maeisenb

It completely depends on a long list of facts (mailing location, how you sent it, what time of day you sent it, etc.). Just submit the online forms and mail out what you have before the deadline. As multiple other threads have noted, there is typically some leeway between due dates and LORs, GRE scores, and other hard copies.

Your stats are perfectly fine, but you haven't really listed enough info for anyone to give you more feedback. (what kind of quant classes? what research have you done? have you worked with people in your field? etc.) More broadly though, why do you "really" need input? Not to be somewhat harsh, but presumably your apps are basically done at this point and you have targeted those schools for specific reasons and for particular people. If so, then you've done most of what you can to maximize your chances with your good grades. Not much else anyone can tell you at this point...

The general consensus on this is that letters have a little more time to get there (typically, but not always two weeks from what I've heard and seen). So the OP should be fine still, although you should probably check just in case. Obviously this isn't the case for everyone, but it takes time for schools to print everything online and compile other stuff (GREs, transcripts, and other things in hard copy).

Well it seems like you just said how they are related, so just expand that now. Talk about how your work experience has done both parts of that and future stuff will too.

I know nothing about Econ PhDs and overall the Econ forum seems rather quiet, so that's why people might be hesitant to respond. With a limited knowledge of Econ, take this with a grain of salt. While you have good grades and a good math background, 3 econ classes seems a bit thin. Also, if you haven't put together the necessary application materials yet, then it seems a bit late to do so now. You might want to gather information, contact people at various schools, and apply next year. Although obviously I don't know your exact situation.

Probably midnight tomorrow, whether that is EST or PST (or something else) I couldn't tell you...

I was wondering if anyone else was experiencing these issues and, yes, it has problems. The auto save feature plays havoc with everything really (it doesn't save a bunch of my entries) and my LORs are having issues as well. Seems like a new website that is having major issues...

Depends on how your contact went, but couldn't see why it would hurt.

Although I'm hesitant to weigh in cause it was apparently keeping you calm about other things, I'm pretty sure it really doesn't matter at all...

Follow up with a polite email as often times your email can get lost.

Not to be pushy about it, but that still didn't really answer Remenis's query. Are you talking like late 19th century American vs early 19th century American or are is your paper like on Stalinist Russia and you do 19th century American...

That isn't completely unusual from what I've seen on some of my applications, although I can't speak to UT in particular. Is there space to break up what would be on the CV (publications, presentations, languages, etc.) or a place for additional information? That would do the trick.

Email them and ask. I don't know your exact financial situation, but a little extra spent up front could save you a lot down the road. i.e. Paying 100 bucks for shipping extra stuff could work out to save you thousands in stipend money long term.

Your chances at those schools can probably be found out by looking on their admissions sites for median admittance info. The main impediments are threefold it would seem. First, your GPA is somewhat low, but can you stress that particular classes you took in policy areas were somewhat higher? (i.e. the Peace Studies classes). Second, can you retake the GRE to improve your quant score? If that's a day of studying, then I imagine you would do amazingly well with even just a few weeks of study. Third, agreeing with mrsplant, what kind of experiences do you have and, more importantly, what kind of focus do you have for a program? You need to figure out if you want to do social policy or policy analysis, although both of those are rather broad in and of themselves. Once you figure that out, then some of the program you want to do will be a better fit. It's tough to recommend places without knowing your passion for what you want an MPP/MPA to do for you.

I like paleography! I don't have a strong view one way or the other, but showing paleography skills would seem to me to fall into the same category as showing language skills...

If you're worried, why not protect your tweets, shut down your FB to all but your friends, and scrub any really terrible photos. The adcom people aren't your friends, so why do they need to read your tweets? If you're really worried that you want them to see that you are normal, you could leave up profile pictures that show you doing normal things (i.e. pretending to hold up the leaning tower of Pisa or something, but remove those of you dressed up in a crazy Halloween costume).

Well technically it could be more like 15 since it can be 1.5 spaced.

I can't say I know the answer to this, but to prompt someone else I think you might need to qualify a bit: how different is different? Are you talking about sociology vs. biology or more like literature and American studies (with a specialization in literature)?

Well you have the languages and the training to do any of those choices. That being said, you've finished 2 terms of classes so you've made a large number of assumptions throughout your post (classes finished and GPA especially). I think that if you relax, have a good time in college, and continue to take classes that you like you'll eventually figure out which one of those fields you enjoy most. You could end up hating one or more of those fields over the next few years, so it will sort itself out.

I have a somewhat similar issue and the answer is that every school will do it differently. A lot of schools will use the end of December to put files together rather than starting to read right away (although that's definitely not true everywhere), so you might have some leeway (cf: LORs often have a few more weeks to arrive than the due date). What you'll probably want to do is email all the schools you are applying to and ask what they prefer. From experience, some will prefer something unofficial be uploaded, some will tell you to rush the final transcript to them, etc. Just depends on their policy.

Your GRE is fine. The only reason it might matter more is if UCLA links it to some kind of funding based on GRE scores due to state requirements.

A few quick thoughts. SpecialBlend- Why do you want to do Ed and tech policy? From reading your profile, it's tough to draw a direct line looking at your experiences. You'll have to explain that. MJorda & Waffle- Both of your stats are fine, but your complete lack of work experience is really going to hurt you both.

TMP nailed basically everything to do. One small suggestion is that if you have a hands free calling device, it can help to type up or take notes are you go. That way if there are specific points that he/she recommends, you can make sure to note them down.

I think that each professor (like every person really) is completely different and handle emails and phone calls differently. Just something to keep in mind that calmed me down a bit when I was in a similar situation a few weeks ago.

Awesome, thanks!