Strangefox

I was advised against using abbreviations like Prof. in a SOP so I wrote it like this: "I would like to work with Professor Great_Guy"

Call or email Embark because it seems like a technical problem and your school won't be able to help you out here. But if you have serious problems with your app because of some Embark glitch, you can contact the school and inform them that there can be a small delay with your application and it is not your fault. I think they will understand.

I believe that you can exceed the required length, but only a little bit and NOT if the website states that your SOP must be MAXIMUM 1,000 words, for example. If you see "maximum" you should not try to exceed this limit. But some schools write "approximately 1,000 words". I think that means that 1,050 and may be even 1,100 is still fine but I would not make it longer. If a website states that a SOP must be 1-2 pages long I would not make it longer, because it will be very easy to notice that you exceeded the limit. And it will look bad.

Oh, and by the way some schools notify you by email when your application is complete. Two of my did so! I love these schools

At some schools the online app system sends you a notification when a recommendation letter is submitted. At others you will have to check the status online. I am not sure if you can find out which way it works beforehand. The only thing I can recommend is to read carefully all info on a page where you submit (or have submitted) e-mails of your recommenders.

And you can also ask graduate coordinators to be sure. For example, I have a 24 pages long writing sample. On one school's website I read that a sample for this school must be 15-20 pages long. I decided to inquire if 24 pages would still be fine. They replied - yes!

You are right but as soon as it is printed out its pages can easily get mixed with someone else's application so I believe it is safer to put a header on each page for them to see whose application is that and what part of the application (writing sample, SOP) this exact page belongs to

NO CREATIVE TITLES FOR A SOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mine did not have any title. It only had a header where I put "Statement of purpose -- Strange Fox -- name of a program".

I would say that a statement of purpose and a statement of interest is more or less the same thing. Like, you know, it is also called personal statement, letter of intent and statement of goals. May be there are some more names for that. I would ask the profesor what he/she means by that. On the other hand, 100 words for a personal statement is too few... Better as the professor!

With verbal I would aim at at least 550, even if you are an international student. So yes, if I were you, I would retake.

And I was referring to Embark as well! It seems that a lot of schools use it.

I am just guessing here, but may be the last recommender you have registered had already used this online app system, uploading a recommendation letter for another student. It happened to me once. Not exactly the way it happened to you. I submitted information about one recommender and right after that in a table where my recommenders were listed additional information about this recommender appeared that was true, but that I had not entered. I was confused first but then I fugured that out

I think it's very common to use the same template for different schools. People normally change only a "fit" paragraph, adjusting it to each program. So there is no way your professors can think bad of you for using the same template for similar programs.

I would not worry about the first paragraph being too trite. If by trite you mean not particularly creative, that's not a problem. What should not be trite is your research ideas discussed in the statement, - that is what will help your statement to stand out, not some super quote or a thrilling story from your past. So if your paragraph seems trite to you, it probably means that it is written correctly! Starting it with a question is fine, I believe. I hope that you have not actually used the word "passion" in your statement. I you have, I would suggest crossing it out

STAR WARS??? OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am just curious: how exactly did he write his SOP? Was it a poem or something?

Good luck with this thing! I am sure everything will be all right!

Nono, I don't think it's necessary. I think the schools will understand. They must know that ETS people often make mistakes like that!

I mean, perhaps they won't be able to match your scores with the rest of your app materials. On the other hand, the situation is not hopeless. You should contact your schools and explain the situation. I am sure they will think of something. If you are from Turkey, your name is probably not John Smith and there won't be many applicants (if any) with the same name as yours. Just inform your schools about this issue and everything will be fine

I believe it can be a problem. Why are they rejecting your request?? Do they give you a reason? Whose fault is it that the date is wrong, yours or theirs?

ETS are clever!

IMHO: in a writing sample it is fine. If I had a good epigraph in my WS I would probably leave it...

Why is it impossible? Does he mean that he hasn't got time to do that? As far as I know, these forms can be filled out quite quickly (there was a thread somewhere on this forum about that just last week or so). Tell him that it is absolutely necessary for him to fill out this form (otherwise you won't be able to submit his recommendation) and that it will take him just a couple of minutes. It will be more convenient for you and for universities if he does that.

I am not an American as well, but I think that SOP in dialogues is too much! Your statement must indeed make you stand out but in a professional, academic way. Adcoms will choose you because they like your research and your skills but not because you are a new James Joyce I strongly believe that too much creativity is bad for your SOP. Adcoms will have a lot of SOPs to read and they like them to be clear and concise - not convoluted and pretentious. A SOP that is too creatively written may even put adcoms against you, IMHO.

I think your own research is not considered a research program. So I would not write anything there. I think it's not a big deal if you leave this box blank.