PhDreams

Congrats on the phone call. This is promising! I'm sure you did well too. !! I'm still freaking out over here. I got an email from NYU today and I nearly had a heart attack....my app has been processed. D: Gahhh...

This actually happened to me... which is how I found out my prof wasn't submitting letters. A very nice department coordinator actually called me (TWICE!) to let me know my letters were not in. This person also offered me their direct email and suggested that I have my recommenders submit them directly. Actually after having such a positive interaction with the dept, it really reinforced the fact that I really want to go to that school. However, I managed to get a backup rec, but the prof who hasn't submitted is the biggest name and would have been the "strongest" letter I would have had. Thier name is instantly recognizable in my field. But I do have three solid letters. It's just too bad that I don't think I'll get that BIG one. I've decided to stop asking. There really isn't anything I have not done at this point. So, in all. I think that the advice in this thread is pretty spot on. Depts are pretty flexible about when and how they receive the letters and they are also very understanding if you have to add a new name after the deadline.

So happy that you got it resolved! Yeah, it's quite stressful to not have your letters come in. Mine still haven't and part of me thinks that they won't, even after countless reminders.

It was very easy in my case. A few of my POI's are very accessible and very involved in the community and activist network. That's why it was very easy for me to connect to them on FB. We all know the same people. But my field is quite small so the profs that are on FB always seem really cool about friending their students, etc. Some profs are even on Twitter. Ive made connections that way too. It's always cool to see that some awesome prof is following you on Twitter lol I don't think that this same philosopy holds true with all fields. Mine just happen to be very available on social media. I can imagine that some professors dont use it beyond school webpages. It's a toss up. PS- I decided to friend when I realized we has so many mutual friends in common. I figured if they saw that then they wouldn't think it's weird. And no one has.

Congrats, radiomars!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!! Way to go. I'm so excited that people are starting to hear back. What a great way to start the New Year. Hope that puts a little pep in your step.

No other letters from my professor. So far I just have one. Guess that's it. Oh well... My last deadline is in a few days. All other deadlines have passed. Luckily my back up rec has pulled through and has uploaded a rec at every school so I now have the minimum needed. yay!

Congrats!! I still have two left. One more week and I can completely devote myself to waiting. Gahhh.... lol

Ehhh... I'm pretty transparent on social media, I'm even FB friends with a few POI's. But it's really nice to have a space to have a random freakout with random people and then go about my daily business.

LOL When friends and family make Harvard a part of an adjective... "Harvard smart." ahahahaha As in "I didn't know you were 'Harvard smart.'" Friends and family are the BEST.

I would agree with Bearcat1. Some depts are pretty strict about that "no contact" rule. The "deadlines" that they refer to are the application deadlines. Also, I would disagree with the fact that most depts are putting off decisions for months. In fact, most schools with early deadlines will start to notify next month. It's awkard if prospective students start lingering around campus during the time that invitations go out and they are not on the short list. Additionally, there really may not be very many students on campus. My campus is a desert. It will be until the end of next month when classes reconvene. However, some schools that have a large local student population may have more students staying on campus during the holidays. I can see this being especially true for state schools. You're going to have to call anyway to talk to a department coordinator to arrange these visits, so I'm sure you will get a lot of these questions cleared up. Best of luck!

Provided that you get into programs this year, then no it will not matter. However, if you don't get in and have to reapply or you choose to apply to another program in the future, it does matter. If you don't do well or don't take equally rigorous courses in Spring, it may look like you blew off your last semester which is not good.

And me... Sigh. I just want it to be Feb already.

My Dec 1 and 15 apps are still in a state of silence. No word from them yet... Isn't that what professors do on holiday break...review apps??????? Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy nottttttttttt?!

LOL Summed it up quite nicely.

