fuzzylogician

It's not a good idea to submit: - collaborative work -- how should the adcom know what your contribution was? (= research ability compromised) - a poster -- I think posters usually do not reflect normal research-paper writing. (= writing ability compromised) You should seriously consider either translating something you wrote, writing something new, or at the very least contacting schools to ask if there is someone who can read your writing sample in the language in which it is currently written (at my department people can also submit papers in French and German, and possibly in other languages as well, if they inquire).

I guess the answer depends on the kind of relationship you have with your professors currently. I keep active contact with some of my professors -- one or two will occasionally still ask me to read a manuscript for them and I'll ask for their advice too. Some I haven't spoken with since I left my university. I send them all Christmas cards in December (done it twice already, and I plan to do it again this year). I haven't seen any of them in conferences since I left, but I'm sure we would have coffee and catch up if I did. Once you have a network it's good practice to maintain it, even at a very basic level.

I'm facebook-friends with several of my hosts, as well as other prospective students who I met at other universities that I ended up not attending. I see them occasionally at conferences. I've also had occasion to write professors I had met during these visits to ask about some paper or theory of theirs. Everyone is very nice and helpful, it's after all in everyone's best interest to network.

Fair enough. I never even thought about being graded because that is completely beside the point of my graduate courses. They expose me to new, sometimes exciting, materials. They allow me to broaden and deepen my knowledge of topics both within and outside my immediate areas of interest (a great way to discover new ones, btw). Assignments, such as they are, are absolutely not the main point of the class. You can choose to take from them what you will -- you can do the bare minimum and be disappointed, or you can become interested and do more, usually outside the immediate framework of the class.

Couldn't have said it better myself! Some of my courses are extremely challenging! Specifically, I am taking a seminar this semester that is being taught by 3 of the world's leading experts on the field (and I do mean the world's leading experts!). The seminar is additionally being visited by the two other leading professors who teach in the area. The discussions they have are so profound--they are actually developing a new theory in class, as we go. It's amazing to watch but can be very hard to follow. Not to mention all the smart students around who also take part in the discussions.. I do agree that most classes are meh, at best. I can choose to do more or less reading and delve into issues as I become interested in them. I also agree that however interesting and challenging a course is, everybody agrees that research much more important.

Several things result in a good "fit" with a program: - Interests: overlap between your interests and topics currently being pursued by professors in the department. This is the obvious one. The more potential advisers you may have, the better -- you'll have more course options, more people to guide your own work, probably more peers who are working on similar issues. The more specific and developed your interests, the better the adcom can see this fit. Vague generalities will result in no one finding your research interests particularly relevant to them. There is no need for platitudes; just make it clear how your work relates to as many potential advisors in a department as possible. - Resources: inter- and intra-departmental collaborations, proximity to a researcher or department in another university in the area (but don't make too big a deal of it), library/archives/informants or other (professional) reasons for you to be specifically at location X, special equipment (labs, fMRI or whatnot), certificate programs (e.g. teaching, translation, specialty in X - cog sci, media are relevant examples for my field) - Methods: professors who use methodologies that you are interested in, even if they use them to study different topics than you are interested in - Social environment: this is more elusive, but different departments work differently. Some are friendlier and close-knit, some are more competitive. Some have student-student or student-professor collaborations, at some you're supposed to fly solo. At some students (and occasionally professors) meet up for beer and Topics in X late-night sessions, at some you go home to your own life at the end of the day. This is something that you should independently be interested in when you're choosing where to apply, because for example if you're a very competitive person you may be completely miserable in too laid-back an atmosphere, even though professionally you may get the mentorship you need (or vice-versa, over-competitiveness can easily cause some people to feel insecure and out of place). Your character should preferably shine through your SOP, not be written about directly, but mentioning social fit also works if you frame it in the right way. Usually you'll find the things a program is most proud of directly on its website. Certificates, collaborations, special resources will feature prominently. For things like methodologies and interests you might need to go on individual professors' homepages. Social atmosphere is the factor that is hardest to learn about. That you'll hear about from colleagues or professors, but be mindful. The student body at an institution is a changing thing and some rumors (or past facts) may simply not hold anymore. The best way to know about how a department operates is to speak to a current student there. The more detailed you are, the more elements you can write about, the more excited you sound - the better the fit will shine through.

