TakeruK

You can actually see a list of all possible essay prompts on the ETS website here: https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/(scroll down to the links for the "Topic Pools"). So, in theory, you can prepare for every potential question you will get. But there is a lot of them!

The Ontario Graduate Scholarships (OGS) has a very small (but nonzero) quota of non-Canadian awards (it's like 3%?). The other common graduate awards in Canada are the SSHRC, NSERC, and CIHR fellowships (for social sciences, natural sciences and health research, respectively). But the most common awards (like the NSF) are for Canadians only. However, the three agencies do offer a very prestigious Vanier fellowship (not sure if you can apply in 2nd year though and it's too late for this year) that is meant to recruit/retain the best talent so international students are allowed. The award is $50,000/year for 3 years and there is usually at least one award per year per school in each of the social sciences/humanities, natural sciences/engineering, and health research. More info: http://www.vanier.gc.ca/eng/home-accueil.html

I think this is the most effective/direct way to go about this. There's no need to dance around the bush, both parties know that finances may be tough for both the school and the student. This approach worked really well for me when I wanted to make alternate plans to have a more affordable visit. For example, one school only reimbursed up to $300 for flight (full reimbursement for all local expenses) but flying from Eastern Canada is easily twice that. By asking for the maximum number up front, I was able to combine the visit with another school and also negotiate for an extra $100 towards the flight if I stayed at a friend's place (also a grad student in the same program) instead of the hotel. Everyone agreed and it all worked out but that was really only possible because everyone communicated clearly to each other While I'd second Eigen's concerns about the program not being able to pay for travel of other things (e.g. seminar speakers) if they did not cover any part of the visit, I definitely would not phrase this as "ensuring" or "making" the department pay! We're not entitled to it, but we do (and should) factor in their ability to pay (and flexibility**in how they pay) when making our own decisions. (** This is actually pretty important. Private schools seem to be a lot more flexible with how they spend their money, e.g. we generally expense meals on a per diem basis at my program, but in past public schools, I had to have itemized receipts for every expense! Understandable, but it means I'm often paying out of pocket for gratuities, and if the place does not split bills.)

Oh by the way, there was one school that offered me moving expenses as part of admission. However, there was a catch! The offer was $1000 towards your combined expenses for the Open House visit and moving expenses. Meant to mention it above with my current school's example.

Short answer: If you don't waive the right, it means it is potentially possible for you to see the confidential LOR one day. This might mean your LOR writer will not be fully honest. Admissions committees that review your LOR letter might not trust your LOR as much if they knew your LOR writer might not have been fully honest. Long answer: In the US, one of the FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act) regulations is that a student may request their school show them the contents of their student record. This is to protect the students, so that unethical administrators or professors cannot add bad things to your student record without you knowing. Also, it is your right as a student to know what information the school has stored on record about you. The intent of the law is to protect students. However, an unintentional side-effect is that if your LORs are stored in your student record, then if you use your FERPA rights, you will be able to see your LORs. This compromises the integrity of LORs and the LOR process as we know it today. Therefore, to protect the LOR's confidentiality, many schools ask their students to waive their FERPA right to view the LORs in their student record. You can think of it like signing one of those EULA for software, or a waiver when you go play sports etc. Note that you are only waiving your FERPA-related rights to view the LOR on your student record. If you waive the right, it does not stop you from asking the prof to show you the LOR nor does it stop the prof from choosing to show you the LOR. You are not saying you have not nor you will not see the LOR. You are only saying you will not use your FERPA right to view the LOR in your student record. Also, if you don't waive the right, you do not necessarily get to see your LOR either. FERPA regulations only apply to enrolled students, so if you get rejected from a school or if you choose to not attend, you may never have a student record, so your FERPA rights do not apply. Some schools might never save your LORs in your student record (perhaps they destroy all LORs after making an admission decision), so you might not be able to view the LOR. Overall, there is almost no benefit to not waiving the right and some potential consequences, which is why it's common practice to waive the right. It's basically an agreement between you, your LOR writers, and the school that you will not use FERPA rights to view the LOR.

Problem 1 is not really a problem. It's no big deal at all. The profs reading your LOR likely made a similar mistake themselves at some point. Problem 2 might be a problem, or it might not. If it makes you feel better, you could write an email to the school saying that you misunderstood the FERPA waiver and you meant to waive the right. You should also let your LOR letter writers know if it's not too late.

