sarakeet

I would recommend waiting until September and e-mailing again if you don't hear from them. August is a serious vacation time here in the UK and I'm pretty sure half the professors at my university are on vacation at the moment... I know my tutor is about to finish up two weeks hiking and camping out of the country. I mean they could just be uninterested or very busy, but they might just be out of town, and a lot of people here don't seem to do work e-mail on vacation. Good luck!

Hey, I can't speak as to the reputation of SNU's degrees or anything, but I'm probably about to start a linguistics-related master's degree at Korea University (on a "foreigner" scholarship) in the fall, so if you have any questions about that, maybe I could answer them... I've also studied Korean at SNU in the past, so if you have any questions about that program, I could probably answer them. Just as anecdotal evidence about language of instruction, there was a Turkish girl in my (Level 2, i.e., still beginner level) Korean class who was getting her master's in economics at SNU... She said all her lectures were in Korean but apparently she was still able to take the class and do the reading and stuff in English, she was just really bored in the lectures. I know at KU they say about 30 percent or so of graduate-level classes are in English, but I don't really know how this is divided over the different degree programs. Also, if you're interested in TESOL-type programs, I have a friend who did the part-time program at Sookmyeong Women's University (all in English) and seemed to enjoy it. Anyway I found out a lot of information about the program by e-mailing the professor who is in charge of it, since detailed information about programs is not always as forthcoming on the websites of Korean universities (in my experience) as I'm used to it being at American ones. I have to admit that I was kind of worried about the reputation thing too... This is a second master's for me, so I don't really mind that much, but it's good to hear that SNU has a good reputation, I hope KU does as well!

I've written about my experiences teaching abroad for the last several years, but most of the statement is more about me, what I want to do in education in the future, and why the school would be a good fit for me. I don't really think it's that different from other fields, except that there is a bit more of a career element to it--but in mine I'm mostly writing about questions that my experiences have raised about international/comparative education that I could answer by completing their masters' program, what my experiences could contribute to the program, etc. Every time I write about an experience, it's an example for one of these things. I guess I don't feel the need to prove that I have a source for my interest in education, since I've been an educator for 4+ years already. If you don't have a lot of experience as a teacher, writing about that kind of stuff more makes sense. Just my $.02--good luck

I submitted my first one Sunday--it was to a British university, and you had to submit the SOP via a text box in the browser... There was no option for previewing (that I saw)... And when I looked at it after submitting, all the paragraphs had been squashed together >.< I'm going to submit a correctly formatted copy via e-mail following their directions for extra materials, but still, annoying! I'm planning to finish all the British unis by the end of the week, and I'm looking forward to it, as it's been a little more confusing that the American ones!

ZCM, I didn't have student loans to start with, so I didn't have to worry about it, but I know a lot of people who came here specifically for that purpose--but yes, essentially, it's a salary/cost-of-living discrepancy. In 2010 I took about $10,000 worth of graduate education courses online without taking out loans or anything... I just had to cut down on my extracurricular travel... I live in South Korea, for the record.

I've been teaching overseas for a few years, where it's not too difficult to pay off say $10,000 of student loan debt in a year, so my plan is--work while I go to school, and if I can't get a good enough job in the field, teach overseas again for a couple of years to pay it off. Not everyone's cup of tea, though, I know.

You should call/e-mail and ask! (And then let me know... haha)

I don't know much about business school, but are you sure about the retakes not being counted toward your GPA thing? I know that's true for law school, which uses the LSDAS service to put together applications and they recalculate your GPA by their own standards, but I'm not quite sure it's true for grad schools in general. (Although now I'm wondering, because I did retake a course or two myself...) However, I don't know if business schools are more like law schools. Anyway, I think you should go for it but not depend on it. 3.6 is a decent GPA, 3.3 is not a bad, auto-reject GPA. I imagine your unusual story could work for you provided you spin it the right way/depending on who reads it. But anyway your test score and GPA discrepancy/the prestige of your undergrad/the basic framework of your story don't sound too different from mine and I'm definitely going for both those schools! But I'm definitely not depending on them and am applying for other schools too. FWIW. I hope this is helpful, and good luck!!

