Hi again. Question about writing samples for English Lit...generally they ask for 10-20 pages; should I take this to mean double spaced? And including works cited?

I'll be submitting some of my master's thesis as the writing sample, which I wrote at did at university in England - so it's in English format, with footnotes. Would it be better to put it in MLA style with in-text parenthetical citations as I'm applying to American programs?

Thanks

I'm applying mostly to PhD programs (in English), but I have a few MA programs as backups. I'm currently working on school-specific paragraphs for my SOP, and I was wondering if I should mention specific professors I'm jazzed about for the MA programs. Mostly, for the rest of the paragraph, I've been writing about how great it is that their curriculum allows the MA student to take a broad range of classes while taking more specialized "electives". I guess I don't know as much about how Master's programs work as much as I do PhD programs. I have chosen the MA programs I'm applying to with my specialty in mind, but to what extent will I actually be able to work closely with these professors and would it look like a misunderstanding of the program if I mention them?
Thanks for the help!!

hi, new to the community..

I'm hoping to apply for ivy-level Eng Lit PhDs this year. I took the GRE two years ago and scored 610 verbal, 740 quant...kind of the inverse of what I was going for. All of the math has gone straight out of my head by now, and I wonder whether it's worth it to try to study for the verbal now and retake the GRE before applications are due in December. I may improve my verbal score, but I'm sure my quant will plummet. What do you think?

Also, if you take the GRE in late November/early December, is that ok for application deadlines of December 15?

Re: the GRE English Lit subject test -- I took that two years ago as well and scored 680. I am certain I could do better now, but the exams are full for this year (in the UK). Does that seem good enough for ivies?

Thanks for your advice.

I looked through the memories, tags and recent posts and didn't find anything that answers my question so here goes:

I just turned in my application this week for the teaching credential program I am applying to and wanted to thank my reccommenders for their support and writing my letters. I know that a thank you note(card, etc) is appropriate, but I was also thinking of getting them each a gift. Is this ethical? Proper etiquette? or will it seem inappropriate? The people who reccommended me I have known for years and 2 of them are also friends, the third is a acquaintance. They all work at the university I just graduated from which is the same one I applied to. I won't be working with any of them during my graduate studies as one is from a different department, another my academic/financial aide counselor and the other a former boss.

I of course was not considering a gift card or anything with a definitive monetary value.

Any advice, as well as links to published (officially) information or reccomendations of books, articles, etc where I can find out information regarding this are appreciated.

Danke in advance.

Did anyone else check the box to sign up for the GRE Search Service? I signed up on the off chance that it might be useful; now I'm just wondering if anyone got anything out of it.

I've gotten a few conflicting opinions on this, and wanted to ask what you guys think.  (Background: I'm a current senior applying to History PhD programs.)  Someone who has served on the admissions committee of a top program (albeit 10 years ago) suggested that I talk about which specific scholars have influenced my historical thinking, to show that I have a grasp on theory and the work being done.  But I'm afraid that mentioning people who are still active at different universities  will just make admissions people think, "well, why don't you go there, then?"  I do plan on discussing specific scholars at each university I'm applying to, but I'm a bit wary of bringing in outside historians, save perhaps for super-celebrities.  Any thoughts on this?

Also, if anyone is willing to look at and give advice on my current draft via e-mail, that would be great.

Hello,

I decided to seek feedback on my personal statement from you all. I would appreciate as much criticism, compliments, and perspectives that you can offer me. Thanks so much for your time if you have the chance to take a look.

P.S. I did horrible on the GRE the first time a couple months ago and I am taking it again in two weeks. Would it be appropriate or necessary to mention my score increase the second time in my statement?

Olivia

( Personal Statement )

I did a research internship at University College Dublin last summer and it was on of the best experiences of my life. I'm thinking about applying to a number of schools in the US, but I keep coming back to thinking about going to school there, or somewhere in that region of the world. My former advisor there is going to hook me up with some information about their application process, but I wanted to know about the pros and cons of going to school in Ireland or the UK. I know their postgraduate studies are shorter because their undergraduate degrees are more intensive. Would this make a PhD in Ireland hold less weight in the US? I've had difficulty finding international rankings for computer science schools. Does any one know how University College Dublin holds up internationally? I'm not sure what American universities it would be on par with.

