DogsArePeopleToo

OK, no psychology applicant here, but someone who has had similar thoughts. I come from a developing country. I have seen cousins and classmates from primary school who were far more gifted than me but were dealt very cruel hands by fate whereas I continued my journey largely uninterrupted. Am I doing enough to make the most of my (relative) privilege? Why me? These thoughts ebb and flow in my mind occasionally. Not sure what can be done about it, but I've since tried to teach myself to accept that things as they are and just do my best for myself.

OK, bumping this thread with these thoughts: I received my AWA scores today. This was my second attempt and I got 5.5 (up from 5 in the first attempt). My strategy going in was twofold: 1. Write a longer essay 2. Deploy transition words (moreover, nonetheless, it can be argued, on the other hand). Writing a longer essay meant I didn't get to revise the last couple of paragraphs before time ran out. And I have always felt like overuse of transition words made an essay sound choppier and less elegant, but because this is a computer grader taught to look for, and reward, this kind of writing, I gave it a go. When I finished the essay, I didn't feel particularly great about the substance of what I wrote - my argument on the Issue task seemed contrived and my analysis of the Argument was less sharp than the first GRE essay I wrote. But although I felt I wrote a poorer essay, I got a better score. It seems to me that length and strategic deployment of keywords can improve one's score as long as the writing is largely error-free, responds to the prompts and has an intro-body-conclusion structure. This advice probably applies more to essays that are doing fairly well already (think 4 and above). For essays below this, mechanics such as punctuation and grammar are also probably quite important. The computer grading software doesn't see and can't judge the substance of the argument all that well, but it can see essay length, keywords and punctuation, etc. It is believed that the human grader usually spends 45 seconds to a minute, which is probably not enough for anyone to evaluate the substance of an essay -- which explains the bias towards essay length. There's some research that suggests that essays that are 500-600 words tend to score higher than shorter ones. Of course, I wouldn't sacrifice accurate syntax and mechanics for length, but if you're already on sure footing there, a longer essay is a better essay on the GRE. Substance counts too, but if you're looking to bump your 4 essay to a 5 or a 5 to a 6, length and keywords could help.

Hi Soheila, I am an international student too. While I haven't used the CrunchPrep package, I did use this in-depth guide for the AWA, which I found the best guide on the market (I scored 5 in my first take of the GRE). For the rest of my prep, I used Magoosh and, upon their recommendation, bought Manhattan's 5lb Book of GRE practice so I can beef up my math. The questions are similar to the ones you see from ETS (I took the GRE twice already and did the two PowerPrep II tests). The good thing about the 5lb book is that it also offers you additional practice questions online and the concepts in the book match those of the Magoosh videos, so you can watch the videos and practice from the 5lb book. I also have ETS's Value Pack, which includes the Official GRE Guide and the Verbal and Quant practice books. These books are good to give you a sense of the test, but the material in them is not enough for a good, in-depth prep. For vocabulary, I found Manhattan's 500 Essential and 500 Advanced flashcards very, very helpful. Each word has some etymology information, related words and pronunciation, which I found super-helpful in order to memorize and keep the words distinct in my head (a lot of words are in the same category, so it's hard to keep track of which one has what shade of meaning in its particular category). Using all of these materials, my verbal score didn't budge (it was already in the 160s), but my quant score improved by 5 points. Good luck with your prep!

I have been through about 10 visa interviews, some of them for F-1, one for H1-B and some for B1/B2 visas. I always bring supporting documents, including letters of the type you mentioned. The visa counselor has never seen any of them, even when I tried to show it to them. They either tell me that they don't need them, or they respectfully take them and return to me at the end of the interview without having seen them. Not sure what your experiences have been with these letters, but I think you'll be fine without them You might actually need the acceptance/enrollment letter from your new university more than the letter. And chances that the visa counselor will think you're not a flight risk are quite high. If your I-20 and everything is good, they will presumably have no reasonable doubt based on which to deny you a visa. Good luck!

It is my understanding that when you transfer, you don't necessarily need a whole new F1 visa, just a new I-20. But if your F1 expired while you were studying and you went home, you need a new visa to re-enter the US. Generally, you shouldn't have any problem during the interview for your second F-1. You have demonstrated that you're not a flight risk (you've returned home) and that you are a bona fide student with all the necessary means to continue your education for at least the first year of the program. The length really depends on who is interviewing you. In my case, I was going from F-1 to an H1B. The visa counselor asked me a few short questions, approved my visa, then sent me to an assistant (local national) who grilled me about my life since high school...where I had lived, what schools I had attended, what my field of study was, etc. But this seemed like a formality; my visa had already been approved. Another time, the visa counselor asked me, "Tell me about your court appearance in Michigan. You didn't appear before a court? Well, tell me about your visit to Michigan. You didn't visit Michigan? Well, were you ever charged with anything in connection with an incident in Michigan?" This was the scariest experience, and the best explanation I can have for it is that the counselor thought my profile was similar to someone on some list, or they were trying to trip me. Whatever the reason, my visa was approved. This is a long way to say, whatever happens, you're well placed to receive your visa as long as all your documents are in order. Don't worry. It'll sort itself out

Yeah, I understand the feeling. I hope things turn out well for you. Do let us know how you did when you get the score!

