1Q84

Of course it depends on what programs you're applying to. English programs, you must be as proficient with the language as much as a native speaker. For other programs, I would say still for the most part, internationals don't get much special consideration. You're expected to be up to par with English speakers, and you said so yourself: you've been studying English since kindergarten (which pretty much equates to an English speaker, at least to me) and you don't know the words. I think that would be true for a majority of the English-speaking population in North America as well.

I thought I might catch something and I did! Always good to septuple check something before sending it off, right? It does seem kind of quaint. I'm applying to MAs at State schools so that might answer your question. Probably a lot less volume of apps coming in than a top tier PhD program.

Sorta seems like entrapment doesn't it...? Glad I came to read this thread because I had no idea there was this unspoken blood oath to not waive your rights of access. Jeez.

Tonight I was walking up to the post office counter to mail my writing sample when I found a typo on the last page. Cursing and kicking self all the way back to the car...

Totally agreed. I crammed a bit right before the test but did nothing (for lack of time) the couple days beforehand and it totally relaxed me. I made it a tradition a long time ago to go to a movie or go out the day before an exam just to destress and let all the studying seep into my brain. I remember going to see the Joan Rivers documentary before a French exam and that was one hell of a time Also seconded! Making myself exhausted the night before is always a priority... and exercise is a nice healthy way to do that. Working 2 jobs is also another good (if not more stressful) option! To anyone in here, if you didn't see the thread, midnight streetlight was kind enough to share this little gem: https://grediagnostic.ets.org/GREDWeb/gred/signIn.jsp It's the ETS diagnostic that shows you a breakdown of how you did on each question on the GRE. Definitely seems useful for a 2nd go!

Honestly, it seems to me like completing the applications altogether is half the battle. So pat yourself on the back for having done that much already! Adjust your defeatist attitude a little bit, friend. If you're getting so bent out of shape over something like that (which as dendy suggested, could be easily fixable, especially as it's simply a formatting error), then your ego might be in for a real beating once you actually begin the program itself.

I'll vouch for the other option: contact the department. Graduate secretaries are your best friends. If you're nice and polite, they can bend over backwards for you. I would ask him or her to see if it might be possible to resubmit a corrected copy of your SOP, so that they don't have to go correct anything for you, just replace the paper. I don't see the harm in trying, especially because grammatical errors/typos could be jarring for some adcomm readers.

It's just such an outrageous claim to be making. It's hard to believe any professor could get away with saying that kinda garbage with the rest of the class going along with it. If the prof really did say that, then that should have been the preface to the entire thread altogether, not something like "well, she kinda gives me the cold shoulder" or "well, she kinda sorta doesn't support me and say nice things to me."

I find this hard to believe. If she did in fact say that, then you certainly have something to say to the chair about her. You also didn't need to hold this information back in your original post. Anyone with the right mind would be alienated by her if she said that. BS detector is off the charts here.

Lies! I mean... where can I find this?

It sounds to me like the bridge is already burnt (or burning). I wouldn't worry too much about hurting your professional relationship at this point as he was pretty curt and unhelpful to you. As others have said, I would probably still be polite but firm and relay the fact that he is your one and only resort for a strong writeup of your research abilities. If he's still a jerk, then let it go and assume something happened that's out of your control. Hopefully he won't be and will have some compassion and help you out considering you said he was helpful in the past.

Because the first response to the thread was an immediate assumption that this woman is a liar intent on destroying his life and reputation because of her worship of this false goddess called "feminism".

It is a patriarchal society. And there is no "bandwagon". Evidence overwhelmingly proves male dominance in all aspects of society (except homemaking lololololo!!!!) These "feminists" that make you ashamed to be a feminist (I should probably reverse those quotation marks) are the ones that are fighting for a woman's right not to be harassed without being labeled a "slut" or "asking for it". Again, you're hearing this gentleman's side of the story yet you're immediately willing to jump in the fray and blame the woman. I'm not making any judgement calls either way: he could be right or she could be right but, clearly, your bias is showing. ETA: I apologise to the OP. I didn't mean to hijack your thread. My $0.02: people will talk and that's the way of the world, but if you behave as if you believe what happened happened (ie. your version of the story), then it'll become a nonissue. Not much else you can do about it... if you go around protesting and trying to get people not to talk about well... that won't look very good.

Unfortunately not... and if I do know any from the forum, they weren't international students. Professors are way too busy to help with that kinda thing, so I've gathered from calls that I've made. YES! I was hoping I would eventually lure you into this thread haha (I knew you were international, this is ponponpon, we talked before about international Canadian stuff). Thanks for the details! Good to know there's two "acceptances" and I won't have to prove my "worth" until the second one. I'm only applying to one PhD program. The rest of them are MAs... which I'll probably be going with so I think I'll definitely need to affidavit for the I-20.

What is this supposed to mean? You don't even know the full story yet you're willing to blame this on "feminists"? Disgusting. You're what's wrong with rape culture.

It might raise some eyebrows. I would (very kindly) ask the graduate secretary if you might be able to resubmit a typo-less SOP and explain your case of technological auto-correct phantoms messing you up. I'm sure it happens all the time and at least you were keen enough to catch the mistake, which is better than not catching it and letting the adcomms read it!

Have you contacted him again and asked why? That seems pretty illogical to just rebuff one's thesis student with no reason whatsoever. Can you think of a reason why he might have done that?

Good little discussion about it in the Lit forum: I was wondering the same. Canucks!

Hey thanks for the reply! That seems silly to me... why would I have to provide proof of funds before I'm even accepted? Could that possibly mean that they make acceptance offers based on applicant's financial status? Dun dun dun... hmmm... But yes, good idea, I should definitely be aiming those questions at the International Studies department, good call. There's just so many different departments to call ugh...

Polite bump. Any experienced international students want to share their worldly wisdom?

Oh oh, I have another question since I'm apparently very socially inept: Do you give your gifts/thank you letters before they write the letter or after all of your applications are sent and done? I mean if you give them before, it might be (mis)interpreted as greasing the wheels, but if you give it after, then maybe your recommenders may not feel appreciated. Hmm!

Yes, but some schools use it as a (or the) deciding factor when they must choose between two equal candidates for funding, obviously a moot point if you're applying to schools that fully fund all their students, but $1000 in the face of possibly tens of thousands of dollars of funding seems really not so bad... Oh my god. Have I become an ETS apologist?

Agreed with dwdptok. Associating research with personal dysfunction (or anything negative for that matter) is not a good idea, even if you've had a change of heart. There's no point in really bringing that much detail into it, anyway.

Working for 8 months to raise (possibly desperately needed) funds for grad school... then cutting contract short and going straight to California! If all works out... Glad to hear you're doing it... I don't have any tips but good luck!

Try and see if you can work together on the LOR. Drop by during office hours and that way you can check his spelling, see if it makes sense, etc. I remember reading somewhere on these forums that someone else did that at some point and it took hours and lots of agony but finally got it done and it was an amazing letter.