eklavya

you don't really have to wait till the last LoR is turn in to submit the application (and pay the fee). your application is considered 'processable' if they see that you've paid the charges. the sooner you pay the fee and turn in the application, the earlier a file of your name (for admission review purpose) will be created. you can always come back to see if the last LoR has been submitted. but of course it's a huge relief, if everything gets in by the deadline.

there's nothing unethical about contacting the professors, but until the status of your application remains unknown, it's better to contact the grad secretary/coordinator. what i mean by unknown status is that you don't know if your application has already been reviewed or is in the process of being reviewed or will be reviewed in the near future. some schools absolutely don't allow to make updates on the application once it enters the (initiation of) review phase. only the grad secretary would know the real status of your app. so, contacting these people rather than the profs you are in contact with sounds more logical to me.

phd school

yea, you feel fine because you just submitted your apps. give it a few days/weeks, and you'll start to feel like the rest of us

LoR should come from someone who knows you personally and can vouch for your (strong) academic record and future enthusiasm in continuing graduate studies. if you think your second boss can do a better job at this than your teacher, then pick the boss. unlike most people think, 2 out of 3 (or even 3 out of 3) LoRs don't have to come from the professors at your institution. they just have to be someone who truly think that you will be a good candidate in graduate school. when i did mine (am applying to PhD), 1 was from my MS advisor, and 2 were from famous PIs whom I had worked with in my internships (2 PIs at 2 different institutes).

you forgot to mention the bio students poking the cheaters with their pen/forceps/whatever.... haha

you don't have to include this transcript if this class wasn't transferred to your 'main' school. and since you withdrew from the class, i assume you didn't transfer it. since the class passed on to the oblivion, you'll be fine without this.

i really doubt that it's driven by desperation for popularity. there are roughly about 20-22 tests per semester i think. so in essence, each person gets to become the hardcore dude at least once. i wonder why our university expelled these folks. they should have been kept around and demonstrated to bio students to explain reciprocal symbiosis.... it'd have also saved few lichens each year

send me a message if you are still looking. also include your email id.. i will send the word file as an attachment

wow, we've gotten a lot of questions regarding 'SoP length lately! i suppose everyone wants to finish the apps before the break starts the general consensus in this forum is that you should not exceed the recommended/required length of your SoP. check out this thread for more discussion:

depends on the schools. of 7 i applied to, only 1 school emailed me back acknowledging the receipt of LoRs. i had to check the online status for others. and when a recommender submits a LoR, it most likely suggests that he/she did so for remaining schools as well. however, at point, you are going to have to check if all materials reached all schools and if your app is complete. therefore, don't take it as a burden - you'll be in much calmer state of mind once you know your app is complete.

your gre scores are high enough to get into (almost) any big schools, but i assume you are aware of the fact that admission depends on several other factors. without you first listing here the names of the schools you are planning on applying to, it's impossible for any of us to give you any advice. more specifically, us listing the school names for you sounds ridiculous in itself. i mean, there are literally hundreds of schools to choose from. since you have taken both gre and ielts, are you planning on applying to both US and UK? if you can provide us the list, you will get sound suggestions from people on this board.

i know!! but i really don't want to be around the same folks i worked with for the last 3 years! although i am pretty sure i will end up somewhere in the midwest.

you never know, but it's better to stay within the limit. if the way the essay is turned in is by copy-pasting in a box on the online form, essays over the word limit will be truncated, and your essay will be incomplete. if it's something you upload (document files) or send via snail mail, then it's less of an issue. however, the reviewer might not go easy on your application if other applicants have it within the limit whereas yours is evidently much more. i suggest that you take an extra day or two to trim down the long ones to their size limits.

no, but one option is to call/visit the center where you took the gre, and ask for their help. if kind enough, they will be able to pull out the log for the day/week/month you took the test and give you your name, registration #, and whatever else you need. do take your photo id with you (duh!), and the credit card receipt for gre (if possible), and any other supporting document. don't worry, things will work out

that's absurd. but the primary point to be pondered over is 'She might also be using the English thing as an excuse to get out of doing this, since she doesn't agree with my decision to study abroad'. if you think this is most likely the case (or even the least likely), i doubt the (positive) nature of the LoR coming from her. she might write you a wushy-washy letter, as a formality gesture. i see nothing wrong with asking the linguistics professor - people who write you the letters have to know your academic caliber and interest in graduate studies, and not necessarily people from within the same department. if his/her words can sell you in the market, you shouldn't hesitate to ask for help.

