eklavya

This last prof might have gone to a place where there's no internet, perhaps? It's hard to imagine, but may be that's the hard fact. Or, he is deliberately dodging the emails so that he can do in peace whatever he went there to do! I don't advise calling, or sending out any more emails. Most schools consider your application review-worthy if the main application, $$, GRE, transcripts reach on time. Later LoRs don't do any harm other than your application will be reviewed late (upon receipt of all materials), thus increasing all sorts of risks. If there's no word on his return, then you can/should start knocking doors of a or two backup profs, if you have any. I know what you are going through... one of my prof was little late in submitting his LoRs (which was before the deadlines), and I thought I was burning in hell till he turned in the letters. Hang in there man.. it'll turn out well!

It is hard to suggest you what to do without knowing your both GRE scores and your intended field of study (and your other credentials). Different adcomms put different weights on GRE, as, you know, the value of GRE is subjective to the field of study, and can mean anywhere from very important to most likely useless. For example, science majors (computers, physics, chemistry, biology, math, etc) might neglect the V and AW and look just at Q scores. This is possibly reversed in fields like english, literature, drama, musicology, etc. And liberal arts majors might consider all scores to be important. If your other application credentials and materials - GPA, research, SoP, LoRs - are pretty good, then GRE might not be that important. If you decide to retake the GRE (but why man?? don't make the ETS rich!! ) and get higher scores this time, you can simply report this score, if you haven't sent the scores already the first two times. If you sent the scores in the past, it is not going to hurt your application... it's just a stupid GRE test. I do not think it is impulsive to explain why you got low GRE.. no one really cares that much on why you got low scores. But again, it is difficult to assess your situation as we have no idea how much you got and what program are applying to and with how strong academic/research record.

She could be really busy with her own work, or might have been working on your LoRs.. it's hard to tell. I would at least expect some kind of communication from her regarding the yay/nay or at what step the LoR writing has come to. Since these aren't happening, and as you mentioned that she seemed little hesitant, which is not a good sign at all, it's probably the right time to talk to your backup LoR writer. She might come through in the last minute, because of her guilty conscience pushing her to act humane. But it's not worth going through the mental agony and taking the risk in case she does not get the letters in. As someone said above, it certainly won't hurt to have more letters, but it definitely will to have less. Therefore, act on it asap.

Aren't all these schools highly ranked in your field, and in general? Your GRE is prolly alright, but you don't seem to have much research experience except that one at GSK. And no conferences/posters/papers either. You might have a decent shot at these schools... or perhaps better shots, but it usually is a good idea to have 'backup' schools in the list. And us being international students, the situation is more gray and shady. Just to give you an idea, my credentials are almost the same as yours, except that I have couple papers out and lots of research experience that include two internships at internationally well-known PIs/companies. I have applied to 4 schools that are within the top 5 of my program, 2 mediocre schools and 1 as a complete backup. I think the way the applications are handled is different for different programs, but it is not a terrible idea to try out schools at all levels. At least it will give you some mental comfort.. I think! ETA: saw your one article after posting this.

So despite of landing in the interviews, you decided not to enroll last year? Lets hear the story!

eight times

That's fine... some schools get the scores electronically - within a couple of days; some via mail - 4-10 days; some via cd/dvd bi-weekly or monthly - takes a long time. In all cases, the schools will at least be able to see your scores on a secured website, although they might not have the printout at hand. And the ETS reports as 'scores sent', regardless of if the schools have actually received a copy. One of the schools I have applied to hasn't acquired a 'real' copy yet... any day though!

"god damn it! here comes another rotten egg.. QUICK, trash it!" man, i'm getting paranoid day by day

Contacting the graduate programs at each school where you sent your scores is the best way to know this. ETS also sends you a receipt-kind-of-thing later in the mail that lists all the schools to which the scores were sent.

It won't look bad, but as Strangefox said, the adcomm might get confused. Even I was thinking about sending 4 letters to few programs because they had empty slots and the direction read '...at least 3 LoRs...'. But it's not really worth it. If you think the 3 letters that are already in have done a good job in recommending your for grad studies, you don't really need the 4th one. In most places, you can turn in your applications before having all LoRs in. The 4th (or any) one can reach little late, and that's fine. But if it reaches the school very late and the adcomm was waiting on that letter to begin the review process, your chances might drop. You can politely tell the 4th writer that the deadlines are coming up, and you are going to turn in the applications in a matter of few days. If he/she can make it, not bad. If not, you can submit the applications as you already have the required 3 LoRs.

The adcomm might not go to great lengths to dig up facts about your LoR writer, because honestly, they don't have that much 'free' time on their hands. What might happen although, is that if you ask a prof who got his graduate degree from the same institution where you are planning to apply, then the name of that particular writer might click to the adcomm. They might be able to say 'Oh, I was in this guy's PhD committee'.. or 'I remember him from that lab, a bright fellow'.. or something similar. People (on gradcafe) have different opinions regarding if or not this kind of letter (written by a prof who went to the same school) will help your admission. I think it slightly helps, because of the familiarity factor, but not my much. It is better if you can make a prof well-known/rising in his/her field write a letter for you. The bottom line is, the writer should clearly explain who you are, why you will do well in graduate program and why that particular school should take you. And about the university name on prof's signatures... they rarely do that. In fact I haven't seen anyone do that.

difficult questions

electoral success

How bad are we talking here? Re-submitting application materials solely depends on the department. You can ask the gradsec and see what your options are. But dude, we all, and I mean ALL of us wish that we could have changed one part or the other of our application. Small/big typos/errors are bound to happen in this nerve-wrecking process. Unless your error is unpardonable, don't fret too much over it, and let the application fairies take care of this.

