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gradschoolcoolguy

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  • Application Season
    2021 Fall
  • Program
    TESOL

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  1. If you still need someone to look, then I'll do it if you don't mind taking a look at mine in return. Coincidentally, I actually majored in anthropology and focused my undergraduate thesis on primatology. I also applied to programs that have a focus in primatology a while back (only got accepted to one and ended up declining). However, this time I'm applying for an MA in TESOL.
  2. If you're willing to read over my SOP, I'll read over yours. Mines for a MA in TESOL, but my undergrad was in anthro and I've applied for PhD programs before, so I think I'll be familiar enough to understand what you're talking about in your SOP.
  3. I have to submit two SOPs for the same university: one for the Masters program and one for a fellowship program. There is some overlap between them, but the instructions for each are different. If someone (preferably someone applying/has applied to TESOL, education, or social science programs) is willing to exchange with me, I am open to reviewing two of your documents, as well.
  4. So I need two LORs for all of my applications, and I have one slot already filled. My next one will likely be from one of the following five people. The first two wrote LORs for me five years ago(when I unsuccessfully applied to grad school), so I would be asking them both a second time: Number 1: Professor of geography. She never had me as a student but I worked in her lab for two years, did a research project, got a small grant to pay for some lab tests and presented the research at a conference. She even said explicitly that she'd write me an LOR before I even asked for one. I also knew her well and even went to some hangouts with her outside of school. Number 2: Professor of mathematics. I took a year of statistics courses from him and did very well, getting A's both semesters. I also did a research project for his class and presented it, but he was not the research mentor for the project, although he did give me advice along the way, so he was familiar with what I was doing. He's a really nice guy and was happy to write me one the first time. Number 3: Professor of anthropology. I took one class from her and got an A in it. I also did a video project for her class, got a grant to pay for some recording equipment and presented it as a sort of "creative expression" project. She was an incredibly kind woman and I am guessing she would write me an LOR if I asked, but I didn't know her for as long as the other ones. Number 4: Professor of biology. I took a class from him and got an A in it. He was also my boss (we worked for some science education mentoring program) along with being a research mentor and is a co-author on a publication of mine. I always found him to be a bit intimidating for some reason and I was unsure about how he felt about me, but he did say some really nice things about me when I graduated and finished working. I had asked him for a letter the first time I applied and he said he would do it, but I ended up not using him because my friend said she asked him for one and he basically gave her the "write it for me and I'll let you know if it works" spiel. I would say this one has the advantage of knowing me in a class, research and work setting, but I am not sure if he would write as good of a letter as the other three. Number 5: Supervisor from my time in the Peace Corps as an English teaching volunteer. This one would be the most relevant to my degree, as he has seen me teach English and can vouch for my foreign language fluency and my ability to adapt to living overseas. I have a good relationship with him, and he's a very nice guy, but I wouldn't say that I was an absolutely stellar volunteer - just average. My working relationship with him is also the most recent being my supervisor from 2017-2019. But I don't know how well of a letter he would write and if he even has experience writing LORs. The thing is, my undergraduate degree was in anthropology, but I am applying to graduate programs in TESOL, so the only real relevant one is number 5, but I am also less certain of how willing he'd be to do it. Right now, I am leaning towards number 1, but I started wondering if the fact that she never had me as a student would work against me. Any advice on which choice would be the best?
  5. Sorry if this has been discussed already, but I was having trouble finding threads that address this. I am applying for an MA in TESOL. I have a pretty extensive undergraduate research record, but none of it is directly relevant to TESOL. My work experience and skills, on the other hand, are quite relevant. Right now, I have the following sections in my CV and this is how I am thinking about ordering them: Education Work and Teaching Experience Skills and Certifications Research Experience Publications and Presentations Honors, Grants and Scholarships From what I understand, contact info and educational background should always be at the beginning. I've seen a lot of advice suggesting putting research experience afterwards and then work experience, but my work experience is more relevant for the type of degree (it's a non-thesis degree focused more towards work than research). The way I have it ordered now puts my most relevant experience first, but it kind of cuts my academic background into two (education at the beginning and everything else at the end). Any advice? Am I overthinking this or would it be better to keep all of the academic sections together?
  6. I'm applying for an MA in TESOL with a K-12 public school certificate track. From my understanding of the program, it is mostly focused on preparing for teaching in a public school classroom. The guidelines of the SOP are a bit broad and just say that it should address my objectives for graduate study, how the degree will help me achieve my goals and how my academic and professional experience have led me to apply to that program. The degree doesn't seem to be have a research component other than a master's project in the final semester, but that is described as "a review of literature on a scholarly topic or a practice motivated review of literature." Am I still expected to identify research interests in my SOP or is it better to save the space and talk about something else e.g. my career goals, my work experience, etc.?
  7. I'm applying to a few MA in TESOL programs which include full-ride fellowships. GRE scores are required for both of these programs. One of them is a very prestigious university while the other is respectable. I took the GRE around 4 years ago and my verbal score was 164 (94th percentile), my quant score was 153 (48th percentile) and my analytical was a 5.0 (92nd percentile). Will my middling quant score even matter for these programs considering that they aren't math related? I'm a bit worried and wondering if I should spend the money and time retaking my GREs and just focusing on the quant section or if I should just spend my time focusing on my SOP and the other application essays. FWIW, the other parts of my application are fairly solid: high GPA, various research experiences, an honors thesis, several conference presentations, a conference award, a peer-reviewed publication, three and a half years of international TEFL teaching experience, and I'm fluent in a foreign language. The only other problems is my undergrad and all of the research experiences are from a completely unrelated field, and it's been quite a while since I've spoken to my LOR writers, so I might only have one stellar LOR. Is this quant score something to worry about or should I just forget about it?
