[Anyone care to read my SOP?]

send it

[Contacted Faculty got replies....now what??]

So i got some replies from faculty....some telling me to keep them posted with my aplpication progress...others telling me not to bother as they have no funding....what happens now???

the ones that give you a positive response...do u just leave it there??

[FEEDBACK ON MY STATEMENT OF PURPOSE!! help!]

i'll be glad to help.....send it

[send out applications now????]

is it too early....assuming they will get the recommendations and the rest of the stuff by the end of the month??

[Repeating the GRE]

If i redo the GRE three or four times but still end up with the same score on all of them (500 V, 790-800 Q)

Would this be conceived as a negative thing by admission committees?

[Doing Phd Thesis while working in industry]

Is it possible to work on your Phd thesis while working in industry....like working in an R&D lab while working for you thesis?

[Doing Phd Thesis while working in industry]

Is it possible to work on your Phd thesis while working in industry....like working in an R&D lab while working for you thesis?

[Graduate school rankings]

How important are they when making your decision? does it really matter?

my point is that i think some of the factors that go into the ranking system are rather pointless....so will it really affect you if you go to a school with a low ranking? for example Tufts is a great school but its engineering ranking is abysmal the same for many other schools....

i would like to think that it won't because you're research is what will matter in the end....but i am not sure....i think some of the experienced people here can help me better...

thank you

[UK vs US admissions]

How are they different? Which is better?

[Phd UK vs US]

What do you think?

[How early should you send your application]

Some of the programs encourage students to apply early despite having a deadline......does it mean people can actually get a decision before the deadline??

[Engineering GRE cutoff]

how much do you think is the GRE cutoff for engineering schools?

what score do you need to get past the first stage.

thanks

[Do gre score reports arrive on time?]

are ETS able to send score reports on time?? because i heard concerns that they usually fail to do so

[Question about the GRE]

you have to asnwer all teh questions as the test is adaptive, ie your next question will depend on how well you answered the one before it.

books like princeton's review have some very good tactics on how to deal with such situations....

[Admission procedure and stages??]

So basically all applications go through an initial screening stage, before being viewed by the admission committee of the certain department to which you are applying?

How does that work for an international student?

what are the criteria used for the initial screening?

any advice to make your application go all the way?

thank you

[Do all schools require a writing sample?]

even engineering schools?

what should they contain?

thanks

[Finding 'safety' schools?]

How do you determine if a school is a safety? Do you just choose a place which is low in the rankings but with similar research interests?

Are there other criteria for safety school?

Thank you for all you help....i really appreciate it...

[Contacting more than one professor at the same university]

Is that common? will it weaken your chances?

Thanks

[Contacting potential advisors]

is it ok to contact more than one professor in each department?

[Contacting potential advisors]

is it important to contact professors in the department to which you are applying?

is it too early to contact them now if i am applying for fall 2010 Phd in chemical engineering (deadlines are in december)?

Can anyone give me tips or advice on what usually goes on...how long do these 'converations' last...do the professors usually respond...and what type of feedback do they usually give you??

thank you

[Rankings vs good fit when selecting schools]

which one is more important....if there's a school you really think is a 'perfect fit' and are really enthusiastic about but it is very low in the rankings....will it be a good choice to attend for a Phd (engineering)?

thank you for all your help...

[Is it really getting harder to enter grad school?]

With the economy messed up and all, i keep reading that more people are going back to school...does that make it harder for the other applicants, especially for Phd programs?

[Submitting the same SOP for different applications]

the SOP will have the same exact content for all my applications except for one paragraph which changes for every school....

any advice?

[SOP: how long does it take to write?]

anyone got any good advice on SOP's from experience?

it takes around one hour to write a shit version that contains all the stuff you want to say, but how do you know that it's actually good enough, when do you stop looking for improvements and just send it?

[UC system:no aid for international students..]

I've recently read on the UC Berkley's website that it is very difficult to accept any international student with any sort of fnding due to budgetary restrictions on the University of California system...i was wondering if thats the same for all public schools in the US?

thanks