butterfingers2010

Thanks! I think I have all those bases covered. I see you live in London...are you applying for programs around there? I was in London a couple months ago and I loved it! It's too bad the requirements for counseling licensure are not uniform, or I would apply to study in London or other places in Europe. I'm assuming you have to take certain classes, a number of clinical hours,etc. to be certified as a counselor in the U.K?

I lived at home when I was an undergrad and commuted about 20 minutes to campus every day. I didn't mind the drive at all, especially since it meant that I saved TONs of money on rent and thus, did not have nearly as much debt as I would have had I rented an apartment. In your situation it sounds like you would save a lot of money, too, so that is a definite plus. I do have to say that there were times when this was inconvenient. A few semesters I had classes schedule very far apart in the day. One semester I had a class at 8 AM and did not have another class until 4 PM. I could not avoid this due to their only being one section of each class. So my choices were to either stay at school all day (which is nice because it forces you to study, but gets boring after awhile) or spend 80 minutes driving back and forth twice! As far as my campus experience goes, I don't think it made too much of a difference. I still made friends, but I did have to make a point to drive back to campus on the nights/evenings to hang out with them. It was fine, but I definitely put a lot of miles on my car and spent a ton on gas money. I think that if you do decide to do this, you are sacrificing convenience for a healthier budget, which you already acknowledged. I would say go for it, because when you are living on a student's income/lack of you have to do everything you can to stretch your dollars!

I know the feeling. I think as applicants we all tend to worry excessively about or overdramatize things. Getting into grad school is a pretty big deal, after all, so there's a lot at stake!

So, I have asked two different professors via e-mail for letters of recommendation, and neither has responded yet after several weeks. I find it extremely unlikely that both of them are ignoring my e-mails or are too busy to respond, so this leads me to believe that my e-mails have been going into their spam folders. I have received e-mails from other yahoo users that have automatically gone to spam (also really annoying, good thing I check it from time to time). Also was warned as an undergrad to never send professors emails from yahoo addresses, as this tends to happen. Sadly, I no longer have my college e-mail address. So I am wondering if I should change my e-mail address to avoid these problems in the future. Are there better free e-mail programs out there that won't do this? has anyone else had this problem with yahoo?

As you said, he is probably really busy and that's why he hasn't gotten back to you yet. Maybe if another few days go by and you still haven't heard back you can drop him an e-mail stating something like "I know that you're busy and it may be awhile before we get to meet up, but in the meantime I do have a quick question. Are you taking students this year?" Don't pressure him to meet with you, as that could be annoying. Just acknowledge that you know he is busy but that you still would like to keep the connection going with him.

TypeA, thanks for the laugh! I think the adoms would get a kick out of that but somehow I don't see that enhancing my chances of admission

No problem. Best of luck to you!

I had a friend who only applied to one program because it was the only program in her field that offered full funding. She ended up not getting accepted, and now she's without a plan or even a job (she got laid off). In my opinion, she definitely should have done some more thinking on this one. I think that if you apply to only one school you should have a definite backup plan that you would be happy with. Yes there is always "next year" but life is short, and do you really want to spend another year waiting around for the future? I'm not trying to sound harsh, but the reality is that grad programs are competitive and if getting in is really what you want, you should put your eggs in more than one basket. I am applying to six different programs. Its a lot of work, not to mention expensive, but I am determined to get in somewhere and I just don't think one application is going to cut it.

I too have a "less than stellar" GRE score, but I'm not mentioning this in my SOP. Why? Because SOP's are for highlighting your strengths, not giving the adcoms ideas as to why they should not accept you. If you must, you could attach an addendum to your SOP explaining your GRE score. But I wouldn't even do that unless you had a very compelling reason for doing bad on the GRE. If you just make excuses it's going to make you look bad. You could always share your GRE scores with your recommenders and have them address the issue in their letter, by saying that your score is not a true reflection of your abilities.

You could always try to apply to some "safety schools." Different schools have different GPA requirements so you could try to find a few that have a lower GPA requirement and apply to those. You should also really focus on your essay as that could be your selling point. That's your golden opportunity to show them how smart and really capable you are by expressing yourself well and demonstrating that you have intelligent ideas and interests.

