emmm

All I know is that right now there's nothing I'd rather be doing -- despite the stresses and bumps in the road...

4/5 I have a nice department and a decent, though not overly social, cohort. I can email anyone in my program, my cohort or others, and be almost 100% guaranteed of a response, but people are busy. Profs are pretty supportive and friendly, though also busy (of course). Feedback is sometimes minimal. Classes have been a mixed bag. I think most people don't have the time to put into teaching. However, the ones who do put in the time are appreciated :-) It's not that I can't learn from a mediocre class (or on my own), it's just more fun in a well-designed and well-run class. Exams haven't gotten any less painful since last time I was in school -- if anything I seem to dislike them more the older I get. But learning new stuff is great, and I keep reminding myself that that's why I am here. Overall, it's definitely worth it, but the end of the term if perhaps NOT the best time to ask such a question ;-)

nevermind

I would be surprised if you could complete a CS major through a CC. I took CS classes at my local CC (which is very large and is a feeder school for transfers to the state U's flagship campus). It was only possible to take the intro CS classes at the CC -- that is all they offered.

Good luck. I hated writing my SOP. The first several drafts I wrote were awful. One person I showed one too looked really puzzled and asked me why I'd written that stuff. All I can say is keep working at it -- eventually things fell in place and I ended up with something presentable. I'm sure you will too.

I did too -- but one prof was a bit uncomfortable accepting a gift. It worked out OK, though. We're still on good terms :-)

That is too bad -- what have you done in the 3 years since finishing your thesis? If you can get recommendations from people who have worked with you more recently, perhaps it will still be OK.

I had to work 100+ weeks in my past life as a resident (worst period of my life), and while it is *technically* do-able, it is not in any way, shape, or form healthy. I had to learn how to keep compulsive checklists because my memory was unreliable due to exhaustion and my mind tried to play tricks on me to convince me my work was done when it wasn't. It was really weird feeling as though I could not trust my "memories" and it's something I never experienced before or since that period. When your mind and body desperately need sleep, I guess weird things do happen. Also, I frequently had trouble staying awake while driving home, and I switched my route to one that was pretty deserted (country backroads), so that if I hit something, it would most likely be a tree and I hopefully wouldn't kill anyone other than myself. I was too caught up in the residency "experience" to realize that this was not a healthy solution to the problem. So, ANY program that thinks you should be there 80-100 weeks or more is insane and abusive, in my opinion.

From reading these boards, it is not entirely unusual for one prof to agree to write for you and then "flake out" and submit late or not at all...so having an extra available might not be such a bad thing...

Gifts are NOT necessary, but notes of thanks should be -- it's just good manners. However, you may want to give a gift, depending on your relationship with the letter writers. Some may feel uncomfortable accepting gifts, however, so you should keep that in mind. I did give my letter writers gifts, and one was uncomfortable about accepting, but I bullied him (and told him I had gotten gifts for everyone who helped me). I hope he didn't mind too much. We still have a good relationship, so I think it was OK. The others didn't seem to mind at all.

I don't see why they WOULDN'T accept an LOR from his personal email post-retirement. Why would they doubt he is who he says he is? It would still be something they could easily verify, IF they had any concerns.

One of my letters was from a part-timer (without a PhD, even!). I got in to a great program, but some of the other programs I applied to probably didn't think much of ANY of my letter writers.

Agree with ridofme. Better to be honest -- they can see it was an unusual situation.

I started grad school after 13 years out. I took classes part time before applying to get new references, and I had similar GRE scores. It can be done -- good luck!

Don't ask the TA -- find a professor. These letters really do matter. Sure, it would complete your application, but it would be looked upon quite unfavorably in my opinion. I had letters from profs, but even they weren't considered very good by one program I applied to because they "aren't from people we know" (literal quote).

I got a 6, without trying to use "GRE words" or worry about structure. I don't think my essays were especially good. I usually go through many revisions of any work I do, which of course there was not time for. I took the GRE after being a writing grader/tutor for a year, so I'm sure that helped.

I am really worried that the verbal score is too low to get you admission -- even as an international student. Do you know if they have any school-wide minimum?

I don't see where you get that he does not think you would be competitive. He is working on limited information and he does not have a say in who gets admitted. He just does not want to give you the impression that he is sure you are going to get in. It IS competitive, You should already know this, and be applying to appropriate schools given this (i.e. number of programs, range, etc).

never mind -- the advice you've already been given is fine...

My vote would be for not sending it.

Nope -- total nonsense.

http://www.grad.wash...ualDept2011.pdf You can see the stats for UW here. For CS and statistics, the accepted students had GPAs around 3.75-3.8. And I think there is a school-wide minimum of 3.0 to be accepted to any graduate program, though exceptions can be made.

I don't know much about Canadian schools, but your stats seem kind of on the low side -- sorry. Especially the GRE Q. Is it needed to apply to Canadian schools?

I sent reminders until I got the confirmation from the application websites that the letters had been received. No one seemed to mind the reminders and two of my recommenders actually thanked me for them. The other was consistently prompt getting his letter in and got sent very few reminders :-)

I say the quality of the letter matters more -- especially since you already have two letters from full profs.