modernity

That's why I said most and not all. It is possible, but its not the most common thing and/or the general rule. Nothing is impossible if you find the right school/right person to plead your case to.

Congrats Peanut!!! I remember you from last year and am super happy to hear you got in this year!!

I'm just here to lol and appreciate the fact that one of the reasons a PhD could become an impossibility is 2012!!

Cut the discussion of anything "in general" your SOP should be specifics only, don't talk about why the program attracted you but why you FIT the program - that's pretty universal. Beyond that I'm not an expert on UK school application processes! You should be fine though if you're devoting the whole week to it, and you make sure you have time to step away, rethink and rewrite/edit. More time is better, but a week is not impossible.

Call the schools that are missing them first - and check to make sure they REALLY are missing them, sometimes at this time of year they get jammed up and they don't update your status even though they have things. IF they really don't have them call the school(s) that should have sent them, and determine when they were sent and IF they were sent.... Then if need be - reorder. If the school requires the transcript directly from the other school, you sending them will be useless and costly... try that procedure first.

I think you've done everything you can do. I think your best choice is going to be getting another recommender - hopefully UPenn grants you some time for that. Even if you recommender would still be willing, I don't know if it's in your best interest... she's human like the rest of us, and we all know we don't do our best work when we're ill (especially if it's ill enough to be on sick leave).

Some of the comments in this post reminded me of this oldie but goodie:

Do not correct your typos... you're bringing a lot of attention to your mistakes, and you are causing them to wade through a lot of memos and stuff that is going to irritate them during an already taxing process. They aren't going to throw you out over a couple typos- they happen.

100 words about what you've done thats relevant 200 words about why you and the program fit 200 words about what you want and how the program is going to get you where you're going in life adjust as needed. It's a hoop you have to jump through, and there will be a lot of these in grad school as well. As to the Cal State system I don't know - but when I wrote my SOPS, I started with a base few sentences I wanted in all of them, and then explored out from there depending on specific questions they asked, or things that seemed important to the department. It seems hard to get everything in 500 words, but it can be a lot easier than you imagined - it's just about picking the right words.

This has been my experience as well. They can be available to help you with projects if they have information that's valuable to what you're doing on occasion, but they can't be there for you on a day to day basis like an advisor. So you can certainly mention them- the fact that their research aligns with yours in the department can be significant, but you'll have to appeal to someone else for an advisor.

Hmmm... let me put it this way: She really likes you, and advocates for your success. Despite the fact she doesn't support MA programs, she agreed to write a letter for you anyway. She worries about you not being confident enough and showing off how great you are. All I could think after reading that was... does that really sound like someone who would purposely sabotage you just because of her own personal opinion? (I mean only you know her personally, or well enough to decide that but it doesn't sound like it at all from what you've described). Most professors, if they think they can't write a letter that will really help you will tell you so. It's very rare that someone agrees to write a letter and purposely tanks someone. If she agreed to write a letter and you've explained that you had trouble finding a job in the field, she might be reluctant about doing it - but still wants to help how she can.

It might be better to wait until you're closer to the deadline (unless its coming up quickly) but you can send an email saying just what the above poster mentioned. It's okay for you guys to ask your recommenders questions and verify information - it's to be expected if you're serious about your applications that you're going to stay on top of things like this and ask questions. They won't be upset unless you go overboard as I said before.

I think that's kind of dangerous- you're entering "could look like a bribe" territory there. A thank you letter is sufficient- just hand write a note in it.

Oh dear. Just wait until the RSS feed starts telling you when other people heard from the school/program you applied to and you haven't yet... It then becomes an every minute on the minute checking frenzy! Sorry... thats probably not helpful to your 12 step program!!

I think the obvious answer here is to write on something related to what you want to study when you enter - something on your topic of choice will best show your abilities/knowledge/etc.

Honestly - its a 50/50 chance thing. Some adcomms want explanations for things because they notice every detail, and want negative things explained. Other adcomms are only going to look at that high test score, dismiss the others, and your explanation will glaringly point out something they would have otherwise missed, and the explanation could annoy them. You really don't know this, unless its something they've specifically asked for in the application (unlikely) or you know that your field puts a lot of emphasis on GRE scores. If the disparity is large (I'm talking hundreds of points) - I would probably make a small note about test anxiety, because otherwise they're going to wonder why someone who seems to get bad scores randomly got a good one in the middle. But do not spend significant amounts of time, or words explaining it!! It will distract from all your positives.

