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I had a semi-similar situation pop up too. What I did was send him a follow up email saying something along the lines of "I know you're really busy so if it is helpful, I am happy to draft a letter for you to edit in any way you like". People are always reluctant about more work; if you give him an easier way through, he is more likely to respond. My recommender responded within a few hours of me sending this email! - he agreed and sounded pretty relieved. Good luck!

Eh, don't take it to heart too much; For me it drastically underestimated my verbal (predicted 153-158, real score 160) for math it was a couple points lower than real score. Take it as a rough guide than an accurate predictor; after all, it doesn't take into consideration your improvement, only the average of all the problems you've attempted.

Hey all - So I realize this is kind of a silly question but I am curious; I am interested in applying to the PhD "version" of the MA program I attended. Clearly, my SoP for my MA worked pretty well. Would there be any repercussions if I used chunks of my old SoP for my PhD application? Obviously, it won't be identical but a couple of the paragraphs are still very relevant. I don't think any human reader is going to "recognize" my SoP, however I'm not sure if something like this would be flagged by a computer as plagiarism? Any thoughts or experiences of this?

For sure! I have a section on my CV for publications and conference presentations so I would put it under a heading like that. I don't see why it's a stretch - it might not be Nature but it's still a publication

I wish! Those are the scores "typically held by finalists" i.e. a minimum. I wouldn't be surprised if average scores were higher.

I'm also in the OP's position, except I'm struggling with the quant section (my exam is in a week today). I think lyrehc gives some decent advice; and although I find it hard to put down the books, I think the day or two before my exam I'm just going to f-it and go shopping instead. At this point I'm so tired I think I'm at a point of diminishing returns.

I would also add: spreadsheets are your friend. Use them! Seriously though, I don't know how people keep track of everything without a well-organized spreadsheet.

Whoa, that's weird. Maybe something to do with the fact that it was untimed?

I haven't been admitted to any neuroscience programs, but based on my own personal research and people I know, it really depends on the kind of neuro program you want to attend. If you're aiming for molecular neuroscience and you have no background in bio/physics, that might be a problem. Though most of the time, the program will state on its application page what classes are required, if any. On the other hand, if you're interested in neuroimaging, most labs that involve this kind of work are housed within psych departments (e.g. UCLA's PhD in Psychology has a behavioral neuroscience tract) in which case your lack of wetlab experience won't be an issue. There are some unfortunate cases where an imaging lab is housed under a neuro department, where all applicants are required to have the hardcore science background - even if it is relatively irrelevant to the lab you want to join! In this case, it would be worth it to get in touch with the PI and see what they say. Best of luck!

Are you serious?! What sneaky little shits. Was both times you took the test after the 2011 revision? When I took it back in 2010, I remembering seeing my scores before submitting them to the schools.

Thanks for posting this. I am taking the test in a couple weeks and have been preparing with all of the material you mentioned as well. I am pretty happy to see that someone else agrees that the Manhattan prep tests are much harder than ETS questions; it seems, based on this site, that most people think the Manhattan tests are pretty interchangeable with the official material, but I agree with you in that they are harder - at least from a technical perspective. I recently picked up the new official Quant and Verbal practice books from ETS (I wanted more official questions) and these on the whole I find MUCH easier than Manhattan and obviously Magoosh. I feel like ETS involves more tricky "logic" but require less mathematical knowledge, if that makes sense. I was also freaking out after taking my 5th Manhattan practice test with disappointing scores - I do much better on the ETS material. One question though; did you work out the relationship between the percentage of correct answers on the Score Conversion Table in the "Official Guide to the GRE Revised Test, 2nd Edition"? It seems that, with 70% of correct answers on Quant (i.e. 35/50 correct) only gives you a score of 158. Is this reflected on test day?