Well the Kickstarter also stated that they would wrap up filming in the Fall, and given they just finished at the beginning of February, it might be around Fall 2015 before the movie is ready. Looking forward to seeing this!! I also got to be an extra and they gave us some of the old comic books. I first read these comics when I was still in undergrad and while they were funny back then, re-reading them this past week has made me realise everything is way more true than expected. For example, I just submitted a working thesis title for candidacy and then later that night, I read this comic in the book: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=718. So accurate!

I don't think it is "odd" enough that your roommate may potentially label you as a crazy person and hate you etc. However, if someone did this to me, I would have preferred they sent me an email or something instead of contacting me through Facebook. Personally, I feel it's a little weird if someone learns about me through Facebook first before meeting me in real life. But that could just be me!

I am not a ETS grader so I have no idea if your essay merits a 2, or a 3, or a 4. I am only able to compare the two samples you suggested! Sorry that I can't help with that. You mentioned that the nature of your argument's assumption does not allow for as much of an in-depth analysis as the Mason City essay. I completely agree with that. I think your essay is not targeting the right assumptions because you are trying too hard to make it match the Mason City argument. For a stronger essay, you should reconsider the space mission arguments and maybe you can find other assumptions to target (pick assumptions where you can have 2 or 3 reasons to refute that assumption).

I do think that people with a Bachelors degree can get better jobs than retail positions. That is, someone who is capable of getting into a doctorate program can certainly find a better than minimum wage job (perhaps you'll start there for the first 2-3 years, but you do move up). And just like you say that marginal level of increased money might not make you more happy, all of the added stress of graduate school does not necessarily make you more happy either. My personal example: I'm at one of the best programs in my field and I love my research here. I can't ask for a better research fit. And although I picked the school in the best possible location out of my options, it's not my ideal place. I would prefer to be living in my home country, being close to my and my SO's family, having the feeling of settling down instead of wondering what's next, being able to start a family, and having time to think about non-work things outside of work hours without feeling guilty. These are all non-monetary factors that would also decrease my happiness while in grad school. Of course, for now, the gain in happiness is worth it for us, but I can understand that different people can have different priorities. Finally, it does sound like for your case, victorydance, the PhD is the right choice for you. I also think it's the right choice for me. I don't think anyone here (other than the "doomsaying" posts) is really saying that graduate school is bad for everyone. My earlier post really was to point out that graduate school should be a conscious choice for each student, not just a "natural extension of schooling". And I would say that the majority of new graduate students are not in the same situation as you (passive income, having savings instead of debt etc.). Almost all graduate students have existential crises, and sometimes I feel like I should just quit everything, move back to my hometown with my spouse and we can just both find work. We might not be as happy in our career, but our non-work happiness could make up for it. But like you, we think that right now, the best choice is to continue this path because we can still "have it all". The moment that this is no longer true, we have a backup/exit plan to move back home and find happiness in other ways.

I have to say that I have never ever actually given someone my CV for an academic interview (not just for grad school but for internships and other RA positions too). I always have it with me though, because it's ingrained in me from all the stuff I learned in high school for interviewing. So, if that is what you are used to, it doesn't hurt to have it and to offer it, especially if it makes you feel better knowing that you have your CV in your folder. Just don't force it on the interviewer and be prepared for them to politely decline. Small notebook+pen is an excellent suggestion. I prefer a flat folder myself because I can store any materials they give me more easily and also a folder is bigger and decreases the chance I'll forget it somewhere. But really, everyone should do what they feel the most comfortable with. Academics are not going to judge you based on these little things, so the more comfortable you feel, the better you will "perform"!

I don't mean this in a mean way but I am just trying to help you see differences between your essay and the sample essay. I'll just compare your first argument paragraph. When I read this paragraph, I see the same point being made 3 times. That is, you are only stating that the author assumes that the series of unmanned space probes/satellites were big enough to draw meaningful conclusions, but you don't know this for sure. I don't think your example extends your argument, it just repeats it. And the final sentence does add a little information (i.e. what would be needed to draw meaningful conclusions) but I feel it is written in an awkward way. On the other hand, this paragraph starts with the main argument: that the survey's scope and validity is questionable. They give 3 different reasons why the survey's scope and validity is questionable. Then they finish with a restatement of the paragraph's thesis and reinforces the 3 different reasons (representative, valid, reliable). Overall, I think you can improve your first paragraph by stating your arguments more clearly and coherently. For example, in your third sentence, instead of making a point, you are just providing an example. I think this paragraph can be strengthened if you replace that example with an argument that it is dangerous to extrapolate long term trends from only a few recent successes. Finally, I think there are also some sentence structure and grammar issues that make your sentences a little awkward, which makes it harder to understand your argument. This can be a contributing factor to why your score is lower. Good luck!

