fuzzylogician

I can take a look at it, send me a PM.

Ah, wait until closer to the deadlines and read the lovely threads about overnight delivery. Everybody uses FedEx

I'm not sure how it relates to being international or not, but yes - many universities have different addresses for things that are delivered via regular post vs. things that are express-delivered. Usually, the first will be a POB that will be checked every so often, while the other has to be a physical address where there is someone responsible present who can sign for packages. You should be able to find the relevant delivery instructions on the department's website and if you don't - ask the administrative staff what address to use if you want to fed-ex materials. The important thing to note in case you're using a delivery method that requires someone to sign for the package is that the address you provide is a physical one and not just a POB. Otherwise, you're fine. I think most departments are experienced enough to list their addresses in a way that avoids this confusion.

I was in the exact same situation when I began my PhD last year. In the end, my affiliation was with my new university and we had a footnote about when/where the study was done and how it was funded along with the acknowledgments. Why not ask your coauthor or new supervisor about this? They'd know best what's customary in your field.

There are still three months before most applications deadlines so you might have more to report by then, but I don't think it'll raise any red flags if you choose to talk about more meaningful experiences in your SOP than one that just started and hasn't reached any reportable conclusion yet. You definitely should add this project to your CV, and if you get a LOR from this professor then this experience would also be mentioned in one of your letters. A professor can talk about your initiative and skills without there already being a significant finding from the project, and that report will still be very helpful to you. What it is exactly that you do in this project? The way you described me think that you might be doing an independent project supervised by professor X, but your description was "RA in lab ..."; if you're joining an existing project then there should already be a description of it somewhere or other and you can use that. Otherwise I'd say something like "working on a project in [field Y], with/supervised by (as the case may be) [Prof X]". Hopefully you will be able to refine that statement to a more concrete research question or set of experiments that you will be working on by the time you have to submit your application. I think that "planning a project" makes it sound like you're not actually doing anything yet, and you want to avoid that implication. Don't worry about seeming disingenuous-- everybody knows that there's only so much you can do in a new project in just a few weeks, and it's not like you're reporting false findings or anything. Once you get involved in a project, even if it's only in the brainstorming stage, I think it's entirely legitimate to say you're working on that project.

This. In most cases (at least that I encountered), you fill in the recommenders' details and then they are sent a notification to upload their letter. This is independent of when you submit your part of the application. Some application software are flexible in that they allow you to choose when to send the recommenders this notification and also allow you to resend it in case a recommender loses their email. Other software will send out the notifications as soon as you enter the recommender's information -- which you should be aware of so no recommender accidentally gets notified that they should upload your letter before you have in fact had time to ask them to do so.

Usually recommenders are sent an email immediately. HOWEVER, some schools won't send out LOR notifications until after you submit you application (when I applied, Rutgers was one such school). When that happened, the website was pretty clear about it, but I'd still suggest you read the fine print to make sure it's not the case for any of your schools. In any case, I also suggest you be in touch with your recommenders following when you expect they should get their notifications, to make sure the in fact all did get all of them.

Sitting in on a class wouldn't get you what you're after and I'm not surprised the professors said no. If you'll just sit there in the back and not participate, how do you hope to make an impression on the professors? I don't understand how you think that would help your application at all. If you would show up once and participate -- yes, that could be disruptive to the other students who shouldn't have to have occasional visitors in their classes who show up just once a semester to impress the professor in order to improve their application for the next year. Long story short, if you live nearby and have questions, schedule a meeting with the professors during their office hours and ask. You'd be advised to spend some time thinking about what you ask and how you represent yourself because the last thing you want is to make a bad impression. ETA: personally I only had interviews with professors after I submitted my applications, and they were the ones who asked for the interview. In that case, it's much easier to schedule the interview: if it's just the one interview we just had an email conversation and decided on a time; if it was a visit day, the graduate secretary arranged my whole day so I could meet with several professors and students and sit in on relevant classes.

Same here, I took the GRE in June and submitted my applications in December-January. They all got matched up with no problems.

Great! You might want to contact them ahead of time and schedule time to have coffee with them during a break or to talk to them during a talk you both decided not to attend, otherwise you might find that in these big conferences professors prefer to spend time with other professors. Sometimes it feels like they all know each other and are using the conference to advance their own plans or catch up, so some professors may seem (and be) less approachable. It's be a shame to waste an opportunity like the one you have (and I speak from experience here, having not been able to introduce myself to a professor who was constantly busy and then suddenly left early the year before I applied; talking to him could have saved me some time and money on an application because it turned out that he was about to change schools).

