fuzzylogician

^ Not only that, but your letter writers will attest to your academic excellence, both as reflected in your grades and coursework, and as reflected in your research.

It may help to know what field you are in and what stage of your education you are in. Is this a one-semester or one-year side project that you plan to do as a second-year student, or do you envision this becoming your PhD dissertation research? (Or something in between?) What would the funding be used for, and what is the ballpark amount you need to obtain?

Your first post says she has already agreed to write you a letter, so as I said before, until you ascertain that there is a problem, you should assume that there isn't any. Again, find her in office hours if she doesn't respond to your email and ask. If she says yes, try to establish some parameters for when you'll send her information and reminders. Some people are bad with email, and while they will do things on time, they will drive you crazy because of the uncertainty. If you are asking other professors, I would again recommend doing that in person. Email and ask for a meeting. Ask for the letters in person at the meeting, unless there is a reason why you have to use email. And again, the first week of the semester is not the best timing. Everyone has very pressing problems to fix that need to be taken care of right now, and an email from a student about a LOR due in 2 months won't take high priority, and could easily get pushed back and eventually forgotten. I would follow up in another week, and/or go to office hours. As a last thought, this may be wrong, but if you've emailed four(?) people and have gotten no responses, maybe there is something about how the email is worded that is causing that. It may be good to show the email to someone to make sure that it has the right tone and makes a clear request.

I think I can agree with some version of all of these, but there is a lot that's left up to interpretation. It also assumes that your goal is to become a professor, which may not be (read: is not) correct for everyone. If you aren't going to stay in academia, there may be very good reasons for staying at the same school and not worrying too much about building your CV, for example. Some of the advice I would just phrase differently (and I wonder if the copy editor chose the headlines and subheadings, because the text doesn't always exactly match the heading). Like "don't choose the coolest advisor" is really a warning to ask around about your potential advisor and learn about their communication style, advising style, etc. and make sure they are compatible with what you want and need. That is very important. Likewise, I definitely agree with the "don't have a thin skin" one, though again the heading may not be worded the best. If you are going to be in academia, there will be harsh criticism, and lots of rejections, and (the worst, if you ask me) a whole lot of prolonged periods uncertainty that will affect your life to its core (will I have a job next year? what city/country/continent will it be in? will my spouse be able to find work there? will I have to move again the following year, if I am lucky enough to find another job, etc.). If you can't (learn to) deal with that, you absolutely should find another line of work.

Frankly I'm surprised that two have already submitted their letters. It's super early. The first week of class is very busy for professors, and not the best time to send emails. I would imagine that a letter due two and a half months from now is not your professor's top priority at the moment, and that (together with general first week craziness) could be why you haven't received a reply. I'd suggest emailing again in the second half of the second week of the semester, when things should be calmer. If you don't get a reply, show up for office hours and talk to her in person. I would strongly recommend not assuming that she is "flaking out" or going back on her promise. It is entirely legitimate for her to prioritize other more pressing tasks above this one, which is not due for a very long time. It does not mean she won't do it. Just tell her you're anxious and want to confirm she'll submit on time and ask if there is any information you can provide to help her write a stronger letter. If she does say no (which, to reiterate, there is no evidence of right now!), two and a half months is still more than enough time to find someone else to write you a letter. If you give your letter writer 4-6 weeks, that should be enough.

When are the deadlines? When did you two talk and when did you send those emails? This is the summer and people are away from their email, or they may not think it's a priority to submit a LOR long before the deadline. This may be (understandably) stressful for you, but doesn't mean that she won't come through. If it does come to it, I would highly recommend not submitting an incomplete application. I am sure you had more than three professors during your four years of school. Better to submit a letter that just says "Marietyb participated in my class and got an A" than nothing at all.

