USTgrad

Cool! Thanks! I did end up going with Pages from Mac though. I was in a hurry since my final was due & my friend got me a discount. I'm used to it now. The only hassle is saving stuff as a separate word .doc so my profs can view it. Oh well!

In my SoP to Iowa I mentioned four profs as having interests related to mine (i.e. 'fit'), but made it quite clear that I wanted to work with Dr. Priya Kumar. Sometimes being specific can work for you... sometimes against you! I don't have much choice in my sub-field of interest: pick the postcolonial/diaspora/popular Lit prof and run!

I gotta second that motion. Over the summer I visited a few schools for a, let's say, more physical understanding of what I am up against, and one of the profs I spoke with at U of Iowa made it clear to not be overtly specific about who you want to work with because that particular prof may be on sabbatical/out of state/researching, etc. Your particular focus may not have an opening that year, or there may be profs who are retiring in your field and don't want new students. Hopefulwoolfian is right, there are many external factors that we are not privy to which influence the application process. But spending the time, money and heartache is definitely a personal decision.

That is worded terribly! Those preliminary emails are nice, but they need to choose some more sensitive phrasing. Think of those minor heart attacks as preparation for the big one when you are accepted!

I had to google BPAL! This is quite the ostentatious statement on their website: "we have mastered the art of encapsulating allegorical ideas into singular olfactory experiences." That's awesome!

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement fall-11! I hope your thesis process is going as well as mine. Take care & good luck!

This page has been so helpful. In fact, I think I found my academic doppelganger in fall-11. I too have only heard from NW, with rejection. & I'm "working" on my MA thesis in between checking email/this forum. BUT I am also sooo glad to hear of people like TC3 who have suffered through 3 arduous application seasons and are finally admitted to a program with funding. That's amazing! Plus it gives hope to all of us here. Thanks everyone for pouring your heart out on these pages. I did not enter my MA program thinking I would apply for a phd, but after a few insanely stressful life changes, I am happy a former fellow student (now in the U of Florida PhD program) told me to try out gradcafe to ease my worried-in-application-mode mind. I am already mentally preparing myself for a second round and all it entails: new GRE format (looks much better!), I'll finally take the Lit. subject test, all those damn official transcript issues, requesting another set of letters of rec, and the egregious credit card debt from application fees (400 apps per Uni X $70-80 an app = funding for somebody!) Good luck everyone!

This forum serves a dual function. One the one hand, we are put at ease within the community of anxiety-ridden applicants who have no where else to turn because no one is going to understand why we are refreshing our emails/checking out snail mail box/clutching our phones, etc. as though our futures depend on it (it does!) better than each other. One the other hand, our anxiety level shoots through the roof whenever we check the results page and someone was accepted to a U we have applied to, and yet we haven't heard anything! On that note, my mac may be accompanying me to work so I can check my email on my 10-minute breaks for something, anything, from the U of Chicago (full funding and the opportunity to work with Leela Gandhi & perchance Dipesh Chakrabarty? I'll finish this post after I check my email...). So don't fret cquin, we are all playing this lottery together.

I applied for one that was particularly for grad students. I applied on the last day available to apply! I have been told that San Antonio is beautiful during April. Plus, the Alamo... just to ask if they have a basement is enough reason to go.

That is so awesome to find others who are going to the PCA/ACA in April. I'm presenting on the Arab American panel. My presentation is on the terrorist figure in Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner. This is my 3rd conference, but my first one out of the state! Did any of you apply for a travel grant through the conference? It would be nice to meet up during the conference!

Congratulations ElectedSilence! I was fine before, but now I'm freakin' out! But it is nice to know that NW is on top of things. NW is an awesome school. Good luck! I haven't received any email or letter either Gingermick. Neither does my app status say anything. I bolted to the mailbox though today after reading this post. Unfortunately the only thing in there was my Netflix DVD. The waiting is the hardest part... actually, screw that! the application was the hardest part!

Awesome! Thanks everyone. When encountering people who use either program, they swear buy it. I didn't know you could use pages for .pdf's though. That's great. Especially since UIC wants submissions in .pdf form. Interesting quirk. This mac in and of itself is a long adjustment process. Thanks for the input!

Maybe this is the wrong forum for this type of question, but I need some help and this site offers a good collection of students trading in a vast amount of word docs. I recently switched from pc to mac, and I am having a hard time figuring out whether I should continue my use of Microsoft Office 2011, or use iwork '09 by Mac. I mainly use word for large documents up to 30+ pages (like many of you), and want to know whether anyone has any advice or preferences on either word or pages. Most of the documents I exchange are in word format, and are submitted electronically. All my previous documents are in word format. Thanks for the help!

For one app I am using a revised writing sample, but including the original course, prof, etc., as per MLA. I also attached a very brief cover letter explaining why I am using that paper, how I will/have developed it, and the course title.

Awesome advice. I'm glad I happened upon this forum. It's the little things that make the difference! There's also that sticky notion of whether someone is technically a Dr. if they are ABD (All But Dissertation).

Thanks everybody for responding! I also appreciate everyone's honesty very much. It also helps to know that others are out there, up until 3am writing SoP's, filled with anxiety.

Beyond this, what was your undergrad GPA like? Why was your master's a 3.8? Not that everything can be determined by numbers, but it seems relevant to note. That is the question I feel will be on most reviewer's minds regarding the gulf between my GPA and GRE. I prepared using Kaplan flash cards, but when it came down to it, I just froze. It may have been the format. I took my practice tests on paper. Thanks for your post!

Thanks for the reply! I appreciate the honesty. I was underprepared this round, and want to make all the efforts to try again--including boosting the GRE and taking the GRE-subject.

I took the GRE-general test, for the first time--besides a few practice tests--and bombed. Ok, so, 440 (V) and 340 (Q). I absolutely freeze when a multiple choice test is in front of me. I took it on December 8th, so I don't know my Analytical yet, but I feel as though I did much better in that section. I am finishing up my Master's degree in Spring 2011, earning a 3.87 GPA. I have three awesome letters of rec from professors and am working hard on my sop. I'm applying to U of Chicago, Northwestern, and Iowa (my long shot schools) UW-Milwaukee, U of Illinois at Chicago, Illinois State U, and St. John's in NY. What are my chances... are those scores gonna kill me? Also, If I am not accepted, I will try again next year. Is that feasible? Would that be better than applying with those stats? Also, my GRE scores were on 12/8, will schools accept my scores if they arrive past the deadline (e.g. Northwestern is 12/14)?? This is my first post on gradcafe, and I could really use some advice.