drownsoda

So I re-read my application status and realized that it provided a form to submit an unofficial transcript (the application had wanted both my unofficial transcripts uploaded for the application, and my official ones sent in to accompany it). Long story short, I uploaded the unofficial transcript from the community college, and now my application is listed as being complete (all green check marks, no red X's!). Also, turns out the deadline got pushed back to January 7th, so I'm thinking this isn't gonna be a problem now fortunately.

I don't think it's a huge problem, especially if you had no other options. I actually sought out a recommendation from one professor outside my field on purpose, because I wanted to include a more objective input in my application (i.e. from someone outside my field of study). My other two recommenders were within my field of study— one a professor of mine, and the other the head of a community college writing center who supervised my internship there— but I feel confident about my choices of recommenders.

I ask this just out of curiosity, because it would seem like the more "esteemed" your recommender is in the field, the more highly the committee would value their input on you, but do grad programs look into your recommenders' histories? Two of my letter writers were people whom I worked closely with and really trust— one a professor, and the other an internship supervisor— but my knowledge on their backgrounds and academic history is very low. My other recommender, however, was a professor who I took multiple courses with during my undergrad, and he's a pretty well-respected guy— a Columbia and Northwestern graduate, has lots of publications, is working on a book, and is notoriously one of the hardest graders in my department— but committees would have no way of knowing this. I guess I'm just wondering if they view all of the letters as objectively as possible, or if they look into the recommenders' backgrounds when considering what they have to say about the applicant. I'm guessing they probably don't, and I'd doubt the recommender would bring up their own credentials, since they're supposed to be writing a letter about the applicant— so at the end of the day, does it really matter who writes your letters as long as they have positive things to say about you? I truly feel like the letter from my aforementioned professor (the hard grader) could have a huge impact on my application if for no other reason than that I was highly regarded by him (which he reiterated when I asked him for a letter), but I'm wondering if his credentials would make his opinion of me stand out more to a committee or not, and whether or not they'd even know his credentials in the first place.

I don't think you're doomed at all. Your GRE scores are killer and you went to medical school for crying out loud. I've heard that it's a good thing if they don't get back to you early on— it means you weren't weeded out right in the beginning. It's kind of a debacle though being on the student end of it, because we naturally want to know the answer as soon as possible.

I have a lot of personal flaws which I'm not even going to get started on, but academically, I think my biggest flaw is that I have no research experience to speak of; then again, I majored in English, so the research field is kinda funky, and the program at my university was not that helpful when it came to internships, publication opportunities, etc. I had one internship at a community college working in their writing center, and I spent most of that time helping students with their research papers, taught grammar, and worked with a lot of ELL students, but I have no real-world experience with academic publishing or anything like that. That said, I didn't meet any undergrad students in my department with academic publications under their belts either, so maybe it's not that common for undergrads? I don't know. Regardless, that's my main flaw I think, is that I don't have the work-related experience. I worked my way through school waiting tables, so I was strapped for time and had a tight schedule between full-time course loads and my job. I was a really good student and am graduating with a 3.8 GPA— almost a 3.9 in my major— but where I fall short is the experience outside of the classroom. That's been a big point of anxiety for me with my applications, but there's nothing I can do about it now, so I'm trying to make peace with it. Still my main weak spot though.

It will probably vary from school to school, but like others have said, I think that a high GPA/low GRE can offset each other. Your GRE scores are not out of the ballpark, but they are not terrible either. I got a 159 on verbal and an atrocious 143 on quantitative; I was most proud of my writing though, which was a 5. I've heard from many people that committees often view the GRE as a formality more than anything. It is obviously considered among all the other things, but I don't think it's tantamount unless the rest of your application is weak and/or you are applying to Ivy League/super selective schools. At one of the schools I applied to, I was surprised to see that their average GRE scores for their MA/PhD students were on par with mine and even lower in some cases; for example, their PhD students had an average score of 4.5 on the GRE writing section— I scored a 5, so I did better than the PhD students, and I'm only applying to their Master's program. I guess my point is that the GRE is not everything. As long as you didn't score ridiculously low across the board, it's not going to totally dismantle your entire application.

I am kind of a nervous wreck myself, and I only applied to a handful of programs. I tried to keep it realistic—I have a 3.8 GPA and know that schools like Columbia/Stanford are out of reach, so I didn't apply to any programs like that— but I'm still worried that I won't be good enough for any of the ones I did apply to. I think ways of dealing with the anxiety differ from person to person. I am only taking two classes this upcoming semester (my two final undergrad courses, actually), and they're kind of "fun" classes, so I'm planning on putting all of my energy into those. In the meantime, I've been busy with work which has kept stuff off my mind while I'm there, and I've been trying to de-stress by spending time with people and just doing things that I want to do without any stipulations. 2014 was a crazy busy year for me, and between September and December I was swamped with coursework, GRE prep, and my applications, so I'm trying to treat myself lately. My applications have been submitted and at this point I've resigned myself to the fact that there is nothing I can do now— it's out of my control entirely, so I'm making peace with that. I've had some people tell me that if I "can't deal with the stress of applications, then I can't handle the stress of grad school," but I call B.S. on that. It's not that I'm stressed about the programs themselves. I'm a good student and know what it's like to work my ass off— I'm just stressed about whether or not the committees think I'm worthy enough. It's a fear of rejection thing that I think bothers most of us "worriers."

