Ziz

When I applied to U of T's MA a few years back, the rumour going around was that they held off accepting anyone until they found out the results of SSHRC. The rumour was that if you got a SSHRC, you were almost guaranteed admittance to U of T. That being said, I didn't apply to SSHRC and was accepted anyway. It's also way too late to worry about SSHRC and OGS at this poitn since they have insanely early deadlines. So early taht I never have managed to meet one.

Once I saw the LOR had submitted all their letters, I sent a thank you for their support, etc. adn I would let them know the outcomes. When I find out my result at all the schools I will send them another email with an update, and probably ask their advice on what to choose (hopefully there will be some choices!)

Hmm that makes me nervous - I applied to PRinceton too and didn't get an email saying anything about the committee.

I would imagine IR gets a lot of applications.

I don't know whether I would mention another school in my SOP (other than my previously attendeds). My advice would be to say something along the lines of "my plans after teh MSc are to complete a MSW". I don't know if Oxford has an MSW, but if they do, it keeps it open and they might assume you want to go to theirs. I can second JerryLandis who said Oxford likes their MSc/MPhil students to carry on to a research degree there. I had the same experience and it was one of the reasons I turned them down 3 years ago. Of course now I'm kicking myself because I'm begging to get into their DPhil, but that's another story...

Hunger strike and sit-in! Seriously though, I hate annoying them too, but remember it is part of their job and he's not completing his job duties right now.

Haha no heat Eyetea. I actually did enjoy not having to write a full SOP. I am a very concise person as well, but 100 words comes down to about 3-4 sentences. Just to answer the questions in a very basic way is almost impossible in so few words. There's also no opportunity to explain certain things about your background if you have blips.

Is it really only 6 weeks?? Geez, I was gearing up for 3 months!

I kept looking at the requirements to see if an SOP was also requested and I was just missing it, but no! Maybe the test is to see if you can be concise! Who knows?! Just makes me think they focus more on GPA and LORs than anything I'd have to say in my SOP.

One of my British schools asks the following questions: Please state your reasons for applying for postgraduate study in philosophy at University X. Please state clearly what in your educational background and interests make you a particularly suitable candidate for graduate study in your chosen course. Not too bad right? Here's the kicker - you get 100 words. 100 words!!!!

I'm guessing the worst that could happen would be they would ignore the letter, and that's not so bad!

I don't agree fully with this since they likely won't look at them until after the holidays and your reasoning would allow people to submit up to 2 weeks after everyone else, which obviously isn't fair. That being said, I doubt you will be penalized for submitting minutes after midnight.

I am procrastinating sleeping. Not because I don't love it (I do). Not because I am too busy with applications to sleep (I'm not). Just because no matter how tired I am, when I lie down, my brain switches into neurotic mode. "What if I don't get in anywhere?" "was there a typo in my SOP?" "is that LOR ever going to get his letter in?".

On the plus side, I guess, for another school, I finally contacted the missing LOR (different person - this prof has been totally on the ball with every other application) just to check in that she received the automated notice and she said she hadn't. So good thing I followed up!!

My LOR never got submitted either. Luckily one of the schools allowed me to put 4 names in, and 3/4 submitted a letter so at least I have the minimum 3. The other school though (my top choice) didn't so I am still below the minimum 3 letters.

Saaaaaaame here.

The frustrating part for me is that I did tell him the deadline and got an email back saying "don't worry, I will have them all in on time". Deadline is tomorrow now and nothing yet! He is in the UK so I will go to bed tonight hoping that when I wake up, he'll have submitted the letters. On another note, I have another letter writer who is confusing me a bit. She has been totally on top of every application, submitting the letters almost instantly after I send her address to teh school. However, there is one application that I submitted a few weeks ago that she has still not submitted the letter for. There is no deadline, so that's not the problem. I'm just worried the email got lost in her inbox or something. I thought maybe she has just been busy, but I submitted another app last night and lo and behold she put that letter in 10 min after I submitted. Does anyone have an idea on how to send a polite email saying something along the lines of "thanks for doing all these other ones so promptly, but I think you forgot about Edinburgh"??

Hmm unfortunately I'm not eligible for ESRC because I've been out of the country too long. I know Edinburgh has AHRC money and so does Oxford, but I am going to have to rely on department/uni funding too. Scary possibility!! I think my top choice at the moment is Oxford but the prof who is interested in me at Edinburgh seems really great and would probably offer great supervision, so I don't know what my top choice is now :S.

I'm really trying not to stress out. Harvard let me register 4 recommendations and 3 of those 4 have submitted, so even if this prof doesn't get his in, at least I still have the minimum 3. Princeton though, only let me register 3 so if he doesn't submit, I will be down a letter...arrrrrgh.

I think the second is a bit too cliche.

I was going to say that maybe you should give them a call to let them know you have done everything in your power to make sure the prof knew the deadline etc and what effect will this have on your app. Just so they know you haven't been complacent.

I would just add that the following is confusing: "I believe the NAME OF UNIVERSITY English Department’s masters program would allow me thrive academically since my interest in medieval literature complements that of the department, primarily the research interests of Professor BLANK and Professor NAME as my interests include the poetry of Chaucer as well as manuscript studies. After receiving a doctoral degree, I would like to devote myself as a researcher and professor at the college level in an English Literature department." It seems from the first sentence that you are applying for a masters degree. Yet, you then say what you will do with the doctorate. I think you need to explain why you are applying for a masters and what you think you will get out of it tat will prepare you for doctoral studies. Or, at least say "at the end of the masters I plan to apply for a doctorate".

I think for undergrad especially the strength of the institution would be more important. At my undergrad school, a major was 10 credits and you needed 20 credits to graduate. That means that half the courses I took weren't even in the department of my major. Therefore, to me, the strength of the school in general is important in determining the quality of my overall education. For graduate school, I think that it's probably the reverse.

Wow clearly posting here is a good luck charm. Not an hour after I posted did that prof finally get back to me and say he would have everything in by the deadline!

Oh geez this is now happening to me too. I asked him in mid-October, got a response in early november that he would be happy to write for me. Sent him the info he needed, submitted the apps, etc. by Nov 13 (for December 15 deadlines) and now he's MIA. I have followed up a number of times but unfortunately there is no way to get his phone number without him giving it to me (which requires him to write back to me!) so I am a slave to email. I have a backup referee but it would be a professional reference, not academic so I'm hesitant to include it unless absolutely necessary.