Other moral of the story: Freak out about it as little as possible. If they are at all professional, they will e-mail you back with one answer or another unless they have forgotten, didn't get the e-mail, or put it off/forgotten for so long that as soon as they see or hear from you again, they'll remember and feel a little bad. Glad to hear from all those who got in touch with their profs in the end.

I just wrote this to another poster, but I would definitely try a different e-mail address. I was all worried because a professor (who I was really close to) didn't e-mail me back after a week... So I used a different e-mail address with the original message and a note at the beginning that I wasn't sure he had gotten it at the other e-mail address. He e-mailed me back within hours. So definitely do that, or call him up to ask if you're using the right e-mail! Good luck!

I had this problem--after about a week, I contacted the professor by another e-mail address. I copied and pasted the original e-mail with a short note at the beginning saying that since I hadn't heard from him, I wasn't sure if he had received my first one. I was really nervous too, but his reply was along the lines of, "No, I didn't get it, and of course I'd be happy to write recommendations for you!" And I felt pretty crazy for even worrying about it. Soooo... I'd just wait a couple more days and then e-mail him again at that e-mail, or another e-mail, or call his office and say something like, "Hi, I sent you an e-mail the other day regarding my grad school applications, but I never got a response, so I was wondering if I was using the right address." Anyway good luck!

I have one too! I'm have all the parts of the application in different cells, and I'm changing the color based on how much progress I've made on them. I really... love... organizing stuff on spreadsheets

I dunno if it's college by college or something, but the Teachers College one has been open for a week or so.

Hi, that sounds like the right choice for you. I pretty much don't regret not going at all... Basically only when I think about how good the schools were that I got into and start worrying whether I can get into an equally good grad school in education. If you/I/anyone is worrying THAT much about something being the right decision... It probably isn't... At least not at that moment. Best of luck in figuring it out and in whatever you end up choosing!

When I was applying to law school a few years ago, one of my LOR writers actually asked me to write the letter for him, and then he would modify it as necessary. Apparently this is fairly common at least in law school applications. He said he figured I would remember the classes I took from him and papers I wrote for him better than he did... Anyway after he changed up a few things, he then sent it back to me again to check over the grammar and facts--and he's a native English speaker. SO I would say that there's no problem with editing it yourself if your writers are comfortable with it. If they seem uncomfortable with it, try a third party.

I'm getting one from a coworker for my 3rd letter for schools that need that many. I think it would depend on the field though. I'm in education, and this coworker has a higher degree than I have, a lot more experience, is several years older than I am, and is technically the head teacher for our grade, although it's not a supervisory position but a coordinating one. So if your jobs are in the same field as the field you're applying for, and the coworker has some credibility (higher degree, more experience, etc.) to be able to evaluate you as a candidate, I would say it's ok, but if they're really exactly at your level in every way, they might not have the credibility to be able to attest to your abilities and all that, from the p.o.v. of the admissions committee... My 2 cents.

FWIW--two years ago I went through the entire law school application process, got into some top law schools, but in the end decided not to go basically for the same reason you're having doubts about your master's program--massive amounts of debt and an insecure job market, nothing guaranteed even for lawyers from the likes of Virginia and Chicago unless they have a high class ranking--and not sure enough if I would like practicing law for it to be worth it to take that kind of risk. I really liked the idea of law school and I'm really interested in learning about those things--but not sure enough if I'd like the practice. I mean you can really rack up massive amounts of debt, well over $100,000, I am pretty sure I would have graduated with at least $200,000 in debt when living expenses are calculated in. To pay off that kind of debt, you basically have the choice (if you can get a job) between working for a law firm with really high pay but ridiculous hours for 5-10 years, or working for the government (or possibly a nonprofit) that will allow you to take advantage of a loan forgiveness program--after 5-10 years. In that case, you'd sort of be back where you are now when considering a job after graduation from your master's. (I'm saying this assuming that if you went to law school, you would want to go to a great law school and enter a major market like NYC or DC or Chicago--if you would be comfortable with a less expensive in-state program and working in your home state/region, that's a different story.) I'm saying all that to say that it's possible that if you applied to law school now, you could end up in the same situation you're in now. So I would really recommend trying to work in a law office for a while to get a taste of what it's really like. I didn't have that opportunity because I've been teaching overseas for several years, but if I could have, it would probably have helped me clarify my goals more and possibly I would have gone to law school. Can you defer your program until next year and work in a law office in the meantime? Also, have you read Law School Confidential? I'd recommend that as well. Also, btw, don't worry about your age. 25 is really young and there are tons of other people in the same position (I'm nearly 27). Hope this is helpful!

