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purplepepper

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Everything posted by purplepepper

  1. I did everything abroad in a non-English speak country, and got into my top choice. I didn't have any interviews though, but I did contact profs through email ahead of time to introduce myself. Never visited campuses ahead of time either. The only real difference is, is that there is less help to put your application together than if you were still a student. The GRE is less convenient cause there will probably be only a handful of cities where you can take it, so if you want to take it twice, you have to factor in travel expenses. Also sent lots of faxes, and postal fees were higher (I sent everything with tracking numbers). There was no library I could work at to polish my writing sample, but just in time Google Books saved my life..definitely make use of that. And for the SOP, email works wonders. Just send it to your profs/friends/etc. As for LORs, I made a point of calling profs during their office hours (sometimes at 4am..ick) and following up wiht emails. Had only one major problem with someone who pulled an MIA, but found another prof to write instead. Lots of people do it with great success. It shouldn't even be the first concern from where you are applying!
  2. I personally never had a problem sending my GRE scores... One thing to keep in mind, is that your schools may have your GRE scores, but sometimes it takes them months to post it in the receipt of your application. So, even if you send your scores in July (like i did last year), my schools for the most part, didn't post the receipt of my scores on my application until about Oct/Nov.
  3. i must have memorized at least 1000, but i work best this way, and i just memorize stuff well. saw only a handful of words that studied on the test, but because i had studied so much i was able to recognize the word/question patterns and it wasn't so much of a problem
  4. This is a really good question, and I'd be interested in hearing what people think about this too. I get the impression though, that it's not as much the title of your degree, but the content of your dissertation that determines where you "fit" in the job market. As a matter of fact, I had an MA prof. who did the PhD with a literature dept. but becuase his research was about lit. and art, and because he saw himself as an art historian, he got a job with an art history dept. I would guess with visual studies, if a university would be looking for someone specially with a visual studies background, you'd get the advantage. For a traditional art history post, you'd be more than qualified as well. Just have to market yourself a bit differently I would imagine.
  5. good god, I love TV. And, as strange as it sounds, there are so many cultural nuances that you get from watching TV that are important to be aware of..kinda connecting you to life outside of the university so you don't turn into some space alien scholar....this only my opinion though! and thank goodness I'm not the only one who thinks that either.
  6. Yes, do not convert your grades. If you are confused, call the admissions office who will give you advice on the issue. Schools are generally familiar with the grading systems in several (probably most) countries. There is really no need to figure out what your GPA would be like in the US. If you are at the top of your class in Country X the unis that you will apply to will know that.
  7. I did my MA in the UK (I think a lot of people have done the same). I don't know about the sciences, but no, there is no GRE like test. If you are applying for the PhD, you need to have a dissertation proposal for the most part, but I"m sure your profs can help you with that. If you are interested though in my opinion (and granted I did my MA in the humanities so it could be entirely different for the sciences). In the US, you are allowed wiggle room and are given time to mature and explore topics before deciding on your dissertation topic. You have to take classes that give s you a much much wider perspective on your field, and in the end I believe that is a real plus with US educations. In the UK, you pretty much only work on the dissertation without taking classes, so you don't have this time to mature and explore other options. Yes, networking is actually much easier to do in Europe, probably because it's a much smaller place with a smaller community, so that is a plus in itself. I do not believe funding in Europe is as good as it is in the US. You will probably need loans to pay, at least for your living expenses. You just need to decide where you are in your studies....to jump right into your research, or if you need the time to explore and get a feel for your field before jumping in. In my opinion, there is no need to rush, but you do what is best for you.
  8. This depends a great deal on where you are from. My husband is almost done with the spousal visa process so if the student visa process is anything similar--you'll go in to file your forms, etc. You have to show them your passport, but they give it back to you at the end of the interview. Then your files are sent into the system and it can take anywhere from 3 weeks (really fast) to a few months (or many many months) to process. They'll send you a notice when they have processed everything, you get the rest of the necessary paperwork done and make another appointment where you must actually give the officer your passport. By the time this is done, however, and everything is in order, it really only takes a week or so to issue the visa. So the long story short, the visa process can take forever, but you are only without a passport for a very short period of time. Student visas must be similar, and they probably take less time to process than other kinds.
