I just graduated from grad school! I didn't think the GRE was terrible, mostly just exhausting from being how ever many hours long it was (my brain says 6 but that doesn't seem right, hahaha). I just bought a GRE prep book that had access to a website and an app that had flashcards of vocab words. I spent a summer where I was only working part time (20 or 30 hours) and would just study for an hour or so every day and then would do at least a section of a practice test on Saturday/Sunday. It was manageable and I did pretty well.
Re: applications, I only applied to one school so I'm no use there. I used a book (https://www.amazon.com/Graduate-Admissions-Essays-Fourth-School/dp/1607743213) to help write my admissions essay. They have a method where you basically write your essay in the better part of a day that worked for me.
My school did rolling admissions, but I still wanted to be in the first group, so I submitted my application pretty early.
I’m a first generation college graduate too!! I’m applying to grad programs this cycle and someone recommended this book to me. I haven’t gotten it yet (I’m focusing on my GRE at the moment) but I think it can be helpful!).
Graduate Admissions Essays, Fourth Edition: Write Your Way into the Graduate School of Your Choice (Graduate Admissions Essays: Write Your Way Into the) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607743213/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Q6HdFbEKHKTSS
To help with your personal statement, I highly recommend this book. (To save some money, see if you can get it through your library.) I found it really useful when I was going through the process, and it includes a ton of examples.
This book is focused on writing the SOP, but there's a lot of great advice about the entire application process. If you're getting started this late in the season, though, you should probably wait to apply until next year.
This is what I used to formulate my essay when I was applying. Lots of good advice and examples from many different fields.
On paper, it sounds like you are the ideal graduate student candidate! c: The only thing left is whether you'll be a good fit for the specific school/program/lab in question. That can be nailed down with a stellar personal statement tailored to the specific program (along with a good interview whenever that comes along). If you need any help with that, I highly recommend this book -- it was incredibly helpful to me throughout the application process, especially coming from a family without experience in higher education. It includes details down to waiving your rights, as suggested above.
From what I've seen, the real "above and beyond" thing you can do is establish a meaningful connection with the professor you want to work with at this school. For instance, if the school offers a summer research program for undergraduates, you can apply for that and request to work with that specific professor. In another case, you can attend a scientific conference, seek out that professor, make conversation with them about their research (and make sure your interests are known), and follow-up with them over email so that they have a good impression of you and your ambitions by the time they receive your application. Bonus points if you're presenting at that conference :D This option requires a little bit of networking or cyber-stalking to see which conferences that professor would be attending, haha. My research domain is very specialized so it was easy to locate my prospective advisor in a small conference, and besides that there's a huge generalized one that everyone remotely close to my field goes to (Society for Neuroscience). Maybe there's some equivalent in anthropology? c:
Wishing you luck in your applications! n_n
Is there some way to show that you have improved since then? Or something that shows some kind of quantitative improvement? A few short sentences explaining why you have these blemishes is the way to go. I have always been told and read that it is best to address it, but not make a big deal of it.
Here is what Grad Admission Essays says:
> If you have grades or test scores that do not represent your true potential, you can explain them in your essay. As a general rule, it is better to keep your main statement of purpose as positive as possible. Do not make long, involved excuses; keep it simple and devoid of drama; no whining and no feeling sorry for yourself. Also, sometimes it is helpful to compute your GPA according to a more beneficial formula. Your problem must meet these criteria:
>* It has to be in the past. >* It has to be resolved. * It has to be sympathetic. * It should be unlikely to recur in graduate school.
>First of all, you need to get your transcripts and analyze your grades in the following categories: overall, in your major, in math and science, in math, in science, excepting English and comp, year by year, semester by semester, over the last four semesters, not counting your freshman year, since you declared your current major, in classes that meet after noon, and so on, ad infinitum. Then, look for patterns. The best pattern of all is a perfect 4.0, of course, and second best is for your grades to up each year. Then you can say, “My grades have gone up every year. I feel as though I have not yet hit my stride as a scholar.” Identify your worst semester and your worst grade, and ask yourself what was going on in that class or semester. Is this a problem you have permanently resolved? Can you assure the admissions reader that this was an anomalous problem?
>When your grades have markedly improved, always point that out. Readers may look at your GPA without noting your GPA trend. Help them see what you want them to see.)
Asher, Donald. Graduate Admissions Essays, Fourth Edition: Write Your Way into the Graduate School of Your Choice
>Warning
>Keep all excuses and explanations such as those mentioned in this section to the absolute minimum—a sentence if possible, a paragraph at most. Do not make long, involved excuses; keep it simple and devoid of drama; again, no whining and no feeling sorry for yourself. Also, sometimes it is helpful to compute your GPA according to more favorable formulae.
He goes on to give some examples of exactly how to address "bad" grades. I really suggest you buy the book, it's very helpful.
https://www.amazon.com/Graduate-Admissions-Essays-Fourth-School/dp/1607743213
This book will lay it out for you
Read this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Graduate-Admissions-Essays-Fourth-School/dp/1607743213/
Everything I did is in that book. It was suggested to me by a professor whose research team I was in during undergrad.
First, I'm glad you're applying to become an RD! I hope you get in and go far! :)
1) What was your timeline for when you began actually taking time to put everything on DICAS? It's September now and the semester will fly by so how early did you start actually spending quality time on it? I am wondering if it's better to just focus on the semester at hand and leave all DICAS stuff for winter break or if I should start now.
When I applied, I tried to get everything done as early as possible. If DICAS has already opened, then have a goal of getting it all done and turned in 2-4 weeks ahead of time. Certainly don't wait until the last minute to put it all together. I suggest finding a date you want to turn it in by and start scheduling items from your "To-do list" so that you can pace yourself and not have to do everything at once (during the semester is fine as long as it doesn't interfere with other important things like exams). Things like who you want to get rec letters from would come first because professors have many obligations and letters likely won't be written within a couple of days time.
2) When did you take the GRE? Did you take it more than once?
Luckily, I didn't have to take the GRE, so I won't be much help here. But, I would think that if you need the GRE for DICAS, it would probably be a good idea to take it during winter break since you haven't already. Definitely not something to wait on and you're going to have to study for it. Again, if you need it for DICAS, start scheduling study times now because you're not going to have an opportunity to take it twice.
3) I had to retake a couple of classes due to poor grades my freshman year of college. I did just fine after retaking both classes and ended up with an A and B which is a huge improvement from 2 D's. I was wondering how to approach this if I should bring it up in my personal statement a reason for the poor grades or if I should just leave it alone and not mention it. My most recent semester spring 2016 my GPA for the semester was 3.8 with 19 credit hours (I added a psychology minor late). Obviously I am doing worlds better academically but I am wondering if internship directors will look at the 2 D's and judge me based on grades I got 3 years ago. Freshman year I was just checked out from school and from life. 'Checking out' doesn't make for a good explanation in the personal statement.
The best resource I've ever purchased was a book on how to write admissions essays (or else you're going to sound just like everyone else). This book my favorite. Also, I wouldn't address the grades specifically. For example, I didn't do well the first year of undergrad, but did exponentially (so to speak) better by my senior year, so I talked about my growth in education and learning and how my grades showed a positive trend that only went up over time, and were only going to continue being great.
I hope you find this information useful and let me know if you have other questions!