Rachel B

Improvement is always a good thing. Were the classes you took earlier and didn't do as well in just general education requirements? A school would probably look more favorably on your transcripts if you did well in challenging, upper-level classes and classes related to your major. But if you're packing the last year and a half with a lot easy, gen-ed classes they may see as you trying to inflate your GPA.

I go to a small liberal arts college in the Midwest and it's extremely common (at least 80% of the time) that the professors at my school request that students, even students they've only met once, call them by their first names. However, during my email correspondence with a professor at a graduate school, I kept addressing her by her first name. Only until I visited the campus and heard the graduate students refer to her as Professor "Last Name" did I realize my error. Did I come off as rude? How common is it for undergraduates/graduates to call their professors by their first name?

I visited a college this past weekend and the grad students took me out to lunch. The program director gave the students his debit card, but I'm not sure if this is the norm.

I go to a small liberal arts college and I noticed that starting this past semester my school began putting class ranks on our transcripts. I don't have a bad GPA by any means, it's actually a 3.34. But my class rank (based solely on GPA) is in the bottom half of my class. What frustrates me is that they're basically comparing apples to oranges to pears. To me it seems incredibly silly to compare geology majors to art history majors to economic majors, especially since some majors are certainly more challenging. With this in mind, is my class rank going to hurt my chances for grad school programs? Or is this just a silly number towards the bottom of my transcript?

Mine is also on the list. It was actually very, very similar to what I had to write about for the ACT exam about 6 years ago!

For Yale and Stanford, I would highly suggest taking the test again. These schools are going to yield many outstanding applicants. Even if you have a great SoP and recommendations, you don't want to risk having someone selected over you just because you didn't do so hot at taking a very silly standardized test. Also, in some fields good GRE scores can help you greatly when it comes to receiving financial aid and often times GRE and GPA are the starting points at determining financial aid.

I agree with your sister. Since you're presenting your statement to other people (not directly to your student mentor), it's a better idea to go the more formal route.

I wouldn't worry too much. jimmy_01 is right, the admissions office has to update the status of your application. You also have to factor in that the holidays just passed, so offices were likely closed for at least a few days. This is on top of getting lots of materials since they're getting sent lots of application materials.

Brown, really?? I wonder what happened with the program since it seems very sudden. My applications are going alright. UCSB Bren is due tomorrow and I'm waiting on one more recommendation (very nervous about it getting in on time).

Which program was it?

The FAFSA is used by both the federal government and individual institutions to award financial aid to students. Because you're not an American/don't have a SSN, you won't be receiving any federal aid and your FAFSA will solely be used by the institution. But first you should check with the school to make sure they didn't just mean that domestic students have to fill out the FAFSA. Some schools have special forms for international students in place of the FAFSA. If they do say all students have to fill out the FAFSA, you might also want to contact them to see if they have specific instructions for international students. I know several international graduate applicants who were required to fill out the pdf/paper version of the FAFSA in place of the electronic version and just send it to their school (but obviously not the federal government). Here's the pdf version for 2012-2013: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/fotw1213/pdf/PdfFafsa12-13.pdf

I've actually know two people who have gone through/considered this! A friend of mine found out she was pregnant her last year of her PhD program and she kept attending classes. But after she was hit hard with morning sickness and then complications in her second and third trimester, she had to postpone school since the stress of her dissertation could have potentially made things worse. She still hasn't returned to the PhD program though and after the complications and postpartum depression, I'm not sure if she is ever going to. My cousin also considered pregnancy during graduate school but decided to hold off until completing her MBA. I think it was a good choice for her because the school let her participate in the job development/placement program even two years after graduating. She found a really great job too and I think the transition was easier for her. Overall, I think pregnancy can be very unpredictable. If I were in your shoes I would finish one commitment before beginning another. And maybe after you graduate you could just take a break for your family plans, and knowing graduate school is behind you could relieve a lot of stress. Plus, it would give you time to adjust to the new baby and spend quality time together before finding a job. Just my 2 cents I hope whatever you choose that everything goes well!

