balderdash

Pajamas, f'sho. But really, treat it exactly like you would a regular interview. And personally, I would have all of my application materials at hand.

No, sorry, I applied for a Social Sciences MPhil. So long as they haven't changed from last year, it's not numerous ways. To reiterate, as I wasn't clear: You will hear that a decision has been made via email, but you will not know what that decision is until you receive the letter.

Last year I was "held for re-evaluation." I found out that the decision had been made via email, but the decision itself came in the post. It took 5 business days to reach me in the US.

You're better off posting such a request under the correct subforum. Since you're applying to Finance, you'll want to head over to the Business section here: http://forum.thegrad...um/14-business/. Also, it sounds like you haven't done your own research first. Rather than solicit help here, it might be better to have a look around at universities that you think might be a good fit, look up rankings online, ask professional peers and such, and then come to the forum to ask for advice. Best of luck.

Sure, though I'm not a BPhil student at Oxford. I'm doing an MPhil at Cambridge, so the social structure is the same. As far as your academic life, yes, it will be lonely in that you won't go to class with friends like you would in the States. However, the beauty of Oxbridge is the college system, and that will give you all the social inclusion you could want. Living in college is a community feeling that really doesn't have an equivalent in America: it's a mix of 300-600 people ranging from undergraduate students to graduate researchers to professional academicians across all disciplines. You hang out in the common room with members of the college, you eat your meals in the hall with them, and you go to events at least weekly with them. In addition, if you live in halls (aka dorms), you'll be living with students from your college. Also, your department itself will be a locus of social life. There are constant events to get everyone on your course together for drinks or whatever. So it's likely you'll have friends with whom you can commiserate even if you don't spend time with them in lecture. Finally, the fact that you have so little in-class time means you get to structure your studying as you see fit, giving you greater flexibility to spend time with friends from college or flatmates. Hope it helps.

I was just trying to alleviate your confusion over some of the responses you received. Chill.

As fuzzylogician pointed out, there are numerous - numerous - threads where people have presented exactly this worry. Also, there are quite a few that discuss the scope of the AWA and how it differs from the ability to "write well." I think the reason some don't believe that your post is sincere is that this concern is so common, it sounds like you're mocking the people who ask it.

I wish I had a puppy to distract me. Instead, I have this silly dissertation.

I'm writing from the perspective of the youngster: as a 21 year-old on a Masters course (though admittedly not english/literature), a lot of my peers are older. However, there's little (if any) age-related animosity or awkwardness. One of my better friends from the program is 48, with two kids. We work closely with people who are 24, 28, and even 71 ( ! ) years old. So if it's not a problem for you, it's not a problem for us.

Glad to hear it. As an aside, I spent my undergrad years working as a PR rep in my school's admissions office. It's surprising how many decisions whether or not to consider special cases are made on the spot, and to some degree dependent on how endearing the poor soul is. If the applicant has a reasonable case and approaches the whole thing calmly, politely, and patiently, we usually gave the case all the way up to the Dean, who would make a judgment call. So don't despair, they might be OK with it.

That's what I suggested, but it is certainly a sticky wicket. I think it only works if the two know each other. Or if you personally enclose the emails along with the recommendation (the envelope inside the envelope thing). The danger is it may come across like you're tattling on one Prof to another, jeopardizing your reputation with the one who has missed the deadlines. I'm guessing you probably don't care about that at this point. But it could also appear like you're the type who is willing to badmouth a colleague, which may be of concern to the adcomms. I don't think there's any way around it - you've been put in a terrible position. But I would show the emails to the department head or something, get a letter from him/her saying it's not your fault, and get a trusted prof to bang out a rec within a week. Send it all and a lenient reader may consider you.

I've been having a think over this for a while, as I believed for a hairy few days that I would be in precisely your position. Is there documentation that the professor agreed to write a letter of rec, ie in an email? I would produce the emails to someone who you think will be sympathetic - someone in the department, perhaps? - and ask for any help they can give. If any official at your school (or at the one where the negligent prof works) writes something along the lines of "it's really truly not his fault" (her fault?) and encloses copies of the original emails that show the recommender had a month to fill it out, then they may give you a bit of leniency. It would be even better if said sympathetic person would write the letter of rec, so they have both. I would keep fighting, basically. I know it's dreadful, but if you keep after it, maybe one school will still look at you. That's better than losing all of them, no?

I called Harvard to check my app materials the other day, and the GSAS lady was very polite and understanding. However, when I asked a rough estimate for release of decisions, she said "last week of March or first two weeks of April" (applying to all departments). I'm guessing that she Must have misspoke - there's no way they could give an offer on April 10 when the generally accepted response deadline is April 15. If that's the case, she must have meant the last week of February and the first two of March, right? If so, it looks like we have a good 7 weeks before Harvard says anything.

You forgot to discount the cash flow.

22, but with a Masters under my belt.

Yeah, I had a minor freakout when I saw I had an email from Stanford... at least 4 full seconds of fear.

Every academician I've spoken to has told me to do my PhD in the US if I want to teach there. Since the UK degrees are shorter and such, they're viewed as "just not how we do things" in the US (to quote one of my advisors states-side). Also, you're kind of out of the loop in terms of networking, as you'll have spent your years doing conferences, presentations, and events in the UK. Of course, if you're British, none of this holds. It would only make sense for you to stay in your home country. So personally I'd be inclined to stay in the US.

As an American, I'm used to constantly submitting essays, having exams, et cetera. Now that I'm in the UK, it's basically a long-haul, nothing-due-until-the-end degree. So I've been having nightmares that I've missed all of my deadlines and I'm failing out of my degree!

I'm not sure about your profile. Your work experience seems pretty good, but the academic stuff is actually a bit weaker than most applicants.... most of whom will also have good work experience. It would seem to me that you can certainly apply and see what happens, but realistically it'd be best to work another few years and try doing better on the GRE if SIPA is where you want to go.

ftw.

I was thinking the same, but I know they're Definitely not. SAIS is one of the best terminal MA programs in the country, and particularly so for IDEV.

I definitely agree that there's no real need to explain one C when all of your grades have been good. Also, if I were reading the application, it would definitely seem to me like you're making excuses. I don't mean to be unfair (as I don't think I'd have managed to scrape a C under such circumstances), but it does seem as though you simply overloaded yourself... which is understandable but still essentially your error. Trying to say that this was beyond your control could throw up red flags. So I think it's best if you simply leave it be. Good luck.

This one is easy for me. I'll really only discuss with my girlfriend and parents, and close friends that specifically ask. No one needs to discuss "Yes, but the stipend at Columbia, adjusted for the cost of living in New York..." with an acquaintance.

70-80 would be about right for me. Class starts at 10 am, and immediately after it's a solid 6 hours in the library... go home for dinner, then do some research from about 9-2. It's about 12 hours per day, each of the 5 working days, then another 6-8 hours on saturday and sunday each.

What helps me is by working through... I found a really interesting research avenue about a month ago, so I'm just diving in as a coping mechanism. I totally hear you about the good days/bad days. And by the way, I was on the Tube today (London), and noticed a stop called "Tufnell Park" on the Northern Line. Word.