EvelynD
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Posts posted by EvelynD
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I know it totally sucks, I intended to start studying monthws ago but I got a very demanding fulltime job so there went my plans...
I can also consider taking the test at the end of October (which would be my initial retake date) but if I fail that one too then I don't think I have time to take a retake.Edit: on the GRE site they say that it takes about 10-15 days for your official scores to be processed. If this is the case then I can take the first test before October ends, and have enough time for a retake,.right?
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Hey guys, I tried my firt practice GRE test on Magoosh today to come up woth some sort of 'base line'. Was planning on taking the test in two weeks, and I have done some light studying in the last week (since I didn't really have a clue how to study for this I took a couple of weeks just figuring out what to do). I have taken one tutoring session for math and I did all the exercises in my GRE prep book and some stuff online.
However,...my test results were bad,..I scored 143V and 149Q. I know I'm not going to get a high score for math since I didn't take anything beyond basic math in high school which was already 15 years ago. But verbal? My English isn't bad (my MA was in English), but I have never ever seen about 75% of the words in the sections where you have to fill in the blanks. Since i'm going for anthropology/sociology I'm ok with a low math score but verbal has to be better! I'm also ok with not scoring as high as a native speaker, but I can't imagine this is a selling point for me
Can you guys give me some advice how, in two weeks time, I can boost my whatever to get some better scores? I can't imagine memorizing a dicctionairy is the way to go, and I have no clue how I could adopt a different strategy if I don't understand the words. Urg,..This is making me feel so dumb!
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Yes of course, any time!
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Same for me, I thought I understood some of the math, but when I tried to do some exersizes by myself I couldn't get past the 'medium' section. Then I found an official math section test online and that one was even more difficult than the book. So I'm not sure if I'm going to pass the math, at this moment I'm not even able to find and answer, let alone the correct one. The English section is going better, besides the fact that the 'hard' questions in the text completion are too difficult as well (most of the time I have never even seen 4 out of the 6 answer words). I would probably know them if they were in Dutch, but not in another language.
I still have 2 weeks, so here comes 8 hours a day non-stop studying. -
Yeah that’s what I mean! Sometimes I wish more people were involved with animal studies so I could select more schools too, but on the other hand it wouldn't guarantee an admission. I think I'll have 4 'animal schools', and 2 regular schools with good programs. I will just do my best and see where it gets me!
Today I took my first tutor session to work on the math section of the GRE. I didn't take math when I was in high school so I really understood nóthing when I first got my GRE book. I decided to ignore the math until I met with my tutor, and the lesson went quite well! Tomorrow I'm going to practice myself and book a date for the test (probably the 22nd of September).
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I don't think so, here you only need to put in your application, meet the (minimal) requirements like having a BA in a related field, and pay. Its not like in the States where they only have X spots and you have to turn in a ****load of documents.
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Pff,..a room around 300 euro's, a studio 500-600? Groceries I would say max 150 euro's a month, but this can be cheaper. Living here is cheaper than in the amsterdam region. If you want to look for a room you can check out www.kamernet.nl, you pay 20 euro's for a subscription of a month but you can reply all you like, so its worth it. Otherwise you can look for a facebook grou like 'housing Maastricht'. Be prepared that finding a place to stay is dificult in the Netherlands since there is a shortage of housing and international students are often screwed (they ask you more rent).
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Then maybe I will, thanks for the advice! today I was able to locate another professor who works with animals which brings my total to 5, and I think I'm also going to apply at Davis (Native American Studies), a uni with a strong environmental studies program, and perhaps a smaller university or a uni where there is a strong focus on Mexico, brining my total up to 7-8. If I can afford that.
Why did you decide to apply to so many schools? To spread your chances?
Oh, my dissapointment of the day happened when I found out that I cannot apply for a Fulbright, because starting this year they won't fund the first year of your PhD anymore (in The Netherlands). Talking about just my luck
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Good for you for being so advanced in the process, Museum_geek! I am going to take my first GRE around the 20th of September and I'm at my old uni now, gathering up the courage to ask two professors if they will write me a latter. I haven't figured out who I'm going to ask for my 3rd LOR since I don't have a lot of options (its either going to be a professor I worked with during my semester abroad, of the prof who was my second reader for my RMa thesis).
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Oh Really? I knew it was longer than the 4 years we take here in Europe, but why would you spend so long on a PhD? And I wouldn't mind it that much if it wasn't for the 10 years I have spend on my 2 BA's and my RMA. I'm gonna be 30 when I start my education in the States and I feel like I can't spend that long because at one point I need to stop studying and get to work. I think I'll wait until the faculty emails me back and I have another word with my POI, maybe that will convince me.
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http://www.kiesjestudie.nl/opleiding60006-Mental-Health.html
There is one in Maastricht (NL) and this site also gives suggestions for other comparable masters. Maastricht has a good uni, you don't have to worry about that! The city is also really fun!
