fuzzylogician

For schools that say "more than n", it's ok to submit a higher number, BUT only if all of the extra letters are actually strong and add something to your application that wouldn't be there with just the n. Think of it this way: you're making the admissions committee read an extra 2-4 pages. They'd better get something out of it. If not, you will not have helped your chances. And of course if any of the letters are weak, then there is absolutely no reason to want to include it. For schools that say "exactly n", it might be better to stick with what they ask. Some application software will allow you to submit more than the required number of letters, but it might very well be that admissions committee will only read the first n, since that's what they asked for (or, they may just get pissed because apparently you can't follow instructions). So, if you do go this route, take into account that some letters might end up not being read, and ask yourself if you're equally comfortable with any n of the n+ letters you submit being chosen. That said, I did sometimes submit 4 letters when only three were required when I applied for grad schools, and I don't think it hurt my applications at all. But, there is a risk involved in doing this that you should be aware of.

Two questions: - Do you have other letters that talk about your research? your teaching? will they talk about the same or different skillsets, publications, etc.? How detailed will they be? - Was there a graduate student or postdoc in the lab who you worked with more closely, who could co-write a letter with your PI so the letter is both detailed and signed by PI? Overall, I would go with the more personalized, detailed letter, but it also depends if one of these two options would be able to cover things that would otherwise not be touched on by anyone. Also if one wirter is (much) better known, and if the content is more or less related to your proposed future work.

This is really a question for your advisor. Expectations can vary quite a bit between programs. At mine, first-year students never TAed but spent almost all of their time on coursework. Some research happened in the second semester of first year, but really things only picked up in the summer and in second year (and beyond). Other programs I know are different, and students are expected to have a project to show by the end of their first year. So bottom line is that we can't know.* There might be a graduate student handbook you can consult, and you could ask more advanced students or see if there is any relevant text on your department's website. But I don't think there is any reason for you to worry that asking your advisor if you are dividing up your time correctly and if you're making good progress would make a bad impression on him/her. Those are good questions and a sign of someone who is aware and hard-working. * Either way, though, feeling a bit overwhelmed with the teaching and coursework is normal. With time you'll adjust and learn to be more efficient.

Not Statistics specific, but still: Look for the CVs of first-year PhD students at your potential programs. At this point in the year, most of what they'll have on their CVs will be the same as what they applied with. Another option is to look at CVs of graduating Masters students, in cases where that applies.

My advice: the people reading your application aren't exactly the same people as those who you'll actually interact with at a school you might attend. How you're treated and how comfortable you feel also depends on factors beyond just the department, like the school itself, the town it's in, the state, and so on. So at this point I would suggest on the one hand doing some reading to see if there are obvious red flags about a certain place, but beyond that I would not say anything in the applications themselves, and probably also not during (pre-admission) interviews. Think of the applications as your chance to display your best professional self; it's not necessarily a place to bring up personal issues (with the possible exception of diversity/personal history statements, but it's often hard to know how those would be read and treated.) Once you are accepted, you are in a position of power -- really for the only time during your graduate student career. At that point, I would advise visiting each school, if at all possible, and I would ask to be put in touch with other gay students and get their advice. Students are usually very honest, and will tell you if they are unhappy. Talk to the LGBTQ organization(s) on campus, and if you are out, maybe there is a way to bring it up casually with your potential advisor and gauge their reaction. But again, I'd only do that once you have an offer. Before then, people will be less forthcoming, because you are just a random potential applicant, instead of an admitted student; that makes a big difference. But I also agree that you do not want to attend a school where you would not be welcome, and I really hope you don't encounter that.

The vast majority of applicants will not have any publications. So having one might help (though frankly the research experience--and being able to talk about it in a coherent way--will matter much more than the actual publication, in most cases), but not having one won't hold you back. You'll just start from the same point as basically everyone else.

I think that the answers to your questions don't matter. It's not about him, it's about you. I would schedule a meeting with the Director of Graduate Studies or the Chair of your department ASAP. The question to ask is not what will happen to him, but how they will work to support you during this time when you don't have access to your advisor. Ask to be assigned a secondary advisor, hopefully someone who would be willing to take over in case your advisor doesn't come back. Putting someone on administrative leave and not allowing them access to their students is a drastic move, and would imply that something is seriously wrong, and could take a long time to figure out.* I would guess that this may not end well for your advisor, given that this has happened. Even if he is fully exonerated from whatever the charges are, his reputation has been hurt, and likely also his relations with colleagues. He may not recover, or he may want to move to a new place of employment. (Of course, these are guesses, I have no way of actually knowing what is going on!). Either way, I would suggest that you take steps to protect yourself in case your advisor doesn't come back, or even in case his reputations is so hurt that even if he does survive this, you won't want to be associated with him. * Guesses: the two things that come to mind are some inappropriate behavior toward a student or colleague (some kind of harassment or mistreatment) or a problem with academic integrity. But again, these are baseless guesses. If I am on the right track, though, these things can easily take several months to figure out. Official sanction procedures are slow.

