marycaryne

Considering the assistantships offered a stipend and tuition waiver, I couldn't refuse. Also I took on the GPC because there are issues going on that need addressing and I want to see reflected in the policies. Had the issues not occurred, I likely would have turned it down. And I feel we all need to be awarded degrees for time management.

Wooo it has been a few months and holy cricket I can't believe how time has flown and I have gone from waiting anxiously for a response (ANY response) to now being full immersed. I have 10 hours of class, I am a TA teaching two labs, as well as an RA. I was also asked to be part of the graduate policy committee for our department which is pretty awesome. So all of that to say that man I am exhausted! But really, I love it.

@Cat_Robutt UGH don't remind me. I'm nowhere near ready. My husband is still looking for a job in Florida, we are still looking for an apartment, we have to figure out all the school stuff for our kids... All by the end of next month. Can I magically fast forward time to where that's all done? And to where we are already moved as well? Because I am NOT looking forward to that either. I hate moving. I don't care about a new place to live...I just hate packing everything up and driving forever and unpacking everything. But my anniversary is in 10 days so that's cool.

I am an evangelical Christian and my husband is an ordained reverend. We both agree that if anyone shows any hatred towards another person, they are not a Christian no matter what they claim...the Bible speaks VERY clearly about not hating our neighbors and loving one another regardless of a difference of lifestyles, beliefs, etc. We can disagree with someone without resorting to hatred or even a dislike. Just on the most basic level, showing any hatred towards another person because of their religious beliefs, because of who they love, etc is just an opportunity to shut the doors on open communication. How can we expect anyone to listen to us if we are too busy hating them? Maybe it's because I grew up in a family that is very diverse...my parents are Protestant, my extended family is Roman Catholic (primarily by name only), I have one aunt who is a lesbian, another who is an atheist, some are white, some are Hispanic... It has just taught me that no matter where we stand, we can still love each other and be there for one another. I really don't get why people who may disagree with a different lifestyle cannot simply just care for another human being. Last I checked, Jesus wasn't hanging out with the Pharisees. As far as Westboro goes, nothing they say or do surprises me anymore. I wish the media would stop giving them attention because it isn't like they are going to change. So why keep giving them the press they want?

My program is merchandising, not SLP, but I wanted to chime in on the writing since that was the section my program put its primary focus on. Yes I did study, and hard, for the other sections. And at least you get a score when you take practice tests, giving you a good idea of how you may perform on test day. But obviously you don't know what you'll score with a practice AW test, so I read up a lot on it. I did my undergrad online, and online schooling tends to be writing intensive, so I got a LOT of practice in writing through that. I'm also with coffeecode in that "old fashioned" sense of becoming a better writer by being a big reader. I have noticed that those I personally know who do not write very well are the same people who also do not read very much. Read books, newspapers, journals, magazines...just get an idea of how ideas and thoughts are being articulated into information for the reader. One of my GRE resources was Cracking the GRE by The Princeton Review. I felt they had a great section on the essay, at least from my perspective. They clearly explained what was being asked, gave plenty of examples of how to approach it, things the graders look for, etc. I took several practice AW tests just to time myself so that I would be comfortable being able to brainstorm, do an essay, and very quickly review everything within that timelimit. Then I'd review the essay on my own to look at how I could improve. Then I would take another practice AW test (maybe a week or two later), putting those mental notes on improvement quite literally to the test. By my last practice test I noticed a big difference between it and my first practice test. Come test day, I was very comfortable with how to go about doing the essays. I wound up getting a 5.5.

I have not heard that at all. I'm not sure why they would hide your scores from you unless they were sent to a school. Taking the test doesn't mean you're required to send the scores somewhere (although I am not sure why you'd take it if you had no intention of sending them off). Now it IS a smart idea to have a few schools ready to send them off to right when you take the test because it's free for up to 4 or 5 schools on test day (can't remember exactly how many). Anything extra or not sent at that time will have a charge.

What brand is it?? And about how much? I've been looking for a good planner but so far haven't liked any that I have seen.

@BFreeman03 That's how it happened with mine when I did it in January. But unless it is past the 10-15 days, I wouldn't stress about it.

If you took the test on a computer, you should have seen your unofficial quant and verbal scores immediately after you finished the test. The writing score would be the only one you would need to wait on. They do say 10-15 days, but that score was posted for me in a week. I actually did really well with the AW - I had a 5.5. I credit two things for that: doing my undergrad online as online degrees are typically very writing intensive, and then doing several practice timed writing tests so I had a good feel. AW was important to me since my program focuses more on that score than quant/verbal. So needless to say I was on pins and needles waiting for that one. SO glad it took less time to receive it than the site stated. @DBear My quant and verbal were posted right away, but the AW score remained blank until it was posted a week later.

