Ziz

Can't speak for every school of course but mine (LSE) did pass, merit, distinction. I was accepted into Oxford and did a fair amount of reading their student handbooks, etc. and they do pass, merit distinction as well. Other than those two though, I don't know. I always just assumed it was common to all of them.

In the UK: Edinburgh St Andrews UCL Likely others I have not encountered yet...Cambridge and Oxford were free 3 years ago, but that was before online applications so they may have a fee now.

Last time around I made Christmas squares/truffles and packaged them up nicely.

InThatCaseMaybeYouShouldWriteYourSOPLikeThis. Lol.

Plus I'm afraid if I drank while doing apps I would hit the 'submit' button in a drunken fit of "let's just get it over with."

Tea tea tea! I'm too much of a lightweight for wine to help me focus.

I'm not applying there, but I'd say that if you are submitting an attachment, it wouldn't include spaces. If you have to fill a box that they provide that cuts off after the maximum allowed, I'd say spaces are included because the computer wouldn't be able to distinguish between a space and a letter.

Most UK masters have fail, pass, merit and distinction. Some will also distinguish between merit and high merit.

I think the original poster meant those were his/her grades for the masters, not undergrad. If that's the case, most UK PhD programs I saw expected a merit on the masters for acceptance, and I would imagine US schools would be similar. That said, at 62% you're not that far off, especially since masters aren't expected in the US and many come straight out of undergrad. So if your undergrad grades are good, I wouldn't worry too much.

I feel like a burden on my LORs too, but as one of them told mem it's part of their job so they don't really mind. I try to keep that in mind.

Yeah, a lot of them say something along the lines of "we do not accept letters of reference from dossier services."

Haha I submitted an application last night and it said "a decision could be made within the next few weeks so please keep an eye on this space." FEW WEEKS?!?!?!

Same here - such is the British system. They don't shower us with honours and awards and my university didn't have any opportunities for undergrad research/publishing or being a TA/RA. I always feel very inadequate when I see some of the people on this board!

The Edinburgh application was quite confusing and didn't prompt you to include certain things. For example, my program requires a writing sample. The application, however, didn't prompt me to submit a writing sample. I only knew about it from teh department's website so I uploaded it in the "unspecified document upload" section. So now I am panicking that there is something else I was meant to submit but didn't remember.

Ok I did it. And I have the signature change to prove it lol. That was stressful. I can't believe I have to do it 6 more times.

Oh god I am having this problem right now. I think part of my anxiety is that a prof (who is also the admissions director) said he was very keen to have me there so I feel like I have a lot to live up to. Also, my LOR is now teaching there and will be on the admissions panel so she will see everything I submit and I don't want to disappoint.

I guess we have no rights to waive

The laws are different

I would have no problem with you putting it in the 'attended to' bit (since even if you were to fail, you would still be attending to that date), but not in degree earned since you have not actually earned it. Isn't there somewhere they explain what to do? I would imagine that 90% of applicants are still in school somehwere and would have the same problem.

Applying to 9 programmes. Good chance at: 4 Medium chance at: 3 Slim to none at: 2

FYI - from Leiter Reports... The Duke University Dept of Philosophy regrets to announce that it is suspending admission to its Ph.D. Program for the year 2010-2011 only. (Of course, fees will be refunded to those who have already applied.) Due to a much larger number of acceptances of admission-offers in the last few years, the Ph.D. program has outstripped its steady-state enrollment by approximately 50 %, and must now reduce its size somewhat. We expect to resume normal admissions next year for the 2011-2012 academic year.

I'm going to post this in the Philosophy forum too, but just in case: The Duke University Dept of Philosophy regrets to announce that it is suspending admission to its Ph.D. Program for the year 2010-2011 only. (Of course, fees will be refunded to those who have already applied.) Due to a much larger number of acceptances of admission-offers in the last few years, the Ph.D. program has outstripped its steady-state enrollment by approximately 50 %, and must now reduce its size somewhat. We expect to resume normal admissions next year for the 2011-2012 academic year. I hope this doesn't happen to other departments too.

My undergrad school had no research opportunities and definitely no publication chances. That's why I did my masters first.

I think if you felt that it was heavier than normal, it's worth pointing out. Especially if you still did very well in those classes.

I have the same problem, but not just with honours and awards. I have a few small scholarships and Dean's list etc but my school doesn't have a lot of the opportunities others seem to. Namely, there are no undergrad TAs, RAs, no opportunity to write a senior thesis, therefore no opportunity to win the award for best thesis, paper, anything. There is one award at the end of the year for the person who comes top of the class in the entire department, but I didn't get that and that's it!