Two strong letters plus a so-so letter should be fine. It's good that one is from a professor, and actually I would think that a letter from one of your internships wouldn't be a bad choice, assuming it's relevant to your proposed course of studies. It'd be better if this person knew you longer and if the internship was in the immediate past, but you can't change those things now. I think it should work out.

It's not so much a question of looking bad, but having spent one semester at an ivy league school before changing to another program isn't going to make you look like a more attractive candidate. You transfered out pretty quickly, so any advantage of the fancy name you might have had is probably gone. I would not include it in your CV. It'll show in transcripts, and it doesn't make the CV look stronger.

I think the thing to do is to ask for an evaluation from someone with more experience, be it from your university's learning center or someone within your department. Maybe have someone observe a class or two, and show them some of your materials. There is always room for improvement, if not in content then maybe in the delivery, so that whatever is causing the students to doubt your teaching abilities can be remedied. As it stands, it's hard to know if there is a content problem, a delivery problem, maybe a problem of addressing the class at the right level and getting the strugglers to a good level instead of only talking to the strong students, or if this is all just backlash because they didn't study and it's not your fault, because it sounds like the other section(s) are basically doing the same as yours. It could just be that you are not feeling confident and that is being picked up by the students, and is making them feel insecure about the material as well; that could be addressed and fixed, and doesn't mean that you're teaching them wrong but that you need to work on your presentation style. It's hard to take criticism, and it's even more difficult to know which points are actually true and helpful and which are not. So get help from a third party who is willing to support you.

Just leave it be, it doesn't matter. They want to know in order to know who their competition is, nothing else, so it doesn't matter if it's not the most accurate or you changed your mind about some school.

It can't hurt, but it's unclear how much it will help. The decision where to submit a paper -- and if possible, which particular editor to request to have the paper assigned to -- is something that you should get advice on from your advisor. The fate of a paper can easily be determined by how much an editor cares about it, and whether s/he assigns it appropriate reviewers. So yes, generally having conversations with editors is a good idea in order to learn how to help the process along (the right ways to communicate, format the paper, some finer points of wording and politics, etc). How much it will specifically help a particular paper is too much up to the details of the individual case.

This probably reflects the nature of the assignments that you and I usually grade. Mine don't tend to have that much text. When I do read students' papers, it's always as pdfs on my computer, and I write comments in notes. So I don't need the extra space for readability, and I actually prefer not to have all that extra white space.

This. FWIW btw, my own statements are usually typeset at 1.15, and class handouts when I teach are at 1.3. Double spaced is incredibly annoying (to me) as a reader. No one is going to take careful notes on your statements, because they aren't editing them, they're just reading them. And if they were taking notes, the notes would likely be electronic, so again no need for all that white space.

I think it is worth applying, and I think the best strategy is to explain what needs explaining and not to hide or lie about anything (not implying that you are!). More than people get in trouble for actually having committed some stupid mistake in their past, they get in trouble for lying about it. I don't think any grad program is going to investigate beyond what you divulge, as long as you are level with them and can convey that this is a mistake that is in your past. At most they might contact the research integrity office (or whoever) at your previous school, but the school can only provide information as you allow it. It's not that easy to actually get all the details. The fact that you've since completed another program, that it was several years ago, and that you have the support of your current professors, all play in your favor. No one can make you any promises, but I don't think you should just give up and not even try.

Follow the instructions.

Given this statement, I would actually verify with the department that they want you to take this seriously (assuming that "found it under .. graduate applications" means something about the graduate school requirements at large). If it's an institution-wide requirement and doesn't come from the department, there is a decent chance that they have their own guidelines or that they don't really have this particular requirement. If and when you verify that this is what they want, I would suggest two things. First, you might want to write an early draft just to see how long it is without doing anything special. It might be longer than you think. Take this as a very early attempt, one where none of the text may end up in the final version. Then, if necessary, brainstorm topics to add. This is very personal so it's hard to give advice without knowing you, but if you've participated in multiple higher-level courses that have informed your research, you could choose to write about the readings, the assignments, the practical experience, etc. that were important to you. If you participated in multiple internships, or even just one, pick a few meaningful cases where you encountered a problem, helped someone, learned something, etc., and talk about how that helped you grow. Maybe you want to expand on your future career goals. Maybe there are extracurriculars that are relevant in some way. The prompt gives you a lot of leeway. But I think a good first step is to write what you have brainstormed already and see how it feels. It'll help you figure out where you might expand more than having this amorphous task that you haven't even started on yet.