Everybody feels like that from time to time. EVERYBODY. I think it's really important to try not to compare yourself to others. There will always be that person who is smarter, faster, seems to have it easier. I am sure that that person is envy of someone else in their life too. It's a vicious never-ending cycle. Some of your peers may already have Masters degree or may simply have more background in certain areas. Others may genuinely be geniuses, though (I think) they are rarer than it seems to many of us. Not being THE BEST should never discourage you from going after your interests, or else you (and I, and most everyone) can just stop right now. Life, and graduate school, is not only about being smart and coming up with insightful comments. It's also about follow-through, and hard work, and interpersonal relationships, and writing skills, etc. All those things count, and hard-working "normal" people can be extremely successful. You are good enough, or else you wouldn't have been accepted to your program. You're in a new program so it may take you time, but concentrate on finding your stride - that one or two areas that excite you most, and where without a doubt you know more than random other people--especially in an interdisciplinary program. Some required classes will not be your thing, but once you find the one or two that you shine in, all those hard-slash-boring classes will be forgotten. I've learned, and maybe you need to do the same, that it's impossible to meet all of the requirements of grad school. If I actually did all of my readings, I would never go home at all (and I am writing this from my office, at 20 past midnight). It's legitimate to choose the classes you concentrate on more; it's legitimate to not get all of the assigned reading done (I have it on good authority that professors don't actually expect students to do it all); it's even legitimate to choose a class you care about less. I think it's better to do well in some classes and not as well in others -- than to be spread too thinly and do badly in all of the classes. If you're doing research -- that is more important than all of your classes. Prioritize. Also know that other people also did not do everything (for this class or some other, or for their research), it's just impossible. They are all human, and they are *not* better than you. Some people are just better at coming up with those one or two "interesting things to say", as Katzenmusik puts it.

If you're convinced that all 8 schools are a good fit for you, don't cut any of them. Many people apply to 8 or more schools and recommenders don't usually have a problem with that. As you say, they reuse the same letter template, changing only the cover letter. I'd suggest you tell them you're applying to 8 schools, and see what they think about that. Use the opportunity to ask for their opinion of your choices and whether they recommend adding or removing a school.

Yes - I've done this. Most schools will indeed not care about your finances until after you've been accepted and decided to attend there. You have to prove you have sufficient funding to qualify for the F-1 visa, but it's not really relevant before then. For the few schools that nonetheless required that I provide information about my finances, I either said I would need funding to attend (if there was such an option) or otherwise indicated that I had very little money to fund myself (can't remember if I put '0' or some other low amount like '$100'). For me, it was clear that I wouldn't attend a school that didn't offer me enough funding, so I wasn't worried about being rejected because I couldn't self-fund. I was never going to do that anyway.

It doesn't have to be graded (unless specifically required by a school), but I'd strongly recommend that you submit a paper that has been reviewed and commented on by your professors--as opposed to a new paper that no one has had the chance to read. It has to be academic, as strangefox says, and it should preferably be in the (sub)field for which you are applying, if possible.

I can give it a look, PM me.

Well, if the person writing your recommendation letter only knows you for a year now, that seems like the relevant information. The fact that they will continue working with you later on doesn't really help in the sense that their opinion of you can only be based on the year that they have known you so far, obviously not on the future year to come. I gather that you have two strong professional and only one strong academic one. Would it be possible for you to submit a fourth letter -- have two academic letters and two professional ones? That way you stick to the requirements but still get to submit both of your strong letters. Some programs have a policy about this, but in most cases it'd be best to contact each program and ask.

