Gunner24

Fit isn't as important if you're just looking for an MA. If at this point you just want to see how your numbers measure up statistically, you can often find admissions statistics for graduate programs on the school website, and see how you do compared to the average applicant/admission. Of course this guarantees nothing, but it's a start.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/austin/1265406-recommendation-good-used-furnitrure-stores.html

A couple means two. A few refers to three, four, etc. Just confirming for you. Congratulations, everybody! Bask in the relief of knowing where you're going

Who's ready for the hottest summer of their life?? I'm moving in May, so I unfortunately won't be able to skip a good chunk of the hot and come in August like most of y'all probably will...

Not promising, hedjuk...Poudre Valley school district has downsized heavily in the last few years. Colorado is kind of the worst for public ed funding. I'm sure you'll look of course, but I'd recommend also looking nearby in Loveland, Windsor or even Greeley, which haven't had the massive cuts like FC area.

bed bugs

Any transcript you may have to provide for future applications could absolutely impact your future career in grad school. Regardless of their relevance or how far in the past they are, failed marks on a transcript will need to be explained somehow. You can't leave it up to an adcomm to interpret those grades- you will want to frame it in a certain way to where it will minimize the hit against your overall app. This is all IMHO. Good luck to you.

You're welcome. Yeah, I can't imagine living in Greeley being a step down from living ANYWHERE in Iowa...but that might be just the Colorado elitist coming out in me UNC area of Greeley and definitely the surrounding areas are fine; you won't be disappointed with lifestyle if you choose UNC.

In MA programs, it's not nearly as much about working with a particular "professor of interest". Having a particular professor in mind is much more important in PhD programs. That said, it still won't hurt to contact professors and let them know that you're interested in their research. It's not that important to have one person's research in mind during an MA, but "fit" is still important, and you'll learn about that through emailing professors.

Yes, that may be viewed as a strength having gradually got better as you continued in your studies, but does it give you any kind of advantage over someone who got excellent marks throughout all four years? No, IMHO. I don't even know if it puts you on level playing field. Just because you have had to overcome serious challenges during your time in college (which based on your posts, you no doubt did), that doesn't mean that other applicants also faced challenges and were able to maintain high marks. Please don't take that as a judgment on you, it's just reality. Yes, adcomms are likely to look at more recent grades than early grades, but in this era you are dealing with a huge supply of competitors who all have a very high average GPA as well as very high other marks, scores, etc. The reality is you are going to have to make up for those marks in other areas of your application, such as Statement of Purpose, LORs, or GRE. I don't mean to discourage you; I'm sure you can put a competitive application together that will demonstrate that you are prepared for graduate school and deserve a spot! In fact, there are many programs that only require transcripts from four-year institutions. Do some looking around. Best of luck to you!

Are you able to edit your title to reflect that you are referring to Toronto? Your heading doesn't mention the city by name, so how is anyone going to find this post to help you? If you can't edit, then you should re-post in the City Guide section, where there is an existing thread for info on living in Toronto on $_______ amount of money per year. Good luck!

UNC is a small place, and Greeley isn't a college town, so you shouldn't have a problem finding a place that allows dogs...I'm not sure about close to campus, but my in-laws live in Greeley so I've been [too] many times (I live a couple hours south). THE GOOD: Greeley in and of itself sucks, but it is in close proximity to Fort Collins which is a great little town with plenty to offer to people with varying interests. It's also somewhat close to Denver, ~1 hour/90 min away. The biggest benefit of Greeley is that it is extremely inexpensive compared to its surrounding areas, such as Fort Collins, Loveland, Denver, Boulder, etc. So you get lower cost of living but still can enjoy all the wonderful things Colorado has to offer. THE BAD: Beware- there is an enormous meat packing plant nearby, so Greeley often smells of cow's blood/excrement. It's windy and it feels like you're living in Kansas rather than the mountains. But hey- it's a compromise.

South Austin, right by the Barton Creek Greenbelt, ~10-20 min from campus depending on traffic. I'm coming from Colorado, so I HAVE to be within walking/biking distance of outdoorsy stuff I like the areas around campus, but I'm paranoid of being around loads of wild undergrads (I'm married and a bit more boring than your average single college student, haha)...I checked out Hyde Park, but it was stinkin' expensive. IMHO, south Austin has the best places to eat. There are good places both downtown, around campus, and north, so you'll be fine no matter where you choose, but S. Congress and S. Lamar have some gems...just my opinion though!

