rogue

The main point of LORs is to attest to your ability to perform well in grad school. So, the writers should be familiar with A.) your academic performance/potential and B.) the type of work done in graduate school. I've heard all kinds of arguments about whether so-and-so is qualified to write a LOR with such-and-such credentials/title, but I think in the end, this is what it boils down to. Just my 2 cents.

I wasn't really out in undergrad or my master's program, but profs from both didn't seem in the least deterred by my queer research proposal when I asked them to write LORs. I was slightly hesitant to use my queerness as my claim to diversity for the UC schools that require a diversity statement, but since that was my only real card to play (other than my age), I went with it. It would've been obvious from my SOP anyway. I guess I'll find out in the next few months if that was a good call or not.

This is reassuring. I'm turning 36 this week (eek!), but I feel like this is exactly the right time in my life to go back to school.

I'm pretty sure this refers not to the analytical writing section, but to the old analytical (reasoning) section that was dropped several years ago.

I would definitely send the sample. It's just another chance to shine, you know? Only one of my programs said a sample was optional. For that one, I actually ended up submitting two samples (but this was on the advice of a professor there).

Just mailed the packages of supporting documents for my last two today. It's such a relief to be done!

I think it really depends on the school. I heard some initial reviews started before the holidays for programs with December deadlines.

Sigh. Right. Maybe I could be funded by donations from frustrated applicants? Then again, it seems like we're all blowing our life savings on application fees, score reports and transcripts. Oh, and mailing all this stuff. Ugh.

Yeah. I saved this one for last because I thought you couldn't save it. When I originally read the instructions (probably around the end of the summer), it specified that you couldn't save your entries and had to complete it all in one sitting. I was really surprised when I went to work on it and saw that I could save and return later.

Well that's just piss poor design. UMass was actually the one I was referring to when I mentioned having to enter dates for not receiving degrees, but this is even worse. Luckily, it was one of my last ones and by that time I'd learned not to trust online grad school applications, so I clicked the save button on every screen before clicking next. I swear, if I get across the board rejections, I'm going to start a consulting business for schools to improve their online apps.

One of my LOR writers quit his job two days before handing me my packet of letters. He still signed them with his old title and old company name, and that's the information I used when listing him as a recommender on applications. (However, he provided his personal cell phone number and email address as contact info, rather than his former employer's info.) I'm not too worried about it; people move around sometimes and I think ad coms understand this. I can't imagine this will have any effect whatsoever on my admissions chances.

Exactly! I've been secretly wondering about this myself. It makes me feel extra triumphant when I finally manage to conquer each application--like ha! I beat you at your little game! (On review, I realize this sounds a little pathetic. Ah, well.)

In this case, they were automatically sending a request for an LOR. Grr. Their LORs are all in a big envelope that's going to the post office on Monday--and all of the letters have contact info in them. Oh, well.

This. Ugh.

I've applied to ten schools, and the design of their online applications ranged from practically flawless to annoying mess. Perhaps this is because I used to design software and websites for a living, but I do have certain expectations regarding user experience. Today, for example, I was trying to finish an app that asked me to list all colleges/universities attended, select from a drop-down which degree was awarded--or "no degree"--and enter a date for the degree. The problem? Although I noted that I did not receive a degree from three of my five schools, I still had to enter a degree date for them! This would've been a simple validation procedure to accept blank date fields when "no degree" was selected, but the developer didn't bother with it. Argh. I finally settled for entering the month and year I last attended each school. Several applications have required that I enter an email address for each recommender, despite saying that hard copy letters were fine. I didn't want my recommenders (who sent me hard copies to include in my packets for each school, because I am a control freak) to be bothered by emails, but I didn't have a choice with some apps. Again, this would've been a simple fix: just add checkboxes to indicate the rec would be a hard copy and not require an email address. Also, I've gotten to the end of a couple apps and been told I had to print something to include in my hard copy packet. Luckily, I was somewhere with a printer and was able to do this, but it would've been nice if there was advance warning about printing something when I started the app. What if I'd been at a coffee shop or something and couldn't print? I know this is kind of petty and I think I'm just easily annoyed at this point, but still... What technical/design annoyances have you stumbled across during the application process?

Technically, I could. The problem is, I don't have giant piles of cash stuffed in mattresses (or in the bank for that matter), so whenever something goes wrong (like right now, when my shower is leaking through my kitchen ceiling), I am screwed. And I think dealing with property emergencies from out of town might be a lousy experience for both me and my tenants. However, that is certainly a backup plan of sorts if it doesn't sell. My other backup plan is to pack my stuff and sneak out in the dead of night, then send an apology card to my mortgage lender in lieu of a check. I figure with 5-6 years of school and 1-2 years of post-doc, it'll be off my record by the time I'm back to the real world. Ha. Kind of.

I'm just curious if anyone is in a similar situation to me, and what they're doing about it. I have a little house that I bought 2.5 years ago. There's no way I can afford to keep it when I go back to school, even if I ended up getting into a program in the city where I currently live. The mortgage is just too high to swing on a grad student stipend. I think I'm going to put it on the market right after the holidays and just hope I get in somewhere (i.e., that I don't end up selling it for no reason). I'm sort of afraid to wait until April to list it, since I need to sell it before classes start and the market sucks. I swear I'm getting an ulcer from worrying about what I'll do if I get into school and the house doesn't sell.

I applied to Berkeley too, but I'm not holding my breath. Between the budget crisis and the low admit percentage, I doubt I'll end up there. But it's Berkeley--I couldn't not apply, right?

Exactly. Also see: herd of buffalo theory. Thank you.

Wine. I also drank so much wine while studying for the GRE that I was tempted to drink a few glasses before I went to the test center, to more closely replicate my study/practice exam conditions.

Hmm... if this Ph.D. stuff doesn't pan out, do I want a master's in the Beatles, comic books or lighting design? http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/42543

I'm not sure when your deadlines are, but it seems kind of late to be retaking it now. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably focus more on making the rest of my application as strong as possible.

This. I need crypt-like quiet to concentrate.

I know this is a few days old, but I've been offline for a while; sorry. Anyway, I have a bunch of tattoos and piercings, many of which are visible in my regular, everyday clothes. I'll probably try to cover or downplay (e.g., solid plugs instead of tunnels in the stretched lobes) the majority of them until I make that all-important first impression, but then all bets are off. I had some of these when I was in my master's program 10 years ago. Had it not been an MBA program, I doubt anyone would've given them a second look, but since business types can be a little more conservative, they did raise a few eyebrows. Meh. Whatever. I'm going to be there because of my brain, not my skin--and anyway, there's not much I can do about it.

That's certainly good to hear. I was sort of under the impression that it was more about doing recitations and grading papers for a professor. Not that I mind that either, but it's been great getting to have total control.