communications13

Unfortunately, I think for those of you applying in Madison the wait may have just get longer....I'd imagine many adcoms are on the protesting lines!

It could be either of those suggestions, however an interview is a great chance to make a good impression on your POI and get yourself bumped up. You can always call and clarify before you go to the interview as well.

It is no big secret or surprise to any school that you applied to other schools. It sounds like you handled it fine. Applying to school is like dating, you have to find who wants you and who you want and find out what traits they have that compliment yours before settling into a long term committed relationship. Universities know that, they're just eager to put the ring on but will wait b/c by accepting you they think you're worth it.

The Board of Gov's in my state just passed an agreement to raise graduate tuition by as much as 15% in most of the State Universities, and it seems this is happening in several states. Anybody know how this effects loans funding, since the schools will not have set their tuition rates how can they determine aid? Any other thoughts regarding the hikes happening all over the country?

There are similar bills coming forth in other states too....it is very possible this will soon be happening across the country.

I had just woken up and reached beside by bed to open the computer. The letter was strangely formatted, first saying that a hard copy was in the mail, so it took me a little while to find the congratulations part. It was the middle of the day during the week and everyone I know was at work, so first I did the "nobody is watching me happy dance" then scooped up my cat and swung her around the room. The cat kept licking my face like she knew I was excited.

The CURRENT (the test chances Aug 1st!) test on a computer is adaptive. That means it adjusts the level of difficulty as you continue the test and considers difficulty of the questions in the score. This means that if two people get the same number of questions right, their score will be different because the computer adapts to their skill levels. So working for a while on a harder question might be to your advantage because it can be worth more points, but it is probably best to not worry about it. There is no meter telling you what level difficulty the question is. Focus your energy on doing your best on each question, not the difficulty of the questions. Also, unlike the SAT, the GRE does not penalize for wrong anwsers so guessing is to your advantage. If you can rule anything out, then take a guess. The ets website specifies that you can take it once per calender month, which implies for example anytime in Jan and anytime in Feb, however, you can only take it 5 times in a 12-month period.

It is quite rare that the actual graduate school would deny you after the dept. accepted you; I'm sure it happens, but not often. The dept offered you a spot. Let yourself be in the relief stage of the waiting game, please don't torture yourself. The official letter will come in time.

I'd do the interview. Especially since it's your alma mater, keep your options open. You don't know what they might offer you to stay and April 15th is still very far away. If you have close ties with the school, I'd do the interview and keep it in contention.

I know you're worried about the monetary costs associated with seeing a health professional out of your school, but if your mental and physical health aren't worth it, may I ask what is? If you're struggling through grad school and ignore the signs your body and mind are giving you ultimately you will lose more money probably in the costs of an education you weren't able to use to it's best potential. Saving money is not worth it.

Go to the interview if you can and it's not a big financial burden on you. Academia is a small world. Even if you choose another school this is an oportunity to meet a prof. you respect and make a network contact. That is good for your future endevors and colaborations. We get wrapped up in the student world of accept/reject that we forget that profs and universities do the SAME thing. They are used to getting rejected and accepted too, students chosing different programs over theirs. When you're interviewed they expect they are competing, if they don't think you have other offers, chances are you wouldn't have been offered a spot by them either....the university world thrives on competition.

I don't think it means he would give you a "non-recommend" but warning you it won't be a stand out recommendation. I think he's suggesting you ask someone who can speak more for you personally, your strengths and put effort into a stellar rec.

It might not be all bad not knowing. Ultimately if you have an idea or you have no idea, we're all still waiting anxiously all the same. It'll get there eventually. And with no idea when it gets there, it'll be like a present when it does!

I guess, first and foremost, let him be upset about it, for a little while at least. I want to wallow in it for a while, greive an opportunity I really wanted. Don't automatically jump into "It'll be okay, you have other options, we have each other." That's all true, and he knows it, but right off the bat all he can focus on is "this sucks." And that's okay. Two days later get into showing him all the other options, the bright side to the situation.

I plan on thanking my parents by moving out of thier house (again) I think parents might appreciate: if you cleaned thier house as a surprise, made them a really nice dinner, a nice bottle of wine/liquor if that's their thing, get thier car(s) washed, if your mom is anything like mine...one christmas I backed up her computer for her, or send them out to a community play or concert.

I think the older I get the more I am willing to let others help me. In undergrad I didn't understand how crucial a second (or 3rd or 4th) pair of eyes on a paper were, helping you find things that might be clear to you but are completely confusing to the rest of the world. Really listening to what my peers have to say and colaborating with out seeking any credit or reward for making the work of those around and yourself better.

April 15th, we'll have a comm forum skype beerfest 2011....Unless some of us are too busy trying to get taxes in under the wire. Also, congrats to all who got into Temple! Makes you realize how many of us there are on this site when 3 or so people get admits to one program since there aren't too many spots.

Don't worry about how it "looks". Adcoms are aware it is changing and have to go through instruction whenever a test undergoes a redo, they certainly won't be comparing the actual number (130v600). And, as is true with all tests, some people will do better and some worse on the new test. But, in 2012, they adcoms will be well aware of two different styles of GRE scores coming in and will be equip to handle it. They are changing things that will benifit some and not others and that is just the way the chips fall....very similar to the ACT vs SAT when most of us were in high school or the Old SAT vs the New SAT when most of our little brothers and sisters were in high school.

Best. Idea. Ever.

Apply for as many assistantships as you can. Your dept and the career services you talk about know you're looking for funding just like you applied for school, look at all your options and take the best offer. I'd bet the career services is farmiliar with losing applicants to departmental funding, it's the way a university works.

The first acceptance, no matter where it is, is such a relief!

Guess the key is for your first half to be so interesting they can't help but read the second half.

You can also do this with the pop can biscuts....just use white sauce instead of the flour and chix broth. So good and easy.

Yes, people get rejected after interviews. I cannot speak for your specific programs, but schools use interviews as a chance to get to know you better. People are very different in person than they are on paper, Grad school is no different than a job. They get X number of applicants, narrow that down to Y number of interviews and then pick Z people for the position...after all, especially at the PhD level you are working with professors who want to meet who they will be for lack of a better word employing for the next 3 years.

What about taking a few years off of school and working in a couple of different fields to find your passions again?