Daria Morgendorffer

I used a free phone app called GRE Tutor. I have an Android - not sure if it's on other platforms or not. Regardless, having something always on me when I was bored, sitting around, waiting on something, etc. was a nice way to fit in some extra studying. I think I picked up 4 or 5 questions I wouldn't have otherwise gotten and ended up with a 169V. So - find an app! Good luck!

sick leave

I'd echo what previous posters said and stay away from Craigslist - some real creepers hang out there. Contact someone in your department and see if they have a list of other students looking for roommates, because surely you're not the only one. Also check if your school's housing office maintains a list of students from other departments who might be looking for roommates. By only looking at other grad students you'll be drawing from a much better pool than the general Craigslist population. As far as finding compatible people, have a phone/Skype chat with them. In my experience, communication is important, and you really need to address issues early before they become major conflicts or sources of resentment. Nothing else will make your life quite as miserable as going home to a hostile situation. Lastly, look for people who have similar lifestyles to you. You'll want someone who has similar tolerance for noise and mess, someone who has about the same workload (it sucks slaving away while your roommate has fun), and someone who has similar beliefs about sex, drugs, rock&roll, etc.

I've done it before and I really didn't like it. We were in the same classes all day and we saw each other all night/weekend, so we started to get on each other's nerves. Plus, I felt way too much pressure about studying, like, "she's studying, maybe I'm not studying enough, she's studying differently than I am, maybe I'm doing it wrong" etc. and it got to be really old. My preference is to live with someone who is equally hard-working and serious as I am, but in a completely different field.

Hi Christeen, Unfortunately the test doesn't allow you to use extra time to work on another section. The amount of time you have on each section is fixed. I don't know about math programs in particular, but most grad programs only use GRE scores as a screening tool - i.e., if you're above a certain score, you're fine. Of course they'll understand that, as an international student, your English might not be very strong and they'll take that into account. To help prep for vocab, I used an Android phone app called GRE Tutor. I'm not sure if they have it for other phones or just Android. Of all the apps I tried out, it was by far the most helpful, and it was free. If you want to take a free practice test, Kaplan offers them online frequently: http://www.kaptest.com/GRE/Explore-the-GRE/gre-practice-test.html Hope that helps. Good luck!

I'm going to be in the MS in Patent Law program in the fall. Is anybody else living on campus? I just got in off the waitlist for Fischer on Friday, and since my program is only 10 months long, it would be easier than finding an off-campus place, finding furniture, setting up utilities, etc. Has anybody seen the place in person? Is this a terrible idea?