misaki_rabbit

No acceptances yet. Although this is kind of expected since I screwed up my writing sample. I'm probably not going to apply again for at least 5 years. Shall start applying for jobs in March.

Congratulations to everyone with offers!!!

Ok I lied. I just scrolled through this forum 7 times today.

Definitely feeling loads of regret, even for the Dec 15th batch. So when the results come back, I think I will have a lot of "DO NOT MAKE THIS MISTAKE" advice for folks applying to the next cycle. But like you said, what's done is done. So I'm just gonna try to keep myself super busy for the coming months to distract myself from the results. But good luck to everyone else! May 2019 be a year of offers and happy dilemmas choosing between schools ?‍♂️

Well I hope that this will be a great cycle for everyone! Good luck, magicdonhuang. My first deadline is shortly after, Dec 3 for UC Berkeley. They have a countdown in their application portal. It's both helpful and frightening at the same time

So far I've only encountered 1 school that has 50 pages as their limit and the rest recommend 15-20 pages. Since I'm an applicant, I don't think I'm qualified to give any advice. But for my own application to that particular school, I'm going to submit a writing sample that's around 35-40 pages. I'm also not using the additional pages to add another chapter, but to expand the discussion of literature, theory, and methodology. Essentially elaborating on what I don't get to say in 20 pages. Also, is anyone still working on their applications? Would love to know that I have company ?‍?‍?‍?

ah I found it, from Dr Nuno Monteiro's website: "Then study long and hard for the GRE. The verbal scores are important to the extent that a low score, say, below 160, will make people wonder whether you can actually understand and express yourself in english. But this usually also comes across in other parts of your application. The math score is very important, and anything below 165 is not a plus. (Anything below 160 is bad; between 160-164 it’s okay but not a plus, so if you want to compensate for a low GPA or lukewarm letters, you’ll need higher, at least 165.) Schools differ in the importance they attribute to the analytic score. Some don’t care. If they do — as many of the top schools do — anything below a 5.5 is not a plus; and anything below a 5.0 is a red flag. If you do significantly below these levels the first time, take the test again. If you do consistently below what you think your capabilities are, add a statement to your application indicating you typically don’t do well in standardized tests. It may help." http://www.nunomonteiro.org/advice/grad-admissions

Thanks so much! I read that post and felt reassured. But then I came across another post, quoting a Yale professor, that any AW score below 4.5 is worrying. So I fell back to paranoia.

I have a similar question about GRE. I scored 163(V)/165(Q)/4.0 and am shooting to top tier schools. Particularly worried if top-10 schools would pass on my file based on the low writing score. Should I retake it?