elbee4

I never had a class with McLaren but he sounds like a really cool guy. One of my coworkers was talking about him the other day saying much the same as you are. Hopefully I will get to meet him if I get accepted. I enjoy classes that are group work and discussion based far more than test/homework classes. It lends itself to collaboration and community building and that is something that every grad student should have. My master's program at UCLA followed that model and it was great.

Yeah, I don't know what happened with that. From what I have heard GRE scores are not as important as some might think. It's their loss. Trying to be positive.

I don't think that interviews are customary. I applied to a school that said nothing about interviews but I was contacted directly by a faculty member who basically interviewed me over the phone to be her research assistant. So, I wouldn't take that as a rejection because if they were going to interview all applicants they probably would have mentioned it during the application process or at least somewhere on their website. I'm thinking interviews might happen if someone is looking for a research assistant or TA and want to know a little more about the applicant. At least that's what happened to me. Unfortunately for me, the interview went great but someone else was picked over me for a TAship because they have higher GRE scores than me. Sad it came down to that because I'm a horrible test taker and those tests are BS anyway. Hang in there and good luck!

Why can't people figure out how to use the BCC option? That poor secretary probably got fired. I still think it's kind of weird to hear about acceptance or rejection via email. Maybe I'm just old school but I prefer to see an official letter in my mailbox.

Merced is a small, growing, agricultural city in the Central Valley of California. I haven't been to the UC Merced campus yet but from what I hear it is quite nice. Merced itself is not that interesting of a town but hopefully with the UC there it has improved. I grew up in Modesto about 30 minutes to the north and had to go to Merced often for swim meets and water polo tournaments. Although, I never really looked forward to going there, it is much nicer than the cities around it. The main growth that can been seen in a lot of the cities in the central valley is due to chain stores making mini malls everywhere. One of the biggest advantages of living in Merced has to be it's close proximity to Yosemite and the Eastern Sierra Mountains. You can't go wrong with that. Other than that, it's north of Fresno and Bakersfield and south of Modesto, Stockton, and Sacramento in the heart of the Central Valley. Check out the Wikipedia article about it: http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Merced,_CA Hope that helps. PS. No, I am not crazy.

Yeah, I'm a horrible test taker so for me everything but the GRE had to be strong. I like to think that they are. I guess I should have retaken the test too but I'm a classroom teacher and once school started I couldn't find the time to do more studying. Yes, I do have a master's as well as 6 years as a classroom teacher and several years in community development in Northeast and South Central LA. Sounds like we both have a lot of good experience. Hopefully that's what they are looking for. Not hearing is driving me nuts, too. Every time I got to the mailbox I get nervous.

I hope we all get in, too! I've also been told that the numbers are not a big deal (which is good since I'm a horrible test taker) but come into play when they are deciding about fellowships and what not. My GRE scores are not worth posting . If I don't get in I'm taking a prep course and getting them up, then reapplying. UCLA is my first choice. I went to UCLA for my EDM and had a 4.0 so hopefully that works for the committee.

I received a canned email from the department about a month ago. That doesn't mean you are out it probably means all your materials were received and they didn't need to let you know. If you are really concerned you could probably call. Good luck to you.

I applied to UCI and if anyone else out there is waiting, I just thought I'd let you know that someone from the faculty called me for a interview. The interview went fantastic, however, I was called two days later and told that the committee has decided not to admit me because someone else had higher GRE scores than me and they wanted that person for a teacher assistantship. So, in case you are waiting to hear from UCI, I imagine they will be sending out notices in the very near future. My first rejection...hopefully the last.

Hello. I also applied to USC Urban Ed and UCLA Urban Schooling. I will let you know when I hear something. Best of luck to you!

I applied for the Urban Schooling PhD and have yet to hear. I tried to check my status online but only saw that my application materials had been submitted. I also received an email saying that my application in under review.