Alaskah

All of my federal Stafford loans have been in forbearance for nearly a year due to economic hardship - I didn't even have to prove that I was having a hardship, so I found this to be a very easy process. I am looking at going back to school part-time to keep deferring them since I still cannot afford them on top of my private loans. I don't think the process is very difficult in comparison to private loans. But it's true they won't give you much information until you send in a request. I would think as long as the international school is still a credited school (meaning the degree can go anywhere and is viable) then you should not have a problem. If they would decline you due to it being an international school, then you could always apply for forbearance due to hardship, since I would assume you wouldn't be making a whole ton of money in the program even if funded.

Then if your GPA was low, that would make sense for you. My professor put a lot of fear in me that my GPA should have been higher (it was a 3.8 at the time he said it), and that I should have taken the subject GRE (none of the schools I was looking at required/even mentioned it, and I already had a degree in the same field). He just wanted every aspect of my application to be perfect, but I think I am fine where I am at. One more year will go by quickly enough, and if it helps you to build up more research experience and publications and/or presentations, it will only help you.

Not a "place to start," no, but more of a place to continue and build upon yourself after some work experience. I had spoken with an admissions counselor for an MBA program and she said that not only is your work experience considered, but they look at how quickly you are promoted (if you are in a position to be promoted). I have a psychology degree and was considering the MBA for a bit. I work as a human resources lead at a department store, which isn't much to brag about (entry-level job, no education really needed). But I was told by another counselor that if I moved up into a salaried operations manager position (which is the position directly above me), it would help me out a lot, even though I certainly have no plans to continue in retail after graduate school. So look for opportunities where you can move up into management/leadership positions. You don't have to go back and do a second major in those fields.

There are other threads here that chat a bit about this: There are probably more. From what I gather, they respond better if your e-mail is really tailored toward them (not a mass e-mail sent to multiple profs). As for when...it depends how busy they are. Someone at another forum was freaking out because he/she did not hear back from a prospective prof after a week or two (he apparently had been enthusiastic about her after her first e-mail, but took a while to reply to the second) - turns out he had just be traveling, not ignoring or forgetting about her.

My thesis was almost double the length of a typical article, and still one of the shortest in my library. "One" of your theses? How many did you do?? I actually did an extra semester of college just so I could do the honors thesis. After transferring I didn't find out about the honors program in time to really plan it out right. Worth it, though. I also got the costs wrong...the CC is about $3k a year, whereas the state U is $3-4k per semester. I was able to look at the state U's courses for the spring finally, and for a large university, I was very unimpressed by the variety of course offerings they had. I am also taking your advice and sending out an e-mail once this article is done to a prof in the economics department at my undergrad...he is the only one with research interests in marketing and consumer behavior in that program. My school does not have a business admin or marketing major. I'm explaining that I'm an alumni and would like to volunteer my time to any open projects he may have going. If I have no luck, I will branch out to surrounding schools. I wish I lived a little closer to UPenn to offer my time there, lol.

^^ Yes, include honors/honor societies, and scholarships if you have any. I included that on my CV under a simple "Honors" section. I also have a section for research experience (not all experience has to be published or presented at a conference - it's still valuable experience), but I also have a publication section. I'm further debating including a section of relevant coursework since I conducted experiments in 3 of my classes, and 2 of those experiments had the same theme as my honors thesis, so it shows some depth of understanding in a particular area that I may continue into grad school. Were any of your online articles related to your field? That would show interest out of the classroom.

You would typically only include your degree-granting school on your CV. I attended 3 different undergraduate institutions, but I only list the one I actually graduated from. Don't include birthday or birth location - they will ask for that on your actual application. Your CV should be tailored toward the grad program you are applying to, so anything that is not relevant to that program/field should not be included. Some programs list their current masters/PhD students on their website, and some have links to their personal websites and CVs. I have found this very helpful when deciding how to format my CV (by seeing how others in my specific field do it), and also to compare the competitiveness of my CV with those who were admitted to the program

I had a 40-something-year-old man in some of my undergraduate psychology courses. He had recently retired early from his previous career, so he went back to school. He was talking about going for a masters, possibly even a PhD. I don't know what actually happened to him (not even sure what year he was supposed to graduate), but he didn't let age stop him from wanting to pursue a higher degree. And our professors seemed very supportive of it. I also wonder if your prof just really likes you and doesn't want you to leave GRE scores aren't all-important, unless you tanked them.

