Poll #1501556 Todays Poll .
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 39

Did you/Are you attend(ing) your top choice

Poll #1501553 Todays Poll .
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 31

When did you realize you wanted to apply to Graduate School .

I have been working with a professor from another department for over a semester closely - well, closer than with anyone from my department anyway. It was independent study, so he got to know me quite well. I emailed him just to ask whether he would be willing to write a couple of letters for me - I was definitely hoping for a yes, sure. But I still haven't heard back from him! It's been five days, so I don't really think there is any hope left.( more under the cut ) It would be helpful to hear from people who have been in a similar situation, if there are any...

Do you mention diversity in the SOP? For example, do you mention your race/ethnicity? My adviser said I should mention it cause programs want a diverse student body. It just seems so out of place.

Hi all,

I graduated with a degree in Women & Gender studies and I am interested in applying for MA/PhD programs in Anthropology. I went to a small university that only offered a few Anthro classes, and only 1 in my field of interest (Biological Anthropology).

ETA: 2 of my WGS courses were cross-listed with Anthro, so I have a total of 3 classes, 12 credit hours, with an average GPA of 3.56 in Anthro.

I would like to take more coursework in the subject to secure strong, relevant letters of recommendation, and also to be better prepared to study the subject. I am running into a lot of problems. Some universities will not admit me at all for undergrad coursework because I already have a Bachelors. Others will let me apply to be a guest non-degree student, but this must be done almost a year in advance and I cannot register for classes until the day classes begin, at which point I assume classes would be full.

I e-mailed a graduate admissions counselor to make an appointment to discuss these challenges, but I was wondering if anyone here had any suggestions.

Thanks in advance, and I hope the suspense ends soon and you get acceptance letters from your dream schools :) Can't wait until it is my turn to stress out and send out applications. ;)

If you are the person on Yahoo! Answers who referred me to this blog, thanks!

So, I know it's NONE of my business but I'm really curious to find out about my little brother who took the GRE test and wont tell me all his scores. I only know about his Verbal Score which is 390.  I'm trying to figure out what his AW score could be? Based on this Verbal score what do you think is his A.W. score?

The programs he wants to apply to place a heavy emphasis on his AW score but he wont tell me what it is!  I ask because he wont tell me and I really want to encourage him to go to grad school but I know nothing about GRE scoring. He's that kind of person who needs TONS of support and encouragement from his family/friends to do things, so if you've taken the GRE maybe you can give me a ball-park idea as to what his AW score might be?   I also know you can't really "assume" scores but lets say you had to, what do you think his AW score would be?
Ana (Worried Sister)

So I have a question regarding returning for a MA or Ph.D.

Is it possible several years later to attempt to get into a program if one has a shoddy undergrad GPA?

I don't recall hearing anything about it, but I'm wondering if its possible?

X-posted to a_a

I am looking for some advice on the essay for my application.  It is listed on the application like this, in 3 questions:


Question 1. What are your plans for graduate study and your future career?

Question 2. In what ways do your academic background and your professional experiences provide evidence of your potential for success in the program you selected and in your eventual career? Please give specific examples of relevant coursework and/or experience.

Question 3. Is there any further information we should consider in assessing your candidacy?


My questions about this are:

1.  Should I write three separate responses or lump the questions into one larger essay?
2.  It gives NO word limit, what is a good rule of thumb to go by when you are not given one?
3.  What kind of information should/could I talk about for question 3?  


Thank you for any help you can give.  This type of essay seems slightly different from the SOP's I usually see posted here so I just wanted to get some feedback on the best way to go about doing it.  Thanks again!

So, I'm applying to 75% British schools. My top choice is a British school. I met with an old undergrad advisor the other day and he mentioned that it could be more difficult after graduation to get a job here in the states with a british degree (than with an American one). At the time I guess the comment didn't really catch my attention, but after the meeting I couldn't believe that I hadn't asked him to elaborate a little on that point.

So, I thought I'd ask you guys: do you think that it is significantly more difficult to get a job in the US with a British degree than with an American one?
I also want to ask, since I'm applying for a masters, if you think it would make is significantly more difficult to to gain entry to a top PhD program in the US?
If it matters, all of the schools I'm applying to are top-ranked in Britain.

Field(s): humanities/continental phil/ comp. lit

thanks all

I'm sure that this has been answered here before, but there are a lot of posts to wade through... How long does it typically take ETS to mail your GRE scores to schools? I have a January 15 deadline, and I'd like to give myself enough time to make sure the scores are sent and received by the university.

I'd appreciate any feedback.

ok i thought you might like this comic I found that makes fun of us when we send an email to a Prof. i was going to copy + paste it on here but the text was too small so u have to visit the site k?
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1047

Poll #1501190 Todays Poll
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 56

Who is the 1st person you're going to tell when you find out you GOT IN

Every year, Regret the Error publishes a list of the top corrections, errors and retractions from the English-speaking press.

I thought you might enjoy the award for Best Science Reporting, which went to the UK-based Daily Telegraph for the following correction:

Owing to an editing error, our report “Women who dress provocatively more likely to be raped, claim scientists” (June 23) wrongly stated that research presented at the recent BPS conference by Sophia Shaw found that women who drink alcohol are more likely to be raped. In fact, the research found the opposite. We apologise for our error.

 I've been lurking around applyingtograd  for the past two weeks now and trying desperately not to think too hard about all the applications I already sent off and let myself get neurotic about them. FAIL.

