TheHessianHistorian

As of today, I can also corroborate that programs do flex on LOR submission dates, but ultimately there is a "too late" for LOR-submission for any program. Of my 3 recommenders, one has been rather flakey. She hadn't returned any of my emails since November 7th. She had initially been very enthusiastic about writing me an LOR and she is highly qualified so I had been really excited about having her as a recommender. Then she dropped off the face of the Earth after Nov. 7th. I submitted my first two graduate applications last Friday--Princeton history program (due date Friday Dec. 1) and University of North Carolina history program (due date Tuesday Dec. 5) and this particular recommender missed both deadlines. She FINALLY emailed me back last night and said she's just been really busy and would get caught up on my LORs by this Saturday (December 9th). I emailed the Graduate Program Coordinator at Princeton to let them know that my 3rd recommender would be sending her letter in on Saturday. The Princeton GPC replied: "Departments start reading right after the deadline so we strongly encourage applicants to make sure all materials are in as close to the deadline as possible. We do not have a separate deadline for recommenders so we suggest your recommenders submit their recommendations as soon as possible. The department may mark your application as incomplete until the letter arrives and is matched to your application. Since the letter is arriving this weekend your application should be ok." TRANSLATION: We guess we'll accept the LOR by next Saturday, but that's pushing it.

I used to live near Xenia, Ohio (lived in the Dayton area and attended Wright State) and never heard anyone cast any aspersions on Antioch. They're very much a legitimate institution. I saw friends with degrees from Antioch go on to get good jobs without any problem.

I also have a LOR-writer who is putting me through the same anxiety by procrastinating on submitting their letter. I second the OP's call for anyone who knows what kinds of deadlines apply to LOR-writers vis a vis the deadlines that apply to the student applicants?

I had a similar predicament. I earned my first BA in Liberal Studies a decade ago with a pitiful 2.3 GPA. Later I went back and earned a second degree--BA in History--with a 3.7 GPA, and am now applying to graduate programs in history. Of the dozens of history departments and admissions officials I have spoken to about this, they have all said that the first Bachelor's degree will not hurt my chances much in light of the good GPA on the second (relevant) Bachelor's degree. They usually just say to briefly give an explanation of my personal growth in the Statement of Purpose that I submit. Even the graduate programs that say they require a 3.0 cumulative undergraduate GPA (my first undergrad degree + my second undergrad degree average out to less than 3.0 GPA because I took so many more classes in my first degree) have told me that they will waive that requirement for me in light of having a good GPA in a more relevant degree. I would not fret about your situation at all. In my Statements of Purpose, I briefly addressed the bad GPA on my first BA by saying: "As you will see in my transcripts, I earned a low GPA in my first Bachelor’s degree—I had not yet found my career passion and reached my academic potential. My personal growth over the years and my cultivation of a genuine zeal for history are evidenced by the 3.7 GPA in my current history program, earned while working 60 hours per week." Just make sure to focus on the strong points of your application when you are writing your Statements of Purpose. Open with an engaging and personal story about yourself. Highlight your good GRE scores, your volunteer work (relevant to your field of study if possible), the skills you cultivated in your paid work experience, examples that show personal character traits, and show that you have done your research on the department and its faculty (so that they will be confident you are a good fit for their program).

Applying to history programs here. I had a couple trusted professors tell me that, ideally, they recommended applying to between 10-20 schools. I saved up $2,000 over the course of the last year just for these applications. (I figure if I find a school with a really good funding offering, it will all be worth it.) I have settled on 17 programs to apply to. I narrowed it down based on national ranking (a handful of top tier dream schools, a handful of moderates, and a handful of "safety" schools), faculty fit (I emailed professors at each school researching the topic specialties that I'm interested in and gauged whether I would be a good fit in that program), and funding (I am going for a Master's degree first, and certain schools won't fund M.A. students, so I'm only applying to schools that will pay me a full ride to go for my M.A.).