You don't have to have a successful senior project that results in a ton of publications in order to get into grad school. Having serious research experience (i.e. multiple projects over many years, as you have) will generally put you above average in terms of how much research experience the typical graduate school applicant has. I would say that most people do not have a fully successful and complete senior project by the time they apply to graduate school (most people will not publish at all, and those that do generally wrap it up in the first year of graduate school). The important part is that you have research experience and learning how to work on research during your undergraduate degree. I don't know what the rest of your application looks like, but I think you don't have to worry too much about the dead end senior project. At this point, I think you might want to consider what your project goals are and make sure that you are able to get something useful out of the project (i.e. what kind of skill or experience can you learn from finishing up this project?) Papers are nice, but at the undergraduate level, research experience is more about learning and developing core research skills for future work.

Do you mean a list of publications or a copy of the publications themselves? Maybe it really depends on field, but I would only take a copy of my CV (which should include a list of publications) to an interview. I would offer the interviewer a copy when we first sit down (although I would expect them to decline because they already have a copy). I would also include some scrap paper or a notepad / legal pad to take any notes about your meeting after the fact (I'd avoid writing while they are talking to you, unless they are telling you a specific thing you need to write down, like a paper reference). I would not actually take copies of my publication(s) with me though. Personally, I would take a clipboard or portfolio thing where I can clip the scrap paper to the board and slide copies of my CV into the clipboard. It's helpful because you might get additional papers/materials during your visit (e.g. handouts or your schedule) and if it's all contained within a clipboard or portfolio, then it's handy. Alternatively, even a plain manila folder would be fine to hold everything in!

Yes, it is possible -- I know Canadian F-1 students who have mortgages in the US. It probably depends a lot on your personal situation whether a bank would be willing to loan you a mortgage. Also, I don't know how feasible this is for non-Canadian and non-American students because one of the conditions they check for when granting F-1 and J-1 visas is ties to your home country and no plans to settle in the US, so a mortgage might be tricky for that. I'm no expert and have no idea how they would treat this though. However, as a Canadian, you don't have to do a visa interview so it's likely this will not come up.

I think this is indeed a healthy dose of realism. Personally, I'm not a fan of over the top doomsaying but just because I don't like it does not mean it is not true. I think it is important for all of us, both about-to-be-new graduate students and current graduate students (like me) to look at the numbers. In many fields, only 10% of people graduating PhD programs end up on the tenure track. And only about 50% of people who enter PhD programs will actually graduate with a PhD. This is a reality we should prepare for when we enter graduate school and each year, almost every graduate student I know will re-evaluate their decision to stay. Some people continue, some people choose to do other things with their lives. The important thing, in my opinion, is to recognize that leaving graduate school is not failure. I don't think it is actually a problem that 50% of graduate students do not finish. The problem is when certain programs set up their students to fail, but leaving graduate school early because you want to pursue other things is not failure and not a problem. Also, an extension of this is that a non-TT job placement is also not failure! I will probably choose non-TT jobs because you have almost no choice in location when you are following TT-jobs, for example. I also really want to emphasize what Eigen said about one naive perspective on graduate school, "They simply liked undergrad, have done well, and see continuing that education as a natural extension." Graduate school really is not a natural extension of education and it is not what you should do if you really like a subject and want to learn more about it. Graduate school is a place you go to in order to get training for a specific career goal. Thus, I think it's really important for all students, at some early point in their graduate school career, to decide what it is exactly that they want out of graduate school. You don't have to decide this right away and in fact, it can be quite difficult to know this without any experience in graduate school or academia. But at some point, we should all decide what we want to do, make a plan on how to achieve, and get it and get out. If it turns out that what you really want to do cannot be attained in graduate school, then leaving early is better than finishing up a useless degree. Hopefully your program allows you to leave with a Masters and hopefully you were able to get something out of grad school. I think doses of reality like this post is important. But to me, it is not a doomsaying post that says "only 10% of you will ever succeed, the other 90% will waste their life". Instead, I view these numbers and statistics as a call to reality to encourage me to make well-defined and achievable goals in grad school. If you come in with the naive mindset that "I love subject X and will only be happy if I am a professor in X" then yes, you have a very high chance of failure and disappointment. But this is no different in academia than other fields (e.g. if your dream was to be a rock star etc.). On the other hand, if we seriously consider what our time in grad school will mean to us in terms of career, professional, and personal development, and if we make realistic plans to achieve these goals, then we all have a good chance of getting something that we want out of grad school.