So, I've finally managed to narrow down research interests for what I want to be studying to four subject areas. However, I still haven't narrowed down schools. Is there any site or book or method that makes it easier to search a bunch of schools by a professor's research areas? This is probably a dumb question, but I'm overwhelmed by the prospect of looking at every single school that has a psych program and trying to find a match that way. I have no easy access to an academic library or database, so doing it solely through journal articles is prohibitively difficult as well. If I do have to do it school by school, I will, but I thought there has to be a slightly easier way to do this?
I haven't limited myself geographically, and I'm looking for PsyD programs and clinical/counseling psychology PhD programs, ideally, but a good Masters program would be great, too .

What was your method for narrowing down your list of desirable schools? How did you find who you wanted to work with?
This is paralyzing me.

I'm new to this whole grad school thing, and I'd just like to get some recommendations of specific programs to look into.  I'm really interested in Gender Studies, Feminist Studies, and Sociology (pretty much in that order).  I'd ideally like to find:

a)  A sociology program that has a specific focus/track in gender or women's studies; or
b)  A women's studies/gender studies program that also has a focus on race or class issues (My favorite class in undergrad was Politics of Race, Class, and Gender).

I'm geting a major in Political Science and Women's Studies, and hopefully will be getting a minor in sociology.  My final GPA will be a 3.5 at the absolute lowest, but will most likely end up being around a 3.7 (at an average state school).  I'd like to apply to some pretty competitive/well-known programs but I of course need a couple safeties as well. 

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Okay, so I honestly don't know if a post like this is accepted in this community but seeing as people here are generally supportive (or give good 'tough love' advice) , I figured I don't have anything to lose.

First off, forgive me if I sound incoherent and tired...that's because I am.

Anyway, I managed to get into graduate school, but I'm starting to have second thoughts. I just graduated from undergrad, and last  year I plunged into a world of graduate school applications. I studied for the GRE, took the GRE, revised an old research paper, got three good letters of recommendation, talked to my future adviser way before anybody else and kept in contact with him, and all the mean while worried of whether or not I would get in. I haphazardly applied to only ONE school, but as fate would have it, I got in.

At first I was pretty estastic and rather happy about the whole deal. The summer after graduation consisted of a vacation, and 'real work' at a company from 9-5. All the time I was there, I was still excited to go to graduate school, ready to leave at moment's notice to start graduate studies. When I was visiting, and even working a part time job on campus, I was still excited. I felt ready. I felt prepared-I was enthusiastic.

To be honest though, a part of me figured that I only excited myself so that there wouldn't be any conflict with my parents - who wished for me to go to graduate school and to get into somewhere. I can't tell anymore of whether going to graduate school was originally my idea or my parents'. They are old fashioned and believe a higher degree in anything will further your salary! 

Then...it hit me. I moved into an apartment near campus, and started classes a few days afterward. I felt okay for the most part, but even though it hasn't even been a full week, I feel awful. Like, I'll sit there and listen to people talk about what they want to research (I'm in Applied Linguistics) etc. Yet I'll be thinking 'what's the point?'

I feel completely awful because I know that going for an MA/PhD isn't the easiest route in life and a career in academia (or any job these days) isn't certain and doesn't pay well compared to their business/corporate counter parts. So people spend 5-7 years researching, writing qualifying papers, disserations, advancing to candidacy etc. It's tough and I respect people who can do that.

But now I'm wondering...is that what I really want? Thankfully, the program I applied to is a terminal MA, and I've already been having doubts
about going to my PhD, now I'm having doubts of even continuing.

Yes, I realize that it hasn't been even a full week and this might be a nervous breakdown. But I can't help but feel that I'm on the wrong path here. It hasn't gotten any better ever since I started. So honestly, I don't know if it's actually how I feel about the whole thing, or if it's adjustment issues. It clearly has to be a little bit of both. But what I don't get is why I was so happy to start and why I was so happy to get the train going.

