MarineBluePsy

If there is nothing on the website that clearly states there is a grace period then it is best to contact the school and find out rather than just assume there is. Then share the schools response with your letter writer and hopefully that will expedite things on their end.

You can use "Ms." because it is acceptable for married and unmarried women and therefore is safe to use when you don't know her marital status.

Thanksgiving was relaxing and drama free for once As for the status of my applications, all of the ones due 12/1 are completed except for one because I'm waiting on one letter writer. He'll get it done, but geez lol. I have 2 applications due 12/15 and all of my documents are ready I just need to upload them which I'll probably do today. It'll be nice to focus my attention on something else for awhile because obsessively checking my email isn't going to make anything happen any faster.

I was asked this once as part of a class evaluation and when I asked the professor for clarification she literally wanted to know how we chose the topic we researched, how we took notes (if we took notes), and how we set out organizing our paper and completing each section. How I chose my topics was easy to explain, but my note taking and organizing methods were way more challenging to explain. At some point I created my own style and it only makes sense to me apparently lol.

You could phrase is so that you're not telling them what to do, but pointing out their options. One option is writing a custom letter for each school. Another option is writing the same letter for all the School Psych programs and just changing the name of the school and then writing a separate letter for the non School Psych program. Then you can express that you're ok with either choice and appreciate their help with your application given their busy schedule.

Oh no! Were you able to find someone else to write the letters? It sounds like he really didn't want to do it and should have just declined way back in June when you asked him. Waiting until November to bail on you is really rude. So I took my mentors advice on how to structure the letter that my professor asked for and then gave it to him. He responded the next day to tell me the letter I gave him was terrible and that he had to spend a ton of time rewriting it before submitting all of my letters. Really? A day later he's completed all of my letters, but yes tons and tons of time was spent rewriting the letter he requested and should have written himself in the first place lol. The weird thing is I didn't ask him to be one of my letter writers because he is so busy teaching and running multiple labs and figured he'd say no. He contacted me at the start of the Fall semester and offered to write a letter for me because he wanted to support my endeavors after all the work I'd done for him in his labs. I was very clear about the high number of applications I was doing and that I would understand if he was too busy, but he insisted. Hopefully I don't have to go through another application season, but regardless I won't trouble him for another letter.

Thinking of my Master's program I would say.... 1 & 2) Yes, but it wasn't just the younger students. I thought this was bizarre at first because in undergrad this wasn't the norm for me. I also tend to be more self motivated and less interested in comparing my performance to others. I set my own goals and am happy to just keep beating myself and creating additional challenges as needed. Clearly they were happy working in this manner so I just let them be and did my own thing. 3) Yes, but again it wasn't just the younger students. The only time this was a huge problem was when they'd bring this up in class and convince the professor it was a great idea to make it required to do this kind of extra work. I used my class evaluations to suggest that kind of thing be encouraged, but optional and clearly I wasn't the only one to say so because things changed after my first semester. 4) No, but there were plenty of happy hours after class and on the weekends that I heard about.

Now that you mention it, this is the one question I haven't seen (required or optional) on any of my applications and I'm also applying to a lot of programs. When I applied to programs previously every application asked this and I left it blank whenever possible. When I had to enter something I just listed one other school that was similar to the program I was applying to since I figured saying "none of your business" wouldn't leave the right impression lol. Even though I get that each program wants to see who their competitors are I find it really annoying that they'd try to collect this information during the already stressful enough application season and not necessarily anonymously.

I decided to use my SOP to highlight my research experience and interests and only made a brief (as in 1-2 sentences) mention of clinical experience that directly relates to that. On my CV I list all of my clinical experience, but it is listed way after my research experience.

If you're concerned about admissions committees feeling that you may not be able to handle the stress of a graduate program then getting a letter from the therapist that is treating you is not a good idea. You're not required to disclose this to them and there are a lot of reasons why you shouldn't. I agree with the other poster that finding another letter writer that can discuss your academic and/or research abilities is best. As for how to explain your past struggles in school? I attended a workshop put on by several people who have worked in admissions and it was all about preparing for graduate school. One of the attendees had an undiagnosed learning disability that greatly affected his grades, but once it was discovered and he got proper help things improved. His question was how to explain this without disclosing his diagnosis. What they suggested he do is use his SOP to briefly mention that during that time he was under extreme stress due to personal or family circumstances and once he received adequate support he was able to focus more on school and improve his grades. Then immediately move on to something positive like why he's a great fit for their program or what he's done to prepare for the rigors of graduate school. I've never worked in admissions so I can't say their advice is perfect, but I like that their suggestion leaves the matter vague so you're not lying about anything. Admissions committees can *assume* whatever they want, but you're making it clear that its a private matter you're not going to discuss.