applying to 7 programs in the US, all PhDs. cost me a swell ~650$, including the gre cost. three are my top choice, two middle and two meh. there are no 'backup' programs per se, as all programs are great at what they do. i'll happily go to any program, anytime. now just gotta wait till mid january!

i paid ~450 for 7 schools, plus the loot from gre. my hard earned $$ :'(

i come from science background, and therefore might be considered an outcast in this sub-forum. but hear me out, my experience (in MS) might be of some use. do your masters if: a. you get sufficient funding. masters without funding is undesirable, especially if your ultimate goal is to go for a phd b. your undergrad record was so-so. masters is an awesome platform to gain more research experience, exposure to sub-branches of your field and to mature intellectually. c. your ultimate goal is academia. having a masters helps a lot, as your recruiting institute/university often looks for your 'linear' growth and advancement at each step. don't do it if: a. none of the above are true b. you simply want to occupy some time (aka result of unemployment) that all said, doing a masters is a terrific idea. if you have all resources to do it, go for it regardless of your future major and career path. since you will most likely be in your field of choice for the remainder of your life, an extra 2 years of school will benefit you in the long run.

come clean, be honest and explain to your advisor/committee that you are not satisfied with your progress. tell that (perhaps) because of your lack of interest, or the future potential/applicability of the program, or the people around you, or any other reason, you don't think you will be able to contribute as much as you thought you could. also tell that if the tables were turned and you were given a fresh opportunity in another program that you like, you'll be able to do better. you are going to have to fight strong to prove your case as they are not going to believe you in doing well in another program (in the same school/dept) if you weren't doing well in the first program. but if you are trying to switch just because you are fed up all the nuisances and other stuff you are facing, just tell that what's bothering you. this is never an easy process, and a very awkward thing to go through. especially if the transfer is happening in the same dept/school. some profs are cool with it, some might give you a cold shoulder every now and then. but it's you who needs to make the ultimate decision.

yeah, don't put any title on your SoP. it might not be a terrible idea to have a header as the above post says, but unless the SoP needs be turned in as a separate file, i wouldn't worry about this either. generally, your whole application, including the SoP, is printed as a single file. if you are using paper application, print the SoP question on a cover page and the essay on remaining page(s) (again, with no title on the top of the essay).

football tickets are the first things in my mind, no matter which school i go to! to be honest, i applied to UF as a backup. unless i get into one of my top 3 choices, UF will be where i'll go. i love humidity, and better when it's hot. it sure will be fun if i end up going there. thanks for your help offer, i'll definitely make contact if i decide to attend UF! good luck with your apps too.... it's not even december, but this wait is excruciating!

this is a hard one to answer. imo, it's all about ethics. if you apply to other phd programs during a phd so that you can leave the current one, it is very selfish and not appropriate at all. i mean, you committed to one phd program, and therefore joined that school. now after a year, you are planning to leave that school because a better program has accepted you. this doesn't seem right, from my perspective. unless you have severe financial/health/personal problems that would not allow you to continue your phd at a certain institution, i don't think it's moral to switch programs. you can, however, transfer to another phd program if you don't like your current one.

this happened in my univ as well (accounting major), last year.... since there are 2-3 days to take the midterms, and the midterms are held in the testing center and not in the class, one guy from the group would study like hell and go take the test. then he/she'd come back and regurgitate the test in front of classmates. and the remaining would go and take the test, get >95% all the time! the people involved were identified, and 26 students were expelled from the department. of the 26, 4 were expelled from the university while remaining were allowed to stay. of those allowed to stay, 3-4 were ripped off of their 3-4 years they had invested in accounting and made to enroll in some other major, while remaining were forced to take a year worth of other general and ethical classes before re-enrolling in the major. that was a major blow to our accounting program which usually frequents the top 10 in national rankings. and oh, 2 people who had already graduated and left had their diploma revoked. pretty awesome, eh?

they certainly do - but unfortunately, not for the bigshot schools (like yale, mit, harvard, etc). you being an international student might aid to the fact that you got low verbal scores, but i am no business guy, and i am inclined to say that that would not extremely hurt your application. you can still try, and also apply to some backup schools, if you have to get into phd programs this year anyhoo. if you are in the position of waiting till next admission cycle, i suggest you to wait it out, prepare better for the gre, and try again. that said, and as you might be aware of too, gre isn't the only thing they take into consideration for admission. it's simply a make or break thing, and most of the weight of your application is carried by your research, lor, sop and grades.