Thank you for all of your feedback. I certainly did not expect to contact anyone soon, since I am still searching out programs. I do plan to start drafting my SoP soon, perhaps after Thanksgiving but before the holiday rush so I can set it aside and go back to it later. I think my fear about contacting profs too early would be if they did want to interview or chat on the phone or something, I wouldn't be prepared. So I was thinking either after the spring semester or before the fall semester, so perhaps the middle of August sounds good. I am hoping to gain more research experience this year by volunteering my time to some profs in the marketing area, so I would want to be able to talk about that experience as well. I am normally a chronic procrastinator, so I want to work out a solid timeline of when things will get done in the next year.

How is your GPA? Were there circumstances (such as being ill, or some other life event) that prevented you from performing as well as you could have? What kind of tutoring was it? And what books did you use? I've heard people say that some books are too easy for the math, and combinations of book "x" and "y" are necessary. But I can't remember which they suggested...I do know someone said in another forum that the Princeton book broke the math problems down better and was written more for those having difficulty in math. But they also said that the Princeton book, although a good place to start, was not sufficient, either.

I saw some threads on here talking about what you should say in an e-mail to a prospective advisor. I am looking for when the best time is for them? I posted this question in another thread but I doubt many will see it. I won't be applying to doctorate programs until next year, so I've got some time to plan. I know professors get a lot of mail going into the fall admissions process. But I've also heard that the summer months can be bad because they travel more or have other things going on. Assuming my e-mail is well thought out and directed at the specific prof (and therefore more likely to get a response than a poorly-tailored/mass e-mail), when is the best time to begin contacting professors? I would think having a few e-mails here and there throughout the year receive more personalized responses than the 200+ they get in the fall. But I could be wrong. Does anyone have any insights into this? I will not likely contact all professors...just certain ones to see how certain aspects of their research are progressing, since recent published articles were actually written 1-2+ years ago. And the study itself could be even older.

Also, has anyone ever contacted students currently in the program or who are working with the desired advisor? Are current students generally happy to respond honestly about their quality of life and educational experiences with said advisor? This would be more to get an idea of "fit" in the department and town as a whole rather than a "fit" with your advisor of course, but still something to consider.

What about people who simply aren't good at hands-on stuff, who are thinkers, analyzers, etc.? How do they find work without a college degree making a decent living wage? I went to a vocational-technical high school, which means that 3 hours of every day was spent in your "shop" area. We had graphic design, nursing (led only to CNA), carpentry, welding, machine shop, HVAC, auto body, and some others I am forgetting. I'd say less than 5% of my graduating class ended up with jobs in their shop areas - mainly because most of them weren't any good at what they were doing. They just expected to make good money upon graduation. And the many of the ones who were good are either unemployed or no longer working in the field because they couldn't find work. A lot of the jobs in those trade areas that have openings expect people to have a few years of experience. The older unemployed applicants trump the younger, inexperienced ones. My ex-boyfriend had been a mechanic before they laid him off. He had maybe 2 years experience at that point. That wasn't enough to find him a job anywhere because there were far more qualified mechanics out of a job as well. My dad had a building construction business that went under a few years ago, and he has struggled to find work since. It is all he really knows how to do (other than minimum wage jobs, like cashiering). So that career path is pretty much out of the question. The only reason he does find side jobs is because of his experience. High school grads don't have that. Further, unless you were 24 or older and applied independent, many undergraduates do not get into a large amount of debt with Stafford loans. Even if you take them out every semester for 4 years, it might reach $20-30K (on average) as others have said. That's when we turn to private funding to cover the rest of costs, which are not being forgiven.

Mind sharing? Kidding of course, I'm sure every school will have different "loopholes" and I believe anyone wanting to know them should take the initiative on their own. That was very kind of that professor. Maybe it was because you were one of the few who had the guts to call? I don't know if I would have the nerve to...I am much better at planning and writing out my thoughts than saying anything of real substance on the fly. Though I am getting better at that. And it sounds like he did most of the talking, which I'm sure was a relief for you. How far in advance of applying would you recommend contacting professors (for Ph.D. programs with deadlines ranging from December - February)? I know that during application season can be a bad time, and some profs take a while to respond. I've also heard that summer isn't always the best time since many travel, have side projects, etc. I won't be applying until next fall, so I have quite some time to plan out my process.

It was all about working with theory and re-thinking it in a way few currently are - a literature review, basically. One project was co-authoring a chapter in a book on social psychological contributions to the practice of teaching assessment. The paper I'm working on now is reviewing research on positive psychology, applying it to physical rehabilitation, and pointing out the holes that need to be filled/studied. Do people normally submit an entire thesis as a supplementary piece? I have seen suggestions to submit your best research paper, but considering the size of a thesis...although, mine was probably the shortest currently in MC's library . But I was also told it was "one of the most well-written" they've seen in "quite some time." So it's certainly something I'd like prospective advisors to see a part of. The state college I'm looking at is about as cheap as my local community college (roughly $3-4k a semester for full-time), but it has many more course offerings than the CC. They actually have a consumer behavior course that I would love to take to get more insights and explore more research ideas. I have been pretty interested in social media for a while, and my thesis was on stereotyping and how emotions affect attitudes, which I believe is fairly relevant to my research interests for grad school. ...I also will need 1-2 more recommendation writers. I have others at my undergrad, but the letters would only be average if they remember much about me at all. So taking at least a few courses at the school will help with that.

