shepardn7

I have this terrible fear that the office secretary who said she would email or call if some essential aspect of my application was missing has neglected to contact me in all the bustle, and so the adcom won't read my app, and so I won't get in... I'm not going to bother her but I'm still scared they'll never read it. I'm crazy. END THIS PROCESS PLEASE.

So much hate for telemarketers when you're hoping beyond hope for a phone call. The phone rings and you're hoping it's surprise good news, though you'd settle for a friend or a parent, maybe even tolerate a political campaigner, and instead it's an blasted telemarketer who forces you to get rude or hang up mid-sentence because he or she won't allow you to just politely end the conversation. It's just so frustrating because it's already a forceable intrusion on your time and person. Good luck to you--hope everything works out with the dual applying and stuff!

This is almost exactly what happened to me. I also have severe standardized test anxiety, and I did a much better job conquering it for my General GRE than my GRE Lit. I left about 40 blank (though not all at the end--I did some strategic skipping and looked ahead to the end of the test to answer what I knew for sure I could) because I was re-reading passages, which you really have no time to do. You just have to skim, answer, and move on. I would read a passage and the words wouldn't register in my brain. I would have no idea what I'd just read. Like water through a goddamn sieve. So I'd read it again, and sometimes read it a third time. I was just freaking out. I wonder how much better I would have done if I had had taken some Xanax or even an anti-ADD med, because I think it was my difficulty focusing past my anxiety that truly cost me. As awful and expensive as this sounds, OP, I would suggest taking the test twice (Oct and Nov, or April and Oct). If you do well the first time, great. If you don't, then you know what to expect and can work on ways you might improve for the second test. If I knew I had another chance, I suspect my anxiety level would have been somewhat lower. Just a thought. And always remember that the test is not held in high esteem. It's a formality, even more so than the General GRE, so there's no need to have a heart attack over it (erm...like I was). Just do your best under the conditions and focus on your writing sample and statement.

Don't worry; the test is not too important. But if your test is anything like mine, you won't need to learn canonical history at all to get a good score. While some of the texts will be non-canonical pieces from canonical authors, only a sorry few will be canonical texts from those authors (think--the most obvious Keats poem). A few will be non-canonical texts from non-canonical authors. Most of the test will gauge your ability to speed-read and interpret ETS-style under pressure. I spent most of my study period memorizing "facts" and reading the Norton anthologies. This did not help me on test day, when I scored lower than I had on any of my practice tests, all of which used a similar structure; I barely saw anything I had read in all my studying. What I needed to do instead was devise for myself an entire timed test with medium to long reading passages culled from previous practice tests, and then analyze my own answers to see where I was going right or wrong in my "thinking." When you look at practice tests, I advise you to focus at least somewhat on the reading strategy ETS expects you to take. If you make flashcards, I would use them for literary terms, rather than author-title-summaries, and I would brush up on some theory and grammar (you will likely be asked to identify a grammatical unit in a lengthy sentence). Also, there seemed to be quite a few questions that asked which word in a passage was used archaically, or the closest definition of a particular word in the context of a passage.

It's pretty ridiculous that they wouldn't give you a phone interview. Also ridiculous they don't consider "flying out at your own expense" interest enough in their school.

Well, I joined primarily to check out my undergraduate professors. There isn't any data from my alma mater beyond course titles, so that didn't work. But then I decided to check out my graduate school to see if I was listed as an instructor (I graduated in 2009), and indeed I was. Funny. No reviews, but they have my grade data. Although it said I gave "100% Bs" to a Freshman Comp section in Fall 2007, which is not true.

Thank god other people do it. Now I'm not alone. I feel crazy when I do it, too.

Haha, I do something similar. I have an "If X, then Y" thing. For example, I'll be driving and see a green light awhile up ahead and think, If I make this light, then X will happen. These days X = "I'll get into school" but it's been other things in the past. I think it's a weird habit I developed as a kid, and I don't take it seriously or do it constantly....but still. We're weird!

This makes me glad I stopped smoking before deciding to apply (actually, only a few months before), because there's no way I could have quit while dealing with all this. I'm sure the stress would cause any smoker to smoke more than usual, and there have definitely been times during this application process when I've had a distinct craving. If any smokers here eventually want to quit for life, I would think the period between acceptance and matriculation (like, April through August) is the time to do so. Because the stress of the waiting period means the odds aren't in your favor, but the stress of the waiting period is nothing compared to the stress of being in the doctoral program itself. Five to eight years of constant stress will make quitting harder. That happy liminal period -- the one when you're coasting on your acceptances and thinking romantically about your new life -- would likely be the easiest time to deal with the withdrawal and everything. Just saying.