One of my friends is in last year of his chemical engineering (BS), and he is also interested in something along your way. He told me that he is going to apply to Yale, UWisc (Madison) and JHopkins as his top prospects. Perhaps this will lead ways for you. Another way to find labs related to your interest is by reading papers. Try finding papers published within a couple of years or so and see which labs they come from. This is probably the best way to go, as then you could really, really narrow down your search to few labs that work on your focus area.

First answer/opinion - Yes, profs include their credentials. Basically, all/most goes in of their email signature... you might have seen this while receiving emails from your profs. And I do think the adcomm might be interested in knowing the status of the letter writer - assistant/associate/full prof, lecturer, just an RA, boss, etc. They might pay more attention to how long the certain person has been working in his/her field and how renowned their work is rather than giving full emphasis to a letter from a PhD guy vs that from an MA guy. After all, it is about how strong the letter is and how much of an impact the letter can make on the adcomm. Second answer/opinion - I would not make these profs (with whom you do not have academic relationship with) write letters for me. First of all, they do not know my real potential on succeeding/excelling in grad level programs as they do not know my research potential, leadership skills and other essential attributes. Second, the letters from these profs are not going to be as solid as you'd expect. I mean, they know you and can vouch for you, but there's a limit after all. If they cannot elaborate on your academic as well as social skills (like your own prof would/could), what good are such letters? You can get letters from PIs whom you worked during your internships, or your employers, etc.

I have not been in such situation, and therefore cannot speak from my experience (or, lack of it). However, I feel that if it is still early (if you haven't started working on his research project yet) for you to make changes, by all means do what your heart says. You don't want to spend the valuable years of grad schools in something which you don't think you will enjoy. If you don't enjoy things you do, you will not excel in them. Take O-chem for example.... most people get poor grades in it (including me ) because (pretty much) no one enjoys that class. So, first off, you can try talking with the grad program coordinator, and see what he/she has to say. Perhaps after that, you can talk with both advisors, one at a time, and come up with what you want to do. On the other hand, don't rush. It could very well be that your current advisor is the person whom you want to work with. I mean, the 'spark' might not be present now, but might come through later, perhaps within few months of this or the next semester. Who knows! Therefore, give it some time, and don't make any decisions going 100mph. Here are few threads created in the past which might offer more insight:

I remember reading your SoP. Perhaps you have these drop down menus for 'religion' because it applies to your program? When I applied to my programs (7 total, 4 of which are in the top 5), I was not asked about my religion. If I remember correctly, only 2 or 3 schools had asked about ethnicity, but that's all. I don't think anyone's religion and/or nationality comes into play during the review process. They might be like 'Oh, an applicant from country ABC! Not many people from a predominantly Buddhist/Shinto/Confucianism/etc country apply to this program'. And that should be it. The review and decision process should solely rely on merit and potential of the applicants, and nothing regarding their race, religion and residence. While they might want some diversity in their program, I believe schools care more about the reputation of their program than increasing % of ethnicity and language represented. After all, what good is more diversity if the student cannot perform well and sets up failures for him/herself and the school?

Employment history is a gray area, because if you worked for your professor, then it would technically be an employment but can also be counted as a part of your research work. Rather than ripping hairs off during the process to distinguish these different areas, I think it is logical to mention your research and work experience as a single entity. Unless you have worked for a 'real' company outside the school, I would not worry about trying to separate out employment activity from research/school-related activity. Now, from what I've seen in my applications, listing employment history is optional. Besides, we all discuss our research/internship/work experiences in the SoP anyway. Adding to that, if your application allows you to upload your resume, or if you are sending your resume to the program later, then this might be even more redundant. It definitely won't hurt to mention your employment/work history, but you don't have to stress too much over it.

rolling tongue

Unless you have already told them, I don't think the school will embark on a full-fledged mission to find out which other schools you have applied and tell them to reject you. It is not common, as it backfires on the schools. And if you haven't signed a contract, then you aren't legally bound either. But what you should really think about is how wrong it will be ethically to rescind, after accepting an offer. One thing to keep in mind is that most schools have April 15 as their withdrawal deadline. So you might be able to back out legally/ethically. Contact your advisor/department and tell them, with all honesty, that you cannot attend their program. Because we are still very early in the admission season for F11, they have plenty of time to give that spot to the next best student. Here are some threads created in the past on similar topic:

hatchet man

It is better to get as close to the length as you can, without being redundant and losing focus. If you can state the same stuff in fewer words (not too succinct either), I don't see anything bad with that. However, it is always good to follow the given, specific directions and minimize the risk of being thrown away just because you did not follow the guidelines exactly. Also, searching the forums gave me following hits... they might have more suggestions on this particular topic:

How low are we talking here? A friend of mine, had 3.0X GPA and got into Georgetown for some ecology management (MS) kind of program - I am not entirely sure about the program, but was something bio related. He was telling us that the only reason he got in was because he had good LoRs. He took GRE few months before I did, and dude barely crossed the 1200 limit. Another friend of mine got into UC Riverside plant genetics (MS), and he had about 3.1 something GPA, and <1200 GRE. Also his research experience was minimal - few months in a wheat research institute in Idaho and few months in our lab with another prof. I see that you are in science, so if you have prolonged research experience, some conference posters and/or papers out, they should counterbalance your low GPA/GRE.

holy guacamole