Jakrabite

Doesn't seem that rude. One of my apps, UCI, says they will send results only in May. Which is infuriating, but they were pretty damn civil about it. It seems there is a lack of some information on their part rather than a lack of politeness. To the contrary, I've felt when I've called up the universities regarding my status that they have been over the top in their apologies and empathy. In most cases the phone is answered by some low man on the totem pole who really has nothing to do with the decisions, yet has to deal with all the overtly anxious applicants like myself. Best of luck. Hope the decision, whenever it arrives, is in your favour.

F-1 interviews are pretty standard. As long as you're not impersonating someone else, you should be fine. I carried every possible document to the interview though. I even tried to push a few of em on my interviewer, but he wasn't interested . My interview lasted for like 5 minutes and I really don't remember much because it was all very innocuous. Don't worry about it.

I will echo the advice about barron's. I crammed the book for a month and managed 1500. The barron's wordlist is pretty extensive and will make you feel more confident. Word to the wise though, don't be fooled into thinking that it covers everything. I had a couple of words in my actual test which I didn't find in any of the prep books. The last week I just studied the frequently occuring wordlist and a list that I had compiled of words that troubled me. Also, in the last few days I kept taking tests on the powerprep cd and scored pretty much exactly as my final test. I feel the classes for GRE are a rip off, it's a personal opinion and I may be wrong. Also, the test really doesn't indicate anything about your intelligence, just how you managed that particular test on that particular day. I know people who scored 1200 once and took the test again and got 1400+. So don't let a low score bum you out (and vice versa let a high score give you an ego trip ).

My two cents about the GPA/GRE stuff. Atleast for international students, American univs tend to disregard undergraduate GPA as they can't really compare it in a fair manner. I had a horrendous GPA but had 1500 on GRE and things worked out for me when I had applied for my Master's. Now my admits could be due to other reasons than my GRE scores, but I'm guessing it certainly helped. At the same time, I had applied conservatively (rank 10-20 programs in my field) and no ivy's. Perhaps schools of that kind of brand value might want across the board excellence. I had no intention of joining up for a PhD directly so went through the Master's route as cogneuroforfun has suggested. Did well in my grad program and applied with more substance in my PhD application. Best of luck with your grad apps.

On campus housing is fairly good. The waitlist can take about a year or so I was told. If you're lucky you might snag a spot, but the average wait time is steep.

Thanks for the input twocosmicfish. Will definitely check Falk Realty out. One last question, how much should I be expecting to shell out for half decent acco near the uni. All I need is a room to myself and a loo.

Alright. That makes more sense I guess. I'd prefer not staying too far from campus. How are you guys handling housing?

Hi everybody. I'll be joining PSU in Fall 09. I faxed my acceptance recently as well. My friend at PSU tells me grad housing is not an option apparently. I was really hoping to stay on campus and am quite disappointed about this scene. Does anyone have any info about on campus housing?

The 12k aid from uf (and i'm guessing it is the so called achievement award) doesn't really mean that much. If you have more than 1200 or 1250 in gre then you have 'achieved' it. See where you have a better research fit and from what I'm told ufl cise has good research output. If your primary objective is jobs, then perhaps uf is not your best bet. Congrats on the admits and best of luck.

I had called them only to be told that they will take till May to finish the process. Painful.

I'm five down with five lame ducks to go. Sign me up for the loser list.

Point taken everybody (excluding Nel of course ). I'll cease and desist. I'd tried to stop earlier, mainly because this has got to be the most insufferably boring flamewar in the history of the internets. My apologies for my part in this squabble.