It took me about a year to really start making friends in grad school. I am very fortunate to have a friendly cohort, but aside from that the best advice I can give you is to try to get involved in different things. Try joining ongoing projects or volunteering to do some of the many things that go on in any program - organizing conferences, sitting on planning committees for this or that, hosting the monthly departmental party or whatnot. Create opportunities to communicate with people. I think like most people you'll not enjoy just anyone's company; but if you can find 1-2 people who you feel comfortable around, that will be a great start. Different people have different capacities for friends. I find that I can only have very few good friends (like one, maybe two) and a small circle of other people I enjoy hanging out with. Probably 4-5 is my limit, more than that and I have a hard time keeping up with what is going on. Find your comfort zone and stick to it. Like I said, it took me about a year to get here, but I'm very happy with my circle of friends right now. I was lucky in terms of cohort and office mates, but aside from that I joined a lab that has fun people who (luckily!) also do great work, and I stick to sitting next to the same people during classes and taking coffee breaks with them. I tried joining people for basketball games and going out to get free food at events, basically trying to set up opportunities where there was no pressure, which makes it easier for me.I occasionally organize a small event myself, like lunch in the department or pizza at someone's house. If you try something like that I think you'll find more people than you might imagine who will be very grateful to you for doing the hard work of bringing people together for them....slowly but surely. It's hard, but it can be done.

Awesome, those are great scores! Congratulations!

Just make sure that the schools you are applying to don't have AW cutoffs and you should be fine. The AW is the least important one of the GRE sections. There are several other ways for admissions committees to learn about your language skills--all of which are more reliable than the AW score: - The TOEFL, specifically the writing/speaking parts - Your SOP and any other essays you have to submit - Your LORs: Some recommendation prompts directly ask writers to address the applicant's language abilities. Some recommenders always include this info in their letters, and you can always ask your recommenders to do so if you think it's necessary. - Interviews (field dependent)

I think it could be fine as a 1-2 line opener to your SOP but obviously the rest of your essay should be professional and focused on research, not your personal life. The only way you'll know for sure if it works will be to write one opening paragraph starting with your mother's story and one opening paragraph that is more impersonal, read them both -- maybe let some friends and professors look them over too -- and decide which you think is better. If you word it right, it could be one more way for you to show your passion and dedication to your chosen field.

The application software is often used by the whole university so it may allow for wider margins in order to accommodate different departments' requirements. Make sure that the department that you're applying to allows you to submit more than 3 letters. If so, and you're convinced that all 5 of your letters will be strong ones, then go ahead and submit them all.

Wow. I think in your situation I would have already left ... I really admire your ability to stick it out! That said, I think the environment in your department is so toxic that you should cut your losses and leave as soon as you can. You're suffering, you're not being funded, and frankly it sounds like the chances that you'll graduate with a decent thesis aren't great. Not to mention, if the program is this bad, you would not want to be associated with it anyway. At this point, you could probably use a break from graduate school. if you can get a job outside academia, maybe that's the best thing for you to do right now. Put some distance between yourself and this awful experience. In another year or two, once you've put this behind you, then you can reapply. Don't get discouraged from doing a PhD, if that is your dream, but don't stay in a place that is this unsupportive! If and when you do reapply, make sure to research not only the school's academic strong points but also its social atmosphere. Graduate students are probably the best source of information for this purpose -- ask them and they will usually be very honest about how they feel about their departments. For now, though, just concentrate on extricating yourself from this bad situation! Once it's over, I think you'll have better perspective; then you can make decisions about what to do next.

The writing score is generally the least important of the three GRE scores. Are you an international student? If you are, make sure that you get a good score in the writing part of the TOEFL exam. If you're submitting a writing sample (I don't know if you usually do that for engineering) - make sure it's well-written. Same goes for your SOP and any other essay you are submitting; make sure that they contain no grammatical or stylistic errors. You could also ask one or more of your recommenders to address your language abilities directly in their letters, if they've had a chance to see you present or write in English. Definitely don't be discouraged from applying. I'd also guess that your scores are fine as they are (if anything, you might worry about the low quant score), but I'll let other posters who are more familiar with eng applications address this issue.

I'd also suggest to keep it short and vague, and I think that "medical condition" sounds like a good choice of words. The adcom doesn't need to know the specifics, the important thing is that you briefly say that you previously had a problem which affected your grades but it's now under control and you are doing well at your new school. If you can keep this out of the SOP, that will be great. Most schools have space for you to tell them "anything else you think is relevant to your application" or some such. Otherwise, keep it down to 1-2 sentences which reference the problem in the past tense and stress the current upward trend in your grades.

