gazelle

If I get into UCSD, I'll play Phantom Planet's "California" on my iPod as loud as my ears can take it. If I get into Columbia, I'll play Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" on my iPod as loud as my ears can take it. Then I'll scream it out on facebook. This of course coming after reading the letter 15 times.

I know they recommend filling out a FAFSA as soon as possible after the new year begins, but should I be waiting until I get accepted to grad school first? Also, if I'm planning on deferring grad school, do I even need to fill one out or just wait until next year?

Curious what you think of these titles: --One LOR writer was and still is an associate professor of chemical engineering (my undergraduate focus), so nothing new there. --One of them is a history PhD, but has since left academia to start his own successful triathlon coaching business (he was a supervisor of mine so I really lucked out having a PhD supervisor) --One of them is a Cornell PhD in East Asian Studies (IIRC) and was an East Asian Studies professor of mine, though I think she was assistant/adjunct, as her main title is Director of Programs at a think tank and she is no longer at the university (to my knowledge) I'm curious about how important title is to the admissions committees. I like that my writers all have different titles, but does it really matter that they are all strictly current professors/supervisors? Do admissions committees care where an LOR went to school, or weigh a letter from an Ivy grad more heavily when a student is applying for an Ivy school? Or does it generally not matter, and only weigh more heavily in the case that the LOR writer did their PhD in the same field the applicant intends to study (none of mine are)? It's gonna be a loooong 2-3 months.

I'm a "boy". No Apple computer is practical on a basis of cost. Like I said though, it runs the Adobe suite and Final Cut Pro with no problems, and that's on a base model, with a 500+ MHz deficiency compared to the current top offering and a mere 4200 RPM HDD. Not sure what it is you do with your machines in grad school where that wouldn't be sufficient if it can run the programs I run. It even boots into Vista just fine since it has 1067 MHZ DDR3 RAM (2 GB, will be bumped to 4 GB in the next update). But like you said--you have no experience with it but are convinced it's a horrid machine for a primary computer and didn't qualify your initial negative remarks, and I have experience with the Air suggesting otherwise. So given my first-hand experience, I respectfully disagree. Like anything, computers aren't always about getting the absolute most for the dollar. If that were the case we'd all wear $2 shirts and enjoy $3 cars. Anyway, I digress. OP, what are your needs? Are you going into chemical engineering and going to need to run HYSYS and other process equipment simulators? Or are you going into humanities where you mainly will be researching journals and PDFs on the internet? If you tell us your program and what you will be doing, we can offer suggestions best tailored to your needs.

Another Apple user here. Currently using a loaded late-'08 unibody MBP, and also have a base Rev. B Macbook Air I picked up last January as a secondary/work computer. I've used Windows for years, and like them, and never had any problems. But I got curious to try a Mac once I was no longer restrained by engineering coursework and software, and I'll never look back. Also joro--you should know that unfortunately your i7 is a desktop i7 crammed improperly into a laptop, resulting in high heat and poor battery life. Intel is releasing the proper mobile i7 "Arrandale" quad-cores on January 7th--and you will see the proper mobile versions inside the Apple later this month when they get their massive update to the new quad-core architecture, unlike all the PC manufacturers who have rushed to slop whatever desktop i7 version they can into a space not designed to handle the processor's TDP and thus heat of the processor in a system that doesn't even have the power to drive it, short of killing battery life by a substantial margin. And to the girl who said the Macbook Air was junk, you're terribly misinformed. For the VAST majority of people, it is perfectly capable of being a primary computer with the 2.13 GHz duo-core and SSD. In fact, if your computer doesn't have an SSD, I *guarantee* the Air is the faster computer. Hell, even my 1.6 GHz/120 GB HDD Air is more than suitable for nearly every task. It can run Photoshop etc. and even Final Cut Pro without so much as a hiccup. The original Rev. A Air circa January 2008 WAS junk, but the Rev. B with the NVIDIA chipset released later in 2008 fixed all of the problems that plagued the original Air, and the current version is the Rev. C, with another update imminent. It's an amazing secondary computer, and would easily serve my needs as a primary machine with no problems. An SSD makes those computers fly. Anyway, OP, get what suits your needs, but if you have any questions at all about Apple, let me know--I do my research and know quite a substantial amount, and I'd suggest that whatever you do buy, you do your homework on before making the purchase to make sure you are getting something good; as an example, Intel processor architecture only changes every 2-4 years, and the change to move away from the long-standing "Penryn" Core2Duos to the new "Clarksfield/Nehalem/Arrandale" quad-cores is happening next week. Definitely a change worth waiting a little longer for.

im starting to get frustrated that nothings changing. havent heard from my most solid letter writer since november 19th, the early deadline was two weeks ago, applications are going to be reviewed starting today/yesterday, all my apps have been submitted since november, and nothing, absolutely nothing in either app/app status or in terms of letter writers or email communication has changed. everyday i check my email, and nothing, and everyday i check the status of my apps and its the same. neither app is complete either yet, so im not even to the point of looking for a decision and checking every day for that; im still checking to see if my applications are complete, and have been doing so for several weeks now

received no reply from my letter writer after sending the automated reminder

I did indeed tell the writer that it was just the early deadline, but I'm nervous as I haven't heard anything from her since November 19th when she last asked if I would like to hear comments on my essays, as I hadn't sent them off. I said sure I would love to, but never heard back. Since early admissions decisions start this week, I did go ahead and send the system reminder from the online setup, so maybe this will help.

