fancypants09

Thanks for your input. I'm totally clueless when it comes to literary field stylistic conventions---I wrote earlier drafts in MLA, but a professor in one of the national literature departments I had review my draft commented that everyone in that field uses Chicago style. Personally, I've been using legal citation conventions for the past decade or so, so I'm having to re-learn everything, including this footnote business as well. In legal papers, footnotes are golden, and the longer, the better. I'm only using them in this paper for the block quotes because my analysis hinges on wordplay that you can only discern from the text in its original language and not in its English translation, and also because I am translating the text myself and so want to show the basis for my translation to the readers.

Hi everyone, Just a quick formatting question: Footnotes versus endnotes? I think my writing sample will come out to about 15-17 pages (including all of the notes), but some of the footnotes are rather long because I have a few block quotes from foreign-language materials. Personally, I like keeping my notes as footnotes because then you can follow the notes as you're reading along, but I also want the readers not to be visually distracted by large footnotes. If there are stylistic conventions for this (especially under Chicago style) I'd appreciate the reference. Thanks for your help!

I too learned that I ran out of the positive reputation point thingies for the day but SO concur with this message. This is part of the reason why I feel so sure about returning to academia for graduate studies.

Thanks proflorax. Sadly, I think it's somewhat the norm amongst many a law-school applicant where rightly or wrongly everyone obsesses about various "prestige" factors---I believe it's fueled by insecurities more than anything. I'm glad I did it, and I'm also glad I'm leaving to pursue something I feel truly passionate about. I think it's less in the humanities because everyone's project is so specialized and personalized. I'll also be checking into GC pretty frequently. I actually don't know how the whole admission process works for doctorate programs---do they email? Snail mail? Call? And when? So it'll keep things interesting for me, to say the least. Depending on where I end up, there will be a huge move in the works---packing up five years of life abroad and heading to my next destination, so looking forward to it! But first, let me get back at those pesky applications...

I'd say if you're still in school, just try to focus on the task at hand though I understand how difficult that may be, since you're "in the field" even if not yet a doctoral student. I'm outside the US now, definitely not teaching in literature, and the education system here has a very generous winter break: I don't have to begin teaching until March 1. So, I'll be spending half of the three-month break in the US, and then I'm planning a warm beach get-away in February (somewhere with no wifi), followed by just catching up with people I haven't seen while I've been working on this madness. Having gone through grad school admissions for other programs twice now: Law school admissions went by in a blur, but since they were rolling I heard back pretty quickly after I applied. The MA in IR I applied for four years ago---the waiting killed me, so I traveled (I had just graduated from law school and waiting for my bar results, interning part-time). I'm going to be the first to say it: Rejection sucks. Law school admissions were brutal. I was accepted to one---the school I eventually ended up attending, waitlisted at like three to four, and denied from the rest. I had applied to like 15 schools or so at that time. And it was just painful because everyone knew I had applied and was constantly asking me about the results. I got lucky with my MA applications: I applied to two schools and was accepted by both. One thing that I learned from my experience is that it is best to be up front and honest with yourself and others with the results. Yes, there will be those who will gloat over your rejections (but don't worry, karma will get them) but I found that being open allowed me to come to terms with my situation quicker, whether good or not so good.

Two-second venting about the recommender who dropped the ball... He did write me an email to explain his situation to let me know that it was indeed an emergency and that it didn't mean that he wasn't supportive. I understand that life happens (it's happened to me before, too), but that it's also the job of academics to provide references and write letters when asked because that is part of their responsibilities, or at least provide some sort of back-up plan in case things like this happen. At the end of the day, he still dropped the ball even if he still wants the best for me. And that speaks louder than any sort of justification/apology email with the lines, "I hope you'll be able to find someone else" with about 10 days to go before deadlines. Just thankful to have found an alternate writer who stepped up to the plate. And vowing never to be THAT professor...

What makes you feel so unsure about your SOP? (BTW, still working on the writing sample, have not yet started on SOP though have an outline.) I know our writing can always use improvement, but perhaps in other's eyes you're good to go.