Jujubea, I hear you. I took it 4 years ago and my math score is still pretty much the same as it is now (~152Q on the practice tests) after months of studying. :/ I'm obviously not studying correctly so I'm trying a few others things before my test at the end of the month. It's pretty frustrating :/

FWIW, Manhattan Prep's tests seem to be the most realistic in terms of content and difficulty. I agree that Magoosh is a great study tool but somewhat harsh when it comes to the scoring mostly because the tend to be a step up in difficulty compared to the actual GRE.

Cacao, I definitely know where you're coming from - after much painstaking research, I had whittled my list down to 6 programs; 1 PI, unfortunately, was not taking students, so now I am at 5. Honestly, if I only wanted to apply to 2, I have a very clear idea as to which 2 I would select - though I am going to keep my options "open" even if my last choice would not be ideal. I think bsharpe gives some good advice in reading papers, seeing who is who, etc. Though I do also understand that if you have very specific interests or need very specific technologies to answer your research questions (as in my case), I can see why it can be hard to find a solid 7-10 schools that are great fits AND are in good locations, etc. I agree with quality over quantity, but you also don't want to limit your options too much. It's a delicate balance. However, if you do decide to go for it with only 2 institutions, perhaps have a plan B in case this cycle doesn't work out.

In my experience, write your grade in the original format whenever possible. If this is not possible (i.e. they are forcing you to give a GPA) then use WES as your guideline, since this is the standardized format accepted internationally. Good luck!

Although I agree with Vene, on the flip side, I would also go so far as to say that people who do apply to one or more Ivys are also people who do not declare their choices in their signature in order to not to seem pompous/arrogant. Interestingly, the impression I get of the culture here is that if someone is applying to many ivies they are a naive candidate who only wants to attend a prestigious school - which is obviously seen as negative from the average academic.

Hah, I mean I have a couple programs that "recommend" it too, but like I said, from the people I've spoken to, it seems it only comes into account when the applicant has a questionable background in the subject matter. But if you do already, it is kind of redundant since it really only tests very general knowledge in the field. It's up to you!

From what I understand, unless you have A) a program that REQUIRES it (and these tend to be few and far between) AND/OR B ) a very weak background in psych (e.g. never taken any psych classes) it doesn't seem to be worth it. If you think it will help, then take it...if not...eh.

I titled my emails "Prospective student Fall 2015" I deliberately made it obvious so they would know what they were opening - I also wanted to make sure they could find it again if needed

I'm afraid I don't know much on funded masters - I know they exist, but you might have to do some digging to find them. About applying to two programs in the same school: unfortunately, this seems to be very school-dependent. Applying to different schools within the same institution is sometimes allowed, but applying to different programs in the same school in the same institution rarely is, in my experience. But like I said, it depends..you'd have to ask! Have you tried talking to your current PI about MS programs that might be a good fit for your interests?

I think Biotechie is right in that with the right MS program you would gain just as much valuable research experience through the course of preparing a research-based thesis. For what it's worth, my MA did not have a thesis so I was able to work as a part time research assistant while I was in school. Either way, I wouldn't worry about it - you'll find a way to polish your application if you're in a program.

I do agree with what others are saying here, though I would like to point out that a 3.4 GPA isn't a dealbreaker - I know a number of people who have got into top programs at Harvard who had a UG GPA below 3.4 with no masters. They did have good research experience and GREs though. Provided you had good GRE scores, I think it would be worth applying to a combination of MS and PhD programs - might as well give it a shot but also have some back ups just in case the PhDs don't pan out.

Eh, I mean, I get why it makes sense. If a program gets 600 applications, what's the most "objective" way to weed out weaker applicants quickly? All the issues with GRE testing aside, I understand, from an administrative side, why this is an attractive option. But if your scores are above the cutoff, then yes, your application is more likely to be reviewed in its entirety. But it obviously doesn't guarantee admission.

In most competitive programs, yes. It's a way of initially thinning the applicant pile.

4/4 responded, one not accepting - everyone was super nice and encouraging.