@ssfgrad thank you for the update. It sounds like you made the right decision at this point in time. Your mental health is more important than a graduate student position in a toxic lab. I hope that once you've recovered a little, you can find a way to join another university and get the education that you desire in a better-suited environment. From all that you write, I have no doubt that you will be successful. Please do come back and update us if and when you have news. I hope it's all good from here on out.

I use a combination of google calendar (to tell me where to go when) and workflowy (https://workflowy.com/) to keep track of lists of all kinds. I've been taking notes in this app from about 5 years now (including all meeting notes). It syncs across my computers and my phone. It's searchable, has a very simple design, and allows me to create lists both by dates and by topics. I can move stuff around, duplicate lists, and share them with others. The bullet point structure helps me keep things brief and to the point. I have far too many things to keep track of, including random things due about 5-6 months from now, the odd promise I made to a student or colleague (sure, I'll send you that paper as soon as I get back to my desk, etc.) and things that I submitted months (sometimes years) ago, to be able to keep it all in my head. Even if I could, I wouldn't want to. Having everything written down and checking my list on a regular basis means that I don't need to keep it all memorized. That frees up space for actually important tasks and things that I do need to remember.

Why not just say that you were lucky enough to get a job that you find attractive, so you're graduating now so you can start by X start date? You don't need to say anything about publishing more than anyone else, that would just be rubbing it in.

Connections.

Because the Z community is very small, it seems important not to burn any bridges. But keeping silent and suffering is not a good way to do that. This is a difficult conversation, but it needs to happen. Three weeks in is a good time to stop the trajectory you're on and actively do something to change it. As a way of keeping as many options open as possible, I might consider agreeing to give this year a real shot at your current program, since you're there anyway. It's also important as a sign of good faith, because even if you leave, you want your current advisor to continue to think positively of you. It happens that people don't fit in for whatever reason, and reasonable advisors should understand that. So when you have this conversation it, it's good to come prepared with some thoughts about how things could improve, if there is anyway you can see of that happening. One thing I would seriously consider is looking into a way to move your physical space from this other building to where everyone else is. It's a small surprise that being alone and separated from the others is making you feel left out and isolated. And then I would ask myself if there is a way to include myself in other research activities or to become involved in other projects. Maybe there is someone at another school who you could Skype with. At the same time, I would also continue looking into applying to other schools, in case this doesn't work out. So, do the most to make this work, but keep other options alive by doing what's necessary for that (be it GRE or SOP writing). It would be a great benefit to your application if you could get your advisor to support your application and write a LOR for you. I realize that this is a delicate thing, but it'll give you the best chance of success.

If you are an international student and also submitting a TOEFL score, I would make sure that the writing score there is high, and also that all your written statements are well-written, so the AWA is an outlier that can be ignored given better evidence about your writing. Your GRE score is otherwise very high. You might try asking schools you want to apply to if they have any official AWA cutoff, though usually you won't get a straightforward answer to that question.

You are asking us to do your homework for you, and that is not what this forum is for. Good luck with your project.

LORs are still one of the best options, but if you never shared this with anyone (which I'm sorry to hear! it would have been helpful for your well-being to have someone on-campus who is aware and able to support you when needed), then perhaps you don't want to start now. So leaving that aside, depending on how much you want to write, you could have a 1-2 sentence statement in your SOP that simply states that a death of a parent in your freshman year and the illness of the other more recently have affected your trajectory in school both in prolonging the time it took you to choose a major and in affecting your grades, but nonetheless you have done your best to pull through, as evidenced by your grades and [other credentials]. Alternatively if you wanted to say a bit more, you might consider having a short addendum to the SOP that would be basically a stand-alone (short) document where you would tell your story. Basically a version of the one paragraph you have here is all you'll need. And yes, it won't suddenly make you a top candidate, but it will most certainly put your grades in perspective and if you have strong LORs and experience, I think it might make you a quite attractive candidate. I am certainly impressed with your mature writing and your apparent ability to persevere through terrible personal circumstances.