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How are you guys doing? I am prepping for the GRE, looking for two additional universities, and contacting secretaries to ask additional information (such as how long a programm ususally takes and if there are ectra fees for international students).
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Thank you for responding! Do you think its a good idea to look for 1 or 2 non-animal study universities? I remember that I really liked Duke's Latin American and Ethnic studies specializations, so I'm going to look into that uni. I'm not doing it just as a safety net; I equaly like all the uni's I applied for and I want to continue that. Thanks for the suggestions, I was a bit bummed out that Santa Barbara isn't really an option anymore because I would love to live there (living in the US is part of the experience for me). But then again, the States are so big and beautiful, there will always be something nice!
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Hey guys, its me again. This time I have a question about selecting additional schools that do not offer a specialization in my primary research interest (which is human-animal relation studies). So far I have been able to locate 4 schools where I could go for my PhD, since all of them have at least one professor that is involved with animal studies. Unfortunately one school (UCSB) might have to be scratched off my list since their MA+PhD trajectory takes at least 7 years (and I have already spend 10 years on two Ba's and one RMA). I'm not giving up on this school until I have discussed this with their secretary and I'm 100% sure it can't be shorter than 7 years, but I'm afraid it won't be.
This means I have 3 schools left, and I wanted to apply at at least 5. Do you guys think its a good idea to look for schools that do not have someone working in animal studies, but that do have a good 'general' anthropology program? Or that maybe have a theoretical similarity, or a specialization such as environment, ethnic studies, or rural areas, so that the 'background' of my research ideas is at least covered? (I'm planning on focusing on the relation between humans and horses in Latin America, or horses with jobs worldwide). If I take out animal studies I feel like I am back where I started and have to look through all those schools again. Also, if I take out animal studies I feel like I won't have a specific goal in my studies (even though I could always still do it and be aware that it might just be a bit more difficult this way.
Any thoughts on this first world problem of mine?
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I'm applying for a PhD in sociology and anthropology (depending on my fit at each school) and at none of my current 4 schools do I need a MA degree. Of course I didn't know this because (well, I didn't know I was gonna apply in the States) and I have spend 3 years on a research master here in the Netherlands. I mean I'm happy I did, but its not super fortunate if you take into consideration that at one school you have to partake in their 5 year master anyway. The actual PhD is only 3 years.
In conclusion I wóuld do a master in Japan if it is only 1 year and it is not costing you loads of money. I mean, why not develop yourself further? However, if a master in Japan is super expensive and you don't really need it, then why not try to find a job for one year to save some money so you have that as your preparation?
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I think so! This person knows about how you work and think and what you have to offer, and if he/she works in a museum like that, he/she must have an academic background! I think it might even be 'better' than the usual 2-3 professors, since this person has different insights to offer!
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THank you so much! I was switching between the sociology and anthropology pages (I also haven't decided yet which one I'll go for) and at the anthro page I found similar information. It seems that I might just be freaking out a bit, probably because you want to have everything under control and know all the information at the same time, instead of letting yourself 'grow into' this process. Nah, for now I'm just gonna blame being an international student
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22 hours ago, fuzzylogician said:
I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better! What kinds of questions do you have about funding?
I don't always understand what different options there are for funding and where to find this information. For example, this is a link to the 'awards and fuding' page of the U of Colorado's sociology graduate studies page: http://www.colorado.edu/sociology/students/graduate-students/awards-funding. It states that there are sources for funding from within the university, but you have to apply yourself for all the different scholarships. I thought that if a uni accepts you, they make a financial offer (that is what I've been reading on this forum). But if I look at a page like this it seems that you have to apply for the PhD, ánd apply for scholarships at the same time. Is that correct, or am I mistaken?
Its not like I don't want to do this, but it feels a bit overwhelming to have to arrange the application and then the funding separately. -
I am applying this fall too, my main interest is human-animal relation studies with a specialization in horses. I did my BA and Research Master here in the Netherlands and I always knew I wanted to go for a PhD, but I was unsure about the topic. My university has almost zero opportunities for PhD's and after doing some online research (and another bad breakup that pushed me over the edge) I decided to go all or nothing and try my luck in the States!
My BA is in archaeology and my RMA in archaeology and anthropology of Mesoamerica and although I still think the topic is very interesting I just don't see a post-PhD future for me in this area of study. I came across human-animal studies here on this forum and I quickly realised this would be a great path to combine my interest in anthropology, animals, different cultures, the academic world, and hopefully a better future!