Omg the Snorks! Yassss!!! My show of the day was Rainbow Brite. Man I WAS Rainbow Brite. You could not convince me otherwise. And Jem. Still looking for earrings that turn me into a rockstar.

Can you ask your former academic advisor? I did my undergrad online, which makes it impossible to build relationships with profs. Fortunately I had a couple that knew me and my work very well since I took a few of their classes and was able to get them to write an LOR. My supervisor wrote the third LOR. But one school (actually the one I will be attending) required at least three academic LORs, so I wound up asking my advisor since she was the only other one who saw my progress throughout my undergrad and we had enough communication that I felt she could write one for me. She was happy to do it, but let me know that she was not allowed to discuss my grades or GPA. That was no problem for me since I had a 4.0 and the school was getting a transcript anyway. As a "just in case," I still had a professional LOR submitted for that school. Anyway, that was my experience and how I "worked around" it since I really didn't have anyone else I could ask.

Sadly I understand this all too well. Whar's really pathetic though is that my mom only seems to really pay attention if something bad is happening to us....as if she takes delight in when something isn't going right in my life. It's really rather disgusting. I have something to celebrate? She's not really interested. Something goes wrong? She's ALL ears.

In my view, there are two very different things going on: the need for a letter to get out of an apartment contract and the desire to continue your education elsewhere. Whereas a potential school may ask about why you stopped working with an advisor, the apartments are not really going to care. They simply want proof of termination. They do not care if you loved blue but your advisor hated it. They do not care if your professor was offended by the amount of sour cream you put on your nachos. Similarly they do not care if you were not interested in a project. All they care about is the leasing contract and the fact they need proof of termination for you to get out of that. Employers typically provide very generic letters in cases where such proof needs to be provided. Whether her reasoning of "insufficient funds" was part of her real reason for letting you go (as fuzzylogician said, it may not necessarily be unrelated to a lack of interest on your part), the bottom line is that she was just writing what essentially equates to a typical letter with relatively vague reasons just so it is sufficient as proof of termination. Your advisor already told you that she would be honest with other schools. I would expect that if asked, she would do exactly what she said she would do. School admission is very different than needing a letter to get out of an apartment contract and I wouldn't compare a letter she gave you for that to a potential answer she may give to an actual school. Personally, I always advise being honest but putting a positive spin on it. For example, if you were genuinely not interested in a project, then be honest about that but share your passion for a potential future project and your desire to continue your education. Of course there is always the potential that it could still hurt you. Fuzzylogician made some great suggestions to try build a case in your favor, such as gaining work experience in a related industry and getting strong letters from employers. It can show that you really are interested in a future in that industry, even if not for the specific project you were working on. Bottom line though is that as pointed out, our opinions really don't matter much. You may not want to bring this up to the advisor again, but if you really want these questions answered, you don't have much of a choice.

People having it worse is no reason for you to not be able to wish for a good relationship with any family member, especially a parent. People having it worse doesn't mean you aren't allowed to feel. It's like saying "people have it better so you can't be happy about xyz." It's ok to be disappointed and upset by your current relationship with your dad regardless of what others are going through. And for what it's worth, I wish I had a decent relationship with my parents (especially my mom) as well...particularly one that was genuine. It's a sucky feeling. I'm sorry you have to feel that way too.

I agree with Sigaba. As it stands right now, your SOP has a very generic feel to it. If I was the one reading it as part of an admissions committee, there is nothing about it that really stands out and would make me want you as a student over someone else. A couple things... I would really specific exactly what you are hoping to research and why. How is that research going to benefit your future career? Second, I would talk about the school in specific. What about THAT school made you want to apply there? Is there a specific professor whose research works well with yours? You have very general statements that could apply to any school. Give detailed reasons why School X is the one you want to attend. It shows you're paying attention to what they are doing rather than just handing out generic letters to everyone. Remember, they are not just looking to see if the school is a good fit for you, but also if you are a good fit for the school. My program is merchandising, so obviously different than yours. But in my SOP, I explained why I loved merchandising and how I saw it benefiting both retailers and consumers alike. I have worked as a visual merchandiser for the last couple of years and I explained how I was able to apply my studies in very practical ways and see how consumers responded, while getting a good idea of what worked and didn't work (and gave a couple specific examples). I explained my research interests and why I felt it was essential not just to my continuing career as a merchandiser, but also so retailers in general have a better understanding of how merchandising works. I also talked about a particular professor who has done research that aligns well with my research interests. This was in the letter I sent to Florida State, which was my top choice. I was accepted. Obviously an SOP shouldn't be novel length (mine was about 1.5 - 2 pages), but detail is important as well as showing a genuine interest in a specific school you're applying to. If you're applying to more than one school, change your SOP to fit that school. It definitely should not be one generic one you send to all schools. Hope that helps!