kaykaykay

Then you should have good reading comprehension skills!

seriously? What was your verbal GRE?

1. you can get a better advice about good points on the forum which focuses on your area of study. Average points can be misleading. Also non-native speakers are evaluated on the same basis as native speakers. The results board can be also very informative. 2. you sound like you are preparing well. I think at this point you should take some pratice tests to see if there are areas that you should focus more.

oh sorry for saying that you were very young. never mind. people mature in different pace. btw there is always a next year even at 27.

I read them all. You want to do "something international" and you did not really make an effort to do your best on the GRE. You think that your destiny is to study in the US despite the lack of directon and/or serious effort on your part. you: a.may indeed get lucky (because of your destiny) b. can retry next year when you are a little bit more focused In any case you believe very strongly in something so I am really unsure that you need this forum. good luck I hope everything works out for you!

I can see why it could be considered cheating. you raised your points on the V and Q with opting out from useless part.GRE is designed to be a psychological test too in my opinion. At least I suspect those horrible reading prompts are just there to make you angry ,frustrated and exhausted before you start the important part of the test.

I am not sure. you want to study contested issues so I think it would not hurt indicating that you are not the typical white dude. Apart from asking us, if you have an academic advisor who knows your story you might want to ask them.

Well if you think you can do better there is still time to retake it...

Toefl scores do not matter, they are good for virtually everyone.

I would not bring it up. This is not your SOP and typos happen . I am sure this is not the reason he/she has not replied.

#1 program (along with Stanford and Princeton). accordingly very difficult to get in.but no work experience is necessary.

^^ you sound very confused to me . It is ok I do not want to judge you, but if you think that higher powers will help you get into grad school I am not sure why you ask people here anything. I am not sure why you had to take the GRE 3 times, I am not even sure why did you have to take it even once (they might take you if this is your destiny without them, hey!) Anyways probably you are very young and if the universe does not want grad school to work out this time, next year you will take the whole process more seriously. And who knows, there are people who win the lottery too.

LORs are confidential so that you would not be able to give "suggestions", get angry over what is written in them etc. You do not have to waive the right to see them but your letter writers and your school that you are applying to will be notified about this. Some schools will not take you seriously, some professors may decline to write you a letter altogether. I am not even sure how can you be so arrogant that you were planning to make suggestions about your letter of recommendations. Schools take those seriously exactly because they are supposed to be unbiased, fair, and completely independent from any pressure. If you did not do well in a class do not ask for a LOR and if you have issues that you think your recommender may better address than you in the SOP talk to them about it in person.

someone mentioned that in some fields eg. English literature the AW score may have some weight.

International students often befriend each other because they share the experience of being the outsider. I am an international student and we often discuss the strangeness of the US and laugh about things. I think you have to be open about all discussion topics and accept that some jokes are on America and Americans (culture shock is tough and it is a common experience) . Also some of my American friends have very different sense of humor than my international friends, I guess because people are very straightforward here so I am often nervous that they will take my humor in the wrong way. In my experience international students stick together too because they arrive without friends -they are "speed making friends"-and sometimes friendships are more personal in other countries (not all). In the beginning of the year international students end up staring at each other without much clue which bar to go and with all the Americans gone . I would recommend budgeting some time on going to social events (where they try to make friends) and hanging out in the begining of the semester with them.

yes it is possible. ets is not working against itself and will want you to pay again for the new score. I am not sure when your scores are added to the list though- I would panic and send my old scores before the test. btw, different schools take different approach about the GRE, some take your best scores, some are looking at "trends".

^ well you will have two rec letters from your MA program. it is probably better to have an undergrad prof who knows you well as a letter writer than someone who does not know you very well. But of course you know how you have connected with all the professors around you.

what about your undergrad? I had two recs from professors from my MA program and one from my undergrad. I had more than two profs at my grad school from whom I could have asked a recommendations from (it was a bigger program) actually I intentionally chose this undergrad prof to have someone write about me from a different perspective.

pay it forward: the next time someone else have a conflict and you are ok with the time slot switch with them. really these things happen quite often. (you can just say thanks if you want to but really it is normal)

in grad school people are mature so there is no peer pressure to drink . what is more you can be the designated driver.

My preferred dictionary is the urban dictionary. There are already 3 definitions there for the word "funnest" there, written probably by native English speakers. btw I always make up words in my own language to make everyone laugh.I sometimes do that in writing too to make my prose more interesting. I do not dare to do this in English bc. I am afraid that people would think that my English is not good enough, but sometimes I want to do it very badly. Playing with words is an amazing intellectual activity, fun for the creator and the listener. Language is an evolution: the things that people like and use will survive. As for the math it is ok if you think that you have other strengths than math and fractions, but you can revise the math and forget about it afterwards.

The next sentence says: If you view your scores at a computer-based GRE revised General Test session, you cannot cancel them at a later date. If you see your scores: you cannot cancel them- and they will be in your record for five years, they will be sent wherever your newest points are sent. Some institutions only take into account your best scores though, some consider trends, you have to find this out from your university or department.

^this. especially the last part. I heard horror stories about int'l students who were not allowed back to the US.

a lot of schools accept GRE scores somewhat later than the deadline. You have to put in your form the date you took the test or sometimes you are even allowed to put in the date that you are planning to take the test, and send the scores after. Of course in this case you really do not have a chance to retake the test should something go wrong.

oh my god. I hope you are just making all these up. Anyone who is even considering using deadly force against another human being is beyond acceptable for me. I hope you manage to get some professional help before you make it to grad school, i think you need it.