My two cents: If you don't tell them ahead of time that you have already chosen another school, then you are probably wasting both his/her time and yours. However, if you are honest and say you picked another school, but would still like to meet with them, and they agree, then you're probably fine. Hope this helps. Good luck!

I know it helps to compare cities, but Austin is like Austin. There's just no other way to describe it. It has it's own unique vibe, for sure! As far as what to see, what kind of things do you like? Do you like dive bars? Clubs? Are you outdoorsy? Are you looking for more practical things to see? There's a lot to see, and no way can you do it in a couple days, so if you are a little more specific about what you want to make sure and see while in Austin. I'm sure folks can offer up suggestions.

Be yourself They [current grad students] are all just normal people just like you, who were in the exact same place you're in not long ago.

Man...at the end of the day it's extremely difficult to justify turning down a funded offer...in these times, especially. If you feel THAT uncomfortable accepting American's offer, you may want to just wait and reapply next year? It's even tougher to justify paying for an un-funded PhD. But you applied for American, so there must've been something you liked, right?

Dang, that's jacked up!

Just had one this last weekend. It was set up like a "recruitment party', and I believe was open to accepted students only. It was at a faculty member's house, and there were a large amount of faculty and current grad students there, as well as 10-15 prospective students. It was very laid back and casual -- the school is in a warm climate so everyone was dressed down and hanging out outside, drinking some brews. Faculty and grad students mingled with the new students and we all got to know each other. We talked both personal, fun stuff as well as current research, what I'd like to research, etc. I got to talk to a couple POIs, which was great. What the event did for me was allow me to see the dynamic between grad students and faculty. It was a very "work hard, play hard" attitude (the school is in one of the most fun cities in the country, but the school as a whole and my program are known for their academic rigor), and it seemed like a very collaborative atmosphere that also fostered healthy competition. i LOVED it. Everyone was incredibly nice and welcoming- none of us were viewed as a potential threat or second-class citizens. After a couple hours of food, drinks and talking, we went and watched the department's kickball team play a game, which seemed like a ton of fun. After that was karaoke at a local dive, which I abstained from -- this time My field is communication studies, and this is a very large but very competitive R1 state school. I hope this helps!

That's what I love about it too!

Haha, that's hilarious. Awesome! I'll be there too -- in the College of Communication. What's the Michener Center? And yes, Austin is amazing! You'll love it!

<------also no longer waiting! Withdrew my other apps and accepted my admit to my #1 choice! Feels SO nice. Good luck to the rest of ya!

Again, I don't know of any programs that offer an MS. I'll bump this up. I can give several recommendations for MA programs, but I don't want to waste your time.

That is correct, and it doesn't have to be because of a missing requirement. Most acceptances are first made by your particular college/department, and those decisions are usually provisional until accepted by the Dean of Graduate Studies or Graduate School. It's very rare to first get accepted and then rejected by the Graduate School, but it does happen, as evidenced by the many stories posted on this forum.

Can you be more specific about your research interests? There are many top-tier schools, but whether you'd want it to be a top choice for you may depend on your sub-field or other interests. Also, are you looking at Communication Sciences? I don't know anything about that field, but if you're referring to Comm Studies, I have no idea where you can get an MS....all of the programs I've looked into are an MA/PhD. Maybe someone else knows what you're talking about. If you're talking about Comm Studies, you don't need to worry about getting your quantitative up. Your verbal is very solid too....if you're wanting to get into an Ivy or a top-top-top notch program, you may need a higher score. I got into an excellent MA program with a 1280 combined. Stats-wise, you're done very well and I think you have an excellent chance to be considered at some top programs. You need to research professors, see what they're working on and decide if it fits with your interests. FIT is huge. Also make sure you have good rapport with a few professors who will vouch for you in LORs, and get your statement of purpose taken care of. Once you provide a little more info of what you'd like to do, I'm sure people can provide some specific recommendations for schools/programs.