Timshel

Well, Kansas doesn't tell you how long either need to be, so one will be the sample I am using for other schools, which is around 15 pages, and the other will be a condensed version of one of my thesis chapters, which will also probably end up being around 15 pages or so.

Same, for the same school.

I know, right! I immediately checked Minnesota to see if they pushed back. No dice.

Why are all of these schools extending their deadlines but not the ones I am applying to????????

I wish I could share in your happiness, but my December 1st deadlines are still December 1st.

I am trying very hard to not let location hinder me, although I will admit I am not excited about the idea of living in Florida period. I made my list based on the program, and I am willing to go wherever will accept me.

PhD, I already have an MA.

Well, normally on Tuesdays I work from 2-7 between my office hours and the Writing Center, but I did some switching around so I would have the whole day because I have to work all day tomorrow. I am so glad I have to day because I am not done with either documents and I won't be able to work on it tomorrow.

I think I just had a break through with my SOP. I am still working on it, and it's still slow-going, but I am liking the most recent changes I have made. I'm feeling MUCH better about it.

On top of everything else, my computer is making weird noises and losing internet connection. Ugh. I don't have time for this!

Yeah, I have to work all day tomorrow, so my plan is to have everything in tonight. Too bad I'm still working on my SOP and Writing Sample. Ugh.

Um, could you contact the graduate school and ask them? I feel you, though, on overanalyzing everything. I (hopefully) will be completing my first two applications tonight (they are due on December 1st), so I imagine I will be on here later with some freak out questions. Oh wait, freak out question 1. I know that people say not to wait until the last day to submit your application, but just in case, if the deadline is December 1st, does that mean you have until 11:59pm December 1st, or does that mean I have to have everything in by the end of November 30th? I just wasn't sure if it had to be in BY or ON. (See how much I am nitpicking).

I don't know if you still can since you haven't gotten your scores back, but I can't. Boo.

Okay, good. I have some fancy HP Printer that my husband bought. He told me he would help me today before he has to go in to do his office hours, so hopefully it won't be that difficult. I half of my undergrad and my grad school at the same school, so my transcript from them is 3 pages long.

I haven't done it yet, but is it difficult to upload a transcript that is 3 pages long so that it's just one PDF file.

I wish I could be that confident about my writing.

I'll just add that I completely and embarrassingly bombed the test. Thank god only two schools required it, but I stupidly sent the scores to 4 schools because I wanted to be able to send my general scores for free.

Not me. It's hard enough for me to find time to perfect one writing sample, let alone two.

Be careful with your letter writers, though. While they mean well, it depends on how long they have been out of graduate school. All of mine have been teaching for 20+ years, and some of their advice was antiquated. In fact, all 3 of them only applied to one school each, and one of them asked me if they provided any stipends because she couldn't remember if they did or not. lol. Also, I think it depends on the school and program when discussing what types of "sources" to use.

I will apply as many times as it takes. It's the only thing I want to do.

This statement of purpose is killing me.

I've been told that adcomms don't like it when you don't pay attention to their specific requirements. I know when I just asked about a 4th letter at one of the schools I applied, they were not very kind in their response about making sure to follow their specific requirements.

WellSpring, be careful because I was told by former Adcomm committees that if you do things like send more letters than asked, it could get you weeded out very quickly because they feel like you don't know how to follow directions. Also, as someone else said, it gives you less control over which letter they read because when I contacted one school, they told me that if I sent more than 3, they would only read the first three sent. Bdon, don't feel too bad, I was still doing research up until last night. I needed to add some more recent stuff to my sample, so I was going through it up until last night.

Okay, this is probably a dumb question, and a little off topic, but when they give you a page requirement, say 10-15 pages, should that be literal pages, including the Works Cited page, or should that just be the pages of text, not including the 1-2 pages of your sources. And yes, I am getting to that point where I can't make any decision on my own.....

Well, I am only sending in a fourth letter to one school, Minnesota, because the English website specifically states a minimum of three but no more than four. For the other schools I am applying, if the website did not explicitly state three, I emailed to make sure, and they all said only three. Just Minnesota allows for a fourth. Well, and UMass Amherst wants a fourth if you have taught before to have someone speak to your teaching, but that's it. I wish I could put teaching on the back burner this week, but their final essays are due at the end of next week, and I still have their previous essays to grade and hand back, so I need to get on that!