Now that I'm here, I feel like I'm wasting my time.

A part of me wants to go for a second Bachelors, this time in Computer Science or some business type major. It seems like every profitable job out there deals with computer science and computer programming languages. I sometimes doubt if I was actually bad at math or that I just gave up too quickly in high school (hence my majoring in Linguistics during undergrad, I'm pretty good at phonetics and acquiring languages). (Computational Linguistics Advice anybody?)

I can see the usefulness of having an MA, because there are things about the program I do like, but just not the theoretical part which constitutes the major focus of the department.

I'm honestly at a serious loss right now. I'm such a practical person at heart, and I don't know why I bothered with such an impractical major. Maybe I should just take extension classes...

Anyway, if anybody has been in my situation, any advice, tips or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help! 

I am applying to graduate school for fall of 09... I think I have everything down pat in regards to my applications (things are a little less complicated up here in Canada) but one thing is making me particularly nervous these days.

I have two of my professors who I am in contact with and who I plan on asking for LORs from. I've done out-of-classroom work with both so I am not expecting disappointment.

However, I've got to get a third professor's recommendation. I have two choices of profs who I liked and took a couple classes with...one or two years ago. We're not in contact anymore, and I'm not sure they'd remember me.

Is it rude/appropriate to visit these profs in their office hours with my LOR packet of info about me and ask for a letter of recommendation? I haven't kept in touch with them at all over the past couple years, though I've still got all the papers I wrote for them with their comments on it.

Any advice about this? I'm an archaeology student applying to Canadian graduate programs.

One school wants a 3-4 page SOP. They have got to be kidding me. They do, kindly enough, provide some guiding questions:
• Why do you want to undertake graduate work?
• What do you expect to derive from your program of study?
• If you have a concentration in mind, briefly outline your interests in this area.
• What do you expect to contribute as a student and subsequently as a member of the profession?

( I would understand if this was tl;dr. )

One of my other problems is that this school is probably last on my list in terms of how much I want to go. Is it obvious that it's not a fabulous fit for me?

x-posted to review_my_sop. Thanks guys.

Hi,

I posted before yesterday, but I'm in a bit of quandary and thought perhaps someone could help out. I'm a BA student and am pondering applying to Ph.D. programs this fall (and one M.A., as a safety). However, I'm swamped with school work and a few extracurriculars and won't really have time to study for the GREs. I studied for the General GRE over the summer and planned to write it in late August, but came down with bronchitis. I should be able to hit 720 or 730 at least on the General with some review, but it's possible I could wind up with a 680 or 690 (worst case, I think) Taking it cold a few months ago I got a 660.

Last night I wrote the Subject GRE cold (no studying) and got a 690. I thought it was a bit low, to be honest. I was really hoping that I would either bomb the thing or ace it, as that would be give me a good idea of whether I should apply or not....but no.

At least two profs have recommended that I apply to Ph.D. programs. I will have excellent LORs, a SOP with interests in at least one very relevant area of literary studies (I am not a "fashionable" literary student by any stretch of the imagination, and I hate the onus on "fashion," but thought I would list it anyway), and a writing sample on that topic (one of my courses is actually writing this writing sample--it's an individual study course).
 
Should I consider deferring my plans to apply because my GRE scores will probably be mediocre? I just feel that I will be rushing through this application process AND I don't want to wind up with crappy GRE scores (that I will have to rewrite) and no acceptances. I could go for the M.A. and write the GREs next year....

Any ideas??

Thanks.

I contacted one of my professor's from my old university, and she was incredibly happy to hear from me and ecstatic to help me out.
Thanks for the suggestions!