True, most students in my classes really did not enjoy it either. I find it a bit odd that being a research assistant sophomore or junior year and doing photo-copying and basic article research would be valued more highly than conducting beginner experiments start to finish. I didn't really expect to put it on my CV, but it was an idea to throw out there. I suppose a sentence or two in my SoP would get the point across. I'm still considering taking a few courses at a state school before applying to grad school to see if I can get involved in more research specifically in an area aligned with what I'm interested in. I would hate to be asked about my current research experience in an interview and all I could say was, "I researched articles and co-authored papers with my prof...no actual experimental experience at all." ...again, aside from my thesis. I'm also thinking if I enroll this spring in the state school most of my loans will defer a bit yet, and I can put all of my money toward paying off the one with really high interest instead of spreading my pay out over several loans. My store manager also hinted that our store may be at risk for shutting down, so I can't really put too much faith in that position anymore. I wish I had more "academic" folk in my personal life. My parents are clueless about anything relating to college and my mom gets very upset when I talk about moving away for grad school. I've actually noticed that she tries to place more financial burden on me and even borrow more money from me when I talk like that, as though she doesn't want me to have the funds to apply (this happened a lot last fall, too). So I keep my mouth shut most of the time and rely heavily on complete strangers online

Is it common for larger schools to also have this experience with their psych courses? I know of a couple other psych majors at smaller schools who didn't do research like this except in their one research methods course. So I am wondering how common it is to conduct multiple experiments your sophomore/junior year. I realize it is not the same as working on a "real" study for publication, but it gave me better insights to doing research than working with my prof even did. His work is primarily theoretical and so he does not actually do experimental studies.

This might sound like a silly question, but I've got to ask...would you include research studies conducted during undergrad courses to be "research experience" worthy of listing on a CV? My class sizes were always relatively small and in 3 of my psych courses we broke into groups and spent the semester designing our own research studies, conducting the studies, analyzing the results, and writing 10-15 page papers on them outside of class (the actual classes were lecture/discussion based, so most of this was done on our own time). I realize this was in the very early stages of learning research methods, but still, it was valuable experience. Would you list this on a CV? And how would it be listed (since it wasn't part of a prof's lab or working as a research assistant). Or do most schools just assume you've had this experience and so I should only talk about what I had listed above in my first post? I would think large universities would not offer this type of course work until junior/senior year when classes are smaller, but I started lab experiments in my psych courses the first semester of sophomore year. I always forget about those experiences since it was 2+ years ago and part of course requirements, so I never thought to ask about it before.

I am really starting to turn back to the PhD option after doing more research and hearing your opinions on the masters. I have spent the better part of the day thinking about my financial situation. It is actually quite depressing to realize that a decent research assistantship pays about the same as my current salary, not including the summer teaching/research pay - I could be making more as a student right now! (Though I wouldn't have free rent). I know I couldn't afford applying to graduate school last year, but now I wish I had tried to borrow money from somewhere to make it happen. Being out of school for a year is already making it hard to focus and get back on track. Though, I've had quite a few health problems the past few months, so perhaps it is luck that I ended up not being in school through that. Much easier to call off sick from a low-paying job. I would like to try to take the GMAT around February/March (not sure how flexible the scheduling is for that exam), and if I'm feeling very ambitious, take the GRE next summer. I may end up applying to a select few psychology programs that I've had my eye on just in case I don't fair well in business admissions. Not sure. I guess I like to keep my options open. And if I don't do well on the GREs, they won't be sent to the business programs anyway. Once I'm done with this article for my prof I'll let him know of my interest changes and see if he has any other projects he can throw my way, or get me in touch with anyone. The loathing of my current job is serving as quite the motivator at the moment.

I also suppose this should have been posted on the business forums. Of course, I did not scroll all the way down the page to see all of the field-specific threads until today I guess you can say I've been pretty tired lately. Not paying enough attention to things. But thank you for the feedback anyway.

