DBear

I'm still searching for the answer to the question on whether to include works cited in the page count - most of the people I talked to said they included these in the page count - but the people I talked to are all in the English department (successful in their applications though). I think I'm going to include works cited to be safe. Also, I have adobe pro, so if you want to turn your pdf back into a word file, I can do that for you - if you feel comfortable with that, pm me.

I've actually seen quite a few schools that limit SOPs to 500 words even for PhD applicants... I think that's a bit strange, too, but it seems to be a growing trend. Perhaps these schools want to see a more concrete and specific plan of research. I'm also curious about whether the page limit includes the works cited - a few of the people I've heard from told me to include the works cited in the page count and I've seen elsewhere in this forum that it doesn't count, the body of the paper should be 20 pages... As for your first question, I think I'd go with the word limit instead of the page limit since the word limit is more accurate when you take into account different line-spacing and font size etc. Good luck!!

Gah - I just paid to report GRE and TOEFL to four out of 8 schools I'm applying to. That's 165 dollars that I'll never see again. Between taking the GRE 3 times (one time, I paid extra to reschedule) and the TOEFL once, I've already spent over 1,000 dollars in test taking and related fees - and I haven't even started paying for the applications themselves and still need to order some more transcripts... I know a lot of people that applied to over 15 schools and spent over 2 grand on applying .. GAH Sorry - just had to vent GAH GAH

Not if they're not directly affiliated somehow... Even then, with the word limits on SOPs, not sure you'd want to spare lines for someone that's not going to be directly related to your research. If you really want, you could maybe say that University X is so great because it has excellent faculty both in and outside of Department Y, which will be great in stimulating your research interests...

My quant is terrible... Not even 40% on the concordance table. My undergrad GPA also is blech.... Surprisingly, the average GRE scores for some of the schools I've been looking at are not as high as I'd imagined and it really does look like they take the whole package into consideration... I saw some discussions about reapplying elsewhere on gradcafe... Might be useful

I agree as well, there are risks to naming professors, but that's usually something that should be addressed in the preparation phases. Also, this seems to be a discipline specific issue as well and it's important to know what the norm is in one's discipline. For example, I don't know one person who did not name names in phd applications for English/ Communication/ Rhet comp. I've even been told by a PI in a top program in my field to at least state 3. Also think it depends on whether one is applying for an MA or phd..... But yeah, before reading this thread it hadn't even crossed my mind that one shouldn't mention names

I agree, I also do think that getting a letter from someone who isn't invested enough in your application process may not be the best choice. There are many reasons one should not go this route and luckily for me I had a big pool to choose from so I chose professors who'd be willing and able to meet with me to discuss my applications and also read through the packet of materials I prepared for them. That being said, not everyone may have the option to look elsewhere if a recommender can't do the work or there are other circumstances, could be a cultural difference. Maybe the recommender can't write in English.

I've had this happen to me a couple of times but for the most part, they were asking for a working draft they could read, modify/edit. It is actually a lot of work, I mean if they want to refer to the classes you've taken with them and the papers you've written, they may have to sort through a lot of past data or they might not even have records anymore. If they expect you to write up a letter that they can just sign and send off, that's definitely not ideal but if your pool of possible LOR writers is limited, then I don't think this kind of request is an absolute deal breaker. If that was my only choice, I'd let them know that since I've not ever written such a letter before, I'd be able to send a draft with the content Id like to have emphasized if they'd be willing to add stuff and edit....

So, it's already November and I'm thinking everyone's list of schools is close to done and the application process is underway.. I was wondering how many programs people are applying to.... My list has shrunk to 8 and I don't know if I'm taking too big a risk with too few schools. I've been of the opinion that applying to fewer programs will allow me to put more work into my preparation, but then everyone around me applying for grad school (all in English, though) is applying to at least a dozen schools. I've got U Penn, Temple, U Illinois Urbana Champaign, U Wisconsin Madison, U Iowa, Ohio U, U Mass Amherst and Bowling Green on my list, and Bowling Green is hanging on by a thread... Apart from Urbana Champaign, I'll be applying for the phd program. Urbana Champaign won't let me apply for the phd program because my MA is in English.. This thread seems a bit quiet but I'll put this out there anyway...

I'm concerned as well, but I also know that changing immigration laws and policies will take time. What I'm more concerned about is what the atmosphere will be like after I'm done with my phd (which I hope to start next year). I went to the U.S. to get my MA in 2006, and when I finished in 2008, Lehman Brothers started that whole global economic crisis. I stayed in the U.S. for a year on an OPT visa, interning and looking for a full-time job but with the economy being so bad, no one wanted to put the extra time, effort, and money into hiring someone they'd need to get an H1B visa for. I got so far as a verbal offer which ended up being retracted because the person couldn't sway HR. So even without restrictions on visas and changes to policy, there are other bad things that can impact life as a foreigner in the U.S. That being said, the likelihood of something good happening unexpectedly is the same as something bad happening (I hope) so... if studying in the U.S. is really something you want to do, I'd say not to be deterred..

