modernity

Thank you!! I was tired of saying... "oh hmmm I saw a post just like this one...but I don't know where its gone to now..." This makes it much better!

Another way to possibly get your scores early without the hassle of ETS- They report your scores to your undergrad institution. I got an unofficial copy of my undergrad transcripts, and there they were- a good week or more before I got my scores in the mail.

I wouldn't contact them since its not a final grade. Also, if its at the school you're already attending, is it possible they could come across this information on their own when investigating your profile there?

I don't think it measures socio-economic status necessarily - because as it was pointed out, the people who take the GRE already have a BA/BS - they've had access to school libraries, and school programs to help them with the GRE. They've had financial aid that they could use to pay for the GRE (or books or courses if they think they needed them). If they had time to go to school, and study, and do well enough that they are considering grad school - then they should have time to study for the GRE. I am sure there could be some extreme exceptions, but for the most part... I disagree. This is the case in grade schools, and high schools - but not so much with college level.

We really need a sticky or something about these quotes in SOP questions, there seem to be a lot of them - and I think a lot of people are having similar questions! I wish we had a little reference section for stuff like that since some questions are very common.

Don't change it... You're already up against a wall with only having a month in between the test date and the due date, anything less than this and you're inching closer to possible disaster considering ETS's inability to be timely. Also, you will likely feel just as panicked and unprepared even if you push it back a little bit. At most you can only afford to buy yourself a couple more days, you spend 50 dollars, and you risk your scores showing up late®. Just use the days you have to cram- you'd be surprised what you can learn and retain in a short time. Sometimes its even better that way, because it all stays fresh in your mind.

Call... or write an email that says you're willing to come to the university (assuming you still live in the area) to pick it up and deliver it to the post office/fedex/whoever can overnight it. Explain how urgent it is, that its due and you need to get it in. If he still doesn't reply...there isn't much you can do, except try to find another LOR writer stat.

That book helped me score significantly higher - and is the one I usually recommend to people. Yes, if you need a real math review (and I could have used more) there are other better books for that... but as a quick crash course, for me it helped a lot - and a lot of the tips/tricks/words/problems they used showed up on the GRE I took. Sorry to hear it didn't do the same for you. I think with all of those books its hit or miss - either the stuff in them shows up, or it doesn't. Doesn't seem to be much in between.

For the most elite schools GREs of over 1400 and GPAs of 3.8 or so are the norm from when I did my initial search a few months ago.

Unless these schools are specifically asking for an 800 (I don't know anything specific about these schools)... I wouldn't worry about it. With the math, its hard, because pretty much any small slip up can cause you to drop below the 90th. This means it could be very easy to encounter the same problem again, and then you spent even more money for a similar score, or to only improve it by perhaps 10 points. Even on this site, where people tend to have inflated scores I think I've only seen an 800 once, and a 790 a couple of times.

I agree that this is horrible. I know professors don't owe us anything, but I still think its horrible when they disappear like that. Well, at least a lesson for us if we become professors ourselves?

As I said I take no offense to your opinion. The only thing I took issue with was that you seemed to be painting us as fear mongers (with no sources besides personal opinion to back you up). We're not - it is the common practice, for those (and more) reasons. Please don't shoot the messenger(s).

Well I was going under the assumption that the person knew for sure whether or not they collaborated, and whether or not as a student in the department of his/her choosing he/she would be able to do so. Its hard to know, and I would defer to rising because you've always seemed to know what you're talking about... I just worry if its a word limit SOP, talking about professors in detail in other departments could take up valuable space.

A 3.5-6 is not a bad GPA, especially when you have a 3.9 in your major and people seem interested in you and you're presenting and publishing. An average GPA is just that - an average - which means there are people who have below a 3.8 getting into the program probably on a regular basis. You just have a case of grad school application anxiety.

I wouldn't mention names specifically - but perhaps that other departments are also involved in similar avenues. I would reference interdepartmental cooperation or something of that sort. There has to be a clever way to phrase it - putting more than that I think would distract from your interest in their department.