Yay!! So happy to hear that things are moving in the right direction Continually repeating the mantra "baby steps" over here...you know, like writing one sentence at a time. I cannot wait for all of this to be over!!

If the professor has already agreed to write your letters and has uploaded for some of the schools, I'm sure that he'll pull through. These have been some trying times, friends. I had a breakdown last night wondering whether I could actually get into a school, period. Worst time to have self doubts... Let's get through this and enjoy our winter breaks!

I find that I stress-eat and gain weight when I have low to moderate levels of stress above normal levels, but that I stop eating and actually lose weight when I am super stressed. I stress-ate throughout law school and through parts of my former day job, but lost 20-30 lbs when I became incredibly stressed at work and almost literally stopped eating. This is also part of the reason why I left the said day job. I've also noticed that I've been losing weight now since we're almost at the tail end of application season. That said, I've also had periods of my life when I was moderately stressed but was able to maintain a steady weight. It does require constant work though, which is why I think it's difficult to do when in graduate school---I found that at least for me, working in corporate, while time-consuming and stressful, was nothing like now when I'm teaching and trying to work on my own research for the applications. I used to be super weight conscious, but I realized, especially after the 20-30 lbs loss last year, that sometimes in life you gain some and then at other times you lose some. The most important is to be healthy, and of course, not spending cash on clothes because of an unexpected weight gain/loss.

My pleasure And I'm sure the other recommender will come around too. I don't know him but to those of us who are hanging on to the last moment---sometimes it's that mentality of "but I know I can do something better" rather than just putting things off. But I also understand your vow not to repeat the same mistakes as your recommenders---made the same vow myself in the last 24 hours!

I so know the feeling, Wyatt's Touch! I found out about my family-emergency recommender only when I reached out to him last night. Sea of conflicting emotions but I am just so thankful that he was honest and forthright in telling me he couldn't do it, and that I was able to find a replacement. All of this to say, I would gently check in with the recommenders. Do they have secretaries---especially the professor emeritus? If so, then it may be best to contact the secretaries and enlist them for help with reminders, if you haven't already. I've also had one recommender tell me up front that professors are usually last minute about this too, but that they will get it done. Also, it may be helpful if you try to remind them indirectly---perhaps by mentioning that you've finished uploading all your stuff for the deadlines upcoming in 4 days, rather than asking them directly to upload their letters, which seem to them to be a bit excessive/confrontational. Sending good thoughts your way!

It seems that the issue perhaps resolved itself---all of my scores were sent out yesterday, so mail or no, they will reach the schools by my deadline! Maybe of help to others who are wondering how long the additional score reporting will take: I ordered my additional score reports on the 28th when they were closed, but the scores still went out by the third, so a little earlier than the five business days they say on the ETS website.

Thanks for sharing your stories and hope that everything worked out! An update on my end as well...I was able to find an alternate recommender today. I have to give him all the materials and go through the whole pony show of why I am applying, what my credentials are, where I think my recommender could add value, etc. All this additional work which I didn't figure into my schedule, which is kinda driving me nuts. But I am just SO thankful that I was able to find someone else to take his spot.

1. Still working on the writing sample. Trying not to get distracted by the classes I have to teach, or the finals I'm supposed to be giving in two weeks. 2. One of my recommenders, a professor whom I loved dearly in law school and had been very supportive of this and other endeavors, dropped the ball at the last minute. It's not his fault---he said he had a family emergency pop up and that he was feeling overwhelmed, but---you get the gist. Since I am overseas, I heard this news at around 1:30AM last night. Luckily, I have found a replacement recommender and still have 11 days before the deadlines. However, now there is this whole line of work I need to do in bringing alternate recommender up to speed, etc. which is taking time out of my writing sample...yeah. Not a happy camper here.

Chiming into commiserate. I had a recommender back out today because of a family emergency. I completely understand, of course, but the timing is just...I don't want to think too much about it. Luckily my first deadlines are on the 15th so I have some time to find alternates...fingers crossed.

