Bukharan

engagement announcement

party monster

spoilt children

Déjà vu! You posted before. You also applied before. That was an interesting thread!

rainy mood

The same here. Eight applications! I sent everything about half a month ago. What I was wondering is whether you will chase up all the schools to enquire if all your documents have been received? Not all online application systems provide this information, of course.

It is an interesting question. I've never heard of anyone having this problem. Some schools specify that recommendations must be in English but I guess it may be different for Comp Lit programmes. I doubt there is a definitive answer anyone can give you that will put your mind at ease. I think you are on the right track - e-mail the other three schools again (and again) until they answer! Only after you have a yes/no answer from them, you will know for sure!

stuff gown

I had to take a flight to another country to take GRE. It is easier and faster to fly elsewhere than take a train to London from my location, you see. I am quite happy though that I managed to save $200 on early applications!

I guess you know the answer yourself. Your Quant is 750 (is it roughly 82%?) and as you said, you are applying to top engineering programmes in America. It probably really should be 790-800. Then again, there are many other factors! GRE is not everything, TOEFL is not everything blah-blah. You never ever ever know when it comes to admissions! All the best!

I do not recommend AUC for Arabic. I would suggest the Arabic Language Centre of the University of Damascus and perhaps that British Arabic Institute (not sure about the name) in Yemen. The best thing about both countries is that they are among a few Arab countries where you may still have a chance to practice Arabic when travelling around. I found the quality of teaching at the ALC in Syria to be excellent!

I've heard some great stuff about the LSE-Beijing programme. Financially, it also looks much more accessible. I'd say it's better to have a year in London and a year in Beijing on your CV than two years in (excruciatingly expensive) London.

I would second that. To the schools to which you already reported the combined scores, you probably need to send both reports. To other schools, just send the latest report. The high Quant score is what you need. Besides, it is not always that schools combine scores. On some university websites I've seen that the schools only take the latest scores into account anyway.

This is an excellent piece of advice. The sooner the schools receive the scores, the sooner they will process them. Even after the scores are 'in', some departments take ages to 'find' them.

Well... this point could be disputed. I appreciate your point. I totally agree that productivity, not 'brand', is what matters. However, if we look at 'trans-Atlantic' Nobel laureates, I'd say most of them went to very good schools. I just had a look at the 2009 Nobel winners - there are plenty of Yale, Harvard, Berkeley and UCLA alumni. If we consider the Nobel laureates who are not from Europe or North America, then of course we would occasionally not know of their universities. I am sure, however, that their alma mater would be famous in their own country (China, Indonesia, Venezuela, you name it).

teenage dream

color association

I encountered the same problem. Princeton uses the same application system as Stanford. So ... in case you also submitted an application to Princeton , you can login through their link and then you will be able to check the status of both your Princeton and Stanford applications. I know... super-random.

Finally, all LORs are in. Now I only need to chase up the schools over the next couple of weeks and enquire whether all my supplementary documents have been received.

Purring hamster

You are only in your second year. It is too early to think about GRE. Focus on your studies and, yes, try to get into some kind of research. Also, don't waste your summers - do something that will boost your academic profile.

cat person

I am all pro-resuscitating this thread. I submitted my applications a week ago. Now waiting for two references to be uploaded (sent the reminder today). I am so glad the 'applying' is over. Now have to wait. Good luck to all those who finish up their History applications!

I have submitted absolutely everything in PDF. It is more professional I believe. I also think it looks better visually. I noticed that some online application systems slightly reduce the quality of the submitted PDF files but if we are talking of 'typed' documents (SOP) it should not be a problem. It could sometimes affect uploaded transcripts.

As many said before, double-check with the department. Some schools (normally, top schools) only waive the TOEFL requirement for those with an undergraduate degree from a university in an English-speaking country (India, Egypt, Malaysia, Lebanon would not count no matter how established some of their English-language universities are). Some universities will waive the language proficiency requirement unconditionally on the location of your undergraduate institution. Contact admissions!