  8. Thanks for the advice, everyone. It's good to see that I am not absolutely crazy for considering it, but the reasons why I shouldn't do it are making me think about taking another year... To answer all three of you: I am currently in ~$12k debt from my undergrad and this master's program will add another ~$18-20k. I do not currently have a master's and I do still want to apply to PhDs. It will pretty much guarantee my admission to a PhD. Honestly, it probably won't increase my chances of getting a non-academic job very much... But I am sure that it would guarantee me admission to a PhD. However, I do have a pretty strong application as it is, and a lot of people had told me I shouldn't have had any trouble getting into a PhD program. My GPA is very high and the only part of my GRE that can be improved by any significant margin is my quant score, which isn't ultra important in my field. I have a lot of research experience, a senior thesis, several conference presentations, awards, small undergrad research grants, and a possible publication on the way (although my advisor is taking her sweet time with her edits). But unfortunately, I currently live in an area where I can't really get much work/research experience. I'll just spill the beans and say I am an anthro major and my research will involve fieldwork abroad. I guess I can join the Peace Corps, but that will put me out another 2-3 years. Also, I have already taken a year off that has been relatively stagnant. My main concern is in a worst case scenario, I will have another completely stagnant year. If that's the case, then how much will it affect my chances of getting into a program?
  9. So I made the dumb mistake of overestimating the strength of my application and only applying to three PhD programs and one master's program. Today, I received denial notices from all three of the PhD programs. I have not yet been officially accepted to the master's program, but I interviewed with the PI and she talked as if I was already in, so I am pretty certain that I will be accepted. However, the problem is that the school only offers a $12/hr, 20hr/week stipend for assitantships. The PI also has funding for field research, but I will have to take out loans for my tuition. I did not want to be in this position, but please consider the following reasons why I might do it: - The program and research are ideal for my interests - The location of the school is ideal, in-state, and close to home - The school itself is awesome and I'm pretty sure that I'll be happy there. - The PI is,m a pioneer in my area of interest and publishes in top-tier journals. Also, many of her former master's students are in currently top PhD programs - I am a musician on the side and I will be in an area with a great music scene where I could make an extra $300-500 per month playing gigs. - I have a place that I could stay near the school for fairly cheap - I have a job that I currently do not like very much I do not think that I will be able to get any relevant work experience if I wait to reapplY I've already taken a year off and I don't know if taking another will be worth it to potentially not get into a funded PhD program. There are not a lot of researchers working in my area of interest, so I'll have to broaden my interests if I apply again. If this school had better funding, then it would honestly be my number 1 choice, but I really don't know if going into debt is worth it. Is it?
  10. I'm looking to swap SOPs with someone AGAIN. This one is for an MA in Anthropology. I've had quite a few people look at different iterations of it for other schools, but I'd like to get a look at this one since the length requirements are a lot more liberal than most of my other ones. This school is also the most fit for my research interests even though it's just a masters, so I want it to be as good as possible. The department page specifies that there is no set length requirement, but that statements should generally be limited to 2-3 SINGLE spaced pages. I'm at around 2 pages and 1,150 words, but I feel like it's a bit long. I include everything that the guidelines recommend, but I do wonder if it could be a little more concise (but don't read through it looking to shorten it - if it seems fine, then I am okay with that). A few particular questions: 1) should I talk a little bit more about how my prospective advisor's research interests align with mine and their projects? and 2) are paragraphs 4-6 a little too elaborate or are they ok? In regards to paragraph 6, I'd like to point out that my prospective advisor told me that they look for students who have extensive international travel experience. And just as a few side notes: I am aware that my prospective research interests are rather narrow, but it is what I want to do and this particular professor is ideal for my research interests. I do try to broaden my interests a bit and include another professor, but this is a relatively new field, so there aren't a whole lot of people working in it. However, I have spoken with this person beforehand and they are accepting students for the upcoming year Send me a PM and I'll send you the Google Docs link. I'll gladly critique yours, as well. I'll give you a very thorough overview, but just give me a few details about the program's SOP guidelines (if there are any). Thanks!
  11. After a major revision thanks to some critical but extremely helpful readers, I have my new draft. I am submitting this tomorrow, so all I ask is that you don't recommend a of total overhaul (even if it might need it! ). I'd like specific critique on the small things like sentence structure, clarity, grammar, and necessity - I want to improve it the best I can with the least overall change (IN GENERAL - if there is some moderate restructuring that can really, really help, then feel free to tell me). This particular institution's instructions emphasize outlining your research topic, 1-3 specific faculty that you want to work with, and how your background and research trajectory make you a good fit for the program. The program also specifies for statements to be between 1 and 3 pages double spaced and mine is exactly 3 pages with 12 pt TNR (~840 words), so I can't really add or further elaborate on much without cutting anything out. I will definitely swap and give you feedback ASAP. I would prefer either those in either the social sciences or biological sciences, but if you're in another discipline and really need a reader, then I don't mind swapping (just note that I might not understand some of the jargon). Send me a PM. Thanks!
  12. Looking for a critical reviewer who will explicitly tell me the good/bads. It's for an anthropology masters program, so ideally, I'd like to swap with another anthro person, but any social science will do. We can swap SOPs via PMs.
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