You don't qualify for food stamps or anything like that? Most stipends, even generous ones, are under the poverty level-and I swear I've known people who have used this to their advantage, but maybe I just misunderstood. You might want to max out student loans, this year until you can decide what you want to do. I agree that doing that ALL the years is a ridiculous notion, and you'll have to come up with another plan...but in the mean time it could be an option to buy you some time (and relieve the money stress). That shocks me that they don't have any kind of daycare - even if it is private!! I didn't think that was possible anymore. That's a tough situation to be in. Have you contacted someone at your local job/resource center to get their advice? Have you contacted the university for any advice they could help out with? I'm just trying to think of people who might be able to help you.

The other option is if you have a professor in the department that is a figurehead for the grad program (assuming its not the person you're working with now), and you can talk with them and ask what the protocol is, or how you could best solve the dilemma.

LORs go on the institution they work for's letterhead. It will be "Dr." if they are a Dr. THEIR degree granting institution will likely not be listed. Where they got their PhD from is not necessarily as important as where they work now - especially if they are a ways out from their PhD, because top ranking institutions have fluctuated over the years. If the profs are well known, or even remotely known in their field - other professors will know who they are. Almost any prof I've ever had can rattle of lists of professors, schools & professors who work at those schools, etc. in their field that have clout, or regularly attend conferences, etc. etc. If you're worried - ask the professors who you want to write for school recommendations, and as you're doing that work in questions about whether or not they know anyone at those schools that they could recommend as an advisor or something of that nature - that will tell you what the academic relationships are, and who you want to write your letters for you (this could also help you with decisions about what professors you want to write for you).... if for some reason the above does not prove helpful - you want to go with the profs who know your academic abilities over friends - if they only know you as a friendly student - it will reflect as such in the letter, and adcomms will be questioning why you picked your friends over professors that taught you for recommendations. OH, and in addition - they are sometimes required to fill out a form that asks questions like "How did this student compare to other students in that class? that you've taught before" "what were students grades like? the timeliness? the maturity?" and that will make it even more obvious when they can't answer those questions.

It is part of their job indirectly because it can reflect on their career - where your students end up, especially if they were your particular project (ie. you had an advisor/advisee relationship), reflects on you (and therefore your ability to gain tenure), the department and the school you work at. It's not a requirement in that they have a quota, or anything like that but it's an expected part of the job - and its something you WANT to be asked to do as a professor. They can certainly turn it down, and you're right that no one *deserves* a recommendation, but professors know it's an expected part of their job/career. Also- if you're super close with the professor that puts you in a different realm (in my opinion) than people who are just asking a professor who they don't know outside of class/office hours - which I believe is the situation with this particular poster. There are a lot of blogs/forums out there with professors complaining about students giving them gifts and how it can be awkward for them professionally speaking - because they or others could be unaware of the students intentions. In a situation like yours where they know you well that sort of thing is not an issue, with a student who they only know in a classroom/office setting it's not always clear. To the original poster - less than 5 dollar gifts is no biggie, it might appear strange you gave it to them before the letters were submitted, but most professors understand that its your first time doing something like that, and there isn't really a universally known procedure (without digging into forums like these or books on the subject, its not surprising you wouldn't know). It's not going to ruin you or anything, and whats done is done. Don't sweat it. A misstep in etiquette when attempting to thank someone is the least of your application worries!!

Write the most you can, with the least amount of words.... They have to file through hundreds of these, and you will stand out if you could say more in less. Some professors just stop reading if your SOP gets boring, so make sure that you keep their attention.

good to hear it!!

There are people on this board whose applications were tossed out because of late LORs - so its untrue that it won't be... however it IS true that most applications wont be looked at until the beginning of next year so you have time. Suggestions: Contact the graduate department who accepts the applications and ask them to make a note on your file, or to verify whether or not something hasn't been turned in - do it nicely though. Wait another day or two to for your file to be updated (these websites are inundated on the due date, and sometimes take a while to be completely updated)... as long as your professor mailed it by the due date, or close to - that should be okay. If the grad department verifies when you call that it hasn't been submitted - ask them how much time you have/what your situation calls for... then contact your professor again as needed. Schools are not unfamiliar with this - profs regularly forget to submit on time, and letters get lost in the mail... most schools are forgiving and will work with you if you keep in contact and let them know the situation. Just make sure you stay on top of it!

Yes, as long as you don't go overboard (ie one every other day with increasingly demanding language or something like that) reminder emails are helpful for professors and are absolutely essential for your peace of mind.