Anyway, I've been more than a bit naive about this whole grad school process and I was flying blind while applying, too. I received a great deal of help from my advisor and professors but, well, they've been only on the recommendations side of the process for well over twenty years. So, in a fit of pre-holiday insecurity, while I sit on my hands for the next several months to hear back from the schools, I figured I would ask everyone here for their advice/opinion.

My biggest concern is that I've just graduated from a small (but academically solid) college--it's not an Ivy or a faux-Ivy and it doesn't even have the name recognition of a state school. What kills me, of course, is that I wouldn't change my choice to go there for the world as it was an amazing experience and with wonderful professors. Then again, it seems like no one knows it.

( details under the cut )

So, if any of you know about these schools or even their specific programs (or even if you don't) your feedback would be very much appreciated as I now realize (belatedly) that I was flying dark through this whole process and I'm definitely in need of a bit of a reality check, one way or the other.

Thanks!

P.S. Who else is caught in the current SNOWPOCALYPSE? (Which my spell-check desperately wants to correct to "soporifically.")

I'm right now debating whether or not I should apply to some grad schools in Canada.  I never attended school in Canada so I'm not sure what their grading polices are like.  I recently had a brief conversation with someone who went to grad school in Canada and they told me that professors in Canada rarely give out "A's" or perfect scores.  Is that true about the grading procedures in Canada?  I know it's common to get A's or full points on assignments in the US (obviously for assignments that deserve this grade), but I'm worried that in Canada they are much tougher when it comes to grading.  Any feedback from Canadian students? I really don't want to end up with a B average or lower in grad school, which is why I'm asking. 
I'm looking at applying to McGill, University of Toronto, and Concordia.

On many of the online app's I filled out, it asks you to say "how long" you've known the professors who are writing your LOR's. So for this 1 specific professor, I put that I've known her for 4 years.
The other day she emailed me to tell me she sent out all the LORs, and she included a copy for me to read. In it, she mentions "In the 2 years I've known STUDENT, blah blah blah."
But on the applications, I put that I've known her for 4 years. I didn't know you were only supposed to put the amount of time you've been in their classes! And now I'm afraid the admissions committees will think I'm being dishonest.
And I'm afraid my other recommenders are going to do the same thing in their LORs.
What do you all think?

Sounds crazy, but I'm jealous of everyone submitting apps right now! I decided recently that I don't have enough time to give to applications and so I'm taking a year off.

( tl;dr )
Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Hey, I was referred to this community/site, so I hope I can get some feedback! Basically I have 4 questions regarding my resume that I need to submit as part of my application for graduate school.  

#1:  My resume is right now 1 page and a half.  I really don't like how half of the second page is blank.  The white space makes it look like I don't have anything to list and gives off a bad impression in my opinion.  Do you think is ok?  I tried REALLY hard to make it just 1 page but it's impossible.

#2: Should I include work experience not related to my field? I do want to because it shows that I held  jobs during my time as an undergrad, but these are sales related jobs. This program that I'm applying to does not require any work experience related to the filed, but it does say that those with "professional work experience" will have a more attractive application. 

#3: What is the rule about listing professional associations you are a member of? Do you have to list every one? I was kind of forced to join one in order to present at a certain conference, but I don't feel like including it  in the list.  Will that be a red flag for adcoms reading my resume, in that they might say "She presented at this conference but is not a member? This is weird. Maybe she's lying."

#4: I'm presenting at a conference next month and want to have a section called "upcoming presentations" on my resume.  Is this appropriate? What is the proper formatting?

Click that Reply button and post your opinions! :-)

My mentor has been tremendously helpful this semester, giving me guidance, writing recommendations, etc etc etc.

I wanted to send her a small gift and a thank you card before the holidays... but there's just one thing: Her husband is on the admissions panel of a school to which I'm applying.

The gift I'm giving her has no commercial value. It's a small handmade thing I'm making to commemorate one of our classes. The card will be addressed to her.
Could I write I hope you and ____ have a great winter holiday? Should I leave his name out entirely? I've been to their house, I know and have met both of them...
but could that be construed as inappropriate at all?
I don't want the gift to lose any sentimental or genuine value... or what I'm doing to be inappropriate.

I hope I never have to plan a wedding. I'm so bad at this type of should/shouldn't etiquette inappropriate/appropriate business.

For those who missed it: The US Government is currently hosting a "public consultation on Public Access Policy...seeking public input on access to publicly-funded research results, such as those that appear in academic and scholarly journal articles."  It's similar in scope to what's already required for NIH-funded research, but extending it to other agencies and asking for implementation ideas. They have a surprisingly short comment period, especially given the traditional holiday vacation season.

From the link:

OSTP will conduct an interactive, online discussion beginning Thursday, December 10. We will focus on three major areas of interest:
* Implementation (Dec. 10 to 20): Which Federal agencies are good candidates to adopt Public Access policies? What variables (field of science, proportion of research funded by public or private entities, etc.) should affect how public access is implemented at various agencies, including the maximum length of time between publication and public release?
* Features and Technology (Dec. 21 to Dec 31): In what format should the data be submitted in order to make it easy to search and retrieve information, and to make it easy for others to link to it? Are there existing digital standards for archiving and interoperability to maximize public benefit? How are these anticipated to change.
* Management (Jan. 1 to Jan. 7): What are the best mechanisms to ensure compliance? What would be the best metrics of success? What are the best examples of usability in the private sector (both domestic and international)? Should those who access papers be given the opportunity to comment or provide feedback?

The blog postings are here: http://blog.ostp.gov/category/public-access-policy/