Listening is tricky. I think many of us walk away with a funny feeling about it. I know I do because I space out in the middle of the audio sections and therefore miss questions. On my second TOEFL attempt someone started their speaking section and distracted me. BUT, I got a 28 despite my funny feeling. You might too! And both times I took the TOEFL, I got my scores before the 10-day period -- eight and nine days, respectively. You might too! I haven't contacted ETS about getting my scores earlier, but I am highly skeptical it is possible. I can't be sure, if there is such a thing, they might just charge you a fee for it. The bottom-line is that you might have done better than you think and that 10 days will pass before you even know it. You just need to fight the post-test jitters. Read a book, watch a movie or a comedy show. Your anxieties will go down

Your struggles are probably bigger than mine, @Staara304, but they're not dissimilar. I also have a full-time job, am the first in my family to go to college, and haven't used any math in 8 years. Nobody in my circle of friends and family spoke English when I started, and nobody knew how to guide me through any of it. But I did get a break for college from my alma mater, for which I'm forever grateful. My verbal scores are good enough, but quant needs a lot of work. I share your anxieties about not making the cut because of this, even though I have a "good story" (grew up a refugee, returning to work in my country after a BA obtained abroad, etc.). I'm sharing all this (probably more than I should have) in order to show that there's anxiety about grad school admissions all over the world It doesn't help that the less privileged probably have higher levels of it. But that hasn't stopped me (or you either, apparently) from trying. Onward we forge!

Wow, I've been after this information myself. Thanks @CanadianBanjo for sharing the link. Extremely helpful.

Absolutely. I live in a developing country with ongoing conflict. I am in touch with about 75 students who are planning to take the GRE. Every single one of them has difficulty obtaining enough prep materials, even old material used by previous test-takers. The difficulties manifest themselves in different ways: some students who can afford to buy materials are unable to because online banking is underdeveloped here, and if they can circumvent that, many of the companies don't deliver here. Many test-takers wait for friends, contacts or relatives who come from overseas to bring them materials. Sometimes, it's the issue of language. Some students score above 90 on the TOEFL iBT but still have difficulty understanding the questions in the quant section of the GRE. These are engineering students who are otherwise quite confident about their quantitative skills but are hamstrung by difficulty translating specialized quant jargon (which is not what you are expected to know for the TOEFL or even the verbal section of the GRE). They learned math in the local language and have to re-educate themselves about numerators, denominators, GCFs and LCMs.

I've had a comparable experience. I've dated within my organization. It went very well as long as it went well. When it didn't, our mutual circles of friends learned about it and things got quite awkward. When we broke up, it was harder for either of us to then date someone else within the organization. We were in different departments and our daily work didn't overlap, but everyone kind of knew, or knew about, each of us and our shared history...everyone was everyone's friend, colleague, supervisor, floor mate, water cooler buddy, cubicle companion, departmental cousin, happy hour hombre, etc. It took about a year to move out of the whole episode of social awkwardness that surrounded us like an invisible aura. A simple rule of thumb is that if you're both serious about the future of any potential relationship, it is probably worth the risk to do it because both of you are more likely to behave more maturely. If it's going to be a sniffing ritual, a one-night stand, a one-month dating phase, etc., it has the potential of getting a little awkward and becoming the stuff of departmental gossip, though it might be manageable depending on the culture of your program. And finally, it's worth checking to see if your program has rules about it. Oh, and also, some people prefer to keep the dating on the down low, at least for a little while. It helps that both parties are on the same page about that.

Best of luck!

That depends on several factors: what is your GPA like? Do you have strong recommendations? Do you have any work experience? If so, how important is work experience to speech language pathology programs? Are you applying for a master's or a PhD? Do you have enough time to dedicate to preparation for a GRE retake? (The conventional wisdom is that if your application is in good shape, you could dedicate more time to the GRE) In my opinion, it's generally harder to improve on the analytical writing than verbal or quant (it is not about memorizing more vocabularies and doing more math problems). Having said that, it is very much possible with enough dedication. All in all, I'm inclined toward a retake. Imagine if the difference between your application and someone else's were nothing but a one-point difference on analytical writing...

I agree with @thedarkknightrises. A 168 is 95th percentile, an excellent score. That score should be good enough for all the top programs, especially if your GPA is good and you have good recommendations. Not sure if you're an international student, but if your TOEFL is 105 or above, your verbal should be good to go too. I'd only consider retaking if you don't have other things to work on in your application: essays, forms, etc. That way, you'd have time to prepare and up your score...which, let's face it, is quite hard...easier to go from 150 to 155, but much harder to go from 168 to 170.

I know timed conditions are hard. I was very nervous myself. The nerves probably don't go away completely, but they do calm down a bit once one does a few of these and gets a feel for the time. Good luck!

