I came across my GRE scores from 1991 while cleaning out files. I had an extremely low GRE verbal score (380) yet a list of elite institution I hoped to attend; I had no contact with reality and allot of delusions of graduate school grandeur. The programs I applied to were grand cannon reaches for my academic record—I just didn’t know it then. During my second time trying to get into PhD programs I had learned the importance of communicating with potential advisors. One does so because they will serve as your advocate and intellectual mentor for the next five to seven years of your life.
