cubiclemusic

Ditto what everyone else said -- it's a very fine line that's different for every school and you'll just have to hope you're on it. Last year my interests were more on the general/umbrella/vague side, but I did show interest in very specific sub-fields. That got me noticed enough to be put on waitlists, however, it ultimately hurt me as schools chose students who were further along in developing their ideas within those sub-fields. I hope that makes sense!

Last year when I applied my GRE scores were pretty mediocre. I was waitlisted at three top 20 schools and ultimately did not get in—not because of my test scores, but because the ideas in my SOP were not as fully developed as some of the other applicants. You can still get noticed with so-so GRE scores if the written components of your application are strong, and in my experience it really came down to those aspects.

Bumping this thread to ask a different question: has anyone been waitlisted and rejected one year and accepted the next? I was waitlisted last season at my dream school and hope (sooooo badly) to have better luck this time around. Success stories appreciated.

Hi All, I am a second-time applicant hoping to get into a PhD program next fall. For the past few months I've been debating between two options for my 3rd LOR writer and would really appreciate your opinions and help. My first option is a distinguished professor/my former BA thesis advisor. Unfortunately he never answers e-mails and doesn't really know how to use his computer or the internet. The last time I asked for recs I had to sit down with him and submit the LOR with him AFTER the deadline because he couldn't figure out what his user name/password was. Overall it was a pretty comical ordeal, but as you can imagine, quite nerve wracking for me. I've yet to hear from him this time and because I live a six hours away by car now, I can't just pop into his office and I'm pretty close to seeking other options. I was told in an interview last season that he wrote me a very impressive letter, but I'm not sure if worrying over his reliability is worth the anxiety. The other professor I have in mind is pretty young—she's an assistant prof at the university I just received my MA from. She seemed impressed by my final seminar paper, gave me great comments, and is VERY responsive to e-mail, in short I know I can depend on her. However, I have only known her for one quarter and am worried this isn't really enough meat to work with. Also, does it matter if she's an assistant? If it helps any, I already have one prof from undergrad (seminar prof/kept in touch frequently) and one from grad school (MA advisor, assistant prof) as LOR writers. Thanks so much for reading all of that. In short: do I pull teeth to get a distinguished prof to write my letter again, or go with someone who is more accessible and recent?