are a google click away. Feedback is something I'll get from the members on this site and my dad - whose a high school English teacher, for whatever that's worth ha. I'm also a decent writer, scored a 5 on my AWA in the GRE (lol). I feel like I'm definitely capable of writing a research paper. I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to writing papers. I will seriously spend an hour on one paragraph to make it perfect, but it would definitely be helpful to have feedback when it comes to a lot of little things, like how I'm supposed to cite things, how I'm supposed to insert graphs in APA, etc... I do know how to construct the title page, abstract, headings, reference pages, etc...I'm nowhere near an expert on conducting academic research. Writing an actual academic paper is an entirely different ballgame, but I feel like I can come up with something presentable.

I would suggest retaking it and trying to get that Verbal up. If you can't - I would suggest sending the second, V: 149, Q: 168, AWA: 5.0. You have an increase in your AWA and Q. Yet your verbal is 149, which is really low. If you scored a 154 once, you can do it again. What's another $200 and 21 days when you're looking at your dream school and getting yourself in a career?