1. Applying to graduate school
The Personal Statement

2. The Personal Statement
What are the most compelling reasons you can give for the admissions committee to be interested in you?

3. Questions to ask yourself
What's special, unique, distinctive, about you or your life story?
What details of your life might help the committee better understand you
personal history
people or events that have shaped you or influenced your goals
What personal characteristics do you possess that would improve your prospects for success in the field or profession?
integrity, compassion, and/or persistence
What skills?
leadership, communicative, analytical

4. Questions to ask yourself
When did you become interested in this field?
What have you learned about it (and about yourself) that has further stimulated your interest and reinforced your conviction that you are well suited to this field? What insights have you gained?
How have you learned about this field—through classes, readings, seminars, work or other experiences, or conversations with people already in the field?
What are your career goals?

5. Questions to ask yourself
Are there any gaps or discrepancies in your academic record that you should explain (great grades but mediocre LSAT or GRE scores, for example, or a distinct upward pattern to your GPA if it was only average in the beginning)?

6. The Graduate Record Examination
Tips & Tricks

7. What is the GRE?
The GRE is an exam that is meant to test your skills on various subjects that are used in graduate school.
It is computer-based and timed
3 hours long
Scored on a scale from

8. There are three sections to the GRE
The Analytical Writing Section
The Verbal Reasoning Section
Lastly, the Quantitative Reasoning Section

9. Analytical Writing Section
One section with two separately timed tasks
You will need to write an essay over a “Analyze an Issue” task and over a “Analyze an Argument” task.
You will be giver 30 minutes per task

10. Verbal Reasoning Section
You will be given two verbal reasoning sections
You will have 20 questions per section with 30 minutes for each section
Some examples of questions that will be asked are:
Reading comprehension
Text Completion
Sentence Eqivalence

11. Reading Comprehension
Reviving the practice of using elements of popular music in classical composition, an approach that had been in hibernation in the United States during the 1960s, composer Philip Glass (born 1937) embraced the ethos of popular music in his compositions. Glass based two symphonies on music by rock musicians David Bowie and Brian Eno, but the symphonies' sound is distinctively his. Popular elements do not appear out of place in Glass's classical music, which from its early days has shared certain harmonies and rhythms with rock music. Yet this use of popular elements has not made Glass a composer of popular music. His music is not a version of popular music packaged to attract classical listeners; it is high art for listeners steeped in rock rather than the classics.
1. The passage addresses which of the following issues related to Glass's use of popular elements in his classical compositions?
A) How it is regarded by listeners who prefer rock to the classics
B) How it has affected the commercial success of Glass's music
C)Whether it has contributed to a revival of interest among other composers in using popular elements in their compositions

12. Text Completion
It is refreshing to read a book about our planet by an author who does not allow facts to be (i)__________ by politics: well aware of the political disputes about the effects of human activities on climate and biodiversity, this author does not permit them to (ii)__________ his comprehensive description of what we know about our biosphere. He emphasizes the enormous gaps in our knowledge, the sparseness of our observations, and the (iii)__________, calling attention to the many aspects of planetary evolution that must be better understood before we can accurately diagnose the condition of our planet.
Blank (i)
Blank (ii)
Blank (iii)
(A) overshadowed
(D) enhance
(G) plausibility of our hypotheses
(B) invalidated
(E) obscure
(H) certainty of our entitlement
(C) illuminated
(F) underscore
(I) superficiality of our theories

13. Sentence Equivalence
Although it does contain some pioneering ideas, one would hardly characterize the work as __________.
orthodox
eccentric
original
trifling
conventional
innovative

14. Quantitative Section You will have: Quantitative Comparison Questions
Multiple-Choice Questions
Lastly, Numeric Entry Questions

15. Place to Take It
You need to register on-line at the Educational Testing Service website: Prometric Testing Center 5807 North Mesa St. El Paso, Texas United States Of America (915) Cost is $195

16. TIPS Practice, Practice, Practice…… Every score is recorded
Enroll in test prep courses early on

17. Resources UTEP graduate school offers prep workshops
Educational Testing Service
Test Prep Courses