I am applying to Northwestern's graduate school and they are requesting an "optional" diversity statement on their application. I am at a loss to figure out if I should do this or not. I don't really consider myself diverse, traditionally speaking. I am a white female from a suburban, lower middle class family. The only thing really "diverse" about me is my socioeconomic status..I am low-income, but aren't pretty much all 20 somethings just starting their career? I'm from a military family and am the first of my family to earn a bachelor's degree, but I'm not really sure if either of those things qualifies me for being "diverse" enough to write a statement about it. I've also done a fair share of traveling, but I don't consider that to be too unusual this day in age, either. Has anybody else had to try to figure this one out? What did you end up doing? I don't want to look like I'm just writing the essay for the sake of writing it, but I don't want to NOT write it if it could help me out in some way.

I am not sure how to end my SOP. I don't want to say something trite like "It would be an honor to attend your school, blah blah blah" but I don't want to just end abruptly either. Any ideas? How did you end your SOP?

I've done a lot of research on writing SOP's, and from what I can gather the consensus is both...like you said. Your tone should be informal, yet professional and intelligent, without being too verbose. Just imagine that you are talking to your favorite professor..that's what the tone of your SOP should be. I visited Northwestern before deciding to apply, and one of the tips the adcom gave us was "let your personality show through!" Adcoms have to read hundreds of SOP's, so do them a favor by not boring them and your SOP will stand out.

I was wondering if anyone on here has applied to master's in counseling programs and if you have any tips regarding the admissions process specifically for counseling programs. Thanks!

What a coincidence that I stumbled across this post...I'm feeling especially unmotivated and uninspired today, for some reason. I tend to get "bursts" of energy when it comes to getting things done..I will have days like today where I don't feel like doing anything, and other days when I get a ridiculous amount of things done. I try to take advantage of times when I'm feeling energetic and get a bunch of work done then. As far as grad school applications go, I have been setting weekly goals (for example: this week I'm going to polish up the final drafts of my SOP) and long-term goals (by November 1st I want to have all my application materials ready to go). Mind you November 1st isn't a "real" deadline but it does give me some motivation to get moving on things. A pot of gourmet coffee seems to help things along, too.

Well I almost have my first application (to Northwestern) set and ready to send off. Sadly, the hardest part of the application has been dealing with some technical issues such as getting my transcript file to attach to my application. But I am hoping that everything will be ready to go by the end of next week or so! They have a "rolling admissions" so needless to say I will be waiting on the edge of my seat to hear back. It will be the only application I hear about before Spring, so hopefully the news is good and I can relax more after that.

Do the programs you are interested in offer an open house/info session? I have been attending those for the programs I am interested in, and they have been extremely helpful. If your programs don't offer this, maybe you should just e-mail or call them and say that you want to request a visit. I agree with you that it is crucial in helping you decide whether or not to apply. I visited a school last spring that I thought I was interested in, but they left me with a horrible impression and I am very happy that I am applying to other schools instead! If you visit, make sure you pay close attention to the demeanor of the faculty and current students (if they're present). Do they seem happy and engaged in what they're doing? What kind of vibes do you get...do they seem friendly and warm? Are they elitist or do they seem more down to Earth and laid-back? This will help you determine if the program is a good fit for you. It is also helpful to tour your potential department and see what kind of facilities they have, especially if your program is going to be more "hands on." For example, I am going to school for counseling and I have been more impressed by the schools that offer on-site counseling labs/centers. If you live far away, though, it might not be worth it to visit before applying. It would be cheaper for you to just apply and then decide if you want to go or not. Many programs will give admitted students the opportunity to visit so you can always decide then.

I am currently writing my SOP and just recently finished what I hope is the final draft. I started my SOP with a story about how I initially became interested in my field, and the first line is what I would consider an attention-grabber. What I did was thought up some interesting personal anecdotes and chose one that I thought related really well to the "theme" of my essay, which is having positive unconditional regard for others, and especially for clients (I am in the counseling field). My advice would be to try and define what the "theme" or main points of your essay are and think of a personal story, philosophy, life lesson, etc. that goes along with that, and start it in an interesting way. You are right..you want them to have some reason to keep reading your essay, as they are reading through hundreds of them and many of them will probably start out in a boring way "I've always wanted to be a .....", etc. Choose a good attention-grabber for your first few line and you will definitely at least stick out!

