1Q84

You and the back hair guy should have a nice, long talk.

Argh I just got my official scores... 5.5 AW! I can't imagine what I lost .5 on but I really feel like it's all subjective and what one grader thinks is 5.5 could very well be a 6.0. All luck of the draw when you're 5 and above, I think.

Maybe you should stop being a hypothesizer and be a realizer. Write both on your diversity statement. See what happens. Seize the day. Hug a kitten. Be the best that you can be.

Great thanks! That kinda leads to a side question: once you send one piece of the application, do the schools "start a file" for you and then wait for all the rest of your stuff to come in? I submitted my online one and transcripts a while ago but GRE scores and writing sample and SOP are coming in quite a bit later.

I liked the Princeton Review "Hit Parade" a lot better. It was 5 sets of 75 words. Not too strenuous.

I think I've been doing my SOP all wrong. I'm applying for an MA program but I have been reading advice from you all that I think apply to PhD SOPs. What I'm thinking is since Masters students still attend a lot of classes, there isn't as much need to specify professors that you want to "work with" in one's SOP right? A graduate secretary I emailed was confused as to why I was asking why certain professors would be a good "fit" for me, since I would basically just be taking their class, not working with them. I really don't know what the layout of the MA program is in the US. I'm assuming this whole namedropping profs is mostly reserved for PhD SOPs where you need to select an adviser, etc. Someone set me straight, please!

ETS' policy is that if the school requests your information to verify your identity, they are compelled to send it. So if for some reason the school thinks that you aren't who you say you are, they can request that horrible, grainy, webcam mugshot from ETS. I looked pretty awful in mine too and honestly the quality was so bad that you could barely make out my facial features. Shrugs.

Soooo.... I took the GRE on Nov 9. Most MA applications for the schools I'm applying to close Nov 30. It takes 10-15 days to receive scores in my online account. I read somewhere it takes 3 weeks to send scores out to schools. 9 to 30 is exactly 3 weeks but could be more if they, like many mean, mean corporations mean 3 weeks in business days. Am I kind of screwed or what?

Thanks for the kind words! Wait, what?

Monkeys on typewriters aside, I think there's nothing wrong with a less than straight-forward SOP opener either. I mean it doesn't have to be a feat of verbal prestidigitation (thank you, GRE!) but something a little less dry than "I am applying for XYZ" can't hurt either. Opening with a non-obvious quote can be subtle enough to show that you have an interdisciplinary bent, perhaps. I'm using a Latin quote from Tacitus in my application for English Lit because I majored in Latin in undergrad and also because that language skill is related to/important to my proposed field of study.

I say do it! What have you got to lose... it'll show extra initiative on your part that you'd take such a trip. Side note: I flew from Toronto to Hong Kong for 48 hours for a 30 minute job interview (on my own dime), and they were, needless to say, impressed.

It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times...

Yeah, I remember seeing at the end that I got 169 V and 140 something for Q but then again my brain was so scrambled, I could've remembered anything... After I got out, I wandered around in a daze and got lost 4 times in a subway station I know like the back of my hand. Talk about being drained! So now my mind is playing tricks with me and convincing me I got 161 instead. I wanted to check by phone but they charge $12 per call! I guess this thread title is quite apt in describing how I feel right now... Damn you, ETS!

Good lord... glad I don't have to take the subject test yet :/ hope you all did well enough ... So does it take 10-15 days for scores to post online for the General Test? Being as neurotic as I am, I've been constantly checking my ETS account and my scores still aren't up (I took it on Friday night).

JUST FINISHED! NEVER AGAIN! well.... not for a little while at least.... I thought I did awful after my first section of Verbal but I think maybe that was the experimental set because there was one absolutely wacko question that was a really tricky logic question, which I don't think was fair. It was barely a comprehension question, more of a brain teaser...

I just finished mine! I studied really hard (because I had never done a standardised test in my life) about 3 months ago. Then, as it usually happens, life got in the way and I hadn't so much as touched my study materials until today. I sequestered myself in the library for 4 hours before my test to brush up with my Princeton Review. I also did the free online Manhattan Prep test from their website (for a second time) just to get into the mood. I got a 169 V and something abysmal like 140 something (which is to be expected) on Q. As a caveat, I don't fancy myself a genius by any means but I did major in Latin, which had me knowing 80% of Princeton Review's "Hit Parade" before I began studying. I still think it was my main advantage. PS. I only used the Princeton Review book. Never used any other brand....

Not taking the high road: suck on that, Andromache.

Not sure if you saw yet but apparently New Jersey citizens affected by Sandy can vote via email. I just hope a majority will choose to take that opportunity instead of not being bothered. I mean... I'm sure they're going through a hell of a time rebuilding/surviving but... some long-range planning (for the next 4 years) will definitely serve well other types of recovery that America sorely needs.

First of all, I am not and never was under any illusion that Obama's feel good "Hope" stuff was anything more than very shrewd opportunism. So spare me the "this is exactly what you're supposed to believe" tin foil hat rhetoric. As a matter of interest, Obama has been and most likely will serve the majority of Americans' interest better than Romney. Romney will do all the awful cloak-and-dagger, militaristic aggressor sh** that Obama has PLUS fu** up the lives of a majority of people to boot. The age old "lesser of two evils" thing. They both are and ever will be products of the ever-decaying system. Does America need a new political voting system? Most definitely. Are both of the candidates iterations of everything we've seen before? Of course. Does that mean you, as citizen, pull out of the system and do nothing? I hope not. How about you suggest something proactive instead of simply calling voters "tools"? Naw. Now that would just be too much effort. It's better to be an cynical, armchair politico. I can't believe you wrote this and are voting Republican. It really blows my mind. The fact cannot be ignored that the man is intent on, and has been very vocal about (until he flip-flopped, that is) destroying much of the social progress that the US has made in recent years. That is enough of a reason to not vote for him. Continually asking me to be open-minded while touting a candidate who is the definition of close-minded is just too much for me. You should be giving that speech to your candidate.

I'm not defending Obama's militaristic side, but, on the whole, these are "combatants" and "aggressors", are they not? That, at least, never seemed up for debate--at least from that article. Foreign policy is foreign policy. Domestic policy is domestic policy. Romney, on the other hand, is persecuting women and homosexuals because of his own backwards prejudice. Killing--no, but as Andromache has said, he would continue the same grand tradition that Obama is currently touting. Cleaner conscience? Hardly. So. So. So. Very. Ironic.... Cannot compute.

If by politically correct you mean being a decent, kind human being then I guess you're right. Considering Romney has been touting sexist, homophobic and racist policies, I can't begin to imagine why you'd vote him other than prejudice against those that he's persecuting (including being a self-loathing woman).

You earned it.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/08/second-straight-poll-suggests-debate-bump-for-romney/?hpt=hp_bn3 :/

I'm applying for Masters programs. The CSU ones open Oct 1 (today! eeks!) and close Nov 30. Will it be too late for me to take the GRE in October (or even early November)?

Yes, too. Only applying to schools in LA and surrounding area because my partner lives there. Though I think my situation is somewhat different than most people. We see each other about once or twice a year because of time and financial restraints (Toronto <-> LA) so we're more than used to the long distance... but the grad school thing is supposed to end that once and for all!