The programs at the U of T, UBC, and McGill are recognized as strong, and having a MA from there will be a plus for your PhD applications. As TakeruK says, you'll have to apply after just a few months in the program, so you'll probably want to make sure that you spend that time making connections with professors and doing well in class, so you can get good letters of recommendation, and you'll probably also want at least one letter from your undergraduate institution, where I assume there is at least one prof who has known you for longer than 3-4 months and can say good things about you. You'll also want to plan ahead to figure out what you'll submit as a writing sample -- options being working on something from undergrad and getting feedback from your MA professors, or working on something new for your MA courses. This is somewhat premature to worry about, but it's good to plan ahead and know what you'll be up against. It's true that there is more funding for domestic students and therefore these Canadian programs have a majority of Canadian students, but they also always accept a few international students each year. I am fairly sure that there are more Canadians applying to these programs than international students, so again it's hard to tell if/how much more selective the programs are for international students. You could go on these schools' websites to read more about funding and admission requirements.

MA programs just aren't very common at all in linguistics, especially not funded ones. People who enter PhD programs with MAs almost always come from foreign countries with 3-year BAs and/or a BA-MA-PhD higher education system, where you apply to a MA after the BA because that's what you do. Another reason foreign students often have MAs is that it's hard to compete with US students who have 4-year degrees and often a lot more research experience just because US degrees are built to give you that research experience (through independent studies, the honors thesis, and REU opportunities), which just don't exist often in other places at the BA level. In the US, you'd do an MA for the same reason -- to get more experience or strengthen your application if you think it's not strong enough coming with just the BA. It's not a requirement for admissions, and in fact many schools will grant you an MA in passing while you're in their PhD program if you fulfill certain requirements. Because there are so few schools that offer an MA in linguistics, the ones that do become somewhat selective. I'm not sure if it's more or less selective than the PhD because for that we'd have to know not just how many spots there are but also how many people applied. In any event, I agree that it's hard to find a spot in a good program in the US. In case you're interested, I complied a list of funded MA programs outside the US, here: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/67453-suggestions-general-linguistics-mas-in-the-us/ . Since you're applying now, if you can add to that list, please do!

If you don't have time to study, I wouldn't retake. Even if you did have the time, since your scores are close to the average, I think there are better ways for you to spend your time than the GRE. Since you say you don't have a lot of related experience, it's probably more important that you take the time to write a strong SOP that explains your career path choice.

There is a good chance the deadline was extended because the professor didn't receive enough applications. The fact that they want a bigger pool to choose from doesn't mean that you aren't the favorite. With the extension, I understand that the deadline has just passed. Even if it's been a week, that is not very long to wait (though I am not experienced with the German system). You may follow up at some point if you don't hear back, but right now it seems premature, but also premature to worry.

I think there is a greater risk as an international student, and at the same time there are fewer opportunities. You have to demonstrate that you are able to sustain yourself during your studies *before you begin the program*, so working odd university jobs that aren't guaranteed just can't work. You're also limited in how many hours you can work (20 per week, 40 over the summer) and where (on campus only). Availability of these jobs and how much they pay is another concern. Not every scholarship that is available to US citizens is also available to international students (in fact, for the ones that are relevant to my field, the majority are not). And, again, you can't count on these scholarships because you need to have the money upfront. And you can't rely on credit cards or subsidized loans in the way that some American students do, in case of an emergency. So it's easier to get into trouble and harder to get out of it. For the OP, if they are already working as a lab technician but not making enough to cover their expenses, there is a serious concern that they won't be able to find a job -- let alone work enough hours -- to cover tuition and living costs. That aside, I personally have a similar mentality to TakeruK in how I view my education and how I should be spending my time as a graduate student. I really don't mean to discourage the OP or anyone else from trying, but you have to be realistic about how you do it. For many international students (and, I realize, many domestic students), even applying is a costly and risky endeavor. You don't want to waste money on schools that will only make you an unfunded offer you could never take, and you don't want to lose your family's support. So my recommendation (as in my original post) is to take the time to do the legwork and figure out exactly what the chances of being funded are at each potential program of interest *before applying*, instead of (or in addition to) trusting that you can find random jobs or scholarships after you begin.

This depends on the field but is unfortunately not a myth. I collected information on funded MA programs in linguistics recently (defined as TakeruK suggests above) and found exactly one school in the US that offers funding. There were a lot more options in Canada and Europe.