My final letter is still MIA. Granted Dec. 4th was only the early deadline, it's still a little unsettling as I've heard nothing. I emailed last Thursday/Friday but haven't heard any word, and it's not Tuesday here in Japan. I'm not sure how long I should wait until I send the automated email reminder from the school's system, since it is the early deadline? I'm thinking it's still not a huge deal, although the school emailed me to tell me it needs to be in before the end of this week if I am to be considered for early admission notification, and starting next week it's Christmas and everything, so this week sort of is the last real workable week before everything ramps up with the end of the year and into the deadline. Thoughts?

I agree with the OP, and for me it's definitely NOT a numbers game, and I wish there were more people here with stats like mine that I could compare to (3.1x engineering GPA, 1250 GRE). Luckily out of that 1250 700+ was on my quant section, and I'm applying to just two programs, both of which I think have a quantitative bias, as does my research. With my stats, I really had to focus on my SoP and essays. One school wanted 4 essays, and I spent weeks upon weeks revising them, and writing has always been my academic gift so writing something good from the get-go is usually pretty easy for me. Nonetheless, I spent more time on these essays than on any other writing I've done in my life. With my numbers, I didn't have a choice. What was worse though--was knocking my 3 page SoP for one school down to 400 words for another. Ouch. While one school wanted 4 essays and a 2-3 page SoP, which aggregate allowed me to paint a comprehensive picture of myself, going down to a 400 word SoP and no supplemental essays for the other school was extremely difficult--I had to sell myself in a mere 400 words, with unimpressive numbers and a fair number of C range grades littering the trailing end of my transcript. I'm done now, as I axed two of my four programs I planned on applying to, and I feel *pretty* good about what I've sent, but I refuse to read my essays anymore. It's done, it's over, I can't stress over it. I focused heavily on fit in the final paragraphs of my essays, and opened them up with direct statements about what I want to research. All I know is my numbers don't speak for me, and can only hope that my 400 words did.

It just seems peculiar because last time I heard from her, she asked if I had sent my stuff off because if not she had some comments for me on my essays; I replied that I had not sent them off and would love to hear any comments, but that was the last I heard from her so I had to finish my stuff off and send it. Something went awry, but I'm not sure how much is too much. I emailed her 3 or 4 days ago, and I'm thinking I'll give it the weekend and if I don't hear back I'll send the online recommendation notice and see if that works...? I'm pretty sure her letter is the strongest by far too if our prior contact is any indicator.

The school actually emailed me today out of the blue to tell me that her letter is missing, as if to suggest they were getting ready to process my application and send it off for review. I replied and asked if I can still be considered for an early decision if she gets it in soon and they said the adcom will begin reviewing by late next week so at the latest it has to be in by then to be considered. Still no word from my recommender, and looking back through my email the last I heard from her was November 19th so I'm not sure what's going on, or if everything's ok.

I called them and while I understand they are busy, they didn't seem to be overly helpful and shuffled me off the phone before I had my concern addressed.

Yeah the thing I find surprising is that this recommender is the one who has seemed the most interested/involved from the beginning, and who I have been in contact with the most over the last several months. She also is the one who has shown the most interest in writing me a dead solid letter, and several weeks ago said she had started on my letters. Now I haven't heard from her, so I hope everything is ok.

I'm very curious to hear what the rest of your stats were if you could be so kind as to share, as this gives me great hope!

One of my writers is nearly a week late now on making the early deadline. I sent another email two days ago, and no reply. I'm starting to get more than a little apprehensive, because I want to call admissions after she submits it to just make sure that they have received absolutely everything they need from me so I can totally close that application out in my mind and just forget about it until I hear the results. Not to mention now I want to ask them if I will still be considered as an early applicant so I can get an earlier decision.

Thanks, and I may have to do that, but with one already outstanding email to admissions addressing a concern I'd prefer not to bother them any more than absolutely necessary. Surely there are other people here who've applied to SIPA in the past who can shed some light? Much appreciated.

