Infinite Zest

Seriously. One early acceptance would make the rest of this process so much easier.

It's like waiting for Christmas! ...except Santa is a 65 year old philosopher with a big white beard, and he has rejection letters instead of gifts.

I think this is, for the most part, true. It probably doesn't matter too much either way.

I, of course, agree, but you never know if the person reading your application will be acting reasonably.

Yeah, it's probably a good thing if you do it correctly. I did it for one school which had only two professors with overlapping research interests. Here's what my professors told me: - If 10 people at school X work on Y, don't mention that you're interested in professor Z's work on Y. Instead, try and talk about the department strengths. - Like you said, it's possible to overlook important people working on a topic you're interested in. Don't do that. - You could misinterpret the work of a professor or highlight aspects of it that aren't really noteworthy or original. This seems like a risk you have to take when you make detailed comments about someone's work, so, in a sense, it's a risk you must take if you want to say something specific about a professor. On the other hand, if you make vague, general statements about the work, then it looks like you haven't read the professor's stuff at all.

Haha, I didn't even think about it this way. We're about to find out (ish)!

If it's any consolidation, a few of my apps still are "incomplete," even though everything's been submitted.

A lot of universities are closed until the 5th or so. I wouldn't worry too much if the sites aren't updating. On the other hand, it's worth checking to see that your letter writers have actually submitted their letters.

Probably the end of January or early February (UC Berkeley).

Yeah, I don't think it would hurt at all. Naming professors at the institution you're applying to... well, that's a different topic.

I just mentioned a particular class I've taken, not the professor.

Learning as much science and math as possible before I no longer have the chance!

Agreed. I think footnote citations can interrupt the flow of a paper a bit. Endnotes, on the other hand, don't distract me (because I skip them).

Sorry!

In that case, I'd be happy to PM my writing sample to anyone who wants to see it!

It's a little late in the game for me to swap samples, but everyone's stuff looks really good!

Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo done with grad apps! Cue the fireworks.

I've forgotten so many! Nice list.

As far as the GRE goes, I've tried using both Mozilla and Internet Explorer with no luck. With regard to GPA, I don't see anything. I'll just report it on a 4.0 scale. If things get confusing, they'll have my transcript/transcript key.

Quine, Evans, Davidson, Dretske, and Burge all made me think pretty hard.

Yeah, still not letting me enter anything more than a single number.

Also, Berkeley's graduate application only allows for whole number entries for the GRE analytical writing scores. Annoying.

At my university, an A+ is a 4.00 grade, just like an A.

Has anyone been working on the Berkeley graduate application? Have you noticed that it asks you to report your GPA on a scale from 0.00-4.50? Is this a typo? I thought all this weighted/unweighted GPA crap was high school stuff.

Polls like this remind me how expansive the field is. On that note, one vote for other!