In addition to any economic concerns--working (for 4 years or so in my case) after graduation has really clarified my goals as far as what I want to achieve in grad school. Like some other posters said, there's no hurry--work experience can really only make you a better candidate, showing that you have an idea of life beyond the classroom.

Personally, I would recommend working in a field you think you might be interested in... or even a field that is convenient... to find out your interests. That's how I figured it out both what I do and don't want to go into, anyway, at two different internships/jobs. I know getting a job is not the easiest thing for everyone right now, but there's nothing like reality to give you a push in the right direction! Try getting a job or (if you can afford it) an internship!

I'm also applying in this field (although I'm not sure how far toward policy I want to lean). I guess I don't have much to add at the moment but that. I've been looking at schools by going through schools' Web sites and reading up on the research interests of various professors, then printing off the ones that are most interesting to me for further research... However, I'm taking the GRE in 2.5 weeks, so I've mostly put a hold on school research until I finish that. Good luck to everyone!

Another tip--probably obvious--but keep reading dense material and looking up every word you don't know. I'm a native speaker, but I've started doing this and suddenly realize there are a lot of words that I kind of new the meaning of, but didn't necessarily have a clear enough impression to use it in every possible context. A lot of these words haven't been in the Essential Words book either... Anyway fwiw I thought I was pretty well read but I don't know or don't feel completely comfortable with probably 20 or 25 percent of the Essential Words. Good luck!

I had a kind of similar experience, and maybe this will make you feel a little better. I was a more-As-than-Bs student for the first 2.5 years of uni, and then in the spring of my junior year, I had a W, three Cs, an A, and a B. I ended up doing well again the last two semesters, but I was really stressed out about this when applying to law school a few years ago because GPA is super important and, I thought, really, what kind of person just suddenly drops the ball like that? Anyway, when applying to law school, it's really normal to add an addendum explaining any discrepancies in your academic/test-taking history, so I included one of those. I would suggest doing that if there's room for it in your app, or just working it into your personal statement as someone said above--you could really turn it into a good thing by emphasizing that you were so involved in research/extracurriculars, especially if they relate to your field, and perhaps adding that since then, you have learned to balance your life better (even better if you have examples of this). That's what I did--I was working 40-60 hours a week, including about 20 hours as an editor at my school's newspaper. I ended up getting into some top law schools (although I decided not to go...). So I think if you explain it well, and try to turn it into a positive, it won't hurt you too much. Good luck!

Whoa 2 times! Good luck I'm taking them Sept.3 ... I gotta get on the studying though!

Hey New_GRE_RD, I've been using the Princeton Review's book for the new GRE, and I really found their strategies on sentence completion/equivalency to be helpful. Maybe you could check that out!

OK I've been seeing lots of topics on here about studying for the new GRE, it being somewhat mysterious and stuff. I've been using Cracking the New GRE from The Princeton Review so far, and I'm getting kind of annoyed... and also thought some people who have been asking about various guides might like a heads up. I've been working through the math section and leaving verbal alone until I get through a little more word study... Today I was going over the problems I got wrong on the "Comprehensive Math Drill" that starts on p. 318. I just checked it over quickly last night and x-ed the wrong ones. Anyway on number 4, answer section on p. 394 gives the answer as B... but then when you read through the explanation it says, "That means OR=6/5, and Quantity A is greater." Glaring error. I've also noticed a few other mistakes/poor edits, which unfortunately I didn't mark down at the time, but in a couple of places it seemed pretty clear that they had not edited info about the old exam to reflect the new exam, or they repeated a paragraph they had printed on the previous page, etc... Anyway I guess the main problem with this is that it now has me wondering about problems for which the explanations given didn't make sense to me... Are they wrong too? (I'm thinking specifically of the geometry problem on p. 294, if anyone wants to help!) Eh maybe all study guides have errors like this...? I've got Barron's to go through next. I'd love it if people could post any they find though, just for the benefit of others!