I applied to Fordham University and I could have sworn on my life that the deadline for their GSAS was January 3rd. I got my final letter of recommendation sent in on December 31st, and submitted my application that night. Went back to check on my application status today, and while perusing their website saw that the deadline is January 7th(??) Do schools ever push back deadlines? Perhaps it's possible that I'm going mad, but I'm about 99% sure that the deadline was originally January 3rd. Also, do early submissions means that your application will be reviewed earlier? I know I only submitted a week early, but was curious about the chronology, or lack thereof, in terms of how they review the applications.

Reiterating what most everyone else has said: follow the directions. I had a few applications that specified the SOP should be "1,000 words approximately," so I made them 1,000 words, approximately. Another application had a 500 word limit, so I rounded mine off at 498. I know it can be difficult and/or annoying, but it's an exercise in precision as much as it is a way to make the review process efficient for the committee. I got drilled on this as an English major throughout my undergrad, so I learned to be VERY precise and succinct in my writing, and because of that this wasn't really anything new to me. It does demand editing and pruning though, so you have to make every word count.

I'd assume 11:59pm on January 1st unless it says otherwise. My first deadline is January 2nd, followed by another deadline on January 3rd, but I just submitted my applications tonight to be safe for those schools. The school with the 1/3 deadline is still waiting on one of my college transcripts, but everything else was complete so I submitted it tonight just to be done with it.

Well, I don't know if it's EVER quite done, and that's the problem we all face. For me, there will always be something that I could have/would have/should have changed. I chose what I felt was my strongest essay (and most pertinent to my application), and then went through it with a fine-toothed comb once or twice. I spruced it up a bit, added a little more content in areas that I felt were uneven, and then just decided to let it go for my own sanity. That's kind of how it was with all the portions of my application; I obsessively re-read and edited my writing sample and statement of purpose over a course of four months, and finally, now that the deadlines are here, I just had to let it go and hope for the best. I think that's all we can do.

I am applying at Fordham and they are one of few schools who wanted my unofficial AND my official transcripts with my application (all my other applications just required unofficial transcripts). I attended a community college for two years and just graduated with my B.A. from a university; in my application, I included the community college as one of my institutions attended. Anyway, I submitted my application tonight, and it's saying that they are missing my transcript from the community college— totally spaced it. I just rushed and ordered a copy of my community college transcript to be mailed to them, but is this going to hold up my application or screw up my chances? All the other parts of my application were complete.

I have a year long gap in my undergrad transcript for 2012 because I had a cancer diagnosis and had to treat it. On one of my applications, I was provided this option: "Please add any additional information that was not captured within your application you wish to be considered for your admission decision. For example: Do you believe that your academic record accurately reflects your achievement and potential in the program you wish to enter? Are there any circumstances which may prevent you from completing your academic work?" ​Should I mention the reason behind my transcript gap in this field? I brought up the fact that I had to take a year off due to a "serious health problem" in my other SOPs, but the maximum length for this specific application was 500 words, so I was unable to bring it up there. Would it be smart to mention this here or not?

He finally came through! Got a notification that he submitted them to all my applications. What a relief. I'm going to submit them all tonight, and then it'll just be a waiting game, but at least I have his now.

I'm wondering if it's possible that he is writing them individually for each school, perhaps? I'm wondering the same thing about one of my recommenders; two of my deadlines are coming up January 2nd and 3rd, and those are the only two applications so far that have his letter status as "activated" or "in progress." Another application that's due January 13th has yet to be activated by him, so the fact that he's activating the applications with the earliest deadlines makes me wonder if he's tailoring each letter for each school...

I am mildly freaking out over one of my letter writers as well, especially because he's my strongest writer. His statuses on two of my applications are listed as "activated" and "in progress" now, and I sent out a reminder through the applications, so I'm just hoping it's because he's busy. My first two deadlines are January 2nd and 3rd, and I am praying he'll get them sent in time, but I frankly don't know what else to do.

The average length guideline on most of my applications was 1,000 words maximum. However, one application had a 500 word limit, so I had to do bunch of pruning to get it down to their parameters but I don't feel like it lessened the strength of my statement. I'm an English major though, so while I have mastered the art of B.S., I've also been drilled by many professors on succinctness and carefully choosing your words. If you have a low word limit, the key is to make every word and sentence count— cut out the fluff.

