shepardn7

Here's my opinion. After letters have been submitted, it's fine to send a gift to every letter writer -- not inappropriate at all -- but unnecessary, a bit too much, as if you're sending it as a formality. A nice gesture, and appreciated, but ultimately not needed. These are employed (often tenured) professors and you are most likely not making their salary as a student; they see it as part of their job; you can usually only buy them impersonal gifts like Starbucks cards or a corporate bookstore card or a bottle of wine, especially if you have already moved away from school and the area has much better coffee than Starbucks (hehe). However, I think giving a gift to a professor with whom you have a closer personal-but-professional relationship is totally different. Your relationship is more developed and you can send a gift that actually means something. In that case, it may not be necessary, but it's a bit more like giving a gift to a "superior friend" than just a professor with whom you took a course. And, in such a case, you are not giving the gift simply for writing a letter; you are giving a gift out of a kind of friendship, as well as thankfulness for their guidance and support and faith in you. In short: no, it's not usually inappropriate or awkward or "bad" in any way, but, at the same time, unless you know the professor enough to buy a gift with some thought to their tastes (gleaned from time working closely with him or her), I think it's unnecessary. Especially from geographical distance!

AUGH. I will be calling, too.

You might have to wait a few more days. My score didn't show up until about 15 days after my test. This is probably a high volume period for them.

Oh man, thanks for saying this. I was thinking the exact same thing. People all over this board keep saying good Verbal scores would "make up for" poor AWA scores, as if being able to do a difficult analogy in thirty seconds says anything about your ability to write well, let alone research and compose a dissertation that will contribute meaningfully to your field. Did anyone notice that some ESL speakers who have trouble with relatively basic syntax and diction (not meant offensively, as I have trouble with languages I didn't grow up speaking, too) still get 600+ or even 700+ through diligent studying? Being able to make connections between vocabulary words does not mean you have strong command of a language. And I don't think the reading comprehension performance says much about your actual level of reading comprehension, let alone anything about your writing skills. Sentence completion feels somewhat more relevant, but even that has intrinsic problems--all the question types do! And then people downplay grades because they're too "subjective," even though there is nothing objective about how ETS assesses language skills, and even though every professor's assessment of you in graduate school will be just as subjective (at least in the fields where Verbal scores count). Maybe many schools have grade inflation, but I worked hard for my 3.98, even while my family was falling apart and I was depressed as hell. I never even asked for an extension on an assignment, and the couple times I got a lower grade on a paper than I had expected, I accepted it without complaint. I think the entire non-quantitative part of the test is rubbish (obv. that includes the AWA). ETS implies a student's score on a three-hour marathon test with logical tricks is a legitimate predictor of his or her performance over a six year Ph.D period, which people should find problematic for many reasons, whether or not they performed well on it. It's troubling to me that any school would institute a "secret" cut-off (against ETS's advisement!) because they essentially want to steal application fees from students who wouldn't meet it (it's really quite unethical to toss applications in a pile without reading them, so I hope it's not true this happens, but that is the rumor at some programs). But I will say I found it pretty easy to simplify my style for the AWA prompt. My 25-page papers are not 5 paragraph essays written with stock transitions, so I get a little frustrated when someone says "good writers just don't do well on the AWA." That's not true. My BA and MFA professors all think I'm a "good writer" -- in fact, I might even say it's the one task in life in which I excel -- but I am also a "creative writer," and do find it relatively easy to write in a style and voice not my own (with fake enthusiasm for an ETS topic). Just because I can downgrade my style for 75 minutes doesn't mean I'm a bad writer, and just because you can't doesn't mean you're a bad writer. Also: I don't think the computer assigns a grade. The computer "checks" the first grade and then sends the essay to another person, who assigns it another grade, and then the two grades are averaged. So the computer just makes sure that two people see the essay if it doesn't agree with the original grader.

cardinal sin

Right, I agree, but I was wondering if it's better to send the card after the acceptance news or after the deadlines or when. I guess I'll just send them now.

I've heard that in English they look at your SOP and writing sample (only read the first few pages or skim) first, then the rest of your file. So if you scores and grades aren't generally great, but are still okay (maybe above 550 in verbal and a 3.5?), you still should have a fighting chance at most schools if your SOP and writing sample keep getting your application passed to the next round. In fact, I would think your quantitative stuff gets more weight in the final process rather than the early process (as it is in modernity's field, which seems to be Anthro), when people start splitting hairs, just because the SOP and sample are so very important. But obviously I've never been on a committee. I'm just relaying what I've heard.

eternal city

Mine all live hundreds of miles away. I think that's part of it. They feel distant, and I would need to send anything for them to the grad dept, not their homes (I don't want to ask him for addresses) or in person. One of my writers is also somewhat MIA because she is on sabbatical. So I wasn't really planning on buying a gift (especially not wine, that would be difficult to do), but I would like to send a card with a nice message.

That's what I was wondering. If it's generally customary to send a "real" thank you card upon receipt of the letter OR after accepted into a program. People have even said, for example, that they buy their rec writers bottles of wine or gift cards. I'm not sure what is expected here. For example, my advisor bought me (and her other advisees) a little gift and gave it to me at graduation, but I had never thought of buying her one -- I wish I had at least had a card for her then! So, yeah, basically I was wondering if it's customary to do a brief emailed "thank you so much" after they submit, and then send them a more palpable token with acceptance news (though across the board rejections would complicate that plan).

