troll crackers Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 It's a long story, but I'm in a bad place financially. I've been looking for work for months now, and have blown throw the small amount of savings I had on repaying my undergrad loans. I have already had to ask parents for help in paying insurance and I'm living with a friend for free. I'm living on $90/wk because I was lucky enough to receive unemployment. Needless to say, I have zero money for GRE scores, transcripts, and grad school applications. I've realized that each application is going to end up costing me near $100. I am beginning to panic. Because my GPA isn't super strong and my GRE scores are only average, I feel like I need to shy away from schools that I don't think I can get into to cut down on costs. Even though there are programs that I think I would be a great fit for, I just can't afford to take a stab at all of the schools I'd like to try for. What would you do in this situation? Should I try to take out a loan specifically for this cause? And if so, where should I go about doing that? It's one thing to take out a loan specifically for school, but not sure how this would work since it's somewhat outside of that realm. Any help would really be appreciated right now. Thanks to all who reply! troll crackers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Usmivka Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 (edited) Contact ETS and the individual schools. You will be given a hardship waiver and won't have to pay the fees, if you provide proof of assets. I've got to say, though, if you are applying in the social sciences and not so confident in your scores and GPA that you are sure you'll get a fellowship, do you really want to go into grad school and accrue even more debt? Edited October 16, 2012 by Usmivka Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arglooblaha Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 It takes about a month or so to get the voucher, but you can get a voucher for the GRE. With the voucher it only costs about $85 (which is still a lot, i know). And then you get to send it to 4 schools for free with that. And then, most schools don't need official transcripts until you are accepted - they just want a pdf of an official transcript, so you could potentially cut down on costs by ordering one and making a pdf of it. A lot of schools offer waivers for applications. I was looking into it, and I found out that I am potentially eligible for the app fee waiver for all but one school on my list (and there are quite a few - although i'll probably whittle it down a bit more. It is definitely not worth it to take out a loan to apply to schools. Write a stellar sop and writing sample, contact profs ahead of time and build a relationship. Get them interested in your research interests and then tell them about your gre/gpa situation and see what they say. I had a friend in a similar situation and he found funding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troll crackers Posted October 16, 2012 Author Share Posted October 16, 2012 I'm still going to try to get into schools because my GRE is acceptable for application, just not off the charts. The less than great GPA is due to some unfortunate circumstances that will be explained in my SOP, and when focusing on my major, is much stronger. The reason I stay in the game at all is because I do have published work in areas of research closely related to the schools I'm applying to, so I feel that I'm at least a viable candidate. You ask a very valid question though about accruing debt and it's one I am concerned about. I was fortunate enough to have taken the GRE when I had money, but hopefully that advice will find someone else in a similar situation. I'm going to take everyone's advice to see if I can get any leniency from individual schools and hopefully, establish rapport with someone. I'll report back when I have more info! Thanks for the input! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drapeblind Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 I'm going to demur a little from the other comments and say yes to taking a loan. Admissions aren't necessarily GRE based but funding often is. So a high GRE score will improve your admissions and increase your chances of an assistantship or fellowship. The GRE class is about $1000, but in the larger scheme of a potential payoff it's a good investment. Let's say you receive a good score and get into a program with a 3-5 year contract. Each year that contract is roughly worth, on average, $42-60,000 if one includes tuition, insurance, stipend, and printing, depending on the school. If you're in good standing funding is usually expanded to 5-7 years. So even on the low side of say $40k, being funded in grad school will account for $240-250,000 of investment by your home institution. If you're absolutely serious about getting a Ph.D. and are willing to put hard work into your preparations, that $1000 should be seen as an investment into your education. Those classes are fairly effective and the competition is quite fierce, so you'll want to take this process as seriously as possible, which in your case may include a little bit of financial aid. drapeblind 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troll crackers Posted December 12, 2012 Author Share Posted December 12, 2012 Hi all! Just wanted to follow up... Here's what I did: -- I narrowed down my schools (state universities rumored to be low on funding? NOPE. lack of assistantships for grad students? no way!!) -- Chopped a school off the list due to early deadline (didn't pain me as much as I thought which was a good sign!) -- Created a chart of due dates (BONUS-- all the schools have conveniently staggered deadlines!) -- Gave up on dream jobs (researcher, interviewer, etc.) and found need work right now job. I'm at a temporary place that pays pretty well. It is absolutely KILLER on the body, but I'm surviving. -- Lined up restaurant work for January (forgoing the jobs that add to my experience in lieu of actually being employed) -- Killing perfectionism (I really wanted to apply earlier than one month to the schools on my list, but realized things just aren't going to work out quite as nicely as I would have liked.) It's not perfect, but I didn't take out a loan, and I also didn't give up. Hope this helps someone out there. Thanks for all of the advice! pinkrobot and drapeblind 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duna Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Good job! Hang in there and all the best of luck for your applications! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drapeblind Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Good to hear -- but remember to really prepare well for the GRE. If programs are only funding 3-5% of all applicants these days it's crucial to have high percentiles for funding purposes. I recommend classes for structure but there are certainly other ways to study... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sr0304 Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 totally delayed response and i don't think that it really matters for applicants this year, but for the record, i took out a small loan to apply to several schools. simply because, after punching in some numbers, this would be my last attempt. i would not have been able to apply a second time the following year. long story short, i'm glad i made the investment. i already have choices. so, i wouldn't say taking out a small loan is a bad idea--just find a fixed rate and pay it off asap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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