finknottle

Wow, that sounds a bit extreme. Anyway, my point is that of course the best thing to keep it under the word limit specified. However, depending on the number of applications, the time you spend on customizing each SOP, and the rest of your work/research/life that you need to do, getting the word count perfect for essays can become quite harrowing. When I write essays, I assume an open minded reader who is really more interested in knowing about my work or research than the exact word count. Exceeding the word count by a small margin is not at all about arrogance or fooling people. I just assume that everyone is aware of the larger picture and context and details like these don't come in the way. I don't think I would want to go to a school or work with supervisors who feel otherwise. Life is too short and too interesting to be agonizing over word counts.

Trim the opening paragraph and the one about courses. And you don't "need" to get it under 1k really. 1100 should be fine too. So just knock off 100 words. It would be ~1.5 pages which is alright. If there isn't a hard limit, even 1.2k is alright. People don't count the number of words when they are reading an essay. If you submit pdfs, I don't think the word count would be displayed either. So just maintain the natural flow of things and keep it interesting. No point fussing over a 100 words here and there.

How right you are, J....wnich1

A fish slapping dance.

Can you find a relevant job or an internship? Working or doing research for a year or so would be a good way to improve your record. It will show that you have recovered from your personal problems and are serious about pursuing graduate studies.

Well just shoot out mails. No harm in trying. If you need to mail soft copies of your updated transcripts, it isn't a lot of work. If you need to mail official copies, it might not be worth the cost or the effort. If you have spoken about your thesis/research in your SOP, the grade isn't going to give them more information since it is exactly same as your average score anyway. Besides, if one of your recommenders is also your thesis advisor, it makes even lesser sense. He/She would've already spoken about your research, and an arbitrary number won't give them any more information to evaluate you than what your SOP and LOR combined already has.

You've got a really warped view of the whole process. A letter of recommendation is a letter of endorsement from your professors. They are on your side. At least that's how it should be. You aren't helping yourself by keeping them in the dark. For one, if they don't know about the program/job you are applying to, they won't be able to write the letters in the right context. That is a serious disadvantage. And even if you manage to get them to write the letters somehow without disclosing your intentions, you'll end up burning bridges later, which is a bad idea. So if you must ask these people, be honest about your plans. Changing the department/discipline etc. isn't a crime and you aren't the first person to do it. Just be polite and diplomatic about it. Besides, getting recommendations from professors isn't a hard rule. You should explore other options too if the situation seems very sticky.

Yes, trimming SOPs is difficult. While some schools ask for a single SOP, others ask for an SOP and a personal statement. The hint to take from that is that if you need to trim your SOP, you should probably start with the personal stuff. So yeah, devote more space to your theses and research and skim over other experiences.

I hate the ones which notify the recommenders only after you submit the application. What's their rationale in doing that? That people might not actually submit the application and back out midway after filling the recommenders' details? Sounds highly unlikely to me. And even if that happens, what's the big loss for them?

I've added a few comments for the first three paragraphs of your essay. Will add comments for the rest later. Meanwhile, others can chip in. Got to go now.

You can usually send updated copies of the online stuff if you contact the grad depts. I discovered a typographic error in my CV, and most schools were willing to accept my updated CV. (I'm still awaiting a response from 2 though). Not sure about the physical copies of transcripts though. Regarding whether it's worth it, on the monetary front at least it is. As you said, $10 x n is a really small sum if you compare it to the total cost of applications and the cost of attending grad school. However, the trouble might not be worth it. You should account for the number of mails you might have to send or the number of calls you might have make to get something like this done. Calling might be inconvenient too if you are an international student due to the difference in time zones. And there is a small risk of pissing people off in the process. Since your deadlines have passed, it is also possible that your application is already under review. Personally, I wouldn't go through all the trouble just to report slightly better grades. Had it been a case of a publication getting accepted, I would have definitely recommended sending updated docs since something like that is more likely to make a discernible difference in the profile. A difference of 0.1 in the GPA might not make a world of difference in my opinion.

I'm just thinking out loud here, and it might not be the best solution. You can try talking to the grad depts. of schools that don't let you add another reommender on the online forms. You can explain the situation to them, and ask them if you can add another recommender offline. i.e. Either send the new letter through post or have it emailed to them directly. You can let your professor's name still be there on the original form on the outside chance that he does upload the letter. That way, you'll satisfy the minimum requirement irrespective of whether your prof. uploads the letter or not. If this is not feasible, you will have to discuss matters with him and put it as delicately as possible.

Yes, you should try to find someone else. And don't mail or call the aforementioned professor about the recommendations. If you meet him in person to offer your condolences, meeting you might remind him about the letters. I'm not suggesting that you should bring the issue up when you meet him, but just meeting you might remind him, and if he feels up to it he'll make an effort to write them. There is only so much you can do about it.

