coreycat

Thanks quantitative. Friends and family have said the same thing, but I think I needed to hear this from someone with an objective opinion of me

Hi all I would like to know what other grad cafe-ers think of this. Here is a quick breakdown: -contacted POI in September 2011, POI responded positively and suggested that we have a phone conversation -phone conversation was mainly him explaining his research and asking if that would be something that I am interested in (answer: YES!) -routinely emailed POI over the next few months, keeping him updated about my application progress -throughout this time, he gave positive responses and has said that I should be eligible for some sort of funding -about 2 weeks ago, I finished sending in all my application materials, my POI contacted me and said that he would like me to come visit for a minimum of 2 days (he even offered to let to me stay at his house to help offset some travel costs! I declined but I hope that is good sign.) -shortly after this, the chair of the department's grad studies committee emailed me to offer a small travel stipend. I was initially told that travel stipends are only offered to PhD applicants and I am a MS applicant. That has to be a good sign, right? -both the chair of the grad studies committee and my POI have emailed me a huge list of other people at the school that they would like me to meet SO, basically what does all this mean? Is this something they do for a lot of applicants or does this mean that I am essentially admitted? My POI specifically said that he wanted to me visit sometime in February before funding decisions are made. Thanks for your insight and please forgive the long rant, I think I am just stressed about not getting any formal acceptances yet

I'm aware of that now, thank you. I was misinformed by one of my professors who told me that you could choose which version you wanted to take. I'm just wondering how comparable the scores are since all of my practice tests have been taken on the paper version.

Just curious to see if anyone has taken both the 'paper' version and the computer adaptive (CAT) version of the GRE. Did anyone receive a significantly higher score on one test type versus the other? To be frank, I'm trying to discern if one test type produces consistently higher scrores than the other. It seems to me that the CAT test would give higher scores since the questions would ( at least theoretically) be more geared toward each individuals' level. Based on taking practice tests, I'm fairly certain that I will do well enough to get into most of the schools that I plan on applying to. However, I would prefer to do exceptionally well since I will most likely not be able to attend school unless I'm given some substantial funding to go with the acceptance. Additionally, from reading over the criteria for receiving TA/RA positions or other types of funding from universities, it appears to that GRE scores are a major determining factor. I'm just making myself so nervous over all the GRE stuff since my GPA has never really matched up well with my scores on standardized tests. I guess I'm just not a good standardized test taker. As an example (although its rather unrelated) my high school GPA was 3.8 but my SAT score was only 1220. Relevant thoughts or similar experiences?

Yes the charge should be expunged about six months before the apps are sent in. I have delayed applying to schools because I have been waiting to get it expunged. So you don't think it will work against me if I ask someone in admissions about it? I guess I'm just paranoid that I will ask about it and then they will put me on some sort of grad school black list... if such a thing even exists

Hi all I will be applying to grad school for an MS in a natural resources program next year, and I was wondering what are the chances that a past arrest record will affect my chances of admission? To be clear, the charge was a misdemeanor, for which I completed all the requirements that the court requested. The charge will be expunged from my record in a few months. My lawyer has told me that due to the plea agreement that was made, I was never technically convicted of any crime. Does anyone have a similar experience or can lend advice on how to answer questions relating to this on an application?