Hi all, I've been talking with some alums and current students at some of the programs I'm applying to and wanted to know if it's a good idea to incorporate what they told me about the program and if so, how I'd do that. This would be stuff that's not explicitly posted on the website. For example, for school X, apparently the school is very generous in their support for graduate students and I'd like to write something along the lines of "I am confident that the program's generous support for its students will help further my academic goals" I've been told quite a few things about how research is conducted, the overall atmosphere, how closely students work with faculty, focus on research vs. teaching. I don't want to seem like I'm throwing out unfounded information, but I haven't been able to come up with a concise and eloquent way of saying "I heard from alums and current students that your program is awesome and I really want to attend because xyz" A friend told me that she incorporated stuff like this successfully in tailoring her SOPs but.. I'm not sure how..

Great question, I'm super curious, too. Some schools, like U Penn, have average scores of accepted students posted. I was actually pretty surprised they weren't higher for U Penn at least. I don't know anyone who applied for Communication depts recently so I've been scouring the web for such info.. I'm thinking this may get more responses if it's posted on the Communication forum maybe..

Does anyone know of programs like Fulbright that offer scholarships to foreign students pursuing graduate studies in the U.S.?

Thank you!

Thanks so much, @totallyuncreative (which ironically is a totally creative handle) I've updated the list again and I've decided against Boulder I've got 9 schools left: U Penn, UNC Chapel Hill, U Madison- Wisconsin, UI Urbana Champaign (MA), U Iowa, Ohio U, U Mass Amherst, Temple. I feel like I'm reaching with most of these schools but they all have faculty I'd really like to work with so... I'm going to apply and see... Thanks for the tip on phds.org - it did seem a bit off but really need somewhere to start so I whittled my way down from the 100 schools they had.

One part of the website says Dec 15, another says Jan 13... I looked at the site so many times and now I'm not even sure I'm seeing it correctly :/ The FAQ had the Dec 15 deadline posted if I recall correctly

If possible I'd be interested in blogging for what's left of the Fall 2017 cycle

@TakeruK what is your take on this, may I ask? This may differ based on school/ field but I know people who've gotten in without ever having contacted anyone...

I agree with everyone that your score with 170 q is good, but I also understand your nervousness. Obviously, writing a great SOP will overshadow the verbal score but if you're still nervous, I suggest taking the TOEFL even if you're exempt. I'm also an international student and I really didn't want to have to pay for TOEFL but some feedback I got from other international students was that if you get a good score, it will be helpful in alleviating possible concern over your English comprehension. Judging from your posts, getting an impressive TOEFL score shouldn't be too difficult with some practice and it would be one more positive thing to add to your portfolio. I'm eligible for exemption for some of the programs I'm applying to so I thought I'd save money on reporting fees and only submit to schools that don't waive TOEFL but I ended up getting a really good score so am just going to send it out to all schools. A number of friends who were nervous about either their verbal or AWA score have done the same.

Specifics about what you gained/did would be helpful especially if tied directly to the program's goals/ your goals. I think you want to be careful that what you say can't be boiled down to: you told me to do x so I went and did x. If someone were to paraphrase that section it should be closer to: I did x, as suggested, and now I'm better at y and z.

I noticed that UC San Diego has two different deadlines posted, I've emailed them but no reply... have you seen that too by any chance?

I posted something pretty similar to this but have no idea how to link it The advice I got was to send one set of scores. I'm not sure how bad your quant was the first time around but I got 143 (14%) so even though my AWA dropped a bit, I was unanimously told to go with my second set. Exact scores might help people form opinions on your situation

Hi all, I'm applying to Communication PhD programs and am debating between two profs to ask for a LoR 1) Intl Relations professor from a MA I completed nearly 8 years ago. I only took 1 class with him but have been in contact all this time as we have similar research interests 2) Eng Lit professor from a MA I completed this year. He was on my thesis committee and I took one class with him. I think 2 seems like an obvious choice but I'm considering 1 because he can attest to my ongoing interest in my research topic and he is an active scholar in that field. Another consideration is that the school in concern is pretty interdisciplinary and thought maybe having 2 Lit professors and 1 in the social sciences would be better than 3 Lit. Thoughts?

I think I would phrase it just a tad differently. I'm assuming there is a line or two about how great you think the program is, I'd link it to that: As a leader in the Coolness discipline, I feel like blah blah this and that excellence in research, especially with faculty like Prof Renowned who has helped shape discourse in Coolness. Or I trust that with my work with Prof PotentialAdvisor will be further "good adjective" with discussions and interaction with renowned faculty like Prof Renowned who has helped shape both the discipline and my past research. Just my two cents and thanks for the great question