Yes, you have been told correct information about taxes in general (of course, you may have specific cases). I would say you should expect to pay about 13% of your stipend in taxes. However, your school might not automatically withhold your taxes. You should check with them as soon as you start!

Current students are just as excited to meet prospectives (our future colleagues!) as prospective students are excited to visit potential grad schools I got a lot out of my interactions with my grad students hosts during my visits/emails. And I made some academic friends that I keep up with at conferences! Usually, in these cases, we are just excited to meet you and looking to find ways to encourage you to come! That is, this is generally a friendly thing, and we're not looking to find faults in you (although of course, if visiting students act like jerks when they visit, we definitely remember).

Gravity is in my field, and you definitely do not cite it Generally, in the physical sciences, we do not cite things that are more than say, 100 years old. In my opinion, we (people in my field) cite for two reasons: 1) to give credit where credit is due, and 2) to allow the reader to find more information on the topic when necessary (especially if we use other people's ideas without a full explanation). Reason 1 isn't as important for people who worked more than 100 years ago, but reason 2 is often important! For example, the oldest citation I've ever made was from the 1800s from a guy named Hill for his idea of the "Hill sphere" (i.e. a region very close to a planet where the planet's gravitational influence is stronger than the star's gravitational influence). I cited this for Reason 2, because although experts in my field know what a Hill sphere is, the typical reader of my paper might not. However, if I talk about Gravity in general, or Maxwell's laws for electromagnetism, we do not cite. Basically, if it's something you learn in your freshman physics class, it would count as "common knowledge" in my field. My advice specific to the OP is to read what other people in your field do when discussing this specific piece of information (or similar information). When you write your papers, you do a literature review anyways so you are generally reading a lot of very similar papers. Follow the norms in your field!

We also made a big move and understand your trouble! Grad students have almost no negotiation power for moving expenses. As fuzzy said, what you can do is ask nicely and hope they have the budget for it and/or they have a policy for it. Some schools do include moving expenses in their package, some schools are able to make money for it happen, and other schools will simply say no. But there's no harm in asking. Ultimately, I would not push hard on it, though, because the moving expenses are not really worth it (as they would make up like 2% of your total stipend over your degree), but that's just my opinion (i.e. might not be worth the fight for me, but could be for you!). My school does not offer moving expenses but they do offer a $2500 one-time, no-interest, no-fee loan for new grad students. You get a 6 month grace period then pay back the $2500 in 18 equal monthly installments. It's pretty nice, because you don't have to pay any fees at all.

I don't think you necessarily need to say that you have to consider other schools (but it's not bad to say so either). It is implied! I think a quick email that just says "Thank you, look forward to hearing more from you soon" is great. Don't make it more than one sentence though!

Crucial BBQ raises good points. I have some real world experience too, but not in the US, so perhaps my advice gets a few things wrong. In my Canadian work experience, many jobs worth caring about will likely be unionized (i.e. I wouldn't worry about this at all if I was in a retail job or something similar) and there are contracts that govern this sort of thing. If you follow all the policies and an employer writes a bad reference, they get in a lot of trouble. However, juiceboxrampage's experience is exactly why I would not tell an employer about leaving too early. Definitely better to wait until you have an exact move date. I probably would wait until I signed a lease on a new place or made some other serious commitment about moving. I don't think it's a "lack of common decency" if you don't tell them as soon as you accept the school's offer, because at that point, you actually have not made any commitment to actually moving (i.e. there's still time to change your mind about grad school if you want to). But if you already begin making commitments to move to the new school, then that's the point where I would be seriously thinking whether or not it's time to tell my bosses.

This is really common in my field--happened to me at almost every school I got into. I also recently just did this to some people interested in my program. Our academic chair sent out a list of all names and email addresses of accepted students a couple of weeks ago and encouraged us to contact them if we felt like it.

It totally depends on the relationship you have with your supervisor. The earliest I would ever say anything is when I've officially accepted a school's offer. However, I would only do this if I believe that I would be strongly supported by my supervisors and bosses. Otherwise, I would probably wait until something closer to the minimum notice guidelines (e.g. 1 month or whatever). The handbooks and guidelines are there for a reason--if you follow them, then they cannot fault you and it should not hurt any future relationship (perhaps add an extra week or two to the minimum time to show good faith or something). But I do not think you should feel any obligation to tell your supervisors as soon as you know. There is nothing wrong with knowing you are going to leave X months down the road and keeping that information from your employers.

I think you can wait a bit longer. It is likely that they are trying to find a time that works for all the professors involved. Wait until a full business week has passed before following up with a gentle reminder.