colormehappy

I agree. This might be a better question for a current student. Even if the department/POI says that it's okay to take a certain amount of time off, you'll want to know whether students actually do.

I think a lot of professors actually would (and do). It's part of the job. It might not be a great letter, but if a student did well enough in the class, I think they would write it. Whether they remember the individual student, they probably remember the course itself, how challenging/not it was, and what a particular grade in that course means.

I have to disagree with this. Different fields have different expectations. Some programs expect students to have no idea what they want to focus on or, if the applicants say they do, they expect them to change their minds. Other programs do expect a more developed sense of what you want to study. I'm not really sure where chemistry falls in all of this but if you really love chemistry and you keep an open mind, you might end up loving any one of your programs. You might also hate it. But this could be true even if you thought that's what you wanted to study going in.

What is the other program? Do you have other professors who would be able to write these letters? I know asking for letters is a pain, but if the programs are totally unrelated, it might be better to treat them as such.

For most math programs the subject GRE is what matters. I've heard that some places don't even look at the general scores, or if they do, they look at the verbal since that section actually requires quite a bit of analytic thought. Good for you though for retaking and getting 800.

Though it's unlikely, maybe there was actually some kind of fluke with that particular system. Maybe she tried to upload the letter and thought it worked, but something went wrong. She may have been having a bad day or maybe she was simply being defensive, but perhaps you could soften her up by acting like you believe her. Contact the grad secretary and see if it's alright if she emails the letter directly. That way the letter gets there (and gets added to your file immediately), and you can avoid the awkward blame game. I also agree with the other posters that you should let her know how much you appreciate all her work on this. Good luck!

Most schools just have you upload a document for your statement. As long as the file size is under the limit, it will upload just fine. If your statement is engaging and well written, I doubt the admissions people are going to stop at the word limit and disregard the rest. That said, if your statement is really long it will stand out and might annoy the readers.

Since it sounds like this prompt is specific to the department and not the graduate school as a whole, I would say try to answer all the parts. You probably don't need to say a whole lot in the self-assessment. You could even try to subtly weave these things into the rest of the statement. That might sound better than flat out stating your strengths/weaknesses. Either way I doubt that they would ditch your application solely because you didn't answer one part of the question. But why test that?

winter storm

rubber ball

Some schools will offer you admission to a master's program when you applied for a Ph.D. program if they don't think your coursework is solid enough but they think you have potential. Or you can view it as a wishy-washy rejection. I would say shoot for the Ph.D (with some master's programs for back-up). You'll get funding and if you decide you really just want a master's, they'll let you leave.

I don't know too much about what is required for Stats programs (I'm on the pure math side of things), but it seems like you have a solid background. You've probably covered a lot of linear algebra in your other courses, but this is one class that is often required. I would also recommend you take Real Analysis if possible since this will demonstrate that you are serious about math and understand proof writing. Since you're applying for 2012, is there any way for you to take some courses at a nearby university? It would probably also help to have a math professor write one of your letters. As for where to apply, look for schools which separate their mathematics and applied mathematics departments. It seems like you stand a better chance at schools where your application is looked at by applied mathematicians. Phds.org is a good site for searching for schools but once you have a list, you'll want to run it by a math professor if you can. You'll also want to look into GRE requirements. I don't know whether applied programs typically require the math GRE subject test, but that would be something to consider. If you take it and do well, it could help your application significantly, though it is a difficult test and without a background in algebra/analysis, you might be in trouble. Good luck!