I've seen some of your posts around here, and I believe I know your other "identity." It's just hard to get more than 1 or 2 responses in this field at the other forum, so I decided to branch out and see how many opinions I could gather. I hope you don't feel like I don't trust your opinions. I just have a tendency to research the heck out of something until I feel at least 99% confident in my decision. I could probably live in a tiny studio apartment or something similar. That wouldn't bother me. I just wasn't sure whether the "advertised" average stipends that some business schools put on their websites was close to the real deal or not. I also keep trying to remind myself that the stipends I see are based on just the fall/spring semesters. I have to keep in mind that I will make additional money over the summer somehow. The more I look into MBA and other masters programs, the more I want to just go for the PhD. I was pretty discouraged when I saw most students at the schools I was looking at were international, but I don't think I looked too closely at their specific interests within marketing. I'll keep a closer eye out for that.

I know that a lot of lower-ranked or unranked MBAs offer full tuition remission and an assistantship for those with strong academic backgrounds and work experience. Never heard of any that were simply "free" without any kind of award. ...I Google'd it and I found some examples of colleges that made their courses into online classes for free, but if you actually want the degree you'd have to be a matriculated student (not free unless you get the option I stated above). They mostly seem to be online offerings and you must keep in mind that MBA programs are greatly about networking with other individuals and not so much how hard you study. Having a lot of professional contacts helps you learn about job openings at different companies and helps with recommendations. So online courses are not very valuable even if they are cheap, in my opinion.

I should add that the reason I still included so many PhD programs despite financial hardship is that I'd still like to apply and see my offers, if any. If I still don't think I can make it through with my current loans ($70k, ick), then I'll sadly have to turn them down and go with an MA/MS/MBA.

No, this is not quite a "What are my chances?" thread. And I didn't know where to post it since I am not in the application phase yet - hopefully next fall. I have belonged to another college forum for some time now, and anytime I post any questions my feedback always seems to come from Ivy-league and other top tier students and parents. They all tell me that I should not bother getting a business degree anywhere other than a top tier school if I want good job prospects. That is fine and I understand that there is more recruitment at the top, but...I am simply not going to get into a top tier school. So I find much of their feedback, well, useless in my case. And I still want to pursue graduate school despite having to lower my standards. So I am curious if anyone knows what level schools I could realistically have a chance at (Top 100? Top 50? etc.). I'm not saying to rate whether I would get in - just if you think it is within my reach or not. I am having no trouble finding programs to "fit" my interests, but I am having a great deal of trouble finding ones that I actually stand a chance getting into, or that aren't too low in the ranking/unranked/totally unheard of outside their city. So if I could have some "examples," that would help me quite a bit. I attended Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA. It is a small, private liberal arts college with about a 60% admissions rate. I graduated last December 2010 with a BA in psychology. My GPA was a 3.75, my major GPA a 3.89. I was magna cum laude with honors in psychology. I was a research assistant for Summer 2009, Summer 2011 (still writing an article with my prof), and I did a year-long honors thesis study. So, roughly only a year and a half of research experience. Primarily in positive psych/rehabilitation and my thesis was on stereotyping and prejudice, so not relevant to what I want to study in grad school. I have not yet taken the GMAT but I have no difficulty with testing. I find the verbal section to be really quite easy, and the math I simply need to relearn (I have always been good at math). I am an excellent writer (don't let my informal "thread" typing fool you ), so I expect to write strong essays. I have been employed as a human resources leader at a department store since January 2011. I will probably be staying there until I (hopefully) get into graduate school. I have been looking at MA/MS and MBA programs with concentrations in marketing, particularly consumer behavior (my psych background should be good for this). But I would really like a PhD - the problem is my current loans will not defer long enough to finish a PhD and I don't know how I would pay on loans on top of living expenses for 4-6 years (if you have suggestions other than taking out more loans to pay on my loans, please share!). A master's is more realistic financially, and I don't think I'd mind working in industry for a while instead of shooting for academia right away. If you'd like any more information, please let me know. So far I've been looking at University of Pittsburgh (PhD), Ohio State (PhD), Drexel (PhD), SUNY Baruch (PhD), Penn State University (MBA or PhD), Lehigh University (MBA), Rutgers (MBA or PhD), and Temple (MA/MS). I would like to stay in the northeastern US if possible - south of Massachusetts, east of Ohio, north of South Carolina, but if I find the "perfect" fit elsewhere, I will move farther. Are any of those schools out of my reach completely, or perhaps not enough of a stretch? Or is that about the level I should be looking at? Again, I'm not asking specifically if I'd get in, no one would know, but if any are "red flags" that I have no chance, please save me the money and let me know. I've also noticed that many, of not most, PhD students currently in some of those programs are international. Is it that much more difficult to get into business school as an American student? I know people will probably say to apply to better schools just in case, but the application costs (especially for MBAs) can be more than $100-150 at some of the top schools. I believe Wharton's was over $200! I don't want to pay that much knowing I stand no chance. Thank you for your feedback!