Whether or not the school agrees to let you defer, I'm not sure how that would hurt your chances. I think you'll be surprised how accommodating schools can be, once you're a registered student there. If there are circumstances outside of your control that caused this last minute request, explain them honestly and hope for the best (don't stall, it's already late!). If it turns out that they can't let you defer and you end up having to reapply next year, a solid reason for deferring of the kind that does not often repeat itself should be all that you need to be considered again without prejudice. If they can't let you defer and you choose to come -- there shouldn't be a problem at all, you'll start the program just like any other student. The reasons for not allowing you to defer will probably be administrative and have to do with sources of funding anyway. If you ask the DGS confidentially, the fact that you wanted to defer shouldn't even be made available to the faculty and other students. And, lastly, if they agree to let you defer, it might inconvenience the school but it means that they can handle it and you don't need to worry about it.

No, it's not customary to list attendance in conferences where you didn't present anything. What you can, and should, do with your attendance is use the opportunity to meet as many potential advisors as possible. Introduce yourself and make a good impression, and your acceptance chances will improve.

It's not a fatal mistake, though if noticed it won't make the best impression on the readers. However, it's likely that whoever reads your SOP won't even notice the error, since many times people gloss over parts that are predictable (like this famous institute's exact name). It'd have to be a very unusual situation that will make this one factor cause your rejection, but for your peace of mind why don't you contact the program, say you've noticed a typo in your SOP and attach a newer version? I assure you, no one has the time or desire to compare versions in order to find out where the typo was. Most programs won't have a problem substituting the essay as long as the deadline hasn't past, and then you can put this whole ordeal behind you.

It's a busy time of year, with the semester just starting. Maybe your email just got lost in the professor's inbox. Those things happen and it doesn't mean you won't get a strong letter (on time, without complicatons) from this professor. Try sending her another email before you give up. If you do decide to go choose a different recommender, do NOT choose a grad student. Go with the other professor.The only exception to this is if the letter you expect to get from the student is significantly stronger than the other letter, AND you can get the student's advisor to co-sign the letter.

Holy schedule, Batman! That's insane! I hope your professors will keep giving you tolerable amounts of work because if I had to do everything I was assigned last year on your schedule I would have either had to quit or check myself into an insane asylum after the year over. Sheesh! You hardly have long stretches of time to sit and think about an assignment, and sometimes they require some reflection. It's so much harder if you have to do it bit by bit instead of all at once. Kudos on not forgetting your social life!

Being the cynic that I am, I can completely understand your apprehension. If anything like that happened to me, I think I'd have a plan more or less like this: first, I don't think I could stand by and not say anything. The "science as self-correcting" argument is not without reason, but I don't think I could knowingly let someone get away with committing fraud the way you've described. Especially when, if found, it could have a negative impact on my career. On the other hand, I also understand the worry about the "whistle-blower" stigma. I think it's important to have a long-winded plan. If the fraud is exposed in 2-3-4 more years, that should be sufficient to cause this person trouble and stop their dishonest behavior. The first inevitable step you have to take is to distance yourself from this person as soon as possible. Unfortunately, that means you have to drop the research you've been doing with him. Or, if possible, you could transfer it to your new lab and continue working on it there. However, be mindful of ending up having to collaborate and publish with your current advisor. You don't want your name on the same publication as his, as everything he does could later be dismissed as fraudulent. After you've done this, it would be helpful if you chose a professor who you trust and build a relationship with him, so that when the time comes to report your advisor you have someone in your corner as well. I think you should give this stage at least a year and I'd suggest that during that time you don't hint to anyone that anything is wrong. If someone tries to replicate the bad findings by themselves, that's great. But don't speak too soon, before you have your safety net secured. After enough time has passed, and hopefully at a time when it's not automatically obvious that you were the one who talked, you could report your advisor. How to do that would depend on what your situation will be like when you do so. If you have a strong relationship with your new advisor or your chosen mentor, you could consult with them. Otherwise an anonymous email (which right now I think would be the way I'd choose) is also an option. Luckily I don't have experience with dishonest advisors, but I've had my work stolen by my boss, who was the new "rising star", in a work situation several years ago. Unfortunately I can tell you that many people were not interested in hearing that he stole my work, even though I had proof, because a lot was invested in him. In fact, it ended up such that he is still working for the same company, and I had to go work elsewhere (which turned out to be excellent - better work and much better pay in my new position, but of course that was pure luck). That experience made me realize that the most important thing is my career and future, and exposing fraud is only second to that. I'd seriously suggest you worry about keeping your reputation more than about "doing the right thing". Be very careful about what you say and do, and start by distancing yourself from the dishonesty before you consider doing anything else.