I didn't send right after they submitted (all at different times, some closer to deadlines than others). I was so busy that time got away from me, but now that I've submitted, I want to send a small note of thanks via mail (of course I already thanked them profusely through email).

Is it better to send a "thank you card" after the deadline or after the acceptance (or rejection?) news?

"Gentle and modest"? It's a compliment, but how the compliment is received depends on who is reading the letter. Unfortunately, it generally comes with the territory if you're a woman: http://www.usnews.co...promotions.html It sounds she's describing you as "feminine" or with traditionally "feminine traits," which can be problematic for complicated reasons. But remember that this is only one letter. This means you have two other letters, plus the rest of your application materials. And, also, "gentle and modest" is only one phrase in a longer letter. I wouldn't worry about it. I can be "feminine" and a little shy, and I'm hoping that my letters don't "talk down" to me unintentionally because of it. I can't believe the prof. copied and pasted from your SOP. That's frustrating.

I think your demands are reasonable. This is not the first time this has happened; other scores have been thrown out (check around online for similar stories). Customers pay over a hundred dollars for these tests, plus extra score reports, plus spend time and money preparing for them, plus experience the stress of taking a (now voided) test, and ETS really needs to make sure their mistakes don't ruin customers' chances at schools and fellowships. It's their duty to you to score that test right away and make sure the school understands that the fault is theirs.

This is also true. Depending on the deadline, it might get there after all.

Oh man. If I were you, I would email your dream advisor and explain everything that happened. Don't be dramatic or beg to have your application looked at! Use a very professional and formal tone. Just explain the situation, note that the reply from the admin said your application won't be at all considered, and convey your enthusiasm for the program (and maybe for working with him or her?) and deep regrets this debacle (which is out of your control and unfair) might mean the adcom won't review or seriously consider your file. I have no idea if this is acceptable or good etiquette (someone else might want to weigh in), but it's what I would do. I would think there's a slim chance the prof. might make sure your incomplete file gets read, if he's feeling generous. When is the deadline?

I feel that way about the Stegner Fellowship at Stanford, to which I am applying right now (though ApplyYourself is acting funny and they've extended the deadline until midnight tomorrow). Anyway, just saying I know that feeling ("hope you enjoy my money, Stanford!"). There's no way I'm getting a fellowship but I have to try (belieeeeeeve in myself) or I'll feel underproductive.

Last night, I was able to submit the application but I could not view the PDF. I just sent it without viewing it. I couldn't bear waiting another second, after trying to upload my documents for five hours. I can only imagine that the system is even more broken now that it's the due date. You'd think they'd be better prepared for the traffic. I wonder if undergrads are using it, too?

mood swing

I actually didn't procrastinate. I just kept changing my mind about things. This is when being "perfectionist" about your application does more harm than good. I think it's ApplyYourself for me, too....it's just overloaded and not loading my pages even when I finally gain access. The sad thing is that I successfully uploaded a document and the "pdf conversion" messed up the formatting, so I had to delete and try again, except instead of bringing me to the updated page, the system logged me out and I had to start logging in all over again. I recommend that everyone applies at least three days ahead of the deadline.

I have an app due Dec 1st and am having a hell of a time accessing and completing my application. I think there are just too many people (for different programs) trying to access the site; the site was even down for "maintenance" for 10 min. So give yourself plenty of time to deal with the traffic. Hopefully I'll be able to submit this application in 28 hours (at this rate, I can't log in without it timing out). Maybe I should try at 2 or 3am PST...

What the hell. I also took the test in the US and they told me I couldn't bring any water in with me. And I got really thirsty! Annoying.

You can try asking, but the test center seemed pretty strict. I'm pretty sure they won't let you (ridiculous, I know). My test center had a water cooler right outside the testing area, which means you're allowed to sign out and chug a few cups of water as often as you can without looking suspicious (they warn you that leaving the test room too many times might warrant some kind of investigation).

This is late, but I want to clear this up for future searchers: if you plan on getting an MFA and getting an adjunct Comp job at a comm. college as a sort of "backburner" while you publish your creative stuff (because, let's face it, adjuncting at a CC forever is just not the way to live), you should attend an MFA program that will give you a Comp job as your TAship. MFA graduates don't generally teach CrWrit at a CC, they teach Comp, just like all the English MAs (and Ph.Ds); it's not the title of the degree (it doesn't really matter if it's MA or MFA, though you likely need a doctorate for TT CC job) but the teaching experience via graduate program funding. In fact, lots of MFA graduates I know are teaching Comp (not English or CrWrit) at comm. colleges, and they got their jobs because they had a fair amount of Comp teaching experience during their programs. Most MFA programs have their students teach Comp, not CrWrit, because it's what the university needs them to do.

Ahaha! I'm literally laughing now (not just "LOL"), because my assumption that you meant you received 97th per. seems to explain why I got some of those reading comp questions wrong. . .teehee. . .*cries.* Anyway, you're right about us taking it too seriously, but I think it's more an "Internet' thing than it is a general applicant thing. People on this forum especially, but elsewhere, too. It's the kind of thing that generates panicked discussion. But yes, I'm thankful it's over and I can't wait until I never have to think about it again. (!!!)