I have a random question:
I'm having issues finding a 3rd LOR writer.  I've got the main theory teacher/grad advisor here, another English professor, and the nobody.  My problem is that I'm a recent transfer student, and the two years before I came here I was taking online classes from my old university due to Katrina related displacement and such. 
I haven't kept in touch with my professors at my old university well, and most of them were in a department other than English, anyways. 
So, here are my options:
1. My friend's dad, who's a professor at a university on the eastern seaboard, would probably write me one, but he only knows me as his son's friend (though we've talked shop on several occasions).

2. A friend with whom I have studied here.  She's an MD, possibly the most well-read individual I've ever met, but she's a graduate student at my current university (she retired from the practice and is pursuing a degree in literature for the funk of it).

3. Contact professors at my old uni to whom I have not spoken in years and drop the bomb on them.  I'd like to avoid this, because I don't want to be one of those, "I just called to say..... I need you to do something for me" types.

Any suggestions?
Thanks ahead of time!

I've scoured the internet to find this info. and can't find it for some reason...what is considered a good score for Yale, Harvard, Princeton, etc.? Or what's passable for the top schools (Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, etc.)?

I'm sorry if this question has already been asked...the search function didn't yield any results...

Thanks.

So here's my (awful) first draft. I am applying to public policy/affairs programs and concurrently applying to law school. My primary interest is social policy, which granted is still pretty broad, but I figure with a terminal master's I may not have to get down to something as narrow as "the voting behavior of 25-year old gay females."

Anyway, any critiques would be greatly appreciated. I'm stuck on some of my wording choices, my (lack) of transitions between paragraphs and whether or not I made it as clear as possible that I have actual career aspirations and don't come across as "omg! want to save the world!"


( sop delights )

I graduated from Michigan State University this past May and am applying to 4 schools to pursue a Masters in Human-Computer Interaction: the University of Michigan, UC Berkeley, Stanford, and Carnegie Mellon University.

All require 3 letters of recommendation. I already have my recommenders picked out (2 profs from my department + 1 work supervisor) and I'm pretty sure they will agree to vouch for me as I know them all pretty well and have kept in touch since graduation.

It seems that all the LORs for my programs can be completed online. However, Carnegie Mellon's application isn't up yet, so neither is their LOR system.

Should I wait to ask my recommenders for letters until CMU's online system is ready? Or can I tell them about the 3 schools that ARE ready to accept letters and ask for number 4 later?

Hi all,

I've been (semi-obsessively) researching grad schools and was interested in NYU's Draper program, but it looks as if it's gotten a bit of a bad review in previous posts. Does anyone have any experience with it? I read that applicants who were rejected from PhD programs were referred to it, which I understand would be annoying, but is it a bad program to apply to as a first choice?
I'm finishing my undergrad in December. I eventually want a PhD, but I finished my undergrad in 2 1/2 years and don't feel quite prepared for a PhD program. I thought the Draper program might be useful as a bridge to a PhD program, and also help me to narrow down my research interests. Any thoughts?

Has anyone taken the Psychology GRE? Could you shed some light on it? How difficult? How long did you study? What did you use, etc?

I'm debating on taking it. I just fell half-way in love with a professor's work and was all set to put the program on my list when I noticed that it requires the Psychology GRE. It'll be my only program (of 7 so far) that requires it, so I'm wondering...

Thanks! :) 

Hi all,
Is it a good idea to ask a former employer ( head of the department) to write a LOR ?
In my case its a former colleague / head of the department in a college i taught for sometime .
regards,
Deepa

I'm writing my CV for MS applications. I'm trying to figure out how to list a publication. It has five authors, and I'm the second. In my field, the authors are generally listed in decreasing order of how much work they did (with the person who provided the resources listed last, if they didn't do much else), so it does seem important that I'm second author, and not, say, fourth.

Ordinarily, I would cite such a publication as "FirstAuthor et al." But that leaves out my name all together, and leaves out the fact that I was second author. Do I list it as "FirstAuthor, [Me], ThirdAuthor, FourthAuthor, and FifthAuthor"? Do I still list it as "FirstAuthor et al" and state somewhere that I was second author? Am I caring too much about this detail, and should I therefore just cite it like I ordinarily would?

