spctle342

One of the best psychology professors I've had was someone who had done shockingly terrible during his undergrad. I don't recall the GPA, but he did share it with us, as I think he hoped it would serve to encourage students with less than stellar academic records. Probably around a 2.0. He had no problem getting a doctorate, so there's surely hope for you!

I'm only an undergrad, but I'm of the mindset that there's not much harm in taking out a little extra loan-wise, just in case. I always have, and though I don't believe I've ever touched it, I love the reassurance of knowing it's there for any unanticipated crises that may arise. It's definitely preferable to taking out a high interest loan elsewhere in the event of an emergency, and if you don't spend it, you can always just pay it back immediately and not worry about languishing in additional debt.

A lot of people use Verizon and like it. I find that I can get more features and equally good coverage for the same price with Sprint, so that's my preference.

As the other poster mentioned, near south is popular for college kids, as is what is referred to as the highlands area. Both are sometimes considered low-income/high crime, but I don't really buy into those sorts of associations. I don't feel there is such as thing as a "bad neighborhood," at least in Lincoln (where I've been living for the past 8 years). Apartments are dirt cheap in Lincoln (you can easily find a decent one-bedroom for 300-550/month), and quite plentiful, so you should rest assured that you won't have trouble finding one, even on short notice. Many apartments aren't advertised online or in print, and it's often easiest to drive around the areas near campus to scope out the places with "for rent" signs in the yard.

I can guarantee you that no one would laugh at you or look down on you for seeking help at a shelter. You are involved in an abusive relationship. Unlike many other women, you didn't even have the ability to choose that relationship for yourself. You were born into it. How could anyone fault you for existing in a situation entirely beyond your control? I am certain that you would be able to relate quite well to any survivor of domestic violence. It doesn't matter who the perpetrator is... you all still face the physical and emotional isolation; control of resources and time; verbal assaults, guilt, and blame; and complete despair. I can think of no one who would be better equipped to help you than a domestic violence advocate. And if you don't believe me, why not try and call? If they laugh at you, then you can be vindicated in your prediction. But I know enough to say that you will find nothing but compassion and understanding. People who go to domestic violence shelters typically stay there between 4-6 weeks. That's seriously as long as it takes to get someone a job with a living wage, independent housing, furniture, food and other necessities, transportation, and everything else. They know what they're doing, and they do it well. A brief stay in a temporary environment may be a small sacrifice to make if it means reclaiming your future. You're so young. You have your entire life ahead of you, but there's no reason to wait. Beyond that, I can't imagine that you would find living in a shelter to be any more unpleasant than living with your mother. You could still go to school if you chose. You can come and go as you please. You really don't have to answer to anyone, but you would have the structure and support that you need, having been dependent on your mother for 23 years. I really hope you find the strength to take that first step and pick up the phone. You truly have nothing to lose. I wish you could see what we all see waiting for you on the other side. I know that if you can reach out to someone, you will never regret having done so. You say you wish you could go insane and get admitted into a psych ward. You don't have to be hearing voices to do this. If your primary motivation to keep trudging through one more day is the comfort of knowing that you could end your own life at some point in the future, mental health services are clearly warranted. If nothing else, I hope that someone in your life recognizes your pain and makes the effort to connect you to people who can truly help you. If I could do that from where I'm at, it would be done already.

I think you can leave, even with nothing. Is there a domestic violence shelter in your city/state/region of the country? What you're experiencing is abuse. You sound as though you've been beaten down to the point where you believe you have no options left. If you can do nothing else, make a phone call to a domestic violence hotline. They won't call the cops or force you to do anything, but they will listen and explain to you that there are options for someone in your situation, as desperate as it seems. They can help you develop a safety plan to get help without your mother's knowledge. They can build you back up and allow you to reclaim your independence once and for all, if that's genuinely what you want. Nothing bad can come from reaching out to someone, but you know as well as all of us that nothing good can come from continuing down the path you're on. It sounds like your mother did have your best interests in mind at one time, but she's no longer oriented in reality. If you don't stand up for yourself, no one will. I really hope you can find some peace, whatever you decide to do.

My understanding is that schools ideally represent themselves as considering the highest score, but I don't think it's that simple. I've heard that some programs will average the scores, which really only helps you if you do significantly better across the board. At the very least, I imagine admissions committees can't help but take the lower scores into consideration, even they don't do so "officially." It's sort of like a judge instructing a jury to disregard something said in open court. If your concern is AW, I would suggest that you don't bother re-taking it. AW scores are rarely considered, to my knowledge. Even the most terrible AW score can be easily overcome by submitting a strong statement of purpose/writing sample, etc. Admissions committees will surely give more weight to something you wrote that they can read versus a numerical score. If your quant/verbal scores are strong, it makes more sense to direct your effort to improving those parts of your application than it does to take the GRE again.