  9. hmmm if you haven't gotten your housing contract yet, give Housing a call ASAP. I believe the deadline for accepting your contract is Friday...they'll give it away otherwise!! and, absolutely no early move-ins...seems like they are strict on that. otherwise no news.
  10. Thanks FSIA, I don't know what's up with the mail but I did talk to someone about my account, which I did activate. Got my housing contract too, Butler it is! But I'm in a Butler small, which even though I requested it, as it's $100 a month cheaper...it really does look a bit small. Well, i'm sure it'll be fine Also got an email from the Graduate Office asking for my final transcripts, which I find odd, considering I graduated with my MA in 2005, and obviously did send in my final transcripts...hmmm. I'll give them yet another call on Monday, they must be so happy to be getting so many calls....
  11. I didn't even think of that one. That's a good idea..if it doesn't come today in the mail I might give that a try. I'm so mentally clocked out of work and just waiting to get started in the fall, any bit of news from Princeton is exciting. Here's a question to put out there. If you guys had a choice, why did you choose Princeton? just curious...and hoping to start some discussion
  12. you're fine. Ad coms aren't interested in how immature you were in the past but rather in how mature you have become. Just get your ideas focused and write a good statement. your grades should be the least of your worries.
  13. No way! Did you get it in the mail, or by email? Grr. I am living overseas though, so by the post could take a bit longer. But at least it's good to know things are moving forward :wink: Anything interesting along with email?
  14. started it in june. submitted it in dec. worked on it a bit everyday and took a month off in sept. or so.
  15. I also think that you need to fly out to see your grandmother....guilt is unforgiving in that way. If this is your last chance that's it right? I just have 2 things to add. Before my grandmother died, my family and I went out to see her, but my sister just happened to be in Europe for the week and never saw her again. That's a hard thing to live with. My dad too, was in a kind of unforgiving job as for takign time off, but whenever one of his collegue's relatives was gravely ill, without fail, they would be absent from work for a few days. Him too before his mother (my other grandmother) died. So the point is, as Minnesotan pointed out, it's not like you are getting drunk in Cancun, these are very important events in one's life where work should rightly take the backseat. You have the rest of your life to work you know.
  16. It depends entirely on which questions you missed (each question has a grade of difficulty and has accordingly more or less weight in your overall score)and the sequence in which you missed them. If you got a lot right in a row and missed some here and there your score will be significantly higher than if you miss many at the beginning. This should all be explained within the GRE powerprep software, or on the official ETS website..I forget where.
  17. learn the words. all of them. Princeton Review's book (I think) "Words for the GRE" or somethign to that extent is good It listed about 600s ome words, I memorized all of them, and it really helped. I'm good at memorizing stuff though, so that may have helped. After a while, you start to see the patterns, it's easier that way (for me) instead of the recommended learning prefixes and suffixes.
  18. To answer your question, I tried a first hour $150 deal, because I was anxious and I really needed to talk to someone with an objective opinion early on in the season about my apps. What the above two posters said are absolutely true. They are too vague to be helpful. Actually the advice that I got from that first hour was kinda bad. I incorporated their ideas into my SOP, got feedback from one of my profs who ripped it apart. And I'm glad they did. Consulting is a business, right? If they told you everything you need to know in 1 hour, they wouldn't make much money. I got the feeling that they start vague and have you answer vague questions in the beginning, in order to get you to keep coming back to refine your focus. My advice is: The SOP is one of the most important aspects, no matter what field your are in. I understand not wanting to bug people to read it a million times, so ask your friends to read early drafts. Ask anyone who will read it. Get a ton of feedback and rewrite it again and again. Once you feel like you are kind of on track, ask as many profs, as many professionals as you can. Ask every facebook friend. Just get as much feedback as you can, rewrite as much as you can. I didn't try a service that did SOP stuff only..I know of them though. A cheap and popular one is essayedge.com If you are really in need of some feedback, you could ask them to do an early reading of your SOP. It could work for some people.