I know, I know, I'm just paranoid as the deadlines begin to approach and the horror stories about people's recommenders dropping off the face of the earth and not responding to them are not exactly helpful. I wouldn't be as worried about it if I didn't feel that he wasn't my most important recommender, but I do, so I'm extra anxious about getting his letter in. I feel like his input will be more important to my application as a whole than my other two recommenders' just because I have a longer academic history with him. He was my favorite professor, hands down— a super hard grader, but I worked my ass off in his classes and did extremely well, and I know he respected that. More than anything, I feel that he knows what I am capable of more than the other recommenders do, and I think that's vital to my application. I don't think I need to worry at this point though, because I just checked one of my other applications and his status is listed as "activated" on that one, so I'm assuming he got the emails or has at least logged into the letter submission form.

I hope that's the case, that'd make me feel a hell of a lot better. I've been worried but I keep telling myself the lack of communication over the past week has just been because he's been busy (busy time of year, and I'm sure he has other letters to write). If he's accessed one of them, then I know he's GOTTEN them at least (or so I hope). My first deadline isn't until January 3rd— and it so happens that the only application that has this "in progress" indication is the one with the Jan. 3rd deadline. Maybe he's just getting them done in chronology with the deadlines? Who knows.

So I'm still waiting on my final letter of recommendation to come in from my best recommender— a well-respected professor who I had a history with and did extremely well in his classes. I registered him as a recommender on my applications December 13th, and the other day I sent a "reminder" to him through the application as I hadn't heard back since he (very enthusaistcally) agreed to write me a letter. I now noticed on one of my applications that his letter status has changed to "in progress" as of December 21st. My question is, does the application automatically do this when I send out a reminder, or is that supposed to indicate that he manually selected the status and that his letter is quite literally in progress? I checked one of my other applications and his status is still listed as "unconfirmed" and the letter "not submitted."

I re-sent the reminder emails through my applications to him and am crossing my fingers that maybe he'll send them out before the holidays this week, or shortly after. I am dropping by the campus on the 23rd to leave thank you notes for my professors who are writing for me (I bought some Moleskine notebooks and tied the thank you notes to them with ribbon) and will leave it in his mailbox— I don't believe he'll be on campus, but I'll check before I leave. I know that he's likely busy because he traveled often to do presentations and seminars when I took courses with him. I'm just hoping with everything that he gets them in on time.

I plan on writing some hand-written thank you cards to each of them and dropping them in their mailboxes at my department, and maybe buying each of them a fancy writing pen or something. One of my recommenders was my intern supervisor at a local community college though, so I may send him his in the mail as I don't have time to make it out to that campus often.

So I sent out my L.O.R. requests through my applications on December 13th. By the 15th, two out of my three recommenders had submitted their letters. Still waiting on my last recommender to submit his; my deadlines start rolling on January 3rd. The catch? He's my best recommender. In fact, he was the first person I sought out for a letter, because he was my favorite professor and had the most experience with me as a student. He's perhaps my most esteemed recommender of the three; he's a Columbia & Northwestern graduate, really well-respected, notorious in my department for being a "hard grader," and he pushed me like crazy in his classes but I did extremely well and earned A's in all of them. He told me to "rest assured" that he would write me a "very strong letter" and also said he remembered my "increasingly sophisticated work in his classes," which obviously made me feel confident in him writing a letter for me, but I'm slightly freaked out because he hasn't submitted it yet. I originally emailed him about the letter in early December, and, as I said, sent out my application letter requests on the 13th. Am I unduly freaking out and letting my nerves get the best of me? When would it be appropriate to send a reminder? Anyway, sorry for being annoying as I'm sure many of you are in similar (and even more dire) situations, but I just wanted to vent my anxiety on this. Even though I've still got awhile before the deadline, it's just nerve-wracking to have 2/3 letters submitted, and the last one to be what I feel will be my strongest. I've just been telling myself that he's taking a bit longer than the others because he's writing me the greatest L.O.R. of all time, but I know that's ridiculous. Haha.

I don't know much about your field, but I've heard across the board that a 5 is a solid score for analytical writing. I scored a 5, and according to the ETS diagram, that score puts me in the 93rd percentile, which is pretty good. 6 is a perfect score, but 5 is considered high I believe. I was checking the stats at Fordham where I'm applying, and my writing score was higher than their average score for their PhD students, which I was really surprised by. I'm applying for English programs too, so I'd be surprised if a writing score of a 5 was considered poor for political theory.

Thirteen internships? You should be fine, for real. Honestly, like everyone else has been saying, I think it's a balancing act, and each application is unique— some applicants' strengths are in numbers, while others' are in experience, their statements, letters of recommendation, etc. There are so many variables— but I think the high level of experience you have is a more than appropriate antidote to a 3.3 GPA. I only have one internship under my belt that's related to my field (worked my way through college waiting tables so I didn't have a lot of spare time for interning), but I managed a 3.8 GPA, close to a 3.9 in my major. For some programs, that may be enough for me, but others may look for the opposite (i.e. your kind of application). It really just depends. That said, I've got more than plenty of faith in you!