I need to follow up on an LOR request, as I e-mailed this professor over two weeks ago and he still has not gotten back to me as to whether he will write it or not. My question is, how do I do this? I know it would be most efficient to call during office hours but I don't want to put him in an awkward spot if he doesn't want to writer the letter (I'm thinking that may be why he never responded to my e-mail?) So what do I say/do? I did very well in this professor's class and thought that I had a good rapport with him. I do have to admit that the thought of talking to him on the phone is a bit intimidating, as he is known to be blunt/not always the "nicest" person to talk to (but as I said, I thought that I personally had a good rapport with him). With this said, is it better to send a follow up e-mail or just suck it up and call? I know I should just stop being a coward because I really need to get this taken care of, but I feel so awkward...

I recently had a friend (who is a Ph.D student at a top university) look over my SOP. She very honestly-but kindly-told me that essentially, my statement was just a repetition of what was in my resume. While reading a book on SOP's I discovered that this is one of the biggest mistakes that applicants make. Your essay is an introduction of you to the admissions committee, so you should write about what makes you, well..you! I think the most important question to respond to when writing an SOP (even though most schools don't explicitly ask this) is: Why should we choose you over all the other applicants? What makes you so special that you should have this spot in our program? Most applicants to a particular program will have a similiar background, so you should write about something that is unique about you and will make you stand out. I chose to write about my experience volunteering overseas and how this has shaped my philosophy and interest in my field.

I took the GRE twice and scored very low both times (450 verbal, 410 quant the second time). I am not sure why as I studied really intensively for about half a year beforehand. I am applying to Northwestern, UW Madison, and Marquette, all of which require the GRE. I am also applying to UW Milwaukee and UW Whitewater, which do not require the GRE (thank God). so basically what I'm asking is..do I have ANY chance of getting into those schools that require the GRE? I graduated magna cum laude (3.89 gpa), had a really good internship, and have been working in the field full time for 2 years now. I plan on writing fantastic essays because writing is my strength. I have never failed so badly at anything as I did the GRE and I'm terrified it will stop me from getting into grad school. There are other schools I have researched that don't require the GRE but I am not interested in them (they're in small towns, too expensive, or just not good quality in my opinion).

This might be a silly question, but...do SOP's need a title? What is the "standard" format (font, font size,etc.)?

So here is my story: I have been out of school for about a year and a half now and am applying for grad school for next Fall. I already have two LOR writers lined up and need a third. I e-mailed my top choice for LOR about a week ago, and still haven't heard back. My first question is, how long should I wait before following up with him, and how should I follow up? He is one of my old psychology professors. It seems odd to me that he would not respond either way (whether he is going to agree to do it or not). I did my senior project with him and did very well, so I thought he would be a great choice. My second question is, if this LOR doesn't work out, who should I ask? I was a fairly quiet student and did not have many professors for multiple classes. Here are the possiblities: -An ethnic studies professor whom I was in a very small class with (3 students!) awhile back. The professor really seemed to like me personally and appreciate my work. This class was in my academic minor -A psychology professor whom I had two classes with, but I didn't especially like her or the classes. I was less than enthusiastic but did earn good grades. -My academic advisor, who I didn't have any classes with but met with once a semester to discuss schedules, career plans,etc. -A psychology professor whom I took one class with and who supervised my internship. By "supervise" I actually did not talk to him about it much, other than getting things set up, checking in every once in awhile and submitting a final report. My instinct says to go with my ethnic studies professor, but that would mean I would not have any psychology academic references..and somebody told me this might look bad. At the same time, I want to ask somebody who knows me fairly well. I am getting a letter from my boss, who works in the field I am applying to grad school for (counseling). I can't get any more professional references because all the schools I am applying to require at least 2 academic letters, specifically. Any thoughts? Thanks!

I have a bit of confusion that I am hoping to clear up. All the research I have done online regarding resumes for graduate school indicate that you should write a CV as opposed to a resume. Most of the programs I am applying to specifically say to submit a resume, not a CV. So by "resume" do they actually mean a CV, or do they mean that you should submit a resume similiar to what you would submit to apply for a job? I am applying for master's in counseling programs. Thanks!