I don't think "getting out of the house" necessarily entails spending time with other people in a social setting. For one, you don't need a group; you can go out for a drink or coffee with one person and have an intellectual conversation. For two, you can go out alone. I often take long walks or hikes or even go shopping by myself if I'm feeling cooped up in the house. Staying inside on the computer all day isn't good for your mental or physical health, even if you are generally enjoying yourself.

LOL, well it makes sense I would think that, then, since I live in California. All we hear is how broken this state is, and how there is money for nothing and no one.

It's also true that 800 on both sections is nigh impossible for some of us. Let's be real here. As a literary arts student, my "best" is not 800Q. Perhaps I could approach 800 on the math section if I had a year straight of intense private tutoring! Realistically, the highest I could get studying on my own might be 650 or so, because math does not come easily to me, and I need a real person to explain some of the concepts and techniques whooshing over my head. As a humanities applicant, aiming for a 650 gives me a realistic goal I can hope to achieve in this lifetime, and allows me to focus my studying on the more basic math concepts required to reach 600-650Q on test day. I mean, I was getting rather easy questions wrong at the beginning of my studying because I was falling for tricks and needed to retrain my mind to think mathematically. There's no need for me to waste valuable time trying to learn the more complex concepts required to get an 800, because I don't have the time to understand them, and the adcom in my field won't care that much about a high math score anyway. It won't help me get in, so why bother aiming that high? And so, OP, I would try to get your verbal up to 600V min and 650-700V ideal to maximize your chances of acceptance. If you push past 700V, that's great, but I don't know how necessary it is. 650 is already in the upper 90th percentile. I doubt your quant will matter at all, but I don't know much about admissions in your field.

I could be wrong, but I think your chances of getting funding as a Brit at any of those schools are the same as if you were a US citizen. They are all rich private schools who will likely only hierarchize funding based on perceived merit (if at all). I think international students have more difficulty acquiring funding at public schools. I can't speak to your chances beyond "You have a chance!" Those are all very competitive programs, but you do have a chance. Your verbal score is slightly low (according this forum, anyway), but I don't think it's that important, especially because you are international and your professors of interest know to look for your application. All the other credentials you listed should help you. You are likely to hear back positive news in February or early March, and to hear bad news after mid-March, though you could always hear bad news early and good news later! That's just the trend. I would guess the programs you listed will either be calling or emailing accepted students (maybe emailing you since you're overseas); a mailed letter will usually be a waitlist or rejection. Best of luck.

Oh yes, and also, congrats to you!

I think you are, in a way. I don't see what the problem is here. You are overthinking this. Go to the school, do your interview, ask the professors your questions, ask the students questions, walk around campus--treat it as you would any other school you might attend. See how you feel there, but remember not to let your current views affect your experience. Try to go in with a neutral attitude and let the place sway you in either direction. Visit the schools to which you are accepted and try to get a feel for the atmosphere. You might be surprised and feel at home at a prestigious school, or you might hate it there for good reasons, but be sure to avoid the self-fulfilling prophecy. I do think Ivy League or "rich" schools tend to treat both their undergrad and doctoral students well because they are in such a financially privileged position. Money really helps. These schools are usually (not always) prestigious because they have funding for pretty much everyone, which takes a lot of competition and stress out of the equation. They have resources and money to update them. They often have a more "academic" culture on campus (versus, say, a partying or sports-oriented culture). They also have drawbacks, but non-prestigious universities have those as well--you just have to make your own cost-benefit analysis based on what you want out of your program. Also remember that many non-prestigious universities have some prestigious grad programs, i.e., ones with amazing resources and funding for doctoral students in that field even if the school overall is less endowed. I can tell you that I've attended both an Ivy League school (for undergrad) and a large public university (for a graduate degree in the arts) and I missed my undergrad institution greatly. I seriously couldn't understand the big deal about frats and football. They had no money for academics (especially grad students in the humanities!), but plenty for football. Not all large public schools are obsessed with sports (and not all schools obsessed with sports are public), but this one was and I hated the atmosphere it created with a passion. I don't mind sports--sometimes I even watch them--but I do mind when universities emphasize them. Undergrads would even ask me if they could skip my class because of a football game happening the night before (hangovers, you know). The difference in funding, morale, student culture, and resources (at least in the humanities) between my "prestigious" undergrad and "non-prestigious" grad institution were great. I don't regret attending my program, and over three years I had many students who were smart and worked very hard in my courses. But I was glad to leave the university as a whole behind. I feel like the words "pretentious" and "rich" get thrown around far too often, maybe because they've been co-opted by an anti-intellectual movement. First, I went to an Ivy and I couldn't be farther from "rich" (as for "pretentious," maybe, LOL); let's just say that I'm paying 74 dollars a month for "emergency health insurance" with a 7500 deductible and really shouldn't be because I can't currently afford it. Second, it's easy to judge rich people when you're struggling, but at the same time you can't just write off all rich people simply because they're rich. More, the words "well-educated" or "intelligent" or "academic" have become equatable to "pretentious" or "elitist" in the discourse, but that's not fair. I think you might be looking at a school with the funds to provide excellent resources for students and unfairly deciding that "money=bad" and "financial struggle=good" because "rich=elitist" and "poor=real." IMO, it's false dichotomy. There are many people (sometimes those with political motivations) who would call you "pretentious" and "elitist" simply for wanting to attend grad school (especially a doctoral) in the first place, and who think the university in itself is by definition a place of pretension and elitism. Do you think that's fair? Moreover, practically speaking, it does not serve you well to reject a school with money and resources for you because you dislike prestigious schools. So I'd go to the school with an open mind. Ask yourself the right questions, too. You might have a "feel good" visit at your program that's less highly-ranked and less funded, but remember that your overall happiness there can't be gauged just by the visit alone. You might love the atmosphere and student body there, but if they don't have the resources and funding you need to study chemical earth sciences productively and comfortably, you won't be happy in the long term. You need the facilities and funding to do your research. If these two differently ranked schools have equatable opportunities for you to do the work you need to do in a timely manner, then you should think more about the general "feel" or "vibe" of a place. You are there to do the best work you can, and it's easier to ignore or deal with a "pretentious" atmosphere than lack of funding, research time, and facilities--as long as your lower-ranked school has those, there is no reason to go to a higher-ranked school just because it's higher-ranked. Woo, sorry for the long post.