I think it's definitely a step in the right direction (at least for my taste; again, there are many people out there who do support the "hook" approach), but it needs a lot of tweaking. Before you submit your essays you should really have someone go over them to proof-read for grammatical and stylistic errors. Maybe there's a writing center at your school that you could use? I think that there's WAY too much going on in this paragraph. I know you're only applying to a Masters program and it might be hard for you to define your interests but there definitely seems to be a common thread to all of your questions. Can you articulate it in one or two sentences? what is the overarching topic that you find interesting here? Right now I think you're asking too many questions. Each one of them could easily be a long-term project, so saying that you hope to learn the answers to them all is very unrealistic in my opinion. If you could concentrate on just defining the large question you're interested in and then giving one or two concrete more focused questions that you could ask, I think your essay will be more convincing in the sense that it'll show the adcom that you understand the scope of what you can do in a Masters program -- what is a feasible project to undertake. Additionally, I'm not sure (I know nothing about media studies) but I feel like you're throwing in buzz-words where they don't quite fit. I'll go through this paragraph one or two sentences at a time and be very nit-picky, but ignore grammatical errors; I hope that's OK with you: Recently, The Social Network movie has been dominating box office and receiving an Oscar buzz. Who would have thought that program created by a college student could create a global phenomenon? Hm, this is supposed to be some sort of a short "hook"? I don't see what it's doing for you here. Why is this anecdote important? Maybe I am too much of a cynic, but I'm also not a fan of the "who would have thought" type question. However, I can't tell you why exactly. Because anyone from anywhere can actively participate in social media technologies, how do social media technologies help people to understand different cultures? The because-clause is out of place. Do you mean something like "given that ..., how ..." ? What might be a motivation for a person from Germany to use the Facebook compare to American users? So you'd like to explore the motivation people might have for using a certain technology or software; but why are you assuming a-priori that you'll find different answers for people from different countries or ages? Also (forgive the bluntness), why is this question interesting? What will it teach us if we do come up with findings as you predict? Do social media technologies play multi functions other than to just connect with other people? Well, you're basically assuming in your previous questions that the answer here is 'yes'. What is next media technology that will create a global phenomenon? If you know the answer, tell me now so I can buy stocks Or, in other words: it's probably close to impossible to research this question in grad school.

Getting a PhD and becoming a professor are great reasons to get a Masters degree. Why should a Masters program be offended by an applicant who thinks that they can obtain a good education there which will pave their way to being admitted into a good PhD program? Maybe I don't quite understand what your worry is.

In general, I think you should never hang out with people who make you feel uncomfortable or listen to advice makes you lose confidence in yourself. I don't know if this guy is purposefully trying to mess with you or if he's just being insensitive, but from what you write it sounds like this friendship is not good for you and you need to have less contact with this person. Really, no one can know right now who (if any) in a fresh new cohort will fail orals or flunk out so all this guy is doing is make uneducated offensive guesses. Don't listen to him.

Frankly I'd cut this whole paragraph out. If the purpose of the SOP is to teach the adcom who you are as a researcher and who you would like to become, this paragraph does not advance that goal one bit. I'd bet most media students spent a lot of time watching TV and surfing the internet when they were growing up, it's like the cliche about English majors loving to read books. Everyone has some exposure to the media, yet not everyone wants to go to graduate school to study the media. Why are you fascinated with this field? what kinds of questions interest you most, and why? -- In my opinion, those would be much better "hooks", if you think you need one. Personally I'm in favor of the "no fluff, no hooks" approach. I started my SOP with several research questions I thought I'd like to explore in grad school. But in any event, I support the advice you've been given here that you should work out the rest of your essay first and write the intro and conclusion only after the body of the essay has been written and polished. Those are the hardest parts so you shouldn't get stuck on them.

I can't remember what I wrote anymore, it's one of the options word offers. "page 1 of 3", "page 2 of 3" sounds good.