There aren't that many options. Being a lab tech will go some way, but probably will be insufficient. Most Masters programs in the US don't fund their students. Students usually go directly from a BA to a PhD, and PhDs are funded. MAs, on the other hand, are usually a big income source for universities. That said, some programs do offer funding or TA/RAships to its students that cover tuition and provide some additional stipend. Since you don't reveal your field in your post, it's hard to know where your field falls on the spectrum. The only way to find out which schools offer funding (if any) is to do your own legwork. You may be able to get some information in the subforum that's relevant to your field, or you may have to just read through department websites to see if they have funding, and/or ask your advisors if they have any tips. There is no quick solution we can offer you. This is not true. In general international students can receive funding from their programs in the form of fellowships or TAships. You can also be funded through an advisor's grant. This is very common in every field I know of for a PhD (but MAs aren't usually funded, as I noted above). Financial aid and subsidized student loans are usually something that only US students have access to. The catch is that at public schools, tuition is cheaper for domestic students than international students, and therefore it costs the school more to accept international students. In some cases, this means that (poorer) programs might admit only or mostly domestic students, so while you will be funded if you are admitted, your chances of admissions may be considerably lower than a domestic student's. (In the year I applied, there was one school in CA that could only admit one international student to their cohort, along with 5-6 domestic students, for example.) This doesn't affect private schools, where tuition is the same for everyone. If your goal is to do a funded Masters, I'd recommend also exploring schools in Canada. Canada has a BA-MA-PhD system, and at least in my field, there is more funding for MA students than in the US.

I would suggest contacting this school to ask if it's possible to submit the immunization record only after you are officially admitted. There is no way they are going to do anything with this record before they admit you and you accept the offer. It's definitely not something they need to make an admissions decision and frankly it's on the absurd side to ask for it now. I would also try and ask schools if they would be willing to accept a scanned unofficial copy of the transcript, under the understanding that you will mail them an official copy if/when you're accepted, and until such time your acceptance will conditional. That can also save you a lot of time and money.

FWIW I applied to 8, but of those 8 I probably should not have applied to at least 2, maybe 3, and there were 2-3 other schools I didn't apply to, but should have. The big time sink is in preparing the materials for the first time, and keep track of all the deadlines and making sure you deal with various bureaucracies. However, once you've done 5-6, I kind of think the 7th and 8th ones are much easier to take care of.

^ This last comment from a new thread was merged with this already existing thread on Penn State.

My goal was (and is) not just TT but to eventually get tenured. That notwithstanding, a more important goal is to be healthy and happy and to actually have a life that my work fits into, but doesn't take over.

^ Even when I applied only 1/8 wanted hard copies of statements, and that was 8 years ago. Also, FWIW I think this really doesn't matter. I'm sure you'll get conflicting opinions, which is a good way to get confused and psych yourself out, but this is really not going to make the difference in your admissions decision. Make sure your name appears on each page of each document you send and that the bottom indicates "Page X of Y" so they know if anything is missing. I honestly don't remember what I did but I bet I stapled the pages together because I've never owns a box of paper clips.

I am not in Psychology so take this as you will, but I started out with schedules not unlike the ones people have described here (shifted by roughly 4-5 hours, since I am very much a night person, but otherwise the same). Over the years, starting roughly in my third year, I've been cutting back on my work hours. As long as you are taking a full course load and TAing or teaching alongside doing research, your days are often filled up with lots of non-research tasks that have to get done. Research can easily get pushed back or not be prioritized correctly. Once your coursework is complete, you are left with a lot of unstructured time that should mostly be dedicated to doing research and writing papers. The first few years of school should have by this point made you more experienced and hopefully better at time management. This all helps with having shorter and better planned days. For me, this means that now I try to spend no more than 8 hours a day working (though, notice, not at work necessarily), and with the exception of impending deadlines (or doom), I take at least one full day off a week, plus another half day, sometimes two. I often work at home, which allows me to take unconventional breaks (I am on a writing break right now, writing this) and work at unconventional hours, but that's how I stay productive. I think it's extremely difficult to be productive for the entire 12-14 hours that people report working at the office. Time just disappears through going to meetings and prepping for teaching and getting lunch/coffee and hallway chats and responding to emails and talking to the secretary (you get my drift) when you are at the office. Actual productive time is much scarcer. When I was counting my time based on how much time I spent at work, I "worked" more. But I think I am actually working more now, though spending less time on it, and I'm enjoying it more.