After about a month of research back in April/May I narrowed my search down to 4 universities: UCSB, MSU, University of Colorado Boulder, and the University of Toronto in Canada. All unies have pro's and cons, for example UCSB has a professor that does extreamly similar research to mine, but I'm not sure if they can waive the 15.000 dollar fee international students have to pay. MSU has a great specialization in animal studies, but I might have to switch to sociology because there are few to none anthro profs working in animal studies. U of C has a sociology professor that I am interested in because she has done many studies involving horses, and Toronto has various animal study profs and a PhD there takes the shortest amount of time (I already spend 3 years doing a research master).
I've had contact with professors and students from all four unies, and in the upcoming weeks I intent to learn as much about the application processes and funding possibilities as I can (I'm not from the States and I have some difficulties understanding how different schools arrange their funding). I also want to find one or two other schools to increase my chances of getting in, I don't think four is enough. These will probably be schools that have no profs working in animal studies, but with anthro programs with a focus on Latin America. -
Thank you for your extensive reply! This week I have tried to tackly my nerves by gathering all the application information in a new notebook, and it made me feel a lot better! I'm collecting the same information from all the schools I want to apply at to see if something sticks out that needs extra attention, and I'm trying to understand how the funding at the different schools work. This is the most difficult aspect for me to understand because some schools aren't really concrete in how students are funded (or I don't understand how it works). I aim to collect all the questions that I have for each school and sends those to their administration people, hopefully I'll get some answers soon!
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Well I contacted four different possible poi's in May, and two in particular asked me to keep in touch during the application process. I don't know how literal I should take this, because in The Netherlands this literally mean you'd have to keep in touch. Next to that I need to check of my grades have to be converted, kinda like you said!
I think my main fear is that during the application process I will find things on the uni's website that I can't provide them with, like a transcript of my pets tax payments from 1998 or something like that
(finding out that I lack something making me unable to apply)
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Hey guys!
A couple of months ago I decided I was going to go for a PhD in the states (I'm from the Netherlands). I did a lot of research on this forum and elswhere, contacted universities etc, and everything was looking great. Then I got hired at my new fulltime job (which I decided to quit after 2 months because of three horrible managers) at started working fulltime, putting my PhD plans on the shelve a bit. But since I read that september would be a good moment to 'get real' and start writing and preparing, I'm getting back in the application saddle this weekend and start picking up where I left.However, I am feeling quite scared! I have to plan my Toefl and GRE, mail my professors for letters of reccomendation, create a coherent timeline so I know when to turn in things, contact schools again, ect, and I feel really nervous thinking about all this. I don't even know why, I like these kind of challenges but at this moment I feel a slight panic creeping in. I think it might be because I remember my application for a semester in Mexico, and all the things went that wrong initially. For example, a thought that is going through my mind right now is 'what if I come across something on the schools' application page that I cannot provide them with?'
I think it will be a good idea to go to the library tomorrow and print all the information I have collected, and in fact writing this down kinda calms me down. But can someone reassure me that these pinic-like feelings are normal, and that most people experience this? Good thing I only have cherries in my fridge right now, stress eating here I come!
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That happend to me twice! One time during a long distance relationship; after I flew halfway across the globe I found out he decided that a longterm thing was not for him. And he decided that,....8 months before I went to visit him, but didn't care to tell me. And I also learned that in some countries making out with other people is not considered cheating if you are drunk whilst you do it. Right,...
The second time happend a couple of weeks ago, just before I decided to go to gradschool in the US. After a couple of months of dating I noticed that the guy kept finding excuses to bail out on dates. I had a vacation planned so I decided to put the drama aside and deal with it after my holiday. He called me a couple of times during and was full of plans for after my return. Guess what,..I never saw him again. It makes you feel really shitty because you feel like you are not worthy of someone's attention. Hopefully you realize soon that if a person treats people like this, the problem lies with them and not with you.
I need to vent about the stress that comes with applying to gradschool in the US. I've only been in this proces for a couple of weeks and eventhough I'm working in a niche I have already found 2 potential schools. I like the good feelings that come with this proces, such as getting positive replies from potential POI's (major ego boost, and everybody is so friendly!), scanning craigslist for potential appartments etc. However, then I read on this forum that my top school is one of the most popular in the country. Or an American friend of mine tells me that in California, schools prefer in-state students above international students. And this makes me really insecure! I have no idea what my 'market value' is so to speak.
And because it takes so much investigation to locate POI's-schools, my head can get really filled with thoughts and sometimes I feel like it is too much. Luckily at such moments I can turn to my hobby: embroidery (guess why I'm single :P). -
The Netherlands, applying to schools in the USA to study human-animal relations!
GRE Test Registration Problem on ETS Website
in GRE/GMAT/etc
Posted · Edited by EvelynD
It happened to me too! I've send them an email but they haven't replied yet. I could sign in about two weeks ago, but last week (when I treid to book the test) I got an error every time I tried to sign in. This must be a sign I'm not ready for that test