I took the GREs a very long time ago, so I'd appreciate some help with this. One of my schools requires that I send the GRE scores "by mail." I have requested the additional score report on the GRE website and designated the school, but not the department. Given what I've read through here I think it should be OK, but just wanted to check to see I wasn't missing anything. Any thoughts? For what it's worth, I took the computer version of the exam. Thanks everyone!

I've been out of the game for a while so I can't imagine writing that many pages in all one sitting for now. Good luck with all of that!

Joining in on the conversation here...I'm still working on my writing sample (15th is the earliest due date for me), for PhD programs in area studies/literature. The schools I've chosen to apply to have page requirements as follows: School 1: 10-20 pages, 20 pages MAX School 2: 20 pages MIN School 3: 10-15 pages, 15 pages MAX School 4: Approx. 15 pages School 5: 10-30 pages I'm writing a new paper for the writing sample because long story short, I'm switching fields. School 2, which is one of my top choices, is really throwing things off---for some reason I thought they also required 20 pages MAX. However, they also allow additional writing samples, so I've decided to submit the shorter (approx. 15 pager) I'm writing now, together with an excerpt from my undergraduate thesis (or perhaps the whole thing, since they didn't mention a maximum limit---it's around 100 some pages), which was in a related field, to show that I can actually handle the research and writing. Why do these surprises always pop up at the last minute? Sigh...

It's been forever I took the GREs, but I think if you have a date listed under the Report Date that means your scores were sent out on that date. If you are really worried, I'd check with ETS first tomorrow to see how long scores generally take; if the Report Date was close to your deadline, I'd check the application site and/or call the school to check whether official score reports must be in by the deadline. Some schools begin evaluating with the applicant self-reported score with the requirement that official reports follow soon thereafter.

You can go online to check whether your scores have been sent. Go to www.ets.org/gre, sign up for an online account if you don't have one, and you should be able to access the status of your score reports there. Hope this helps!

Hi everyone, I'm super late in the game (story of my life, it seems) but I thought I'd post and say hello. It's been almost a decade since I graduated from college, where I did not study literature. I've already been to graduate school once (law school), applied to and accepted at MA's in IR post bar, but decided to work. After a few years, I realized that the corporate day job was literally sucking away at my soul, so I've been lecturing part-time while preparing for my applications for a PhD in literature. For those who are going through this process while in school, major kudos, and for those who have already submitted applications, I am seriously in awe! I'm still working on my writing sample and the SOPs will come after that. My goal is to submit a day or two before the deadline...but I'll most likely be hitting that send button on the day of. If anyone needs a comforting image, please feel free to think of me---trying to get my old brain cells to hold it together to finish a paper within two weeks. Good luck to all!

OP, how sure are you about attending law school? And what are your reasons for wanting to attend law school post-MPP/MA? Just curious, as I'm a new attorney/recent law school graduate who is most likely heading back to school this fall for my MA in IR. If you have any doubt in your mind about law school, I would strongly urge you to choose HKS, especially if you are toying with the idea of law school vs. PhD. I noticed that some PhD programs in the US require that you have completed a two-year MA program, so a year at Oxford would opt you out of these programs. Even if you aren't thinking about a PhD in the future, you're better off at HKS; as previous posters have mentioned, HKS will open many more doors than Oxford. It's not only about the Harvard name and network; it's also about the curriculum in general. I've heard from friends who have completed MPP/MA in IR that many IR employers and employers in related fields look favorably upon those with some quant background, which you will get during your first-year core courses (info courtesy of friends at HKS).

ACCEPTED!! MALD, $8K scholarship. So thrilled...Fletcher was my first choice!!

Thanks for the link, thombo! I've been checking the Fletcher Admissions Blog pretty religiously this week and I can't wait to get my decision. I've already heard back from the other school I applied to (I only applied to 2 schools), but I'm still anxious about Fletcher and excited about the process coming to an end at the same time! Just a reminder to those waiting: I checked my GAMS profile at around 2PM EST (no decision yet) and I noticed that my email address wasn't listed on my profile. We'll hear one way or another, but I just want to inform others to check their profiles to see whether this is applicable to them as well.