rising_star

I think a simple card where you say thanks and express your appreciation is good enough. But, I've never had to deal with this since my supervisor has never given me a Christmas gift.

Eigen and timuralp have great suggestions as well. The last reading group I participated in was focused on using a methodology in research that spanned across a few subdisciplines, which was cool because it brought people together. One great way to start is by reading a seminal book or paper that covers whatever topic the group is focused on. (For the social and environmental sciences, you can just find a paper in Annual Reviews about the topic.) Ideally, this is a text that a few people have read but that everyone else will have on their comps/quals list or should have read but hasn't found the time to yet. Sometimes just knowing that it's something that foundational will get people to come and participate.

You want to establish some ground rules about when, where, and how often you're going to meet, what people are expected to do before getting there, what kinds of things are appropriate for discussion once you're there, etc. You have to decide in advance how serious it's going to be, if it's okay for people to miss a meeting, etc.

I always take 10-12 days off.

Please don't. It's one of the things that really annoys me. If you wanted to get a feeling for our group or the PI, you should've done it before you applied or you should wait until you get in. Also, since my group has no say in who gets admitted, telling us about your application does no good. We decide on a number of students to add, usually 1, in some cases 0, without seeing the applications. Then my advisor goes and finds the person that's a good fit with the rest of us based on interests, background, etc. At this point, just chill. I realize it's hard but, your application is in and there's nothing else for you to do. Relax. Take a break. Go watch a silly movie or an entire season of a TV show on DVD. --- FYI, I'm in the social sciences but my advisor keeps us all on the lab model. No, I don't know why. I just know that that's how it is. We have monthly lab meetings where everyone shares what they're doing, etc. It's a bit weird but, I figured I'd mention it because it's relevant here.

It is legit. All the AAUW grants require a small payment, I think.

It is relevant for both PhD and master's applications. I always listed professors. One of them actually called me to discuss my application and interest in the discipline and department. To answer your other question, you list it on both the application form and in the SOP. You want to make sure that everyone knows, without a doubt, who you want to work with. Also, I wouldn't bother too much with relevant courses. Departments always have way more courses on the books than they actually teach.

Agreed with everyone that said you should do both. Why? Because for the rest of your career as an academic, you will be doing both. I either cancel class or get a colleague to cover for me when I'm at a conference. That's just the way it rolls and everyone (from full professor on down the line) does it. You just offer to teach for them next time, buy coffee/lunch/dinner, etc. My fellow graduate students are always happy to help out and we've all covered for one another.

Honestly, it doesn't matter whether they come to the university or not. What's it going to do, get them to write your letter faster? For all you know, that prof does his/her work from a home office 90% of the time anyway. FWIW, my university turns off the heat during one week of the three week winter break. So, I doubt people go to campus much then, though I know plenty of grad students that do because it's quiet. You likely wouldn't know we're there because we're in our offices with the doors closed.

It really all depends. Personally, I like to be in control of my transcripts so I have a bunch of copies at home that I mail using USPS Priority Mail with delivery confirmation whenever I need to be sure they get somewhere by a particular deadline.

Look, if you already know you're not going to show up for classes in Fall 2012, then why are you applying for Fall 2012 admission? It doesn't make sense. Your qualifications aren't going to change the fact that you aren't going to show up when the rest of this year's admitted students will. It might matter if you plan to defer if you get a Fulbright, Rhodes, etc. But otherwise? You should just wait to apply.

Everyone is considered independent for graduate school financing. That's just the way the federal Dept of Ed does it. So, while you could include your father's information, you don't need to.

My guess would that it is more of an advisor and funding specific issue than it is discipline-specific.

I would take the language at the community college, given the options you've listed. You'll want to send in a transcript, of course, so they can see evidence that you've taken and done well in the course.

I can't imagine that you really only have one type of work to do. I assume you're doing a lot of reading but, that really should be accompanied by writing. Likewise, writing is accompanied by reading. I'm no longer able to work on my ideal schedule for a variety of reasons but, I've adapted nonetheless. I try to set daily goals about what I want to get done and, though I often fail to meet them, these are quite helpful. I should probably set weekly and monthly goals but I've put off doing that lately.

My current department's website kinda sucks. It's better than the old one but, everything sucked during the 6+ month transfer process to the new site. FWIW, things run pretty smoothly within the department and the university. They just don't spend money on website maintenance and design, which is reasonable given the budget cuts the university has had in recent years. Also, a story! When I was applying to PhD programs, one program didn't update their website to the name of the new DGS until about a week before the deadline. So, everything I mailed prior to that (transcripts, application, the info I gave to my LOR writers) was wrong. Amazingly enough, almost everything made it to the right place. Maybe I should've checked the website more often but, since paper letters had to be mailed, there was no way the writers would've had the right info. And yet, it all works out. So, cheer up everyone.

I'd love to follow up with you in ten years to see if this actually happens. Look, professors know that adcoms accept late letters and that grant applications don't. That's how they prioritize, especially when there are 15 letters with the same deadline plus their own funding application plus grading for their courses to do. Remember that grad school is more work than undergrad and that being a tenure-track professor is more work than being in grad school. Many professors tell me that they wish they had all the free time they had as a grad student but that there's even less of it when you're trying to get tenure.

Yes, you should shorten it. Most of your research history should be on your CV, not in your SOP.

Ask the school.

The FAFSA will be available starting January 1. You should fill it out ASAP, listing all the schools you've applied to. The reason why is that the school may have some need-based loans/grants available to graduate students that are given out on a first-come, first-serve basis. You don't want to miss out on the possibility of getting those if you can help it.

I would mention the Consortium when you're mentioning all the other assets on campus that you will draw on. For example, I always talked about the related strengths of other areas on campus that could support me in doing my research.

I think my advisor would kill me if I did this. I generally send a reminder a few days before the deadline, just to make sure he wasn't forgotten. But, to be honest, faculty write a LOT of letters each year. I know last year my advisor wrote more than 140 recommendation letters (grad school apps, fellowship/grant/funding apps, postdoc apps, job apps, tenure apps) for various people. So, if everyone sent him emails every day, he'd never get anything done. Note: this is also why, once you're a grad student, you should be selective and strategic about what you apply to. My advisor has to write letters for everything I apply for, whether that's research funding, dissertation funding, jobs, etc. Yes, they agree to do this. Yes, they can write some boilerplate text that can be used each time you apply for something. BUT you have to remember that writing good letters that are tailored to both the applicant and the program you're applying to takes time. More time than you probably realize if you've never written such a letter before. The letters that you want, the ones that are more than just a form letter, require time. But, getting one of those is worth it, even if it is a few days late.

Late letters are definitely accepted and don't affect your chance of being admitted. I've had plenty of letter mix-ups (including a writer who submitted a letter 3 times to the same school because they kept saying they didn't have it; he finally called the DGS and emailed him a copy directly) and it's never affected admissions. Note: this is not true when applying to fellowships. Those deadlines are fixed and things submitted late are not accepted. I'm talking about Fulbright, Fulbright-Hays, IAF, NSF, etc.

I always send them as annoying as that can be. But, transcripts from all institutions means from all institutions attended, including study abroad.

I've read a few good books recently. Moloka'i by Alan Brennert, The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, and When God Was a Rabbit. Those are three fairly different books but they're all really good. I've been recommending them to people for the last couple of months.