I'm a bit surprised that in spite of this, you are having a hard time in finding recommenders. Was there someone advising/mentoring you during your research? Also, among the other co-authors in your publications, are there any researchers or professionals who are at a higher designation than you?

Well, what exactly is your motivation to go for a second Master's? Its hard to give generic advice about these things. If you can tell us about your background and reasons for applying, we can help you with suggestions.

@second_rate, @Mal83 and @Triumph: I think it shouldn't be a problem. ETS doesn't send physical score reports. This is my guess, but this is what makes most sense. ETS would just update the database of scores that is accessible to the university. So, the way it would work is that once a university receives an application, they'll look up the name in that database to verify the scores. Not the other way round. Since there are no physical scores sent, the universities don't really need to catalogue them or keep a track of who has applied and who hasn't. Whenever they receive an application, they would just look up the database. The entry in the database would be accessible till your scores expire. On a side note, this makes charging $23 for individual score reports seem quite ridiculous and exorbitant.

I don't think you need to write the TOEFL again. Since you completed your Master's from a school in the US (that's where you had gone right?), the requirement for TOEFL would be waived off. I guess GRE is mandatory for most programs. If you get an admit from a good PhD program, visa should be a breeze. If they ask for the scores during the visa interview, you can still show your old scores. They aren't valid for reporting, but it doesn't matter if you have an admit. It's not as though you have become dumber since the last time you wrote the test. You wouldn't have managed to get a good PhD admit otherwise right? Edit: By a good PhD program, I mean something that figures in the top ~20-30 or so in your domain. Even if there is a slight risk of the University being relatively unknown, it would be best to write those tests again. You wouldn't want the visa officer to get unnecessarily suspicious.

I think it depends on where you are applying. As far as I know, universities in the US rarely ask for a research statement. Also, the duration of a PhD averages around 5 years, and you are supposed to make a detailed research plan, pass the qualifying examinations and find an advisor in your first 1-2 years. In Europe on the other hand, you are expected to get an advisor to guide you before you apply formally. Then, you have to work out a research plan along with your advisor and submit the statement along with your formal application.

Bothering the staff wouldn't be a problem. Just write a polite apologetic mail explaining the problem. They receive countless such mails everyday regarding administrative issues and it is unlikely to have any bearing on the actual admission decision.

It's the other way round. If you specifically say that you can't attend unless you are funded, you might risk losing an admit. However, mentioning that you can support yourself might not help a great deal. That is the norm for most Master's programs anyway and is implicitly assumed.

Since it is only 700 chars, I don't think a lot can go wrong. In the worst case, it won't contribute to the app at all. Hence, no harm in writing a bit if you have a few brief points to mention.

MBA is a different thing altogether, and explaining why you want to do a Master's in Science after an MBA might be difficult. However, I don't think universities would have a problem in admitting students who have a Master's as long as it is not the same or a closely related program that they hold a Master's in. One valid reason off the top of my head for doing a second Master's would be to gain more experience for working in an interdisciplinary domain. In any case, it is something that will be evaluated on a case by case basis and a lot would depend on the SOP.

Wow! This thread is still active. Looks like it's 'Make your generalization' day. I don't think anyone is suggesting that one 'needs' a title to understand the passage or that there is a 'dependency'. It's just a matter of convenience. That's how most people process information. They scan the title, look for a few key words and form a skeleton of the passage in their head. Now, if you take away the title and obfuscate the language, it doesn't make the problem more difficult or challenging in a true sense. It just makes it more inconvenient and tedious. Some people can adapt to it quickly and some might take more time. In any case, it has got little to do with 'belonging' to grad school. If I am asked to take a piss in the dark, and if I miss my aim and end up splashing it all over the place, would I be deemed unfit for civilized society? The only thing I can agree with is that it is an arbitrary standardized test that puts a number against an applicant. Besides, grad school is a pretty generic term. It can mean a one year program, or a PhD that can take half a decade or more. The emphasis of the program can also vary widely. Hence, parsing a large amount of verbiage might not be an integral part of all programs.

For unofficial copies, call ETS up and ask them to mail you a soft copy if they can. Otherwise, just take printouts of your score from the ETS webpage. Don't sweat it. It's unofficial after all. A photocopy of the actual report wouldn't be any more legitimate.

Unless there is some reason for you to believe that the aforementioned prof. will upload the reco by the end of the Christmas break, you should get someone else to write a letter for you. Not much is lost 'yet', and you still have a week or so to sort it out. Most apps allow you to edit the recommendations section of the app even after submitting the application. So yeah, if it comes to damage control, just find someone relevant who can talk nice things about you in the context of your application. You should be willing to compromise here, and a general positive letter will still be better than the lack of one.