astroid88

Not sure what type of reassurance you are looking for. The stats seem good for any program.

I think writing samples and personal statements are much more important.

Not sure how. I wrote a 50 paper using left align, but switching it knocked off about 2 pages.

Does anyone use the alignment setting "justify" in their papers? I'm used to "left align". I never knew it existed until now. I had a reader just recommend that I use it, but it feels kind of sleezy, since it reduces my page count. I don't want to make it seem like I'm trying crunch a bunch of stuff in.

By moving some information into the abstract (which is not counted in the page count), I've already managed to cut down the introduction to 7 pages. I can't see it going much further, as the introduction doesn't just have historiography. It also has relevant historical context, definitions, and, of course, my thesis statement. That being said, how does a 1 page conclusion sound? Is that unheard of? That would give me 17 pages of main body content (25-8=17).

Eh, I'm wary of doing that mostly because of time constraints. I have two weeks left, and I still need to edit other sections. Plus, I still need to write one PS. I feel the historiography should be concentrated at the intro (as opposed to interwoven) in order to understand what happens later. Basically, it answers the "why should this paper be written?" question. Unless being top heavy might be considered a deal breaker in some way, I can't see myself putting in time for that change.

Finally decided on how to divide my up my senior thesis for my writing sample. I've decided I'm going submit my introduction (10 pages), middle body chapter (13 pages), and conclusion (2). I was a bit worried about submitting an introduction that long, but I decided I really want to show my readers how my project fits into the current historiography on the subject. I also think it is a skill they will be looking for. The middle section is where they will get to see my ability to use primary sources and my French level (all the sources in this section are in French), and finally a quick conclusion to sum it all up.

Those things are annoying and formulaic. I consider myself a decent writer, but I ended up getting a 5. Now I don't think it's a terrible score, but it's definitely not representative of my ability. I guess that's what the WS and PS are for..

About 8 -9 days week days (not business). Definitely not the 10 business days they said. Make sure to send them out to your schools now if you haven't already! I sent my last batch yesterday.

I thought you might get into resources as well. For example, I'm from a small liberal arts school with not a huge library, no big writing centers, and not a whole lot of people in my subject area. I have friends at bigger schools with more resources. And boy, are their writing samples very different.

Though you might (hastily) get your required essays and WS done, there are other, more practical matters involved. I am going off the premise that most PHD apps you will be submitting are due between Dec. 1st-Dec.15th, the timeframe majority of PHD apps are due. You say you want to retake your GRE. By the time you retake it, and ETS processses them, will you have enough time from your score reports to get to the schools you are applying to? Will you have enough time for any transcripts you order to arrive at the schools you are applying to? Do you have a CV written up and edited? What about diversity statements? You said you are an international student, so you would certainly want to take time to do those if offered the option. Only you know the answers to these questions. I'm just posing these questions because you failed to mention parts of an application that can be the downfall of an otherwise great application.

Would it be unwise to mention undergraduate coursework in the SoP? I double-majored in history and philosophy, and I'm thinking about bringing in (briefly) both a philosophy class and a history class that gave me the foundations for my thematic approach. They are outside of my regional focus, though. This is the theme I used in my senior research project, and the one I am proposing to continue (albeit while still being open to move in new directions with it) in graduate school. I know it's useless and takes up space to just name-drop random courses. However, these courses actually played a large role in my academic development.

Not disagreeing with you, but I am curious as to why you didn't mention the writing sample as well. Is the SOP somehow valued more than the WS? Now, I'm not advocating for putting less effort into the WS.

I don't know the schools you are applying to, but some programs release a breakdown of students who were accepted. Oftentimes this breakdown includes GRE scores. I'm sure you've already checked if the schools you are applying to have something like this, but I just wanted to point it out in case you haven't. You might find information there that eases (or exacerbates) your concerns.

Sorry if it came off that way in my writing. They are employed at another school. I meant the fact that they are employed elsewhere did not detour me. I was hesistant about getting a rec from someone not at the school I graduated from. Thanks for the input any who.

Thanks for the advice. It's just both inconvenient and sad, as this relationship was more than just small talk. I find it weird they didn't just say no instead of keeping me dangling.

Hi y'all, I have a question about how to handle a specific LOR. I know you all don't know this person and their specific habits, so I'm just looking for suggestions on possible avenues of action. I had a mentor in undergrad who helped me on my senior thesis. I was also a TA for this person. We had a good relationship. This person has written LORs for me in the past. Sadly this professor was just a visiting professor, and their contract ended this past summer. The university did not renew. This did not detour me from asking for a LOR for my apps this fall. Said professor usually takes a while to respond but eventually gets back (might be something like two weeks later). As they do not have an e-mail with the university anymore (I asked other professors who knew them for their new email. They did not know it.), I messaged them on FB them halfway through September, in order to give them time. I did this with all my professors, though only over FB with this specific professor. No response, though the first message is read on FB. I waited a month and then sent another. They did not even open it this time. We've communicated on FB in the past, and I knew through any medium it always takes a bit for them to respond. The messages I sent were generic: "Hey, how are you doing? I'm applying to some schools, etc". I gave them the option to say no, but I just asked they tell me that they can't do it, so I can get a definitive answer and ask someone else. I've always thanked them for their LORs. This LOR is probably my most important, as I was closest to them, they helped me on my senior project, and also taught me in language courses relevant to my research. I was hoping they would cover langauge abilities and research abilities in the LOR. What should I do? I've though of asking my other LORs (who are friends with this person) to message them. I've also debated sending a third, and final, message. I don't know if I contacted too early? My other professors responded, and I like to be courteous and give them a heads up. Any who, some suggestions might be helpful. Thanks

I intentionally left it vague :]

Thank you for responding! I had that idea in mind. I'm going to try and see how much of the historiography section I can condense. I have a paragraph each for 3 historians who have written on the topic, so I will try and condense that into one paragraph. By this do you mean I should possibly change my thesis paragraph to account for only that one driving factor? I just feel weird attributing my argument to solely one factor, as part of paper argues that no one factor contributed to the change. It was a coalescence of the three factors. If that's not what you meant, could you please clarify? Thanks again.

Just looking for some general opinions on what are the best parts to "remove" in a WS that one is trying to condense. I am asking because I'm in that process right now (making a 50 page paper a 25 page paper). My paper is basically arguing that x was a certain way for a certain time period. Then x slowly transitioned. Then it became y. Right now my paper looks like this: Intro: 10 pages. Involves situating reader, thesis, historiography First Body: 10 pages. Introduces and explains how x was a certain way. Second Body: About 12 pages. Explains the three reasons why x changed. Third Body: About 10 pages. How x is now y and my justifications for that belief. Conclusion: About 4 pages. Summarizing everything. I'm thinking about dropping the conclusion in the WS I submit. Where the argument is ending will be obvious from the abstract and the third body. I don't think I need to recapitulate everything for a third time. Is this a good move? I'm also thinking about only going into one of the three reasons why x changed. It saves space, I can sum up the other two in an abstract, and I can make it clear in the abstract that I will just be examining one of those reasons. Opinions?

Do you use outlines when writing? Or do you just kind of go for it?

147 Q/ 163 V. GPA is fine (3.75). Other factors are fine too (languages, WS, LORs). Edit: realized I probably should say this score is for PhD programs.