You have a decent start to your SoP, but you have some very awkward and somewhat confusing sentences: "Management officials have come across a dual problem in protecting a coastline that is home to wildlife, a variety of habitats, and protecting those people that live along the coast" EDIT: Management officials have come across a dual problem: the protection of coastlines that are home to wildlife and the protection of human inhabitants within the same area. "I wanted to take this to another level by not only educating but also being a part of the policymaking decisions that affect the coastline. EDIT: The sentence is awkward without a noun following "educating." Who exactly are you educating? Students? The general public? Policymakers? "Four years of undergraduate courses in the fields of environmental and marine sciences at Barry University has not only provided me with the educational background on the natural resources in the world but has helped sharpen other skills as well. These skills include making me a better public speaker, a team player, an individual worker, and a time manager EDIT: You skip over this section very quickly. Be specific. Just saying you gained skills in undergrad is vague. Talk about certain classes or projects or other experiences. Did you gain teamwork skills on a specific project? Go into a little detail so that the admissions committee gets to know you more! "On a research level, I have learned how important it is to be organized in identification, collection, and analyzation of different plants and animals to be able to compile reports" EDIT: Learning how important something is is extremely different than actually learning something. Omit the "learned how important" part and talk about the tasks you had to complete and the additional skills you gained. Being able to compile complex reports is impressive, knowing that reports are important is not. "While participating in projects with the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve, I have decided that a Master in Professional Science in Coastal Zone Management with a specialty in marine protected areas is the program for me." EDIT: You keep saying how important coastal protection is, but what I don't get out of your statement is why this program is right for you. Just because something is important doesn't persuade me into thinking that you're its the right program for you. What you need to work on is making this essay more personal and more passionate. Even your first two sentences come off as random and stiff, two qualities that continue throughout your essay. Again, you're off to a decent start, but I think you have a long way to go in order to turn a decent essay into an amazing essay. I'm sorry if my comments are harsh, but I hope they help.

I'm surprised too. I'm a a biology minor and I had to take two chemistry classes in addition to the chemistry classes already required for my environmental science major.

I agree. Don't risk it. You may come off as someone who didn't follow directions or your application may get stuck in limbo if it isn't considered complete until all (including three recs) the documents are submitted.

It might be very difficult to be a competitive applicant in Neuroscience if you've never taken Chemistry. On top of that, you said most programs *require* these two classes, which could very well mean they won't even look at your application unless you have taken them. In that case, you would absolutely benefit from taking time off to complete the courses. If the programs offer some flexibility (which would require you to dig further or call up the programs), you could still apply. But this may also depend on your current undergrad major. For example, they may offer a little bit of leniency if you're a biology major but you may be completely out of luck if you're an economics major. In my field of Environmental Science, especially since students come from a variety of different backgrounds, students admitted with deficiencies must make them up before a certain date (usually the end of the first semester) with no credit offered.

One program had a pre-application, which was an extremely shortened version of the actual application. It was mostly just my academic background and a short essay. Unfortunately they had made a recent change to their program prerequisites, well after I had asked for recommendations, and I had two class deficiencies that I needed to make up. Because of this they declined my pre-application, so I can't apply to the program. But they did encourage me to apply if and when I make up the deficiencies.

I know what you mean! One of my letter writers wrote me a recommendation (which was sealed in an envelope with their signature across the back) that I personally had to mail to the school. Well, I didn't make it past the pre-application stage and I was horribly tempted to open the letter, but I ended up giving it back to him.

No, it's not uncouth! I wish people would get the notion out of their heads that you should avoid calling/emailing programs regarding your application and other information. It's what those people (who are usually not adcomms but just staff workers and even other graduate students!) are getting paid to do and part of what your application fee goes towards!

I'm having a similar problem, with the small exception that she's my advisor! Both of my other letter writers are very organized and very on top of things. Unfortunately thats not the case with my advisor/third recommender. I asked her back in August if she would be willing to write me a recommendation for a Jan. 3 deadline, which she said she would be glad to, but only after she was done teaching in November. Well November came and went and I contacted her again earlier this month with no response. A week later I emailed her again, no response. Two days before break I was finally able to catch her in her office to check on the progress. Although I had given her all the information, my CV, and my SoP, she still hadn't looked at anything! She did say she would do it over break, but now I'm seriously worried she will forget. She's an amazing, brilliant professor and I've had her in over five different classes and I've done independent research with her. She's been my advisor since my freshman year as well. Her major downfall is that she is super disorganized and I'm seriously freaking out. It's too late in the game to ask anyone else and I know if she committed just an hour or two, she could write me a very strong recommendation. I'm not sure what to do. I'm home now, so it's not like I can visit her office until after break (ie: after the deadline).

Did you waive your rights to see the letter? If not, you do have the right to view these documents.

Is the class a prereq for a program? For example, in several programs I'm applying to you have to receive a B or higher in calculus and statistics. So that may be the only way it could really impact your application.