Alyanumbers
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Posts posted by Alyanumbers
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Charm bracelet.
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Are 1200 words too much?
edit: for a department that doesn't specify how long the SOP should be.
If I were you, I'd stay within 1000 words, as that is the longest I've seen specified... Anyway, shortening your statement will help make it crisper and more powerful.
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*Looks at transcript* "Huh, Cairo University? Is that even a real school? We have no idea how strict or lenient their grading system is, but her GPA isn't that high and her record is spotty. Graduated in 5 years. Her GRE scores are average, too." *Looks at SoP* "She says she wants to study contemporary Egyptian lit, but she barely passed her Arabic courses... And what is this crap about France in the 60s? We have like 10 other applicants who want to study that!" *Sees LoRs* "Who ARE these people?!" *And now for the writing sample* "I... I have no idea. What is she even talking about?"
- JoeySsance and waddle
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Okay, I'll be honest: this is pretty problematic, as we hear a lot about GRE cutoffs for schools... Generally speaking, you want to have a combined score of at least 1000 to get past the first round of application. Not saying it's impossible to get in with your scores, but it'll be pretty hard indeed, and you may also find difficulty in getting funding (since fellowships also often need a minimum GRE score)... Good luck anyway!
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Alyanumbers, I see you're applying to Univ of Edinburgh .. for what semester are you applying?? I'm going to apply for Fall 2011!!
Me too!
Well, I'm only going to the UK if I can find funding, and I'm not accepted anywhere in the US (because US programs are funded, and I absolutely can't afford the UK). But I would absolutely love to go to Edinburgh! -
Thanks.
I'm just panicking a little, because I'm wrestling with my writing sample right now. Hopefully I won't even need to submit right on the deadline.Sure, I'll encourage you to take their website at its word
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in terms of best, I'd like to nominate Yale ... it was easy, had a user-friendly menu on the left-hand side, asked the right amount of questions, only requested scanned transcripts, and because of how easy it was, was one of the first apps I finished.
Agreed! Columbia is the same way! IME, the ApplyYourself system is better than Embark.
- hello! :) and anonacademic
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It's hard to tell, but I did it like this:
Paragraph 1: "Why this thing I want to research is totally awesome and interesting!"
Paragraph 2: "How I want to research it and what this has to do with your program."
Paragraph 3: "Why I am totally qualified to do this."
Paragraph 4: "No, really. I even did some research in the area!"
Paragraph 5: "Your school is awesome and I want to be there!"
So, basically, one paragraph (about 100-120 words out of ~550) detailing my research plans, but in pretty general terms. After all, I expect, and so do adcomms, my research interests to evolve after 4 semesters of coursework.
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AFAIK, while GRE scores are not one of the most important parts of your application, are still required during the application process, not after. Graduate schools sometimes require them, and the department is not forwarded your application until they are in; sometimes schools will have GRE scores cutoffs; sometimes fellowships need a minimum score... They will definitely need them when processing your app. If they accept them after deadlines, it's because they usually don't start the application review process until a few weeks later.
So, perhaps this was a poor choice on my part, but I'm applying to more than 4 schools, hence I hypothetically need to send score reports at an extra cost to each of my surplus schools. Thing is, looking at the application requirements, they don't specify when your scores have to be in, and a few go so far as to say they don't have to be in by the application deadline. My ideal world involves me not reporting any until I get offers, and just send the scores to confirm that I reported them correctly, but I'm not sure that's truly possible. Will it be frowned upon to have not sent them in? How long can I wait? $75/school for app fees + $23/school for GRE scores adds up quickly...and then we have the holidays!
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Phone number.
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What is your field? Some are more accepting of mental illness than others.
I'm sorry you're going through this. Good luck, and I hope you pull through.
My would-be academic career is a mess. After 4 years in a PhD program, I all but dropped out after failing to secure funding for my dissertation research. I've been on leave for over a year now, trying to decide what to do next. My adviser and others on the faculty have been supportive so far, but I know my actions are confusing to them, and I worry their patience with me is beginning to run out.
What they do not know is that I have bipolar disorder. It is hard to describe how big a part my illness has played in creating this mess; it horrifies me to look back at all the time I've lost and the terrible decisions I've made. Now I am under treatment and relatively stable; I want to pick up the pieces and go on, but I don't know how. There are practical obstacles - not least my lack of funding at the moment - but my mental health issues make the situation so much more complicated, it's tough to assess anything without factoring them in.
I have struggled to keep these problems secret. Now I wonder if that was a mistake. If only I could bring myself to tell my advisor, it might clear up the mystery surrounding my actions, and make it easier for me to get the support and advice I need. If it were any other life-altering illness, I would have disclosed it long ago, but bipolar disorder carries such stigma, I've been terrified to do so. Then again, I may not have much to lose. It's not like I've gained much from pretending things are all right, when they obviously are not.
The alternative may be to drop out and find something else to do with my life. But I don't think I want to do anything else with my life. I want to move forward, but I'm spinning my wheels. Any thoughts on what I should do?
