Vacuum

Well, you could go the route of re-taking the exam, getting the extra time/calculator and seeing how you do. This would take a lot of study time though and of course filling out forms, getting it approved etc. as you mentioned. Now, I hate math. I don't have a disability, but I suck at it. I crammed last minute to take the GRE too since one day I thought 'Oh, I'll try to get into the programs in the USA' and lo and behold they require the GRE. I studied non-stop for about 2 weeks and only got a 500 on the math. Warranted this is not the best method AT ALL, I feel like you would still struggle even with the extra time if your disability does greatly affect you like you described.

Some schools require a minimum score on the GRE, much like their GPA regulations. There is some leniency on these scores depending on the school. but it is always best to at least meet them (Master's usually require around a combined score of 1000). Most schools post GRE information in their admissions sections (check the specific department). Some schools say they take everything into consideration and don't give you a hard number to go off of. If I were you, I'd contact someone in admissions (sometimes these are normal office people) or perhaps a professor that is on the departmental committee, to ask about the GRE scores and to let them know about your learning disability. Maybe if you explain to them how your disability negatively affects your ability to complete complex math, they will be able to offer you specific advice. You could also include this in your Statement of Intent/Purpose, so that the committee would be aware of your personal situation as they go over your application materials. If you have some formal documentation from a doctor or something like that, you could include this in your application package.

Just remember, that no matter how high your GPA is, it does not guarantee you will be accepted into your program. Some people with 4.0, perfect GREs, thousands of publications (exaggeration a bit here...) get rejected, while people with 2.8 GPAs and 900 GREs get accepted. Fit is a big thing for grad school and it really is a crap shoot to get accepted. I think as long as you make the committees of the various schools you apply to aware of your disability, they will judge your math score accordingly.

On a final note, geometry is a bitch.

Goodluck!!

I believe the first 10-15 or so questions hold the most point value then all the questions following those tweak your score to a smaller degree. As just a rough example it would be something like, the first 10-15 questions determine what 'hundred' you are at and the following questions will determine what 'ten' you are (this is obviously not accurate since you can't get 1500 on one section, but just an example of the different level of points).

I'm not 100% sure how wrong answers work, other than it drops you down in the 'hardness' of questions. The easier the question, the less points it is worth. So essentially, if you get a lot wrong in a row, you will be getting a lower score since the question you do get right would be worth way less points.

I've heard people say that you should spend extra time on the first questions which are worth the higher point value and then less time on the later questions (if you run into trouble solving). I ran out of time on the quantitative all together, but I'd say I spent equal time on everything for the questions I actually did complete. I only took the GRE once, but I think if I were to take it again my pacing would improve. If you are taking the practice exams, make sure you work on pacing.

I remember asking the guy at the testing center about the dates you can retake, since I took my exam at the very end of the month and he said it was once every calendar month and then said I could basically take it the next week. So to me that is you could take it July 25 and take it again Aug 1st. I'd double check on that though because the guy at ETS that I asked didn't seem too confident in his answer!

skkkkkkkkttttt...Charlie Mike Uniform, what's my status, do you copy, over? skkkkkkkktttt

"You will gain 20 pounds while waiting to hear back from schools. Do NOT eat this cookie"

Literature can be a very powerful thing that influences the public and it can 100% result in the killing of people. Nazi propaganda anyone?

It would be foolish to say that literature is not as dangerous as a physical weapon. Words can be more powerful than any weapon built by 'engineers and scientists'.

this confirms yet again that I hate math. I'm gonna stick with my pro and con list hahaha

I know when I was in admissions, the committee met in a boardroom and usually didn't have computers or anything like that with them. They would just review the paper forms. It could be that the group making the decisions is doing something similiar and aren't actually doing the 'labor' part of the admissions process. Usually you have people working in the office that make sure the forms are all there and sometimes they even do intial reviews (for GPA and the like). They might be the ones who would look up that address, whereas the committee might just be reviewing what is in front of them on paper that represents you and not the virtual version!

I did, however, have a good friend who suggested that when I go running, I imagine myself stomping on the faces of the people in the admissions committee. Somewhat more helpful.

If it is a personal statement, including your background story is fine. I'd still keep it brief though (1 small para). Schools who ask for a personal statement are interested in knowing your personal journey to where you are now. For mine, the outline basically was:

Brief Intro Para 1: background story ending with why I chose the field i am applying for (this would be the 'fluff' portion)
Para 2: School experiences surrounding my major
Para 3: Life/Work experiences
Para 4: What I want to focus my studies on and why
Brief Para 5: Why I want to go to X University.


My entire statement was 1 page. Not double spaced or anything like that (2 pages double spaced I guess). It was tough to keep it short and sweet, but most places have word limits anyways, so it worked out for me. You want a WHAM-BAM-THANKYOU-MA'AM type of letter. Put it all out there as succinctly as possible. Use the best of your limited space!

I will just say this: I know more about most of my potential cities than most residents probably do.

This is one of the advantages (or disadvantages) of having a really common name. When I google myself, I get some self-help guru with the tagline of "invest in yourself and make it happen."