I went ahead and emailed my letter recommenders last night to tell them I'd changed my mind and would not apply to NYU or Syracuse. No responses yet, but I'm thinking they will be favorable. So, I guess that means I'm done with my apps since I am done with both UCSD and Columbia as of last Thursday, which feels good. I have a LOT more free time now, which is great since I've been doing grad school stuff hard since July or thereabouts. I just hope I didn't jinx myself at SIPA or IR/PS by not forging ahead with additional apps to other places......sure feels like I put all my eggs in one basket, but I know those schools are where I want to go.

thombo--have you emailed your letter writers yet to tell them?

I'm currently in the process of applying for IR degrees. I want to go into the nonprofit/development or energy/environment sector, with a focus on Japan. I've finished applications for IR/PS and SIPA, and am in the process of applying for NYU and Syracuse. However, with Syracuse as the second most expensive program, and as my last choice, I can't seem to get too enthusiastic about it, to the point where even if it was my only acceptance I am starting to think I wouldn't go. Additionally its deadline isn't until after I should presumably hear back from IR/PS, which I would definitely take in a heartbeat over Syracuse. Now as I'm spending more time researching NYU's MAIR through GSAS, as I put together my materials and do more extensive research compared to the initial process of looking at schools, I'm discovering that this program (which is housed within the political science department) just doesn't seem to fit my needs as well as I initially thought; being part of the political science department instead of being a standalone department, it focuses a lot more heavily on political theory, and general theory at that; other programs like SIPA and IR/PS of course have specialization tracks and regional focuses, much better suited to my needs. I'm thinking of telling my letter writers to just scrap the letters for NYU and Syracuse, but I'm not sure if I should do that; it may make me look like I didn't research this enough (perhaps this is true), and even worse it may make me just look lazy and like I don't want to finish the two applications, and this may reflect poorly on me when they write their letters for UCSD/Columbia. However, the more I think about it the more I think that SIPA or IR/PS are the only two programs I would really want to attend, to the point where if I received rejections from both (highly plausible) I would try to strengthen my application over the next year and apply again rather than go to NYU/Syracuse. Thoughts on axing two programs out of my four at this point?

I just realized that it sounds like I worked as a demographic research assistant for three years outside of college, but that was actually a position held as an undergraduate. I figured I should make that clarification, since that's a big difference. Thanks for the replies so far!

I know SIPAs app status tends to say incomplete for a long while after you submit all of your stuff; that's a common concern, but not mine. Mine is about where it says Transcripts and GRE scores not received underneath where it says "Application Status: Incomplete". I was under the impressions that this was referring to having not submitted/uploaded the unofficial ones in part 2, since Columbia doesn't require officials of either to be submitted unless offered admission. I went ahead and submitted part two, and the supplemental documents appeared right away (resumes/SoP) as being received but the transcripts/GRE scores are still showing "Not Received." My question therefore is which set of transcripts/GRE scores are they referring to here? Official ones? It seems to be a conflict since it appears the application status can't ever reach complete without receiving these if that is the case, but of course Columbia doesn't require official copies for admissions consideration.

Thanks, that's what I'm thinking but I can't be too sure with that GPA and low verbal score. Any other input? I felt pretty good about what I wrote for UCSD, and good about Columbia as well which I sent last night but it was hard to really get what I wanted into the short word limit on the Columbia SoP, but I think it came out decent.

as a native of minneapolis who did my UG there (chemE, top 3 program in the nation baby!), i can second dinnaken as awesome. I lived in the fulton townhomes (603 Ontario #2 AND #1 to be exact) for four years--one year in #2 and three years in #1, and it was awesome. The apartment is only ten years old now so they are still really new and nice, and are very, very well maintained. When I left, I was paying $805 for a one bedroom with a huge bedroom and walk-in closet, and with a private garage for an extra $50 a month. FWIW the nice thing was i was good party buddies with my neighbors and had none on any side except one (end unit) but there was a stairwell buffering our apartments so i could literally crank the stereo as loud as i wanted and have parties/prebooze before hopping on the 5 minute bus ride into downtown minneapolis for four years, and not one complaint from anyone. If i hadnt moved to japan, id probably still be living there as a post graduate student if i was staying in minneapolis. aside from the townhomes, their other properties are nice too and well worth looking into. great neighborhood, in the stadium village side of campus with little/no crime and all the rich hotties over in university commons and melrose apartments nearby i miss minneapolis now

For this statement it is broken into three sections, with one being a 400 word limit section on your most significant contribution to a community, and a 200 word limit section on anything else youd like the adcom to know. those are fine, but the first section is the problem. this section is where you list out your objectives etc, and it too is capped at 400 words. as it stands after selecting the best things from a longer sop and shortening it to the utmost possible extent, im sitting at exactly 400 words. its focused, and i use strong language. its concise, and gets to the point quickly. however, if i could have a mere 20-30 more words, i could put in a couple more key sentences to make it even stronger. are they strict on word limit? do they really check? im guessing no, but i dont want to duff a simple guideline.