gellert

^Yes, DEFINITELY send an update. That sort of thing is uber-important and could definitely mean the difference between waitlist and accept, or between accept and ACCEPT RIGHT NOW WITH ~ALL THE FUNDING!~ Congratulations on your paper getting accepted!

Ooh, I'm definitely in. I don't need to be held accountable tonight, but I will watch your screen for you! You can repay the favor to me when my semester starts back up next Monday.

What qualifies as something important enough for which you'd want to update your CV on your application to Ph.D. programs? Obviously you'd want to let them know if an article that had been under review became accepted, but what about something like beginning a TAship at a college class in your field? (Specifics: I'm TAing the introductory class in my field this semester, which entails leading recitations/discussion sections.) Thanks!

^ Oooh thank you SO much for sharing that! That makes me feel both relieved and excited all at once.

I second the above, plus think about it this way -- if you have a low cGPA etc., your recommender can probably address that in her letter and try to spin it into less of a negative. Because if you're ashamed of your LOR writer seeing it, wouldn't you be equally nervous about having schools see the cGPA? It'll be a much bigger deal with adcomms than it will be with your LOR writer. So give the letter writer a chance to talk about how your grades don't reflect your true potential.

I came across this same problem with one of my applications. Cornell's app says not to include supplemental material but has no place for a CV/resume. It did, however, say supplemental materials would be accepted if pre-approved by the department, and should be sent TO that dept rather than the graduate school. I emailed the dept administrative assistant and asked, and she said I could email it to her and she would attach it to my application. Bottom line, I think the answer in these types of cases is almost always "call and ask." It's the only way you'll know for sure if it's ok.

It's not a formal interview, but I'd still treat it as such. How this interaction goes could influence your chances at these schools. That said, congratulations! It sounds like you're doing really well in the process so far, already.

Yes, applying. No, haven't heard back. I don't think most psych-affiliated neuroscience programs will start getting back to people until mid-January or thereabouts.

No. If you don't have any other academic recommendations, get a former employer to write one for you. I hope that's a joke. How long ago did you contact the old recommenders?

knight bus

Well, fingers crossed, eh? It is certainly the right time of year for it to be POIs.

^ Yes, but then only if they access your profile from said google search. At least it helps you know for sure that they were, in fact, looking for you and not some other "Elle Woods UCLA law."

No, I don't think it really matters. E-mailing first is actually preferred by some programs, though I don't recall Harvard ever explicitly specifying on that point.

^ Oh, don't get me wrong, I think you should own up to that. They'll figure it out either way, but it's better to just say hey, look, I made this mistake and now I'm trying to fix it. A bit belatedly, but I'm trying. It's the best you can do at this point.

You're stressing out for the sake of it. Sure, your GPA isn't super high, but luckily for you, GPA isn't the main thing that gets you into grad school. You'll make most cut-offs with a 3.3, and tbh that's all that GPA matters.

I'd say have the study abroad place rush a transcript (overnight if it's a program based in the US) as soon as their winter break is over. Transcript arrival is an issue that is out of your control, and schools know that. I think if your transcript is a little late, they'll be understanding. However, the one issue I can see with this is that the postmark on the rushed transcript will be after the deadline. Therefore I'd recommend calling Harvard after the GSAS office reopens on 3 January and telling them of the situation, and telling them that the transcript is being rush ordered. Good luck!

Wouldn't risk it.

Yeah, seriously. I mean, the admin assistants are paid to be helpful, even if they think the question is stupid. The person in question went so far as to insult my surname. I mean, what the actual heck? Even a bad day doesn't excuse that. I love the POI at that school, though, so I'm still applying. Might submit an anonymous complaint after I get my final result, though.

In addition to the excellent answer in the first comment, I've been told that schools look favorably upon applicants who are reapplying after being waitlisted the first time.

Awesome. Thanks so much again, Gvh! (lol I'm a little terrified of admissions secretaries because, while two of the three I've called before were super nice, the third quite literally yelled at me before I'd even finished explaining my question. I was completely shocked and now a little bit nervous about calling schools!)

Thanks so much guys. I'll definitely be calling them as soon as their office reopens after the holidays. (And the class that I miswrote the grade for was in a semi-relevant field, but no, not really a big deal.) So, another problem. I got anxious and started rechecking all my applications and then realized that, on three of them, I put down the GPA from my alma mater under "overall undergraduate GPA" when they probably wanted the combined alma mater + institution I transferred from + study abroad. Now, it's pretty obvious what my mistake was, and that I wasn't just making up some random GPA. Should I call and point this out or are they unlikely to notice (or, if they do, unlikely to care)?

I'm such an idiot. One of my applications requires you to report grades you made in classes relevant to your major. In one of these classes, I accidentally reported the wrong grade on the self-report portion when it's perfectly clear on my uploaded transcript that I made a different grade. (Example: grade being a B on the transcript and I wrote A- on the self-report.) Also realized that I calculated my major GPA only including classes from my alma mater, and forgot to include a class that I took at a different school. So, how screwed am I? And should I contact the school to see if they can change it? Or will they likely not even notice? (eta: and okay, so maybe not SIGNIFICANT error, but it certainly feels significant right now. )

^ I recommend checking the results survey to see when your schools have historically gotten back to people. It seems to range the gamut anywhere from late December (rare) to mid-January/February (common) to March (rare again). My adviser has noted that the date of interviews seems to be getting earlier and earlier each year. It follows that the date of interview invites would be doing the same. However, keep in mind that for some schools (e.g., Cornell) who delayed their application deadlines due to the delay in GRE score reports, things might get pushed back a little later than usual. tl;dr - It depends on the year and a number of circumstances. Check for the biggest wave in mid-January or thereabouts.

^ Yep. Roger that.