Where do you say it? Your dismissive tone is woven throughout your entire statement, a few examples: 1. I don't care what you choose and why you chose them. 2.it makes no sense and i think spreading senselessness around is ridic, honestly. just ridic because they make no sense. 3. i don't actually care what people choose- opt not to see it or opt to see them! who cares. but the reasons given to opt not to see it are just ridic and i just wanted to express my opinion on them. Illogical? I sent you a link from a school arguing from many of the same points that fuzzy, others, and I have cited- so now, not only are we illogical but so are many of the schools that suggest you waive your rights for the very same reasons? I really don't want to have to dig up website after website, and book after book - repeating the same thing over and over again. If you don't believe me or others about it being the customary thing to do, then please google "waiving your rights recommendation letters" or some variation there of- I'm here to offer the advice I have learned over the last year or so if people are interested in it, not make a second career of it. You will find many many other people (students, professors, etc.) saying the same thing we are - that its strongly suggested for the reasons listed above. Its not a hard rule, because professors and adcomms cannot force you to not exercise your rights that are bestowed on you by federal law.(Although apparently some schools do very strongly suggest you do so on their admissions pages- as someone else said earlier in the post). I don't think there really needs to be a poll to understand commonly accepted culturally specific knowledge. I guess the simplest way of stating this is - if LORs and Adcomms really didn't care if you read the letters, and were as relaxed about you not waiving your rights as you seem to want everyone to believe - why bother putting the waiver on the admission sheets in the first place? why bother asking you to waive your rights? You are very obviously entitled to your opinion samjones, and to tell people not to waive their rights as well as the reasons why they shouldn't. I am more than happy to see opinions opposite of my own, because I am certainly not omniscient. What I don't find very attractive about your attitude is that you are repeatedly dismissing everything we have say as "ridic/illogical/senseless" when we've offered you various examples of outside sources and personal experience that say the same thing for the same reasons. If you are so confident that what we are saying is ridic/senseless,where did you receive this information from? Can you please offer up some graduate application handbooks, or some school websites that echo that sentiment? So far, it seems like you've just based this all on personal opinion - which is all well and good, but not a place from which I think you should be quite so dismissive.

I am not by any means implying the degree is worthless - I am just saying at universities where the program is considered a cash cow- those students often times get less attention than PhD students, and therefore can have less opportunity during their MA (especially for things like RA/TAships), and therefore have problems once they graduate. The school that first comes to mind when this is mentioned is Columbia as I have heard this complaint from a lot of ex MA students in their humanities/SS divisions. This isn't an across the board slam on MAs, they're perfectly useful degrees. My main points above had more to do with making sure that you would get the attention you want/deserve as a grad student (appeal to other grad students in the program perhaps?), and that previous students in those programs have gone on to the universities and programs you are interested in.

Your grades and your GREs are good enough that you could be applying to programs that are funded. Have you ever heard the term cash cow? I fear that's what some of these programs might be, and many students from those programs hit a dead end as they aren't taken as seriously. I am not familiar enough with these though, just make sure that you are checking out how many of their students are going on for PhDs at good schools, and what sort of employment they are obtaining after. If they're going to schools you'd be interested in for your PhD (or there is a another factor like a superstar prof in your field) then more power to you. I think your stats are pretty decent.

Sometimes they are on the adcomms, and sometimes its just nice to be able to say in your SOP that you discussed your topics with that professor and they were interested so that the adcomm knows you went above and beyond just applying. I've also heard that some colleges require that you have someone in mind, that you've spoken to. Although... in other cases I think it has the potential to be useless depending on the school's policy and your particular field.

From my understanding its very common for professors to submit in the 11th hour, or even late. If you have left phone messages and emails, then you have done your best. Checking with the schools you're applying to might be a good way of relieving your anxiety though, as they might be able to reassure you that they will still take materials.