Congrats, rael! I'm so jealous of the sciences right now since they are already starting to get interviews. My programs dont start sending out interview invites until about the end of Jan, but I keeping checking my status anyway on my apps to see if my status has suddenly changed to "Under Review" or "Accepted." lol lol Ok, that last one is just funny.... Can't believe I'm going through this process again.

lol @ion_exchanger I'm actually surprised at how quiet they are this year. Does that mean that less people are applying or that people are more calm??? I'm thinking that everyone will really start freaking out in about 3 weeks. That's my bet.

Friend: When do you find out if you get in? Me: In about two months... Friend: Wow. That's really soon. Me: (smh) No...no, it's not. (On the inside: Gahhhhh! Why doesn't anyone understand?!?!)

I've recently become obsessed with these forums. If I'm not actually filling out my apps then I want to read about other people working on their apps...and when I'm not doing that, I'm probably dreaming about them. Ughhhh....

Ultimately, you are going to do what you want. However, everyone on here has excellent advice, but it really is all about how you frame your application. If you can somehow show that you are supremely dedicated to the field, that can sometimes overcome low GPA's or GRE scores. But the point is that you have to have something to highlight. My undergrad GPA was a smidge lower than 3.0 which is the unoffical cutoff (sometimes official "published"cutoff) to most programs, but I had about a decade's worth of experience in a combination of research and practice. I know that the experience is what helped me score entrance to several top programs including quite a few on your list. Grad school should really be about going to the best place where you can get the best experience to make you a better professional. If you're just not ready this year, it's ok! You can take some time off and gain that experience that shows the "upward trend" and "dedication to the field" that people talk about. Best of luck!

I've seen these services offered for undergrads (personal statements), but I couldn't imagine a grad student using one. As everyone has pointed out, graduate work is about very specific research and it would be very difficult for someone who has no interest in the topic to convey the same excitement and passion for the topic than the researcher. However, while I understand that not everyone is extremely confident about their writing skills, feedback on your SOP and having someone write it for you are two completely different things. I'm sure all of use have received feeback from colleagues or professors, but I can't imagine that anyone would want to hire someone to write about their proposed research of which they know nothing about. Just try to imagine a person who has no background in science trying to write about the intricacies of neuroscience... just. not. good.

I had the same exact issue as RiseofthePhoenix... to the T. I also called the dept and added a 4th recommender to my list. If my professor ever decides to upload the letters, I'll just have a 4th. If not, I'll have the minimum required (3). Every school has been really flexible and accomodating in case that puts your mind at ease. It's too bad because I also really through that this letter would be the strongest. So far the professor has only uploaded 1/7 letters. D: Oh well... after several in-person and email reminders, I have given up. I know this will all work out...eventually.

I've had two responses so far... One was "Your research sounds interesting and compelling." And then was like I only take one student a year so you might also want to identify other people but "I encourage you to apply." Another was like, "Your research sounds facinating." And then was like my background would give you a good theoretical background to continue your own work and "I think it's a great idea if you apply to our program." Both so vague. I feel like I'm in the same boat as the OP. Do professors tell EVERYONE that their research is interesting????

I'm in the same boat right now. I have an undergrad arts degree that never required substantial writing and now I'm applying to social science PhD programs. So, I'm working on creating a writing sample. Ugh... It really was my only option. But without feedback and the limitations of such a short time period, I'm freaking out.

I sent an excerpt of my work and left out the works cited page but now I'm regretting it.... SIgh...

I think that you can make these work! I was in a similar situation about academic references last year. So what I did was try to be as thorough as possible when requesting a letter. I wrote a very brief paragraph about my research and my goals. I included a couple of bullet points in the email about my biggest accomplishments since they did not know me that well. And I also emphasized the reasons I was pursuing that specific degree at those schools. Lastly, I included my CV and a draft of my statement. Although these tips may seem like common sense, they are the best things to do in this situation and are often overlooked. The easier that you make this process for your recommenders, the better your letter is likely to be. Help steer them in the right direction. If you make it easy for them to include certain information, it is possible that they can work to create a letter that really highlights your strengths as an applicant.