Oh, so it's more like a diversity statement? Some of the public schools I applied to required one, but it was more for the university (because of diversity laws, and for unique scholarships) than for the departments themselves. People can go in very different routes on this one; some talk about real life challenges, others explain how they will contribute a unique point of view to the research done in their department and to the student body in general, some keep a narrower focus on what led them to their specific topic of research. It really depends on what you have to say. Try searching the forums for "personal history statements" and "diversity statements", there have been discussions in previous years about what those should include.

I don't have specific experience with personal statements but the conventional wisdom of avoiding the 'ever since I was a child' cliche probable still holds here. I'd assume that the purpose of a PS is to learn more about what drives you as a student and scholar. What you thought you wanted to be as a child is still irrelevant. The PS would be where you tell the committee more about your development as a scholar -- how you got started in your field, how you narrowed down your interests, what special classes, encounters, professors, projects influenced your choice to do research in X, how your interests have grown/changed/become focused during your time in school, etc.. In most cases, starting the story with one's undergrad career will be the best way to go.

Yes, in principle you have to submit a transcript from every school you attended, even if it was only for one class. Some (but not all!) schools will allow you to not submit transcripts for classes from other schools provided that they appear on the transcript from your degree-school. You need to either ask at each school you're going to apply to or play it safe and send everything everywhere. You don't want your application to be considered incomplete and discarded because you didn't send a transcript for a single class you took at a community college.

It's always better if your research experience, LORs and writing sample for grad school all come from the same field that you did in undergrad, but it's not essential. The most important thing to show ability to do research, which your current projects will do for you. Next it would be good if you showed that ability in your proposed field. If all your experience is in another field, you'll have a harder time explaining why you want to change fields and how you know the new field is really right for you. Since you still have two years before you graduate, you should have more than enough time to take classes and gain experience in your new field, so that shouldn't be a problem. You can't change what you've already done so don't worry about that. Students often change their minds during undergrad (and even later) so while I can't tell you that all bio profs will be accommodating, it should by no means be impossible for you to change fields and find professors who would work with you even though your background is unusual--especially if it's still relevant in some way (but otherwise as well). If you're sure about this new direction, I'd say go ahead and finish your current work, and try to have some new work/classes in the new field starting this year as well. That should be more than enough.

I won't be meeting with my advisor to go over my class choices until next week but right now my plan is to take three (and a half) classes this semester: Monday 2-5pm, Tuesday 10-1pm Wednesday 10-1pm Thursday 2-5pm (starts in mid-October) Apart from my classes I have three ongoing projects which I'm continuing from last year and I am in the process of starting a fourth one. All these involve several weekly meetings and a large time investment. I won't be TAing this semester (we're only required to TA for a total of two semesters of our graduate career; when students in my department TA, they are only expected to take on two classes). And I'm getting ready to take over as manager of our departmental student-run publishing business. So, I'm expecting to stay busy this year. From what I understand 3 classes is the regular workload expected of us for a semester and I think four would already be considered a lot. But then, I think I'm more productive under time-pressure and when there's a lot to do, so I understand where you're question is coming from.

I use PDF-Xchange Viewer. It allows me to do all the things you mention, and it's free.

There are several options here. One is to choose some parts of the paper (e.g. intro, main section, conclusions) and omit others (e.g. theoretical background, detailed stats or proofs, etc). What you choose probably depends on your field and I'm not an expert in yours. Maybe someone else can offer advice, and you should ask your professors as well. I think it would make sense to choose the parts that are your own original thoughts and contribution, not the theoretical background section. Another option is to send the whole paper with instructions to read e.g. sections 2-3. This way your readers can place the excerpts in the context of the whole paper, and they can choose to read more, if the want. A third option is to rewrite the paper to a smaller size, maybe also omitting less important parts.

There is no uniform answer to this question. Some (probably most) schools will agree for you not to send the other transcripts in this case, but some will insist on seeing all of them.

I worked with prof. X (see RL) is fine, as is the version without the reference to the letter. I worked with prof. X who is the general chair of Conference XX is irrelevant -- your SOP should be about you and your achievements, not about prof. X's credentials.