It's really not the case that there is one procedure that everyone follows. Some professors, in some cases, really put a lot of emphasis on grades, while others think the SOP is much more important, others start from the LORs, etc. Grades might also matter for funding and fellowships. As a general rule, *for (research-based) PhD programs*, the intangibles are a lot more important. You're choosing someone who will be around for the next 5-7 years. You're going to invest a lot of time and money into their training. Their main goal is to become an independent researcher who can identify open problems in the field and develop solutions. Grades from undergraduate courses tell you something about who will be good at that, but prior research experience and ability to articulate ideas (as reflected in the SOP, writing sample, etc) are much more indicative of success in this kind of endeavor. On the other hand, if it's a coursework based Masters program, we're talking about a 2-year program, often with less funding for students. There is less prior experience to base an opinion on, and so obviously grades become more significant in the admissions decision. For professional programs, I have a lot less experience, but from reading on this board for many years, it seems to me that it's a combination of relevant experience (in the form of internships, language skills, etc), essays, and grades. Basically, wherever there is less "other stuff" to go by, grades take on a more important role. The " it depends" answer also goes for prior contact with professors. In some fields it's absolutely crucial to have a potential advisor lined up before you apply, and if you don't have one then it may be a problem. In others you aren't expected to make contact at all. I don't know what the norm is for your field. The one thing I'd worry about is that if you're trying to apply to a certain department, but no professor there does the kind of research you want, or all of them have explicitly told you they won't take you as a student, then that's not a good place for you. If they didn't respond it's hard to know. You can try to make contact again once the semester begins, and you might just have to take your chances if they still haven't replied. It's certainly not as good as having a 'yes, I'm interested' response from someone.

I would be inclined to say it's not worth it, unless a school explicitly says they have a 4.5 AWA (or higher) cutoff. It's a question of what else you could be doing, and it seems to me that your time would be better spent working on your SOP and writing sample than on studying for the GRE again. Reason being that GRE scores can keep you out, if they are too low and don't meet cutoffs, but it's the SOP, LORs, and writing sample that really get you in. On top of that, the AWA score is probably the least important of all the scores. As a non-native speaker, you'll also submit a TOEFL score, hopefully with a decent writing score.* There will also be the actual essays you write for your application, and you could get one of your letter writers to comment on your writing ability as well. Those are all better indications of your writing ability than the GRE score. *For reference, I got 4.5 on the GRE AWA (which I am still mildly pissed about!) and a full 120 on the TOEFL.

If you want a strong emphasis on theoretical syntax-semantics, I would add to that list: UCLA, UMass, UCSC, University of Arizona (Tucson), and perhaps Harvard and MIT.

The admissions committee will likely not meet at least in the first 7-10 days after the deadline. There will be some bureaucracies first to be handled by the graduate school or some secretary in the prospective department, before the files actually reach the faculty on the committee. There is a good chance that the transcript will be updated before anyone sees your file. Moreover, even if the old transcript is technically there, if you submit an updated transcripts with the withdrawn semester, that is what will be considered. Since you've already mentioned elsewhere wanting to briefly discuss your struggles early on in grad school, I think you'll be perfectly safe. If anyone compares the two transcripts and wonders what happened (and for that matter, if they only see the updated transcript and wonder about the missing semester), there will be an explanation for them to find.

I guess this may be field specific, but everyone in my field goes by their first name, including Noam. (Referring to graduate students, postdocs, and other faculty. Things may be different with undergrads)

No need to get offended and tone-police. That's really an unpleasant way to respond to someone who volunteers their time to help you to no benefit of their own. I offered a helpful answer and directed you to a way to find more. I'd have given links to search results myself but as I explained, old posts are still being reindexed. On your other point, your question is not specific to philosophy at all. You are of course welcome to restrict your attention to answers only from people from your field, but I would think it would be useful to consider all answers unless it becomes clear that there are field-specific differences. Yes, students have many of the same concerns every year. It wouldn't hurt many of the visitors to this site if they were able to search for information about questions they have using relevant databases. It's a useful skill to have for anyone who wants to be an academic. Then they can ask a more informed field-specific version of the question.