Hello all,

I was an English major in undergrad, with a minor in Religion.  Now I'm looking to apply for an MA in Religion, on my way to a PhD.  My question is this:

As an undergrad I did this year long thesis project in addition to my senior thesis for Distinction in the Field of English (on 1980s chick flicks).  This is about 40 pages long, but there are definitely entire sections I could cut out.  This is my best example of academic writing, seeing as how I spent a whole year on it.  I also wrote one decent Religion paper that is actually about what I want to study in graduate school, and my prof at the time really loved.  Both papers have a lot to do with Studies which is central to my previous  English studies, and future Religion research.

Both papers would need some work before I sent them off as writing sample, but which is the better option?  I want to show that I'm serious about Religious Studies, but I also want to show my best work.

Thanks for all the help!

Anyone have a number to get a human at Javits in DC? Thanks.

edit:
Answer: 202 502 7542

One of my recommenders was way faster than I thought and sent my letters before I've even had a chance to submit any apps. Should I send a heads up to each program and tell them to expect a recommendation for me and that I will be applying shortly? I didn't expect it to get sent so fast! Yikes! I don't want them to get lost if the program is like "we don't have this applicant on file yet"

Anybody know how this works and what I should do?

I am nervous about applying to grad schools and hoping I am overreacting.
I am a sociology undergrad, but applying to medieval history programs. My interests are medieval and early modern society and culture, social movements, women, court life, and Roma (gypsies). I started off with a strong interest in historical sociology, but couldn't find a program to suit my interests, so I am reversing my grad program to history with a strong interest in sociological aspects. I would really like to get into UT-Austin's Ph.D. program and am afraid to apply to any other top schools.
My GPA is, with one semester left, a 3.36. This is in part to an entire semester of F's in my freshman year at a community college (1996, mind you!) because I left the semester (my father died) without officially withdrawing. I repeated all those courses when I first returned to school in 2004, but, of course, my current university (and I think grad schools) do not honor repeat/delete. My GPA since returning is about a 3.8.
I have only about 18 hours undergrad history and none of that medieval or early modern. My school just doesn't offer any courses in it. I will have three semesters of Latin when I graduate.
I take the GRE next month and am fairly certain I will do well. I've studied for about a year!
Question: how terribly is that GPA going to haunt me? Should I mention it in my SOP? Or do you think they will realize the F's pulling it down were more than ten years ago?
Writing Sample: I have two papers I am considering, both well-written A papers. The first is on historical cultural genocide in China and the second on Roma music throughout history, including the Middle Ages, as a survival mechanism and oral transmission. Which would be best? I am thinking the latter?
I am an older student (40 this year) and spent a year studying abroad in the Czech Republic, and another teaching English in India. I have a lot of volunteer and non-profit work globally, including current president of Students for a Free Tibet on my campus.
I am terrified of being turned down everywhere. Do we all go through that? My back up plan is to get my Master's at my current school, in history, although there would be no medieval focus, and then apply for Ph.D. program with a clean slate and better GPA.
Would love any tips!!

I'm working on my MA in Applied Sociology and I'm fairly certain that in the next few years I'm going to go back and do my doctorate in Applied Anthro. My program, because it bills itself as a professional program encourages its students to do the analytical paper option rather than a thesis. I'm trying to figure out if doing the paper instead of the thesis will hurt my chances of acceptance. Any advice?

Background for me: I will graduate with an MA in sociology in December. I am looking at MSW programs to either get an LCSW or to go onto an academic PhD in Social Work.

I have seen a few schools with a 16 months MSW program starting in Spring 2009. Mainly Columbia and NYU. Does anyone know any other schools with this program?

Florida State University would be my choice for a two year MSW, and they said I would have no problem being accepted, especially with the academic MA. Im not sure what the acceptance rates or competitiveness with Columbia or NYU. Is there a way to look at MSW acceptance rates by school?

Thanks!

Anyone getting/have their MA in School Counseling? Granted the programs are different at each school, but I'm curious as to what you thought about it and the course work.
Thanks :)