Speaking as someone who completed a portion of my undergraduate degree through my university’s distance education program, I would strongly advise against it. In general, I’m very skeptical of graduate programs offered entirely online. Employers are, too. There are likely some reputable social work programs online, but the person looking at your resume will not know that. They will assume you earned your degree through a diploma mill, as so many people do these days. Many schools do offer some of the MSW courses online, so if you’re looking for greater flexibility time-wise, a combination of classroom and online instruction might work for you. Social work is an area of study that is best accomplished through face to face interaction, in my opinion. If you had a BSW, I might tell you that your four-year foundation would be enough to compensate for the lack of a brick-and-mortar education. Because that’s not the case, I really urge you to consider other options. As far as getting experience, I’m sure all of us would recommend you seek out every opportunity to do so. For one, it will definitely help your application. More importantly, it can give you the insight you need to determine whether or not social work is the right field for you. Many, many people enter the field and discover rather abruptly that they hate it. Your professors and fellow classmates will present to you a rosy portrait of your rewarding role in helping to make the world a better place, and your experience will probably not be quite so romantic. It may be downright brutal. Volunteering or interning somewhere is really the only way I can think of to even begin to understand the profession. You also don’t mention what you want to do with a graduate degree in social work. Counseling? Teaching? Community organization? If you plan to go into clinical practice, you will definitely need to consider the accreditation of the school you choose to attend, or you may find yourself unable to obtain licensure. Good luck to you, whatever you decide to do.

I believe you misunderstood me. While I agree that it is possible to break the sentence down into shorter statements, I don't agree that it is necessary or even appropriate for the purpose of the GRE. To me, reading comprehension doesn't mean regurgitating the statements in front of your face, it means interpreting them correctly. If the sentence clearly said "More married women started working because x and not y," followed by a question about why women started working, you don't have to comprehend anything. I agree with you only to the extent that I think it makes sense to provide passages of varying difficulties (though, as someone who has not taken the GRE, I assume that's already the case). If all the passages are above everyone's head, then the test wouldn't be an accurate measure of reading comprehension. The fact that some people do answer the questions corresponding to "difficult" passages correctly leads me to believe that the test isn't flawed/biased/inappropriate. Even the author of the original article is making the case that these passages can be understood with a little thought. My view is that the person taking the test should be expected to decipher what is being said; it shouldn't be spoonfed to them.

I didn't "mistake" it for a passage; I suppose I should have said, "There's nothing wrong with that excerpt from that passage." I know what a sentence is. And I don't care for the "re-worked" sentence. It sounds like something you might read in middle school. It also doesn't really make sense. "Blah blah -- not just because blah blah." isn't a sentence, it's a fragment. To begin the next sentence with "Also" when no argument was made about why women had jobs in the first sentence is grammatically incorrect. I agree that the sentence could be broken into several shorter statements, but the example you provide doesn't do that effectively.

There is nothing wrong with that passage. In my opinion, it reads very well. Do the commas confuse you? I suppose the last few words could have said something to the effect of "in many cases, the only women employers would previously hire." What is your criticism here? How would you have written the passage?

You sound just like me! I began going through Nova's GRE prep (specifically quant, since I'm relatively confident in my verbal/writing abilities), and I found it was better to abandon the GRE prep and first review the basics: arithmetic, algebra, and geometry. For instance, I couldn't even remember the procedures for things like factoring, dividing fractions, etc. Sure, it's helpful to understand the format and types of problems you'll encounter on the GRE, but that's useless if you don't have a good grasp of the basics. Good luck!

I'm pretty sure an A- doesn't signal anything more than the fact that you are, indeed, human.

The most important thing about references is that they speak to your ability to perform at the graduate level. In that respect, I don't think it's inappropriate to include references from professors in other disciplines, so long as they can do so. I think most people would caution you to try and avoid references who can't say much more than "this student took my class and did well." That can possibly be prevented by offering up some of your work from their class to refresh their memory, explaining more about your work outside their class, and identifying how characteristics they have probably observed in you as a student relate to the programs you've selected. Your fear of asking for LoRs seems common, although I personally don't understand why students are so apprehensive about asking for them, as though it's some extraordinary favor the likes of which has never been encountered by any faculty member. Just realize that everyone who wants to get into grad school has had to do the same (including your professors). Someone mentioned assisting with research, which can be a great way to build a solid student-faculty relationship. Beyond that, if counseling programs are anything like social work programs, they don't mind (and often require) a non-academic reference, such as from a supervisor at a relevant job, internship, or volunteer commitment. I'd suggest looking into that, as well. If you're worried about burdening people, make it as easy as possible for them by identifying the exact places you're applying, your specific objectives, a resume/CV, and possibly a draft of your statement of purpose. Yes, they're doing you a favor, but if you do your homework beforehand, I'm guessing most would be happy to help you.

That strikes me as both adorable and awesome. I'm also a HUGE list writer. I love post-its as well. In fact, my apartment is more or less wallpapered in colorful standard sized post its with GRE words that I didn't recognize when going through the list of 4,000 in a NOVA'S prep book. It's pretty, and actually a wonderful way to learn (seriously, I've learned at least 150 new words in the past week through this technique alone). I might steal your idea a bit, but in the form of a bulletin board or magnetic whiteboard. Love it!