Dreams

The HCP is not the important part, MSCS is!! It should likely be thrown in the Computer Science section (Masters of Science in Computer Science). I believe HCP is a part time degree program Stanford offers to students from partner companies

Heh you make it seem so simple! Burkander be sure to read some of the back posts in the Econ section. They may be very useful to you.

Who knows. If we stop ordering the ASRs like people stopped buying gas, maybe ETS will lower the price

Aren't you nice. All of us will need all of the luck we can get if this turns out to be a very competitive season.

This is a good question. I will begin saving come January and will likely cap it at between $1500 and $2000.

I'd be interested in hearing from the Fletcher person too. I am also interested in how the application process went for everyone and where they ended up applying.

Nah, I don't think you read all of the posts thoroughly. Amongst the superstars are tons of average Joes like us posting here.

If you look outside of the traditional "brand" schools in DC and NYC, you will find that many schools offer scholarships. For example LBJ offers scholarships to Fulbrighters, and Syracuse and Denver offers money to incoming students. Heck even the Bush school provides aid for students and a fair amount at that. And these are strong schools with strong programs (well I don't know too much about the Bush school). But you may also need to be creative in looking for funding. Think about these: 1. Do you know a foreign language fluently? If so, then consider contacting the foreign language department of a university and offering to teach a course or two in exchange for a stipend or something. 2. Applying for a FLAS if you are considering doing an Area Studies component to your degree. 3. Look for support positions on campus. Many will confer benefits which will include tuition remission, as well as provide you with a salay to live on. There are many other ways to get money. Hope this helps at least.

Wait until they send you word on funding to make a move. By then you would have a better sense if you can even afford to attend the school.

I see both of your points, and I agree that it is important to check to ensure your documents are received after a certain amount of time has passed. One program I applied to a few years did not receive many of my documents. They also never called or informed me that anything was missing. Mind you I applied very, very far ahead of the deadline. I only found out because I got a phone saying my check had been mailed back to the (no longer valid) address printed on it. After calling the school, I was told that 2 reference letters, my statement of purpose, resuem, and one of my writing samples were missing. The rest of the documents made it. Unbelievable I thought since I mailed everything in one package, but these things do happen. Now with the online tracking systems some schools use, it makes it easier to track which documents have been received; but you have to allow about 1 to 2 weeks during the peak submittal season because of the amount of documents pouring in. That said, I am in trouble because another school has not received something and the deadline was December 1.

Way to go. Let's hope they pull out the bucks for you.

Ha! right! But MAN is right, from what people have told me, the Q scores are not too important for Art History programs. Just make sure the rest of your package is solid.

I think it depends on the field really. I know for instance the two fields I am applying to: Public Health and International Affairs, ar seeing a lot of applications this year. For someone like me at the bottom rung of the totem pole stat wise, this could potentially spell doom.

It is all part of the mystery I guess. Not all stories have a happy ending, though I would not wish the bad ending on anyone here.

Join the club. And my "stats" are lower than yours so imagine how I feel.

I think with all the time spent preparing these applications, it will feel good not to think about them for a few months. I don't mind waiting for the results.

Your experience is pretty impressive. I would say you are very competitive for Elliot. You may also be strong for SAIS and SIPA, but be mindful that SIPA looks favorably on those with at least a few years work experience and SAIS is very quantitative focused. I am not able to gauge you for Fletcher though. The only thing that might get you is that I don't see any solid professional experience. Overall, I would say you will very likely be granted admission to at least 2 on your list.

The stats are only one part of the application. Do you have any research experience? What about experience presenting at conferences or publishing anything? Teaching experiences or any fellowships? Also with only an intro class in Soc, how close is your undergrad major to Soc? These are the things that will be more helpful to us in answering your question.

There is no need to cross post. I answered your question in the other section.

Hey this board is geared more towards prospective grad students. You may want to look up one of the many boards for prospective college students. You would fare better there. As it stands though, I would say your activities put you in a competitive spot for admission to BU.

This is excessive to the extreme. Revising your statement 50 billion times will not show adcoms that you are better than your 580V, a solid application package complete with strong references will. You are likely doing more harm than good by constantly revising your statement. My advice would be to get someone to do a final check and just submit the darn thing already.

I will be honest with you, for a master's in education, you GRE scores are more than fine. You have nothing to worry about. Now, if you are for some crazy reason still freaking out about your scores, retake the GRE and skip both the verbal and writing sections. You will not receive a score for either section and thus will not have to worry about getting a score lower than what you currently have in those two sections.

I agree with you about running into other PH prospects. Perhaps it happens in waves. I am applying to JHU also for a PhD in Health Behavior and Society and a PhD in Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia too! So it appears we are looking at the same things. Those are the only two I am applying to. I did not apply to Harvard or anywhere else that used SOPHAS because of the rigmarole they put you through. I could not afford the fees and had worries my transcripts would not get there in time.

Good to see someone else. I am also a little shaky on the whole thing. I am applying to PhD programs and also have a December 1 deadline. It will mean a few long nights this week, including tonight! Where are you applying, what level, and what specializations if I might ask?

You have answered your own question in a way. If program does not have a department code, then there is nothing for you to enter. Programs usually give GRE code information in their admissions sections. So be sure to always check there first. In your case for Harvard, since your program falls under GSAS, the graduate school will forward all of your information, scores included, to the relevant department once your complete application is received. If all else fails, you could always send a quick inquiry to the program of interest.