Gram Neutral

You officially win the contest. Congrats!

I'm guessing they sent in unofficial transcripts and accidentally edited out their name? That's what it sounded like when they said it didn't have their name on it.

I guess technically you could say they wouldn't know if the transcripts are actually yours or not.

So I have an opinion question. One of my schools I am applying to I went to undergrad for. One of my old professors is on the admissions committee. I did not do well in their class. In fact, I got a C-. However, my grade was higher than 50% of the class and advisers had to step in so people could graduate etc etc. It was a mess. It's a huge black mark on my transcript, and so I sort of explained it in my SOP since it ruins my whole upward trend GPA thing. This class was 3 years ago though, and so I don't really think the Professor would remember all of that, and without the explanation would just see the bad grade and go wow that kid stank in my class. However, I also don't want to offend them or their teaching skills by saying even though I got a C-, it was still better than half the class. Do I leave it in, or take it out?

Also, just a friendly reminder to make sure you check your spam folders. I had an interview invite get sent to my spam the last time I applied and I didn't know until I got a followup phone call a week later asking if I had ever gotten the email.

I stopped reading right there. Only top 3% in your class? That just isn't gonna cut it. Jk. I wouldn't worry about anything in your application as you are probably far ahead most other applicants. You aren't really expected to have already narrowed in on the field you will spend the rest of your life on by age 19. Sometimes being too specific is actually a bad thing.

I fully expect not to be getting any e-mails on Dec 4th haha. That would one of the top 5 shocks of my life. I certainly don't see myself as a First Tier candidate haha. This is my 3rd time applying to graduate school, and although my application is like 100x stronger than the last time I applied (international internship, 1.5 years full time research, 12 credits of 4.0 master's work), the whole process has tempered my expectations greatly. My first time applying I got 2/8 interviews. I didn't get my first until February.

Not to like...cause anyone to enter freakout mode, but last year Vanderbilt (which you applied to right?) sent out their first two rounds of interviews on December 4th and 10th.

Lol I'm sorry. I thought the part about being mocked via video by an admissions board would give away that I was kidding.

I actually got banned from ever applying again. And they sent a video message laughing at me. I thought it was a but over the top.

Well I'm micro and applying to some of the schools you are applying to(UIUC, Vanderbilt), although you have like 10x better stats than me. My username is also a joke off of your username(although gram neutral bacteria do exist). So look at that. I find it hard to imagine you would not get an interview to almost every school you applied to.

Thanks! I asked and they both said it was fine. One said upload unofficial on the app but official in the FAQs so it was misleading.

Well the name I left in there is ranked significantly higher than school the SOP was for. I've called a few people and sent some emails. I keep the run around and transferred to new people. I wish they would just say yes or no.

Ooooooo I messed up big time now....In my Statement of Purpose I accidentally left another schools name in my concluding paragraph. I can't delete the SOP. I'm going to try and call the school and ask if they can manually delete it. I can't believe I did that....I'm sure that's a big no-no.

If I submitted unofficial transcripts for my post graduate work and they asked for official, will that be much of a problem? My undergraduate transcript is official. Most of the programs didn't care and I didn't realize this one program wanted official and not unofficial, but I've a essay submitted it.

You could potentially find a job as a tech at a company that will pay for your masters. They aren't common, but they exist. That's how I have taken graduate courses. I had a lower GPA in undergrad (3.02) and have taken some master's courses now for free. Hoping that my 4.0 in that will boost me enough to get into some PhD programs.

Yes. I would encourage it if you know you are applying there. That way you know it will get there in time. Same with GRE scores. They will keep it on file. I would at least start the application, but I figure that isn't necessary either. I must say though, applying for the first time since 2013, they really allow attached unofficial transcripts and GRE scores a lot more than they used to.

I could be wrong, but I would think on the flipside a lower GPA from a top tier school would be more forgiven than a lower GPA from <insert Random Direction University of Random State...State>. I also have a hard time believing a 3.2 at UCLA would be looked at equally to a 3.2 at say Chicago State (no offense to anyone). It's just impossible with inherent biases and preconceived notions.

Hey here's a question for you all. How early before the due date do you submit your applications?

I think the real benefit comes in when you write your SOP and talk about why you want to go to that school and you can talk about reaching out to PIs and learning about all the different research going on there etc. It shows you actually have an interest.

I emailed all my PIs back in July/August. Almost all of them replied, if they didn't I just sent a reminder email basically saying I wanted to make sure it hadn't gotten lost in the inbox etc, and then most of those replied. I'm pretty sure it showed interest on my part, and most of them recommended that I apply to their program. One professor wanted to talk in person. So you never know how much an email can do for you. In my opinion, unless you come across as unprofessional, it can't hurt. I basically told them a little bit about myself, then asked if they were taking on new grad students, and followed that with a few basic questions about recent papers they had written, just to show it wasn't just some generic mass form letter.

I can confirm this as I've seen some. I'd say the vast majority are just a letter. Some have them check off boxes rating you from poor to excellent based on things like organization, ability to work in a group, communication, etc. One of my 8 applications had that, but the other 7 were just letters.

You and I are somewhat similar. Make sure to focus on your later years with a higher GPA than your earlier years. Some schools definitely look at your last 60 credits more than your first 60. There's no point in applying to so few schools your first time. You never know what could happen. My GPA was a 3.01 with no masters and I got two interviews the first time I applied.

Thanks for your opinion. I'll probably skip mentioning it. Just wasn't sure if I should say something like "I've been rejected before, but that hasn't slowed down my desire for a PhD" etc. I've been working the last 2 years and taking grad classes, so I'm obviously highlighting all of that.

So I'm getting to my personal statement. Some of the schools I am applying to, I have applied to before and been rejected. Should I acknowledge this in my SOP?