misterpat

Possible, but not likely. Let's say the exam is on Game theory in Economics. It is not impossible that a McDonalds employee is able to grade the exam, say, if they earned a PhD in Economics but decided flipping burgers was their calling. Or that said McDonalds employee also happens to be a TA in the class. But I think MOST people assumed the person you are criticizing was using the phrase "a McDonald's employee" to mean someone who has never been in the class, and has no qualifications to teach that class/grade an exam. ...also, "even more qualified"? Really? Moreso than the Professor who was teaching the class? Actually, I think it's entirely the point, and that the point is valid. I don't see why this point "qualifies" the McGrader to grade your exam (as you previously stated). It just proves that the Professor doesn't care about his or her job. Also, you claim to not care that your exam is going to be graded by someone who has no idea what they are doing. I doubt your sincerity. Well, I'm not sure what countries you are referring to. But in such a system, LORs probably mean a lot less than they do in one where the professors actually write them. If it becomes common practice here for students to write that they are the greatest Philosopher of their generation and have Professor X sign off on it, LORs aren't going to carry weight because ad-coms aren't going to be able to distinguish bullshit from genuine praise. I finally agree with you on something. If the student forged a bunch of letters to a bunch of schools, at least ONE of the people reading it will catch it. And such issues are taken very seriously; all of the other schools the student applied to will find out. However, since the OP already reported the incident (which I support), this is a dead issue.

Because people who don't speak any English probably aren't going to take classes at an English-speaking university? Also, many language departments are titled something like "Department of Russian Studies," which encompasses both the language and the literature. So, I think you are generalizing off of one instance.

If NU is Northwestern, then you are correct. Chicago's a bit expensive.

Also: I still cannot believe this person became a member for the sole purpose of making this ridiculous argument. And she probably felt really good about herself and told her friends about it, too. Saving the world, one gradute-study internet discussion forum at a time.

I still think that she will absolutely get caught, and therefore the OP isn't morally obligated to turn her in since the outcome will be the same either way. Immanuel Kant would probably disagree, but to hell with him.

Yes. It's not absolutely essential, but ideally you want to contact a Professor before you apply. Many applicants do this, so you want to keep up. But even more important than that, Professors come and go from universities. A few I contacted were leaving the University they were at this year. If you write about a Professor that is leaving in your Statement, you look like you haven't done your homework and might get your app tossed. If you don't specify what you want to study, it is very likely you will lose out to someone who laid out what they want (or think they want) to do. What you write isn't totally binding; nobody's interests are static. Obviously with the amount of reading you are going to do over the course of a PhD, you are going to get interested in new things. But you have to at least show that you know what you are talking about and propose something, even if it is somewhat general.

Interesting. Shows how little I know about Ivy-culture, I suppose. I was mostly generalizing from my experiences from undergrad though. Whenever I told someone I studied Sociology, the reaction was usually "Uh... Why?" I figured that attitude might be heightened at an elite college.

I think Arizona might have a good program for what you are looking for, but I'd wait until somebody backs me up on this to get too excited. Their website is really laid out nicely, so check for yourself. Also, check the History faculty, which I think has some people who you could utilize. But I could be wrong.

It is a relief to know many people had a similar experience. 8)

I'm laughing, imagining someone struggling to extend their SOP to the 200 word minimum. I would submit your SOP in its best form, whatever the length. If it's just over 1000, that isn't excessive by any means. However, if your SOP is only over 1000 because it needed to be longer for other schools, you might want to see if you can make it slightly more concise by eliminating anything redundant. My guess is that most of the SOPs will still be at least 500 words since its hard to say anything worthwhile in less than that.

Did you use all the same recommenders those applications in all those different disciplines? Were you afraid that applying all over the place might make them think you are unstable/unsure of what you wanted to do?

Fact. :?: I would definitely say that the OP is fine. A lot of departments claim that they are more lenient about GREs for Intl applicants, and I would imagine that even those that don't explicitly make that claim realize that the test is a LOT harder if you aren't a native English speaker. I'd hate to see what I'd score on a GRE I took in, say, German. I had plenty of TAs during undergrad who could barely formulate a sentence in English. I wasn't at a top 15 school, but I imagine that if your other credentials are in order, your test scores won't kill you. And that really is an outstanding Quantitative score. That alone might assuage any doubts your scores in the other two sections raised.

I don't even see an area on that program that lists which letters they have received. But UMich sends out e-mails when they receive a letter from a recommender. If you have all 3 of those, then you are solid.

This isn't really related to graduate study, but I was wondering if students from other disciplines at Yale are snooty towards Sociology folks. Especially since Yale's sociology department isn't one of its best departments. When I was thinking about applying there, I wondered if people would roll their eyes when I told them what I studided (this isn't why I didn't apply, I chose to go to grad for History).

Yeah, I applied to UCSB; figured it was the same for all campuses (I noticed some Berkeley Econ applicants griping about it or something very similar). Michigan had something similar. A "Personal Statement" in addition to the Statement of Purpose, but it was less explicitly about being from an underprivileged school/area/ethnic group. My statement of purpose didn't have a lot of personal background in it for most of my schools; I was kind of all business about academics and my interests. I had more in early drafts but cut it out since it all sounded so cliche to me. So, the second essay was extra painful for me to write.

You should just focus on the Dostoevsky and return Derrida's pretension-laden babble-books.

For those of you who applied to UC campuses: Did anyone else hate the second section of the SOP? It was like a mandatory diversity statement. I didn't notice it until the final day (the department only lists that they require an SOP) and threw together an extremely mediocre and brief essay.

A great point. Maybe if this was law school, and there were rolling admissions. But I'd say your GREs are set in stone for this round.

I was in a situation similar to yours with my app for Indiana. They requried a writing sample. I filled out all the stuff on the internet application and realized that there was no space to upload the sample. I called the graduate secretary, and she said that they usually want writing samples to be shipped via snail mail to save on the costs of printing out hundreds of them. But since it was the due-date, she told me I could just e-mail it to her and that she'd print it out and put in my file for me. Maybe you could have saved the $16.50 for overnight.

Yeah. Lawsuit waiting to happen.

That's a pretty innocent mistake to make, I doubt you'll get called out on that.

Just because most of an application is online doesn't mean necessarily that all of it is. This should have been an easy one to avert, but there were a couple schools for me where most of the stuff was submitted electronically, but something (like LORs) needed to be snail mailed. I had to take one school off of my list due to this mistake.

I think reading your extra letter because you're convinced they wrote something bad about you is kind of like checking your girlfriends cell phone/e-mail because you're convinced she's cheating on you. On the other hand, my friend recently discovered through his girlfriend's e-mail that she is cheating on him, so...

Hey. If a tree falls in the woods... :wink: Personally, I wouldn't read it. Somewhat because it's unethical, but mostly because I'd feel neurotic doing so.

First, we don't know your discipline. Second, 8 pages is pretty short for a writing sample. But if its optional, who knows. You can usually use a paper from a related discipline (e.g. history paper for sociology or poli sci), though a paper in your own discipline is usually best.