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Anybody else dealing with late LOR writers?

I might start doing that once my finals are over. When applying for undergrad, and mind you, I applied to 16 schools then, I created a giant spreadsheet of all the information I could want to know. However, because I applied to so many schools and given my stats, I knew I had a decent chance of getting into some of those schools. However, I'm only applying to 5 this time, and while I think my stats are decent, it's incredibly competitive. So, I might just wait a little before I start gathering that amount of detail. Also, does anyone know how to use the results page? I want to narrow down the results to just phd programs, but whenever I type phd in the search bar along with the school and the program I get no results. Yet, if I take away phd from my search, results show up with phd in the the program section. But then I have to search through a bunch of masters results too.

When were you guys' deadlines? My earliest one was last Friday, so I'm a bit surprised that people are already getting interviews in other programs.

Also applying to HCI programs and CS programs with HCI and affective computing research. Only appying to 5 schools (CMU, Stanford, USC, Cornell, and Georgia Tech), so I'm definitely nervous. I have decently specific interests which is why I didn't apply to that many schools. At least the wait is shorter than undergrad applications! But since my winter break is longer than high school break was, I definitely will have much more free time to ruminate upon it. Also, I have a final today, so why am I on here?

The main reason I was worried was because the school told me that they start reviewing on Wednesday, and I have another deadline tomorrow. Additionally, I was frustrated because I don't think the situation was handled in the best way. Fortunately, I have heard back from my PI now! Seems like everything should work out.

I told the PI on Friday I'd like for her to send it by Dec. 5, but I haven't heard back. I just followed up with her. Apparently, my grad student didn't get his draft on time to her so she couldn't do it on time. And nobody seemed to think it was important enough to let me know until I followed up with them the day before it was due. I'm just really frustrated, especially by their repeated urges not to stress out. I mean, I just feel like if you failed to do something you promised me you would do, your first response should be to apologize not tell me not to stress out.

So basically, the PI can't submit until Dec 5. So it's either submit with the grad student today or wait for the PI to submit late. Which one is better? It seems as though the rec would be just from the grad student if it were sent today. I talked to the school and they said that Dec. 5 is the latest that they'd want it.

I requested a LOR from a PI. They told me that the PhD student that I worked with would write the first draft, and they would revise and write the final draft. I emailed both of them to remind them that my first deadline was today (I emailed them before today), and the grad student told me that he would be submitting it. He said that I should change the name and email in my application to his so that he could submit it. I'm really unsure of what to do. I know that LORs from grad students are not good for applications. I have no idea whether the PIs name would even be in the letter. If not, then I just have LOR from a grad student which was not our agreement. If so, then I feel as though it will look sketchy that the LOR came from the grad student's email. What should I do?

Also, update: I've been narrowing down schools I want to apply to. Right now, I'm thinking my top choices would be CMU, USC, and Georgia Tech. Would anyone be able to give me any advice specifically related to schools like these?

Hey guys! Thanks for the feedback! Just for an update, my semester GPA was a 3.83 and my overall is now a 3.63, which is great news because Stanford requires a 3.6 to apply for a CS PhD. Definitely not counting on getting in, but it's nice that I can at least apply! Also, happy because it's my best semester so far! Also, one of the master's that I was thinking of applying to was at a school in the UK, partially because there's a great lab there that I'd like to work at, and partially because I wanted to study abroad in undergrad, but switching majors made that impossible. If I did a one-year master's, would that help at all (considering, any publications I did would likely not be finished if I applied in the fall)?

tl;dr Background: Junior double major CS/Psychology; was pre-med psych but switched sophomore year Bad first semester (2.96), but 3.7-3.8ish ever since (3.57 overall up to last semester) Doing 3rd research assistant gig this summer, good chance of being published (but haven't been yet) Top 20 school for CS, top 15 school for undergrad URM Female

Sure, totally reasonable! tl;dr My questions: Feedback in regards to GPA (esp. upward trend; also GPA listed above) Masters worth it to bump up GPA (and possible additional research) or should I just focus on PhD? Study for GRE just enough to get decent score or really try to ace it (heard it's not SUPER important and doing research this summer)? Overall competitiveness (if you have time to comb through my background)??

Even if you can answer only one question, it'd still be a great help! Thanks!