Write whatever makes you feel that your SOP will be it's best. I don't think anyone can say 'dont write that' (even though they do on the boards). I would just say to keep it short and sweet. Don't ramble on an on with every detail about you getting the textbook blah blah blah. In my SOP I wrote about a family situation that changed my outlook (and major) and I kept it to about 3 sentences. It was enough to state 'this is the event that happened and this is what happened in my life because of it'. Remember, this isn't really a highschool english essay but more like a university level paper. If you think about it that way, you might be able to have a better idea of what you should or should not include. They want to know more about your specific interests in your area of study, what you plan to do in the specialty, what research you want to get into, etc.. If you keep the history part of your story to a brief intro type para and really get into the good stuff quickly after, I think that would be fine.

Some schools want the majority of the paper to be about your future plans, while others want a more journey type of SOP of how you got to where you are now with your current interests and a bit about where you see yourself in the future. If your school doesn't really specify what should be stated, like I said earlier, just go with whatever makes you happy. Nobody can pinpoint what part of an SOP might turn people off. I don't think having a super brief paragraph would harm your letter in any way.

Key words: super brief

Hope that helps you out a bit!

I've never pulled an all nighter. Ever. I've come close, but always managed to get about 3 hours sleep in there. I find that if I don't sleep enough I start feeling sick (flu-ish). I just don't think our bodies are made to stay up that long, let alone when you exerting mass amounts of brainpower hahah

I guess it is like recovering from late nights out if you go drinking or dancing. The older you get, the more you think 'how the hell did I do that before?'

I was sorting through rat urine at work. Heard my phone buzz from the email notification, read it, and told my coworkers.

I have very serious issues with the said argument that English in nowway helps anyone in this world. I am not sure how many English departments you have been to, or if you have been in one...but there are many different projects and many different stakes out there. I am personally invested in what I study, which is African American literature. And as an African American, I see the work that I am doing as being something that can open the way to policies that could be implemented to make this world a better place for blacks today....but more importantly underrepresented groups in the broadest sense. Of course I know how important engineering and science are, my dad is an engineer and my mom is a nurse and I respect them SO much for the hard work they put into make life easier for everyone. But there are also others things such as racism, political corruption, and economic exploitation...and I think they are equally as serious. And I respect those in English who are trying to raise the standard of living for us all by interrogating the status quo through their pens. How dare anyone who isn't in English and who hasn't thoroughly examined what is going on in the field think its okay to come online and tell someone in English that their work doesn't matter or that they aren't helping people. I have devoted almost 6 years to trying to figure out how I can use my love for literature to change this world, and I am very proud to be entering a PhD this fall to continue that. People invest their lives into their work, and I would be VERY careful how I voice my opinions about a field that I am not in. I am tired of the crap that I hear from those outside of my field. We need to try to work together in this world, or we all fail. How dare you.

Cool story, bro.

Cash?


Oh sorry.

That I am Neo, the One who can bring salvation to our desolated cyber wasteland

Chuck Norris doesn't have a problem with trolls. Nobody trolls Chuck Norris.

It is just for the bigger programs that the tend to try and even things out.

Also, committees do have preferences when it comes to international students. Let's say you have very similar students when it comes to grades, LOR, SOP etc., but one is from China and one is from Africa. Preference would most likely go to Africa, as this is a less common applicant country. I know for Australia they have loans dedicated to students from certain countries to try and encourage them to study in Australia and it does not include countries like the USA/Canada/China/India/UK (countries that usually have large applicant pools to overseas study).

It does seem a bit harsh to judge aspects of an applicant like this, such as race, sex, country of residence, etc., but it does happen to certain degree. I don't think it is meant to offend anyone, but rather bring as much variation to the program as possible to enrich everyone's experience and provide multiple viewpoints.

A pamphlet, you say?

Presenting!

a preview!

Front side
Back side

It might just be me, but I think you guys are overthinking this. Just because you get a high percentile for the Verbal doesn't mean you should do well on the writing portion. I did well on the writing and decent on the Verbal, but for example, I have no 'formal' experience with analogies, so I basically sucked at that portion of the Verbal. The amount of vocab people know also varies widely and for the Verbal you need to know somewhat obscure terms, whereas for the writing portion, you could use basic english wording and get a good score. I think that maybe people try to make their essays seems superior, which actually hurts you in the end because either the comp or person grading can't follow with all the big words being used or maybe the sentence structure is too complex (multiple commas, semicolons etc). I just feel that these two sections are completely different and really can't reflect on each other. I remember reading the essays of my peers in undergrad and some were so hard to follow because of extremely long sentences or too much fancy wording that really didn't state a point.

I think if you follow the basic format of an intro stating your points + a thesis, each para with a topic sentence, an example + explanation why this example is relevant, a concluding sentence, a final conclusion summarizing the points and remention of your thesis and why/how you 'proved' it and the use of multiple transitional words throughout, you should do well on the writing portion.

hahah awesome.

Your reference might choose to not write you a recommendation once they see you haven't waived your rights. I'd definitely waive them (and did). I would hope that if your reference was going to write you a crappy letter, they would have just opted out of it all together from the get go! I think you just need to have a little faith in them!

I'm not sure. I stopped doing math after I took the GRE.