I just received my GRE scores and got a 5 on the writing section. That's decent, but I'm on expert writer. With that caveat, here are a few thoughts about what is frankly a pretty good first attempt. You'll probably have to write a few more essays under timed conditions to get a feel for the time and how much to budget for outlining, writing and editing. In certain sections of your essay, you seem to use "knowledge" as a synonym for "thinking" without explaining why the two might be interchangeable. While it's conceivable that the two could be use interchangeably, doing so without some explanation probably takes you off-focus. In the same vein of defining your terms, it might help to establish how you interpret "people" - do you mean neuroscientists studying brain function, regular people using calculators, or both? This level of nuance, while not always necessary, can distinguish a 4 essay from a 6. A couple of more well-developed and relevant examples would be helpful, possibly in the section about knowledge. Your essay doesn't have to take one side or the other. It helps to show that you can engage with the gray areas in the prompt. By addressing exceptions and acknowledging that the lines are sometimes blurry, you demonstrate that you are responding to the part of the prompt that says "discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree." You make a valiant attempt to do to so in your example of the calculator, which could be developed just a bit more, particularly explaining how this exception doesn't downgrade your thesis. You could further develop your "cause and effect assumption" idea by elaborating "ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position." As I said earlier, this is a pretty good first attempt. I've used some of these ideas in my own test prep, so I hope this comments are helpful.

I'd lean towards retaking if: You have other components of your GRE score pretty much ready so you can make time for a GRE retake You have checked your program's website and its student profile and feel a couple of points on quant could put you in better standing You don't think test fees are (a relatively big) issue for you You have looked at your practice test scores and your actual GRE quant score and feel you haven't plateaued in terms of potential improvement (some people can't go above a certain mark, no matter how much work they put in) You have enough time, resources and dedication to work for an improvement (generally, I'd say if you expect a 1-2 point improvement compared to, say, a 3-5 point improvement, you should probably not retake) (Also, how important are quant scores in linguistics? You seem to know precisely what you want out of your program; that could help offset some concerns if the choice is between you and an application with a couple of points higher on quant but with little sense of what he/she wants out of a linguistics PhD.) I know these are a lot of variables, but I hope they would help stimulate your thinking. Only you can make the best final decision.

I took the TOEFL iBT in August. You do not receive your score on the screen at the end of the test. That includes subsections. They tell you that you will receive it in ten days, but in my case, I received it 7-8 days after the test.

In addition to what @TakeruK said, I'd also add that the answer depends on what program you're in (I know, this is not the most clear-cut answer, but it's true). Some programs weigh the verbal section more heavily, others the quant. That's why I'd imagine an average of verbal and quant might be irrelevant because they're looking for verbal or quant skills, not a statistical smudge between them. And if you're a point or two below "average" on either section might matter less than if you were 5 or 10 points below.

All reasonable points. Best of luck!

If you're taking the iBT, it takes 10 days for the results to come out, then another one to two weeks for them to reach your universities. That should help you plan. But on a more practical level, some universities accept the result PDF you download from your account as a provisional, unofficial result until the official one from ETS arrives. So check with your school. Many admissions departments won't be able to immediately see your application anyway, so they can usually spare you a few extra days until the official results reach them in the mail. But you have to check with them first.

People usually just post their SOP and ask for feedback. Sometimes, someone (or some people) offer feedback. I've given my two cents on a couple of occasions

Also, as you know, it depends on what program you're applying. Here's a contrast: This is UT Austin: For those admitted to the MA program in fall 2012, the average total score (combined verbal and quantitative scores) on the Revised GRE is 317; the average Writing score is 4.75. Successful applicants to the PhD program average somewhat higher. The GRE score is a supporting part of the application; applicants are not denied or offered admission solely on the basis of their GRE score. And this is Columbia: For the GRE, prospective students should aim to score at least a 167 on the verbal, 160 on the quantitative reasoning and a 5.5 on the written essay. Applicants are advised to take their GRE test (and TOEFL or IELTS if required) in sufficient time to ensure that the scores arrive by application deadline. (These are scores to aim for not hard requirements. Applicant should aim to get as close as possible or over recommended scores. If scores are slightly lower than those recommended it does not automatically disqualify an applicant’s application.)

There was a conversation on a topic like this a while back: (They use the old GRE scales, but you can probably get an approximate sense of things) Magoosh also did a blog post on the GRE scores of people who intended to do art history and people who got admitted into a program in the field. Admittedly, data on the first category is far more reliable than the data about the second one. But you can take a look for yourself: http://magoosh.com/gre/2013/gre-scores-for-arts-and-humanities-programs/ On some level, your TOEFL scores might also be a factor if you're an international student. I'd imagine with your Verbal and AWA, you probably have something above 100, perhaps well above. Hope this helps.

There must be a story behind how you decided to jump majors. Unless you've told that story, it could be a good way to illustrate your interest as well as the change in course, which is something the admissions committee is probably wondering already. On typography, @avflinsch is right.