Hey guys! Tell me if there's any other info I should add. BACKGROUND I started off as a pre-med psychology major and ended up switching to computer science and psychology my sophomore year. I'm hoping to go to graduate school in a human-computer interaction field (end goal PhD). Some schools have this as a concentration while others just have general CS. I have a decent amount of research experience. Prior to sophomore year, I had some research assistantships, but they were unrelated to what I want to do today as they were more related to my prior pre-med interests. Also, I'm currently a junior. Research: I have had an ongoing project at my school this past year and a half that I just finished. I presented my research at a research symposium at my school (with a poster). I also worked as a research assistant last summer at a top HCI school. I have yet to be published, but I have another research assistantship this upcoming summer that should hopefully result in one. I plan to use each of these research assistantships as LORs for when I apply. GPA My freshman year is my anchor with my GPA. Right now I have a 3.57, though it should hopefully rise above a 3.6 by the end of this semester. F14: 2.96 S15: 3.67 F15: 3.711 S16: 3.80 F16: 3.70 S17: Expecting around a 3.8 Other possibly relevant info: I go to a top 15 school overall for undergrad and a top 20 school for CS grad. I am an URM female, so I don't know exactly how that affects my chances. QUESTIONS: Even without my freshman year, my GPA isn't THE best, but I'm curious whether my upward trend will be positively noted, especially since I wasn't studying my main focus during that year. I was taking many pre-med classes (general chemistry and physics). I'm considering doing a masters in the case that I don't get into preferred grad schools and possibly to add more research and better grades under my belt. Do you think it's worth applying or should I focus on PhD apps? How much should I worry about the GRE? I obviously want to make a good score and I'm pretty sure I can get one, but if I get a decent score, should I leave it at that or try again. I've heard it's relatively unimportant compared to other criteria. Overall, how do you think I will be perceived by grad schools? Obviously, you can't tell me whether I'll get in or not, but I just want to know whether it appears that I can be a competitive applicant to top schools. I haven't been able to get much feedback yet, and with the semester over, I probably won't get to talk to anyone at my school until fall. Lastly, how do you think I'd be perceived by fellowships for both master's and PhD?

Thanks. I am really interested in the work I'd be doing this summer, and he said his goal would be for me to publish, which really excites me. I guess I was more curious just in general about my chances with that factored in since I will be applying in the fall this year. Not excited for the waiting period next year.

Thanks for your responses! I do have a quick question! How helpful is it to have two research experiences (and *hopefully*, consequently, two letters of recommendations) from a university when I'm applying to that school for a PhD? I'm just curious as this university is currently my top choice, and I wanted to know how helpful it would be.

Thanks for responding! No, I'm not guaranteed on getting into an REU, and I totally understand how competitive they are. Since you brought it up and reminded me, one of my concerns was that because this internship isn't part of a program, I would miss out on having that group environment and program benefits an REU would provide. It's been kind of vague when I'd have to decide by, and I'm still waiting to hear back from them about funding details. Since I don't have anything confirmed yet (I mean, I've been offered the position, but I haven't gotten specific details and forms or anything), I wasn't sure whether it'd be in my best interest to continue applying. Although, now that I have something in a field I'm interested in, I would only apply to around 3 summer programss. However, another thing to consider is that the professor I talked told me that he would like me to work for about 12 weeks and that his goal would be for me to publish. I know that publishing success varies within REUs, so this excited me. And he works at one of my top choices (or possibly my top choice) for grad school. Maybe I am commitment-phobic... And I think part of me's afraid of not having that group environment and being on my own for the whole summer as opposed to being surrounded by other undergraduate researchers. But I guess that's a personal problem!

I emailed a professor who works in a field I'm pretty interested in asking if they had any opportunities for the summer. They ended up offering me a funded position for the summer. My question is whether it would be better to go with this or continue applying to REU programs for the summer (as I had planned to until I got the confirmation). My qualms are that this professor works at the same university that I worked at last summer (though in a different lab), so I'm afraid of not gaining enough diversity in my research experiences and having two letters of recommendations from the same school. This school is one of the (or the) top schools in the field though, so I can't tell whether that would mitigate this (possible) problem. Additionally, would an REU be a better experience and/or look better to a graduate school? Maybe I'm just having commitment-phobia, but should I just go through with this offer or consider other options?