daytripper

Thanks everyone for the advice. Now, can we kill this thread so no one else sees?

Hi, I feel I got lucky with the verbal section because I happened to know the right words but I just googled GRE words and memorized those. The trick is to be able to correctly use them, however. I also read a lot. For the math section, I bought some old geometry / algebra text books that are used in high schools. I am also an economics major, so I took lots of statistics courses, although the statistics in the GRE isn't that complicated. Barron's latest book was also helpful in getting the feel and timing. And as for writing, I had a lot of preparation for that in college, but also read this, and practiced a lot. Sorry if this is not helpful as I did not prepare for it as much as I see some people preparing for it.

Hi iambspam, do you happen to have a list of good masters programs?

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'll try my luck this fall!

UG: Flagship State University with lots of research Overall GPA: 3.27 Majors: Economics (3.6 GPA) Sociology (4.0 GPA) Minor: Philosophy GRE: 800 Q, 710 V, 5.5 AW I will have very good recommendation letters (I think, at least my professors seem to be popular... their CVs are very long and they're all tenured...). They all personally came and told me to go for a PHD in sociology (changing my mind from philosophy). Did policy research as an intern at a state think tank, RA'd for a professor once, and won a few awards in the sociology department. Nothing that's too impressive, however. I came to sociology late after trying out philosophy and economics. My low overall GPA is due to a lot of external factors (lots of going hungry and working and then after establishing myself towards the end of college, lots of activism). They are mostly due to two Fs, one early in my college career and one a few semesters before the end, with a few Cs from GECs. I have a unique upbringing (grew up overseas and came back here alone) but don't know how much that will help. Field that I want to study: Economic Sociology Schools that I would love to attend (based on the professors in Economic Sociology and the Location): Columbia, Harvard, NYU, Princeton, Cornell. But mostly Columbia, Harvard, and NYU. Now, the conundrum is this: I can graduate 2 semesters later (taking out more debt) and likely have a GPA of 3.44. Or should I apply now? Would that extra GPA boost help that much? Finally, I am wondering if there are masters programs rankings anyone can point me to. Thanks!