The acceptance sounds like this, though. It says it's an "unofficial" acceptance via email, which doesn't sound like any kind of formal decisions. Sounds as if he or she was just corresponding with the professor.

That's early. Sorry, guys. Does MSU have a good program?

It was pretty similar to the PowerPrep for me. Know your triangle and exponent rules.

Well, that kind of "excuse" reeks of privilege (mean teacher? really?) and does seem different from "my mom died and my dad was gone." That excuse would seem a solid one for poor grades, especially for a teenager (which you pretty much still were during your first semester of college). I got a C in a basic math class the year I experienced a tragedy because it was the one class I couldn't pretend to care about, and it's a miracle I got As and Bs in my other classes (except English, which I always put my all into) that year, given my resulting depression and the kinds of reckless activities in which I was partaking. This is something I would handle much differently at twenty-six than at seventeen. I don't remember if I mentioned what happened in my college admissions essay. I think I did, but in passing. So, anyway, I think your excuse is a good one, but I agree with your professor that it's probably not necessary to mention it. Your bad grades were limited to the first semester of your undergrad! And you dropped out and even filed for a W or two, which implies that something happened to you that required you to leave school. And it's not even a huge deal if they just think you weren't ready for college yet, because it was, what, eight years ago? And then you came back four years later to make good marks, which further emphasizes that the problem was situational and that the grades you made at eighteen do not reflect your current abilities. I really think it's fine. You were eighteen. You're in your mid-twenties. It's history. No worries.

Yikes. That's really awful. I, too, wonder if you can and should threaten legal action--at the very least I think they should pay the costs of moving, including your move from Houston to a new location, and including any rent you had already paid to your landlord. Fall 2009 was last year, though, so maybe you've already settled those matters...

I doubt it had anything to do with lack of supporting research or data, since it's a standardized situation. They want clearly delineated examples and support, yes, but I personally didn't include anything beyond hypothetical and anecdotal examples and did fine (5.5./94th). Did you include a counterargument paragraph? I've heard that including one (or, at least, clearly engaging in counterargument) is important to getting a good score on the Issue essay. Also, is it possible one (or both) of your essays was well reasoned but a bit too short? Length seems important for both sections; I've heard to aim for six paragraphs for the Issue essay and five for the Argument Analysis. I only wrote five for my Issue and four for my Argument (I think?), but my paragraphs for the Issue essay were on the longer side. Still, no worries--your 4 shouldn't be any kind of barrier for you because you'll be submitting a sparkly and engaging writing sample, yes?

My first reaction to this exchange is . I don't think you need to talk to him about his work ethic, because that's his business to work out, but I do think you could try talking to him about his indifferent and sour reactions to your good news. Talk it out calmly and rationally, remembering that he might be feeling insecure. Because it's the little things that can count the most. He doesn't need to be whooping and hollering if he's feeling like a loser, but he could at least give you a congratulatory hug and/or a smile with a few words of congrats, rather than argue with you about whether or not you deserve the award at all. I think it's very important that two people in a relationship actively support each other. It would hurt my feelings and likely cause a fight if I told my fiance I won an award for my work and he replied with a bored "that's nice"--I can't even imagine how I'd feel if he (without joke or sarcasm) said I wasn't qualified or good enough to win it. Of course, no one needs to be in a good mood all the time, but if this is a recurring scenario, you should address it before you both start resenting each other. But given the months since your initial post, I'm assuming you've already tried talking about it?

