spacezeppelin

That score doesnt even make sense...I think a 170 (per section) is the highest you can get on the new scale. You are very confused about something or this is just some really lame prank message. Sorry, I dont mean to be rude if you really are confused, but if it IS a prank then it IS kinda lame. If its not a prank I really reccomend you get some professional study help. I have a hard time knowing what your scores could possibly really be (because that number makes no sense on the old scale), but if you arent improving with your own studying then clearly you need to do something else. Get a practice book (im sure you have at least done that) or get a tutor. I used Kaplan. I found it to be sorta so-so, but my scores improved greatly as I studied, so its hard to know what was the class and what was just the benefit of becoming familiar with the questions.

I also have a history BA and strongly considered history PhD programs. To me, three graduate degrees seems like an awful lot. If money isnt an issue, or you are lucky enough to have them all funded, then maybe thats not a big deal. It still stands that someone is paying a lot of money for this to happen (either you or the school). If you know you want to get a history PhD then why are you getting two masters first? I get the Japaneese Studies idea becuase that makes sense in the context of a back-up plan to teaching or as a specalization and additional knowlage if you want to teach courses on Japaneese history. I'm not really sure I see the vision behind the classical civilizations MA though. If it were me, I would want to cut out the extra study and go straight for the PhD, which you absolutely need to teach. I'm pretty sure your PhD reaserch interests will overshadow any MA research when applying for jobs. I see that you mention archeology as well, but if that really is a viable back-up plan then scratch the other degree. One back-up plan is enough, in my opinion. I'm also really not sure how two unrelated masters will help you get a postion as a professor. The fact that they are unrelated seems to make that awfuly unlikely, considering one wont improve your ability to teach the other. History professors usually have pretty clear research interests. I don't mean to be negative at all, I guess I just wanted to share my initial thoughts because you asked. I'm not sure getting three degrees because you couldnt chose is really worth the time. I have a feeling one passion will become clear to you later, which will make the other MA kind of a waste of time. That happened to a lot of people I know personally, and they all wish they hadn't rushed into unnessesary school. That time could have been spent improving your understanding one subject or working at a job you love, which is really the ultimate goal of all this school anyway. (obviously the education is an end in itself, but I think most of us would agree that we eventually want to move past that as well.)

I noticed that CSU mentor has a standard 500 word limit for the SOPs. The schools i'm applying to say "one to two pages" or nothing about a word limit on their websites. Have you guys been sticking to 500 words, even if the schools don't ask for it themselves? I think I maybe should just call to confirm... ps: Sorry to hijack your thread, but I thought it was pretty related.

Hello, I got a call from my program (MPP) director saying that I was a strong applicant and that they would like to offer admission. Honestly, after that its kind of all a blur because I was overly exicted. I obviously got the understanding that I was admitted on the condition I finish on pre-rec course. I finally got some written notification. It said "Congratulations! We are reccomending to the Graduate Dean that you be admitted to the program." This came from the department. It was a PDF of a letter and was sent by one of the adminstrative people I corresponded with about transcripts. That is absolutely for sure an accpetance letter right? Like, there is no way the graduate dean is going to reject me? I assume its a full acceptance, but for some reason it made me nervous. My undergraduate admission letters were never phrased like that. Sorry if this is a silly question, but I had to ask.

I heard back from my first MPP program this week. I haven't gotten any official notification, but one of the professors called to say I was in and that I should come sit in on a few of his courses. I wasnt expecting to hear anything back for about a month, so it was very surprising. He called my work number (which I didnt even realize they had), so I sort of freaked out when the receptionist told me who was calling. Not very smooth, but oh well! Its one of my less competitive programs, but it felt good to start the notifications off on a good note!

Hello, I realize that there are tons of variables involved in getting into graduate school. However, I want to try and get a general idea if I even have a chance at getting into a Ph.D program directly out of undergrad. I have a 3.1 overall (I started out as a bio major and sort of blew it), a 3.4 in the departmentt and in my last 60 credits. I have had 2 articles published in undergraduate reserach journals and have assisted a professor with research for his book. I have a years work experience, but it is only indirectly related to the field. I have one very strong LoR and two that I know are good, but might not be completely amazing. I also have a writing sample that I believe to be very good. What do you guys think?