GRAD ECHO

For some programs I applied to, the funding procedure starts after an official acceptance. Some programs provide this information with the acceptance letter and open applications for TAships and RAships. Understanding the degree of funding/fee waiver though might only be available from alumni in some cases (especially as admission offices dont always reply timely).

I personally rank programs based on curriculum appeal, niche research prospects I am looking at, and level of cultural fit when I rank programs. At the end of the day these 3 things will determine how happy I am to be in that program. For me having a choice of intellectually stimulating electives is very important as I want to tailor what I want to learn. Similarly, a culture of collaboration instead of cut-throat toxic competition is essential for me to feel like I have some breathing room in a demanding graduate program. This is why perhaps some place like Stanford may not be the ideal choice for me, even though it is top ranked.

I recommend you tailor them based on your type of program. As Muttahar mentioned, for PHD and thesis based master programs it needs to be research direction oriented, especially in top programs which outshine their competition in most of the other factors like faculty or course quality etc. For a professional masters program, citing employment outcomes, curriculum quality and specific facilities and services that will help you achieve your goals (Like Fatima mentioned) will probably define a better fit.

I personally think Magoosh Quant videos helped develop base concepts very well but real GRE had much harder difficulty. Test questions required the same concepts but needed their use simultaneously. It all comes down to how creatively you can approach a problem and how quick of an intuition you have in coming up with the right approach to solve quant problems. I think the one step that helped me in practically every question was first understanding how I would solve a simple case, then I would solve a more complex case and oftentimes there would be a pattern that emerges after 2-3 iterations, allowing me to solve for Nth case. This is a common GRE pattern where they are primarily testing critical thinking over formulas etc. As is the general case with math, practice makes perfect. I think your basic concepts will not need time developing, but you should practice as much as you can. You will find plenty of drive links online (reddit, gradcafe, twitter etc.) with compiled questions from different resources. Make sure you start to time your questions after you have reasonable accuracy. The more time you can save on straightforward questions, the less pressure you will have while solving the harder ones.

How is everyone preparing for their graduate program interviews? I feel like the application was quite comprehensive in covering every aspect of my profile so I am a little lost on what else I can prepare for? Can anybody share insights they got from their own research?