isawstars

I couldn't do it. That saying, "don't s**t where you eat" is something I live by... now. lol Maybe it would be different for you... but for me, dating a colleague is distracting during the puppy love phase and especially the break up. Maybe if the person was specializing in something different than me... so we wouldn't have ALL of our classes together. Oh well. Just go with your gut feeling, it's right the majority of the time. Good Luck!

Classes started Wednesday... I have only attended 2 of my 4 classes. I like a lot of people in my program. My advisor has been encouraging us to get to know each other and become friends which has worked out so far. I've already had 3 big assignments due Thursday at midnight. And I'm already feeling a lot of pressure about choosing a thesis/project. I have no idea what I am going to do. I really wanna pick up an extracurricular but it's also considered a class... but I don't want to have 5 credits my first semester... I am tempted but I don't want to do too much. So yeah so far, so good. Which is good because I moved across the country for my degree.

I don't have any advice... I just want to say this is a great thread! I am moving from North Carolina to California and I am definitely getting the jitters.

Thanks butterfingers. I talked to my advisor and he emailed the grad schools in my program with my contact info incase anyone else is looking for a roommate or has a place I can stay. There's only 25 of us... so my chances may be slim... I am currently talking to a girl who is a 21 year old student. She lives in San Jose and we are discussing living together. My only concern is that I am almost 4 years older than her... but she says she doesn't party often and that she stays at her boyfriend's house the majority of the time... so perhaps that won't be too bad? I'm still checking out my options.

Thanks everyone.

Is this common? I just can't believe that I signed up for the on campus grad student apartments... I even listed the undergraduate apartments as my last choice... and I'm WAITLISTED?? I have never experienced this in undergrad... and I attended 2 different schools. I am absolutely devastated. I live 2,600+ miles away from the school I got accepted to and I have no idea where I am going to live. The school is located downtown, I am relying on a bike to get me to and from class... and I do not know what parts are town are "bad." I am currently searching craigslist for a college student/roommate because I definitely don't want to live by myself in a new town... plus I'm hoping they can be a great help as to where to live... and view the property since I cannot. Any advice, comfort or ideas... are greatly appreciated.

I'm working at a chocolate store, volunteering at an animal shelter and spending as much time with family and friends as possible!!!

I'm visiting san jose next month... So I figured I'd bump the thread once more!

That happened to me when I contacted the advisor. I took it to heart at first... then found a professor in that department with similar interests as mine and emailed her.

This thread is awesome! I am moving from North Carolina to Northern California.

Will you give an example of what you've said to professors? I was always super specific. Such as, "hello Dr. Abc, My name is Isawstars and I am interested in your Journalism program. My career goals are to XYZ and ZYX. Do you think your curriculum is a good fit? I am interested in courses such as XYZ, how have former students utilized this after graduating?" Something like that... I can't really remember, because I had specific questions about the program since all Mass Communication programs are not the same.. Without knowing what you said in your emails, all I can say is to sound sincere. Share why you are interested in their program and how you want to use that degree. Ask if they think you'd be a good fit. I actually had one program director say that with my career goals, their program is not the best fit for me... which helped A LOT when determining which schools to apply for. So if I never asked, and still applied... I would have instantly been rejected after they read my Statement of Purpose because it wasn't a good fit. But I wouldn't have known that. There was one professor who never responded to me... but I think it's because I pretended to be interested in her work (I honestly wasn't, suprise-surprise)... So I bet I came off as a "suck up." Which you want to avoid.

I've only heard from 2 schools. Which I think is ridiculous. I don't understand why it's taking so long.

Just wanted to bump this thread up for more suggestions! I just got accepted into SJSU and live on the east coast. I plan to visit in a couple of months.

I decided to come back and post in this thread... I got accepted into my FIRST CHOICE school! I had a 3.01 GPA. It was a 3.3 but I did really bad my last year of college. I got 2 Fs and 1 D... which is EXTREMELY unlike me. And my GRE scores were below average... except my AW score was super good, that's it though. So even if you screw up 1 year of undergrad and suck at standardized testing like me... there really is hope! I worked EXTREMELY hard on my statement of purpose and I talked to the program director via email about my interests and excitement during the application process. I am so surprised about the outcome and I am happy I can give other people hope via this thread!

This thread is very helpful! I live on the east coast and applied to schools on the west coast.

^^^ she gave you some great advice. I've been out of college for 2 years now and applied this year. I was nervous about asking professors for LORs but they were so happy to do it. I don't think it'll be an issue if I can go 2 years without talking to profs. I'm still waiting to hear back as well. Good luck

I have a 3.01 gpa. My worse grades were during my senior year. I'm applying to a graduate program that's completely different than what I studied in undergrad. So I volunteered a lot to gain some experience... which I mentioned in my SOP. Hopefully my LORs are strong. My gre wasn't great... 147 V 144 M 4.0 AW I took a prep course, studied AND took it 3 times. Sigh. I'm still waiting to hear from schools but I will definitely update as soon as I find out. This thread has given me a lot of hope. Thanks.

Haha. Oseirus, you crack me up!

Oh my gosh!!! That's so wonderful!!!! congrats!!!!! :)

I sent you a message

Thanks for sharing that with me. That's strange communication studies never came up in the results but I am sure letters were sent around the same time. I have a feeling I got rejected.... Which sucks because psu was my safety school. I live on the east coast, so the mail takes almost a week to get to me.

My application deadlines were in February, March and April.... and I still haven't heard anything from anywhere. I'm assuming the April 15th rule doesn't apply to the majority of the schools I applied to. I may not hear anything until June and July!

This is sort of off topic but when was your department's deadline? Mine was February 1st and I've been waiting for what feels like FOREVER to hear from PSU. I'm glad to know they mailed letters this past week. The anticipation sucks... And all you can really do is wait. ---I know, I'm no help but I wish you the best of luck!

Thanks for responding. On Friday, I contacted the tech for the website a and she responded within a couple of hours! She just had to update my application again, she sent it off to the grad department. Yay! Good luck with everything! Is SJSU one of your top choices?

Hey! If it makes you feel any better my total GRE scores are 291. And I took it 3 times! So obviously I suck at standardized testing. I got a 4.0 on the AW though, but I am applying to journalism programs. One of the schools I'm applying to asks for a minimum of 290 and 4.0 AW. So, like another poster said, it depends on your program. If you have time, I would retake the GRE again. You can easily bump up your AW, it's really just a formula. Good luck