I had walked away from this discussion. But I guess Nel's comments necessitated a return. Nel please do understand, parroting George Lakoff is easy, expressing your own thoughts is harder. For example, in reply to your strong yearning to know the nationality of the OP, I could ask you to read Identity and Violence by Amartya Sen. Dr. Sen's book says trying to explain a person's behaviour on a singular affiliation characteristic is unnecessary and unproductive. In your case the single characteristic of identity is the education system of the OP. But an argument using this approach is essentially bogus. Most importantly, I am not going to read a book on the basis of a recommendation by a discussion board nutjob (and hope you show similar restraint with my recommendation). I appreciate your enthusiasm for linguistics, but please try and avoid being irrelevant. I am a computer science major, but when somebody asks How I've been doing... I don't write an algorithm. Happy ranting!

Depends. I had to grade exams and assignments, proctor and hold office hours. Duties vary and generally are dependent on specific professors and departments. I found it fun in a way so I would suggest give it a shot. Who knows you might like it. Best of luck.

Red Herring: perspective of what the "differing ideas of what education" are =/= nuggets like "I'm from XYZ and my education system encourages plagiarism" Well to quote your original question..."We know for certain that plagiarism (or whatever kind of euphemism you may want to use) is explicitly and strongly communicated as a no-no in the U.S. and most other countries I know of" Hence it would appear you want to know about education systems riddled with as you put it "plagiarism (or whatever kind of euphemism you may want to use)" which is sadly = "I'm from XYZ and my education system encourages plagiarism" The finger pointing comment was a joke. Explaining humor is a terrible bore (only marginally less boring than quoting George Lakoff in fact). Outright Ad Hominem attack: To be frank, I did find the whole "Don't think of an elephant!" angle irrelevant and still do. No matter how many times you try to work the title into sentences. "E.g. 2 of "Don't think of an elephant!", it doesn't fly. My contribution to this topic ends here. I'll let you have the last word (I just hope Mr.(Dr.?) Lakoff and your predilection for herrings don't make an appearance).

If you are waiting for people to come up with nuggets like "I'm from XYZ and my education system encourages plagiarism", Good luck with that discussion. Haha. Exactly. Neither is it necessary to discuss the perceived honesty of every country. I would've never guessed! Maybe another topic can be started on, "differing ideas of what finger pointing" is. Have to admit that is most definitely true . It's a prerequisite for a pointless flame war. Pretentious, much? Also, I have an impolite suggestion as to where you can put your copy of "Don't think of an elephant!" by George Lakoff.

Let's assume the OP is from Senegal ( no offense meant to my Senegalese friends ). Don't see how that would be interesting. Condescending yes, Interesting no. "U.S. and most other countries I know of"...Not a very illuminating frame of reference. That the OP achieved an epic fail is doubtless, considering the name of the the topic. However, this degeneration of the discussion to finger pointing towards education systems of different nations is unnecessary at best, bigoted at worst.

I think if they start providing reasons along with rejections the process will take longer and cause more anxiety. I'd rather have them reply at the earliest with the result. 70-80 bucks should at least guarantee a timely response.

in earlier times refreshing meant pleasantness now its slow death

How would knowing which country OP is from change anything?

Sucks. I am an intl student as well. No way in hell can I go there without funding. Guess I will contact them on Monday.

Though I am still clinging on to hope..this eventuality has crossed my mind a few times. It's not embarrassment rather a complete loss of confidence. The worst thing that can happen when you prostitute yourself is to find no takers.

Georgia Tech should lose the attitude. If places like MIT let you down softly, I don't see how Tech has the cojones to pull this on applicants who paid a fair amount to apply.

Aimee Mann got it wrong One maybe a lonely number But none is surely worse

Hi Lisbon Girl. I completed a MS at Warrington at UF and lived near butler plaza on 34th street.There is no hard and fast rule for where grad students live off campus. There are very adequate facilities available for graduate students on campus but from what I understand there is a pretty long waiting list. There are apartment complexes available all over the place and personally I feel it's best that you go there in person and then book your apartment instead of booking online. With the profusion of apartment complexes that Gainesville has, it's unlikely that you'd be left in the lurch if you went there without booking first. Hope this helps. Best of luck at UF.