I've known several professors who have had serious issues with their students tracking them down outside of class, at their homes etc. And several students who involved their parents and other family members into harassment of a prof. because they didn't get a good grade on something. I also remember in college one person crying over not getting an A on a paper. I think you give humanity too much credit to think that every adult behaves as an adult should. Professors don't "fear" their students, but there are certainly situations they would rather avoid with them. Its the status quo, "the state of affairs", that you're expected to waive your rights - it is the customary thing to do. I can link many websites from colleges around the US, and graduate application handbooks that will state the exact same thing we have been saying, and the reasons we have been giving as to why that is the state things are in. But to be fair- and get a third party opinion from both sides of the fence, since we seem to be arguing in circles and the OP just wanted advice- I found this statement on Cornell's website: Factors to Consider in Deciding to Retain Access * You will have an idea of the information schools/employers have and therefore can prepare for interviews accordingly. * It may relieve stress and anxiety to know exactly what has been said. * Factual mistakes in the letter can be corrected, if the writer chooses to make those corrections. * If you conclude that the letter is unfavorable, you can choose not to use it as part of your credential file; however, you may not withdraw a letter submitted to HCEC. * By reading a subjective evaluation, you have a chance of benefiting from criticism. * A potential recommender may choose not to write a letter for you if you retain your right of access. * If you retain access, you need to be prepared to explain your reasons for your choice during interview(s). * An employer or a member of an admissions committee at a graduate or professional school receiving the letter might tentatively draw one or more of the following conclusions: 1. The evaluation may be less candid as the writer knew that the student would see it. As a result, less weight may be assigned to such letters. 2. The student is determining that the recipient is receiving full information. 3. The student wanted to discuss the letter with the recommended/evaluator before it was put in final draft. 4. The student feels a moral obligation to exercise his/her civil rights. Factors to Consider in Deciding to Waive Access * If your recommender knows you well and has said he/she can write a letter in support of your candidacy, the chances are slight that inaccuracies or unfair statements will be presented in the letter. * An employer or a member of an admissions committee might tentatively draw one or more of the following conclusions: 1. The evaluation may be more candid if the writer knew that the student would not see it. As a result, more weight may be assigned to such letters. 2. The student has nothing to conceal. 3. The student is not determining that the recipients are receiving full information or is using other methods to make this determination. 4. The student did not feel it was necessary to review the letter before it was sent. 5. The student does not feel a moral obligation to exercise his/her civil rights in this way. It is, of course, not possible to know how each individual receiving the letters may react to the fact that a student exercised or did not exercise the Right to Know under FERPA. http://www.career.cornell.edu/HealthCareers/HCEC/letters/waivingAccess.html

I think this is the best way it has been put so far- what I was thinking but couldn't seem to put in words. Thank you fuzzy! I also have to add the question on to this that... If you're certain that your letter writers will write positive things (and most will, otherwise why bother as you said) and were assured of that fact by your admittance into a school, are you really going to go through the bureaucracy of gaining access to those files and reading the letters? I feel like the percentage of people that do this might be on par with the percentage of people that have LORs write negative letters about them. If you really must see your letter it seems easier to just discuss it upfront with the faculty member that's writing it for you - then you know you have their explicit permission, and you can still waive your rights to avoid the possible negative adcomm situation.

As fuzzy said - there are people who found out that professors wrote negative letters about them, in fact I remember one horror story of a professor writing a letter that said "I do not recommend this student for graduate work, as they are not capable of the workload...."- the student found out I believe because they pulled out extra LORs they had and read them. Who knows WHY this professor said this, or how the student was led into believing they would write something positive - but it DOES happen. People can be strange and vindictive. And I have to say its a bit naive to think the only thing some students might do is "not ask that person again" if they had something negative said about them... there are plenty of ways students can and do make professors lives hellish on occasion. Is there an overwhelming chance this will happen? No, definitely not- but the possibility is there and people should be aware that it has happened and people on this forum and others have stated their experiences with it. I don't want them to be illogically afraid - just informed, and they certainly know their situation/their professors better than any of us. No one is trying to force anyone to waive them. Its up to you entirely (and frankly irrelevant to any of us)- we're just saying that its the status quo and laying out the reasons as to why it is.

I can't speak for any schools exactly, but as I've been researching the general rule is... if the school is offering all the way up to a PhD - the MA's are unlikely to be funded (almost never really), and certainly not lush packages. If the school only offers a terminal MA, the MA's have the opportunity to be funded (some schools being more generous than others but usually tuition waivers and RA/TA positions). I've also heard to avoid public schools in Cali, for the obvious reason that a lot of those schools are facing cut backs due to the nature of the economy there - how true that is may vary from program to program. Also, if you read the Anthro thread from last year I believe almost everyone who received funding was a PhD candidate.

A lot of schools frown upon not waiving your rights, because (among many reasons) if your LORs know you have access to it, they may alter what they would have otherwise said and the school cannot be sure if this was their real opinion, or the one they give because they know you'll see it. I've also heard of LORs refusing to write a letter without the waiver being signed - so if you do choose to do this, you should make sure its okay with your recommenders.