  19. Hey Canker, Relationships are important and it sounds like the "compromise" of going back to Canada would be healthiest for all of you. Obviously your family will affect your performance at school, so if you are constantly worrying a that they are just waiting out the ride and having to be patient in the UK for your sake, don't you think that will affect your studies as well? I really don't see the shame in going back to your department to finish school--maybe one or two people might ask you about the ordeal in the beginning but I doubt that will last long as people tend to be focused mostly on themselves. And hey, you did stick it out for the MA, which is great. You've tried it, and you made a decision based on your experiences on what was best for you and those in your life. That is what life is about right? You brought up a good point though, if it was just you that you'd stay in the UK. I have fought with this idea a lot myself lately...I just got married this summer, to well really the love of my life. I met him while I was abroad (actually I'm still abroad and about to go back to the states after 5 years of being away. ack.) He's not American, and he's significantly older than me (really significantly), and he's picking up his life to come with me to the states. Anyway, this puts a ton of pressure on me really, to make sure he's getting the help he needs to get in order to get on his feet. I'm worried that I won't be able to work how I need or travel as freely (for summer research, field work, even though that's all far away, who knows what will happen.) because of him. So I've gotten myself all in a tizzy thinking, "what am i going to do, if it were just me, it'd be so easy!!" I think a lot of people struggle with this, and a lot (not all though) of young college kids about to enter grad school don't get it either. I sure didn't when I was 22. Sure, grad school is easier by yourself, but sometimes life just happens and we all have to deal with it in the way that's best for us and our families. Lots of people do it though, all of my profs are married and those who aren't, I find, are the most miserable of all! the point of the story. Family is important and sometimes you just have to compromise, without of course totally compromising your own goals.
  20. Congrats Kfed, on your graduation And no, I haven't received any mail from the graduate school concerning registration or setting up your email. I saw somewhere on the website that they'd get that stuff mailed out by mid-May, but who knows...mid-May might also mean late-June. I heard somewhere too about housing decisions getting sent out this month, actually I think I read that on this forum somewhere....hmmm. :? Well, I'm also anxious to have access, so I hope we get that stuff soon. I'm just still confused by the whole moving in date...Sept. 11th seems rather late...I hope it'd be possible to move in earlier than that.
  21. haha. seriously. i'm in art history. my prof said that admissions was super tough this year so good job to us. our stipends are higher than Yale's too. by $250 a year. neener neener. I applied for apartment style housing... When I did my MA (at a different uni) I lived in graduate dorms, and while it was really great for the first year, one year was enough for me.
  22. I think you are just going to have to see what other people in your classes are wearing first. I, personally, have no problems wearing shorts, sandals, etc. to class, cause hey, I just don't like being uncomfortable when it's hot. Anyway, Sept. should be cool enough where you can wear pants and t-shirts and still be comfortable, and then when the sun comes out and the weather starts getting warm just see what everyone else does. But seriously, if DE is anything like the weather in New England, the sun will set in Oct. and you won't see it again for about a half a year. So you've got lots of time to ponder the question. Jeans, trainers, t-shirts, are definitely acceptable ( unless you are in a business program where people tend to wear suits, and then I wouldn't know.) I wore all 3 of those to campus visits (when I visited the schools I was accepted to) and never once got a strange look or felt out of place.
  23. I am watching TV, playing video games, spacing out, and eating ice cream. And I'm proud of it.
  24. I've been following this story since the beginning, and all things aside: Does anyone have any information on what happened? Did the girl get in? Updates please!!! I
  25. Take a look at The Chronicle of Education forums. There are several threads that address these topics. http://chronicle.com/forums/
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