Your 780V will likely not make up for a poor AWA score -- at least not for those who have any familiarity with the test -- because that section really has nothing to do with assessing your writing skills. Instead, your writing sample and statement of purpose will assure the committee you can write well. Make sure they're polished to a sparkle. Honestly, people say the AWA doesn't matter, and I'm inclined to agree, but I think it might matter a little more (whether fairly or unfairly) for ESL students than for native speakers, namely because enough people who have difficulty with writing in English (i.e., with grammar and syntax) can still do very well on the verbal section with a lot of preparation.

This forum is full of tips. I think the best way to study is to pick a prep book that works for you (I chose Princeton Review) and use it to guide your study, but don't rely on it completely. I supplemented the general guidebook with the Princeton's WordSmart and a few websites. You should do practice problems in the books, but don't score the practice tests you take because they tend to be less reliable predictors and can give you false confidence and/or undermine your confidence. Instead, download PowerPrep and, after some time of solid studying and doing the practice sets therein, take one of the practice tests. Use your scores to decide the best course of action for the rest of your study, then take another practice test when you feel ready. As an initial diagnostic, you could also take an official paper test right now by finding a .pdf via Google search; I wouldn't waste a PowerPrep test on a base diagnostic because there are only two and they seem to most accurately predict scores (unfortunately I did worse on my GRE than my PowerPrep tests, but many people here did a little better!). I don't know what scores you'll need, but it will be far more important for you to craft an excellent SOP that emphasizes your research experience, so be sure to not to ignore it in favor of studying.

It sounds like a bad situation for both of you. Given your anger at him, I think I might be misunderstanding the content of his email here. As I understand it, you are angry with the professor because he assured me he would take my overall grade without the missed test into consideration (whatever "into consideration" means, I have no idea. . .seems rather vague, and doesn't sound like he meant "ignore the missed exam") and then gave you a zero for the exam. But all you have is an email in your box saying he would take your overall grade "into consideration," which is not a promise to give you points for the exam or raise your grade to a B by any means. The email as you describe it doesn't imply you could still get a B or would definitely get a B. A C is a passing grade and acceptable to many students. If you calculate your actual grade, you might even see that he bumped a C- to a C for you. From where should those ten extra points come? Because it's an online course, this is a slightly more complicated situation than its in-class equivalent. But I can tell you that if a student didn't show up to an exam for a non-online course because they simply misread the exam time, most professors would not accommodate him at all, and most would agree that it's reasonable they don't. Missing a whole exam is not a slight misstep. I wouldn't allow a retake, discard the grade, or give a student 50 free points on an exam they didn't take--that would be unethical. I'm not sure why it should be different at a comm. college or online course. When you act as if these places should have different standards, you diminish your C (and Bs). When you say while the professor may (and probably rightly should) be insulted at being told their salaries are being paid by the students, in the case of community college, it literally is and call what this person has a sweet arrangement, you do not gain my sympathies. Perhaps if you ever need to adjunct at a community college and/or teach online courses for (or to supplement) a living, you will understand why. You also do not gain my sympathies when you say this person should be ordered to change your grade because in this case, he made a mistake, and is now refusing to be accountable for it in any way. You say he "owes me nothing," then say he owes you a higher grade, as if he promised one to you. You keep repeating it was your fault and your mistake, but then continually argue he made a mistake (which I think is still questionable) for which he should be held accountable. But who really made the mistake here? Can you explain why he should not hold you accountable for your mistake and give you the grade you earned? Why you should get the same grade as a student who took the exam? There are more people involved here than just you and the professor, after all. Honestly, I think it would be incredibly nice of him to change your grade (not his "duty" to you, as it sounds he meant he might give your grade a "bump," not a skyrocket into B range), but unfair to other students. I don't personally know a single professor or lowly instructor who wouldn't agree. I understand your panic, but I must agree with rising_star and StrangeLight. As wonderful as it would be to receive your B, you really didn't earn one, and it would be unfair for you to receive one. I think you should stop resenting and half-blaming the professor (saying he's a "bad person") because he didn't give you one, and try to accept what happened, as well as consider the position you put him in by asking for a B when you received a 73. I also agree with everyone else when they say that this C will not destroy your chances for acceptance. You might want to ask one of your letter writers to address it for you, but if you do so in the SOP, you should keep it brief (as in one sentence or so). And, as you say, you will be able to retake the course next year should you not get accepted. If the school does not approve your petition, all is not lost, so take a deep breath--everything will be okay.