AvantGardener

Everyone ready for the moment of truth due to come sometime this week? 

I feel you. I haven't heard from my top program either. I've been trying to get back into other things I love and try to feel passionate about non-school stuff. It works out sometimes, obviously I'm still checking my email and this site constantly. Best of luck to you.

I feel you. I haven't heard from my top program either. I've been trying to get back into other things I love and try to feel passionate about non-school stuff. It works out sometimes, obviously I'm still checking my email and this site constantly. Best of luck to you.

It's hard and devastating to strike out the second time.  I had that experience too.  I definitely went into that dark, dark, dark, dark corner that took a long time to climb out of.  Self-care is incredibly important.  I put everything relating to grad school admissions away for a while and focused on things that I knew would make me happy (volunteering a therapeutic riding center, which of course, had a double benefit of having horses back in my life making me happy and not feeling judged) and working as a camp counselor, where I got work with entering first graders who really challenged me and brought a lot of self-satisfaction in seeing them grow. Then it was back to work in the fall.  I was very fortunate to have landed an internship at a museum, where my colleagues with PhDs offered unbelievable support for me to try again. It was incredibly hard but the level of support was so high that I just couldn't say no. And I'm glad because I did get into two wonderful programs on my third try.
I don't know what are your field and end goals. You mentioned that you aimed very high, which is fine, but are there potential POIs who are stars but not in tippy top programs that you could hae applied to?
It is also worth reaching out in March/early April once you have official rejection letters, to find out how your applications were received.  Be specific-- what were the strengths and what could be improved for the next cycle.  You should be able to some feedback. If it seems like you were on spot but there were simply other applicants with better fit, there is nothing you can do expect.... just try again if you want the PhD this badly.

I think this is perfectly fine. To conserve space, I simply put a titile (Statement of Purpose) and then my name in the top right header.
I obviously cannot speak for the admissions committees, but I would imagine that the content of the letters matters much more than the formatting.

Bumping this post. I've finalized the content of my statements but all my programs are incredibly vague about formatting. This is what I currently have:
Top left of the first page: 
FirstName MiddleInitial. LastName Personal Statement/Statement of Purpose University and College/Dept of program Program name Then on the remaining pages I have the header "LastName, Page#"
Only one program told me to do it double spaced, so the rest I'm leaving as single spaced. 
 
Any critiques? Or am I just having deadline jitters?

You're going to have bad days. You're going to have bad days a lot at first, but even after you've been teaching for 5 or 10 years, you're going to have bad days then, too. Just accept them and move on.
 
Related to that, if your students don't like your class or your subject-matter (or even you), don't take it too personally. Remember that you're an "authority" figure in a required class, and that people don't really like authority figures or their "required" courses. (I know that nothing is really "required" in college, but students often perceive general ed classes as a chore.) More importantly, students lose a lot of respect for instructors who seem to take student disinterest really personally. Be open to student feedback (in the form of midterm evaluations) but don't chase after their approval. That just makes you look desperate.
 
Resist the temptation to grade too hard or too easy. Devise a rubric (or borrow one from someone) and stick to it. If it's a choice between being kind and being fair, be fair.
 
Don't lose sight of your own work or the reason you came to grad school. Don't let teaching eat your professional or personal life.

I know nothing about Berkeley specifically (and I think no one here would know - even having a different admin assistant from last year could change these little details). Generally, most schools allow a few extra days for materials to come in, especially LORs since they're out of your control (also think about international students applying from the other end of the earth with >12 hr time differences).
I'd recommend emailing the admin/director to let them know about the situation, and have them confirm that the late letter will be included in your profile. It's unlikely they're discussing all applications Mon 8AM, but if for some reason they already printed all of them out in advance, writing that email may make sure they also print out the new letter as it comes in.
I had a third rec letter that was >3 days for a number of schools, and I think I was still fine for at least one of them.