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Hey, good luck! I'm sure you'll be more than fine, with all the excellent advice in this post.
It's going down today, in about an hour and a half. Wish me luck!!
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Good genes.
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I'm sure this is not a big issue, but I've hit a snag in one of my applications. A question asks me to "indicate the type of financial assistance prefer: U of Awesome Research Fellowship, RA, Federally Financed Fellowship or Traineeship, TA, Teaching Fellowship, or No Preference."
Should I just check off "No Preference"? I'm not entirely clear on some things, like the difference between a TA and a Teaching Fellowship, or what a Federally Financed Fellowship is.
Thanks! I think you can tell it's t-minus 7 days and I'm having a hard time seeing the obvious
My understanding is that fellowship > assistantship, and I would be wary of federally-financed funding, since it can get cut pretty easily. University fellowships sound like the safest option.
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Technically, I have an answer to this question, but I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything (sorry, last minute application frenzy!): NYU's deadline is on the 18th. Their website says that if the deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday or a holiday, it's the following business day... So, basically the deadline is on the 20th. Have I got that right? I'm sorry again for the stupid question, but I'm really scared I might have missed something. I'm applying online if that makes any difference.
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Regardless of how accurate, it's probably not very useful, since it's for all programs. A lot of humanities programs won't look at quanti scores, and I guess a lot of math PhD students get in with below 500 verbal scores...
How accurate are these averages? Anyone?
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Not in your field, but your credentials look quite competitive, except for the GRE. With your research experience, though, schools will probably ignore your scores.
Good luck!
Hello,
So I've already sent off my applications but would love to know what you guys think.
I am an international student studying in the UK: BSc (Hons) Biochemistry 2:1 by British standards (roughly 3.5 on the GPA scale but I haven't converted my mark on my appplications)
Year in industry: GlaxoSmithKline doing research very relevant to the subfield of Immunology I would like to specialise in
Final year project: again very relevant to the subfield of Immunology
1 review article joint with my supervisor at GSK in a low profile journal
Two very strong LORs from people at GSK based on my research potential and their first hand experience of it. These people are very well known in the field and subfield and have collaborators at some of the schools I'm applying to or have done a post-doc there. One more general LOR from my academic advisor who holds a PhD but in a different field of Biology.
GRE scores: 640Q, 590V, 4.0AW
Fit: all the schools I've applied to have at least 3 people working on the subfield with very similar research interests to mine.
Schools:
Harvard
UPenn
UCSF
Yale
Rockefeller
MIT
Erm that's all I can think of to say...would love to know what people think.
Thanks!
Ps: please don't be shy to be brutally honest with me-I see so many views of this thread but no replies
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I'm with the others: not quite an offer, but a very good sign! Congrats and good luck!
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Hey!
I'm not American, but I'm applying to MESAAS for fall 2011, for a PhD in Literature in conjunction with ICLS.
My understanding is that you don't choose an adviser until later in the program (after you finish the coursework). However, if there's only one potential adviser for you in the department, you might want to rethink applying there. As for how popular and/or competitive it is, I found these statistics (under the department's previous name).
Hello chaps,
As a British graduate, I am not too famililar with the US grad school applications. So I have many burning questions.
Is anyone on here applying for a PhD at the MESAAS department at Columbia? I was initially all set to apply for fall 2011, but have decided to wait another 12 months to do some more research.
Those accepted onto the PhD program: were you accepted by one particular professor who agrees to supervise your PhD, or does the faculty take you on and you later determine who is to be your advisor?
Is MESAAS a relatively small and unheard of department in the US, or is it hugely popular? I did some searching around on google and came across many youtube videos of MESAAS professors, so I would imagine the level of competition to gain admission on the PhD program is immense!
Lastly, I am looking at specialising in Islamic law and not so much the political or linguistic side of the Middle East studies. I wonder whether MESAAS is the correct department for me. There is only one professor in the department who specialises in Islamic law, so I am essentially applying to a faculty in which only one person could possibly supervise my studies, whereas SOAS in London has an entire department which is dedicated to Islamic law. Thoughts?
Many thanks,
A
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Best friends.
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Difficult times.
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SOAS (U of London) for the unskippable thing! You have to enter two recommenders' names before you can access the next section of the app. But I haven't asked recommenders yet! Can't I just fill in the rest of the application, this way I'll have everything ready, and only have to worry about asking more professors to write me more LoRs?
Also, LoRs must be emailed from a .edu address. Now, my uni does not automatically give out .edu addresses, so my professors use Yahoo/Gmail/Hotmail(!). So now I have to send snail mail LoRs.... from overseas!
And Cornell's application doesn't let you upload a CV. And they give you minimal space to list your languages... I'm applying to Comp Lit; languages are an essential component of my application!
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Virgin Mary.
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Italian job.
Nightmares: Georgetown Arab studies
in Interdisciplinary Studies
Posted
waddle, if I could give you a +2, I would.
OP, you sound like a very strong candidate, but do apply to more than one program, because even strong applicants sometimes get rejected by departments who feel they/their research interests wouldn't 'fit in'.