CSDCAS and GRE advice?

[laurengreen1]

Hi Everyone!

 

I will be applying to grad schools for the second time this fall (made the mistake of only applying to one last year), and would love some advice on filling out the CSCAS application.  (Yes, I realize it doesn't open til 9/17 but I want to be prepared). I remember doing it last year and having a hard time because of the formatting. ie the personal statement looks like one giant paragraph because the return/enter key is useless, and you can't really separate your employment descriptions, volunteer work descriptions, etc. for the same reason. So do you guys recommend writing complete sentences to describe these things or just copy what's in your resume, but without the bullets? Last year, the school I applied to suggested copying and pasting my resume in the application. I did that and just cleaned it up a bit.

 

For example, on last year's application under one of the employment headings, my description looked something like this:

 

Instructed Korean elementary and middle school students in English listening, reading, and speaking. Conducted pronunciation clinics for elementary school students; focused on discrimination and production of difficult sounds (/r/ and /l/, /f/ and /v/, etc).

 

Is this appropriate or is it better to write complete sentences? Other ideas? As for the essay, is there ANY trick to formatting it so the school you're applying to can tell that you know how to make separate paragraphs? I called CSDCAS last year and they told me there wasn't. Maybe it'll improve this year.

 

On an unrelated subject, did anyone else bomb the writing portion of the GRE? I have to take it again b/c my writing score is so low. Does anyone have suggestions for improving? I consider myself a good writer, but I think my problem is more of a content issue. It's been a long time since I studied history, philosophy, etc. so it makes it hard to back up the issue essay. (I think I'm ok on the argument essay).

 

Anyhoo, any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

Lauren