acup313

I actually forgot about this and left it out of a few of mine. I finally realized they may misplace it and not know whose it is, so I started just putting my name in the Header of the SOP. I can't really think of a way to work it in to the actual SOP that doesn't sound cheesy.

Real adult job. I work more than full time during January through March. That should be a hint to some people as to what I do.

For me I googled "the top 25 Accounting PhD programs" and I found a study done by a few different schools that ranked them using a few different methods. I don't think similar results are available for every field, but you may find something.

My rankings are somwehat based on a few different rankings I have seen for my field. 1 in the top 10 2 in the 20-30 range 2 in the 30-40 range 2 in the 40-50 range Yeah I went for a mix.

What about the Professor who left? Would he be willing to write one for you? If there is anyone from your undergrad school that would remember you I would still use them. Also, I would use any of the professors at your current school that you can trust. To answer your final question, I have used current bosses as references for jobs I was trying to obtain numerous times. When the economy is not this bad it is a fairly common practice, depending on the relationship you have with them and the type of job it is.

Yeah, I did not have to deal with the publication part, but I am pretty against having to recreate my entire resume when I could just send it in. I do understand though that it is the Graduate school who is viewing this part, and they probably want to only look at the application. The specific program I am applying to I assume will just look at my resume. So even though I understand why it is this way, I still hate it.

7, primarily due to cost, but there wasn't really many more that I knew would be a good fit.

I will do it. I am almost done with applications so I have a little time on my hands. Also, I am applying to Business schools which seems to place me in the minority on the site, so maybe a few people will be interested in it.

If you do have to send the other letter, the schools will probably just assume there was a typo in the date or they won't look at the date at all. They will probably just assume it was written recently and it won't affect you at all.

I feel bad reading thsese posts. I guess I didn't realize how lucky I was. One of my LOR writers finished them all within a week of me filling out the applications, the other two were finished within three weeks. I am sorry for your situation, but I agree with the other posters about checking with the school about late submissions, I have heard from numerous people that as long as the application is on time the other materials can trickle in a little later.

Yes, I believe it is standard to waive the right, so as not to put pressure on your writers. Most of mine offered to show me the letter anyway.

What is the point of having the limit if they are ok with you going over it? I feel like 300 words over is definitely way too much.

Every school that I have looked at in my field requires some sort of interviw, most of which prefer you to visit for the interview over a phone interview. This is for PhD programs, very rarely is an interview required in my field for Masters programs.

Similar to the other people who have posted the majority of mine have been roughly 800 words due to a two page limit, I double-spaced. I did have one that had a 500 word limit, so be ready to cut some down if you need to.

I have all of mine in, except for one that doesn't open until tomorrow. By having mine in, I mean everything is turned in including my LORs. One of my schools says it does rolling apps, but looking at when students get accepted, it still seems like people only get accepted in Marchish. I just wanted to get my stuff in soon as a sort of out of sight out of mind attempt. It has actually worked ok to relieve some stress since I know there is nothing I can do for a while.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I don't think it ruins your chances at all. The Professor may not even be on the committee that selects the potential PhD students, and even if they are they clearly did not take the time to remember your name for later. Some Professors are just like that, they don't want to take the time to get to know you until you get in at their school. It wasn't a mistake to send e-mails to the other two professors, as most professors are rather nice and you will either get a polite e-mail encouraging your pursuits, no e-mail at all, or the magical but rare e-mail where they are excited about your interests and help you through the process. Don't let this one bad one get you down. Also make sure you keep your e-mails to professors short especially if you don't know them, most aren't too excited when someone they don't know expects them to read a 1,000 word e-mail.

Yes everyone at the schools I have talked to said that anytime they receive anything they start a folder and put evevrything in it until the application is complete, so it didn't matter what order you sent it in. Saying that though, I still filled out my application first, as most of the other items could be send electronically with the application.

I did that for the longest time, but now the applications are in I feel a little better. It definitely helped when one of my professors told me he is pretty sure I could get in anywhere. I disagree with him, but it makes me feel confident that I will get it somewhere.

I am just now going through the application process, but I am married with our first child expected this December. Things are quite a bit different in my field compared to others though. There are a couple programs that provide enough money that it will not be much of a decrease from what I am making now. Also, the time constraints of being a grad student are similar if not better than what I face at work now. So, it seems like to me grad school will be a slight improvement in those areas. Our plan is actually to get in to some debt as my wife plans to get her undergraduate degree while I am getting my PhD. She only lacks a couple of years, so she will either take a lot of hours to finish quickly or still take a full load and spend quite a bit of time at home with our baby. Either way she won't be working, which is why we will probably get in to a little debt. We both decided it would be better for me to get my PhD now instead of waiting because if I put it off until our baby was older I may never do it. Hopefully in a few months I will have more information as to how the process is going.

Yes one of my professors sent me the letter he wrote for me and it made me look like Einstein reincarnated. I handled it differently than you, as I was excited to look so good. It is much better than the alternative of someone saying you are average. I could tell that the professor knew what they were looking for and he said I was awesome in every aspect of their criteria. If I were you I would just be happy that they are making you look good, I have heard from many people who struggle to find enough people to write the letters and do so in a timely fashion.

Yes there really is no risk to not being able to pay it back if you never spend any of it. You mention getting the emergency loans or quick credit cards in case of an emergency, but I see these as way more of a risk than a subsidized student loan. Most of those will start to charge interst fairly quickly, so you might as well use your student loans to pay for these emergency situations since you won't be charged interest for a while. Also, the fact that it starts charging interest after 6 months shouldn't be a problem if you can just pay it all back anyway. If it truly is a loan that you don't need then all of the money should still be there after your time in school. I know that the interest rates aren't very good right now, but just based on what they are and the amount I could possibly get I am pretty sure I would get about $2,000 in interest through my time at school, which isn't bad. After saying all of that though, I do agree that some people shouldn't take out loans if they don't need them. Some people just think hey I have this money I might as well spend it. My strategy is definitely for people who want a safety net, but won't spend money unless they have to.

I have one application that does not open until November. All of my other applications are completely finished. My letter writers were really prompt and sent everything in quickly. I wanted everything to be done quickly and it looks like that worked out well.

All of my advice is assuming you are trying to get into a PhD program: I would say if you are serious about getting a PhD you should definitely try applying to more schools. You will see many people on here applying at 20 schools. Your plan B should be getting in to a "safety" school. Your plan C could be trying to get a adjunct job at a small community college if you have a masters. If you don't then your plan C could probably be appying to Masters programs as that would help you get in to a PhD program.

Yes I also agree with everyone else that they should be typed and either submitted electronically or sent via snail mail, depending on the preference of the school. This is in addition to the forms that the school usually requires them to fill out. Your recommenders should be familiar with the process.

I would just put 3.7, but I guess I am riskier than most. They will probably just assume that you rounded it if they look in to that much detail, if you want to play it safe I doubt they would put too much weight in a less than .002 of a difference.