If I were you I would provide the info now in case the third person finds some free time sooner. If the application doesn't have an automated reminder then you could just do the reminding yourself.

Ugh just experienced this myself for the first time and was completely flabbergasted that a professor would do this. I get they're busy, but this is still really inappropriate. I talked with my mentor about this and she said to make absolutely sure that what I put in the draft is not what I said in my SOP. We all have our own individual writing styles and frequently used phrases so make sure to omit that kind of thing as well because it is unclear how much cleanup the professor will actually do.

Oh this is so annoying. I've lived in my current place for like 5 years and I still get mail from previous tenants. If you live in an apartment complex you could ask the manager if the prior tenant left a forwarding address. Then just route it back through usps/ups/fedex with the forwarding address written on it. They'll bill the prior tenant accordingly.

I too ran into the challenge of who to ask for LORs and ended up asking a professor I've TAed for since I went above and beyond typical duties. Thankfully he said yes and that he can write an excellent letter for me. I agree with the others that this kind of LOR is very relevant and can open additional funding opportunities.

Nice to see this thread here. Getting a college degree was very rare in my family. When I decided to go there were only a handful of relatives that got a degree as part of military service or via an athletic scholarship, but the attitude was education was "less than." My grandma was actually the biggest complainer when I said I was going and it was not under a military or sports umbrella. Seriously what is it with grandma's? Every time I saw her she expressed her disappointment in my choices and she complained to anyone who would listen about how I was wasting time and money. The rest of my family was less vocal, but there was no support either. I just moved out and surrounded myself with those who shared my goals. Moving out was stressful, especially financially, but I was going to drown if I continued living in a toxic environment. For those of you who can't move out I'd say spend as little time at home as possible. If you're only there to sleep and shower then there are fewer opportunities to hear negative comments. Then the economy took a dump and all of those naysayers found themselves out of work with zero options. I on the other hand got laid off, but quickly found other options. While not my dream career, I kept bills paid and expanded my skill set. All of a sudden my family was super interested in how I was surviving and how my education was working to my advantage. Instead of telling them to bug off I was the bigger person and helped those who asked get into programs (some college, some vocational) that would expand their options. When I announced I was going for a Master's degree my family didn't even understand what that was. Once I explained that it would lead to more career options and more money they left me alone lol. Some were curious and asked how it was going or if they could help me with anything, but the others were silent which was better than the complaints I endured before. I am grateful I landed a well paying job a few months after graduating otherwise I'd be eating my words lol. They aren't surprised I'm applying for doctoral programs and some are excited to be able to say there will soon be a "doctor" in the family. They don't fully understand it, but they know I'm doing the right thing for me and are leaving me be.

I was a temp employee when I applied to Master's programs and needed every penny of that money right up until school started. When my employer mentioned bringing me on full time as a permanent employee I felt it was best not to say anything about my school plans until I decided what I wanted to do. I was going to work through my program, but would still need a little schedule accommodation that I knew the company would not provide. I put my energy into landing a temp assignment that was more flexible with the hours (although I didn't tell them about my school plans either) and I gave the other assignment one weeks notice and declined the full time offer stating I wanted to pursue other opportunities. They could interpret that as another job or returning to school or whatever, but I did not burn any bridges and have had no trouble using them as a reference when needed. I can't say that this would be the right choice for others, but it certainly was the right choice for me. My bills were paid, I had food to eat, and I didn't have to choose between the need to support myself and advancing myself academically. I have seen plenty of temps let go without notice because they wanted to return to school, had child care issues, needed flexibility to care for a parent, etc. What I took away from that is that many (I can't say all) employers only care about the needs of the company and have no problem letting an employee go instantly if they don't fit in their future plans. I completely understand that, but felt that I should value myself similarly. If I didn't look out for my own needs and plan my transitions accordingly no one else was going to. Now I am in a full time permanent job using the Master's degree I worked so hard to earn. I have said nothing to management about my plans to apply for PhD programs this fall and I will not. If I don't get in I can stay at this job and reapply next year. If I do get in then I will give them 2 weeks notice stating that I am leaving to pursue other opportunities and they can interpret that however they wish.

Perhaps. I guess I'll see when I get to that point.

I just wanted to say that this is a really cool thread. I'm a 30something and have been wondering if it'll be awkward to one day be in a PhD program with mostly younger students. It's interesting reading about all the challenges and positives some of you are experiencing.