Ideal time/ways to apply

[aojfifjoaisjaiosdj]

Hi guys, I was wondering about your experiences in the grad admission process. I don't really know much about applying so feel free to correct me. When is the ideal time to do the following:

 

1. Apply. Just fill in and send the standard application I guess.

2. Write/send the writing sample. Is this a part of the main application? I have a really interesting topic fully planned out for my honors thesis about fictional characters this semester, but should I write in the next couple weeks or can I wait a while? My honors thesis is supposed to be a semester long 6 credit thing next semester that's going to be graded and such by mid December, though I should have the final draft significantly earlier if the professors give comments.

3. Write/send the statement of purpose. Is this a part of the main application?

4. Ask for LORs.

5. Have professors send the LORs by.

6. Send the official transcripts. I want to wait until mid December for all my grades to be out.

7. Send the GRE score report thingy? What is it called?

Edited August 16, 2014 by Chiki

[fuzzylogician]

Answers inline below.

Hi guys, I was wondering about your experiences in the grad admission process. I don't really know much about applying so feel free to correct me. When is the ideal time to do the following:

1. Apply. Just fill in and send the standard application I guess.
This is really the easiest part, though I suggest at least logging in and taking a look at each application to make sure they don't ask for anything that will surprise you at the last minute. You can submit the application whenever you ready, possibly (and preferably) before the actual deadline, but don't expect it to be read early just because you submitted it early.

2. Write/send the writing sample. Is this a part of the main application? I have a really interesting topic fully planned out for my honors thesis about fictional characters this semester, but should I write in the next couple weeks or can I wait a while? My honors thesis is supposed to be a semester long 6 credit thing next semester that's going to be graded and such by mid December, though I should have the final draft significantly earlier if the professors give comments.
The writing sample and SOP are the two main parts of the application that you can control and will affect your outcomes (along with your letters of recommendation). Start early, revise often, and get comments from at least one professor. You need to submit the writing sample with your application.

3. Write/send the statement of purpose. Is this a part of the main application?
As I said above: This is a very important part of the application. I'd recommend writing a first draft now. An important part of the process is revising this document, and it helps to be able to put it away for a few weeks and come back again fresh later on. As above, start early, revise often, and get comments from at least one professor. You need to submit the SOP with your application.

4. Ask for LORs.
You can do this around September-October. Give your recommenders lots of time to write (though they may end up submitting their letters at or even after the deadline). There are threads around about how to approach potential recommenders and what information to provide them.

5. Have professors send the LORs by.
Not much you need to do. As part of the application, you have the option of adding your recommender info and sending them a prompt. You can usually do this before you submit the application on your end, so look out for this at some point in September/October. I suggest letting your recommenders know before you send them the link (don't surprise them!), sending the prompts around the same time, as much as possible, and then emailing them to say 'hey, you should have received prompts from X, Y and Z Universities. Please let me know if you haven't been contacted so that I can resend the prompt.'

6. Send the official transcripts. I want to wait until mid December for all my grades to be out.
Any time works, as long as the transcripts get to the school before the deadline. You can get started with this before you submit your application. The graduate admissions office will start a file for you when the first document arrives. Note: sometimes it's possible to scan the transcripts and only submit official copies if you're admitted, which can save money. Also, I suggest sending in all the physical materials at the same time, to minimize the possibility that things will get lost or will get filed away separately.

7. Send the GRE score report thingy? What is it called?
It's a score report. You can send it any time.

[aojfifjoaisjaiosdj]

Would it be okay if I waited until the very start of November to ask for letters? I want to wait and get to know one of my professors this semester that I haven't taken a class with before.

 

Also, how does the writing sample have to be formatted? Any suggested citation style or should I just submit whatever I submitted as my honors thesis?

 

And thanks. Sorry for all the questions. :<

Edited August 16, 2014 by Chiki

[JD - (0)]

Would it be okay if I waited until the very start of November to ask for letters? I want to wait and get to know one of my professors this semester that I haven't taken a class with before.

 

Also, how does the writing sample have to be formatted? Any suggested citation style or should I just submit whatever I submitted as my honors thesis?

 

And thanks. Sorry for all the questions. :<

 

Though for this particular professor, you may want to wait before asking him for a rec letter, for the others that you already know, you may want to ask them early, because they have other things to do as well, and other students who will wait till the last minute. The quality of of rec letter may be affected by your timing, and the time you give the prof to write the letter for you. 

 

Normally, this question should be able to be answered in the sample request from the department you are applying to, but generally, they don't want a theses over 25 pages, (single space) because they have other students papers to read as well, unless your paper is extremely compelling, then go ahead. Otherwise, I don't think they are very particular in your choice of format, but since you will have to do it anyways, chose the format that is used in your field. 

[aojfifjoaisjaiosdj]

Hmm, but if the deadline is January 1 or December 31, is November 1 really that late? 2 months at most (and the letters can be sent later than the deadline) seems like a decent amount of time. Sorry, I'm not too good at this. :<

 

Normally, this question should be able to be answered in the sample request from the department you are applying to, but generally, they don't want a theses over 25 pages,

 

I doubt it'll get that far single spaced. Thanks for the tip though. It'll probably only get to 30-40 pages double spaced.

Edited August 17, 2014 by Chiki

[fuzzylogician]

Would it be okay if I waited until the very start of November to ask for letters? I want to wait and get to know one of my professors this semester that I haven't taken a class with before.

 

Also, how does the writing sample have to be formatted? Any suggested citation style or should I just submit whatever I submitted as my honors thesis?

 

It'd be better to ask for letters earlier for Dec 1 deadlines. 3-4 weeks is getting to be short notice. For Dec 15 or Jan 1 deadlines, a 6-8 week notice is sufficient. You could always ask if the prof prefers to get the application materials from you closer to the deadline, when they are more familiar with your work. You never know when the prof will actually write the letter--it'll likely be close to the deadline--but you should give them the chance to prepare and adjust their schedule as needed.

 

A common bibliography style in linguistics is the Linguistic Inquiry format. Students often use it for their own papers and squibs, and you see it in most major journals. (There is a LaTeX .bst file for this style, in case you use latex. Google 'linquiry2.') It looks something like this: 

Chomsky, Noam. 2000. Minimalist inquiries: The framework. In Step by step: Essays on minimalist syntax in honor of Howard Lasnik, ed. by Roger Martin, David Michaels and Juan Uriagereka, 89-155. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

[aojfifjoaisjaiosdj]

Ok, I'll keep the 6-8 week notice in mind. I've never seen a Dec 1 deadline, but I should keep my eyes open for that. Thanks.

 

I'm doing an honors thesis in philosophy (it's very related to linguistics and the internalism vs externalism debate) so I think it'll be in Chicago citation style. Would that be appropriate?

Edited August 19, 2014 by Chiki

[JD - (0)]

That should be fine. If you are using Microsoft words to write your paper (I don't want to assume) you can add all the documents that you are using to the bibliography for the paper, which would make populating, and changing the style as easy as a click. Additionally, it also tracks the bibliography for you, so that at the end you don't to check them 5 times to see if you are missing, or have more documents in your bibliography than used in your paper. Plus if any of the given styles don't work for you, you can either download other styles, modify, or create a style that would work for you. (if you do coding).

[aojfifjoaisjaiosdj]

Yes, I am using Word. I'm not very computer savvy lol. I doubt I can do all that so I'd have to change it manually. :<

[JD - (0)]

Follow the instructions on this pages, and they may save you a lot of time later on!

 

http://office.microsoft.com/en-001/word-help/create-a-bibliography-HA010067492.aspx

 

http://blog.gcflearnfree.org/2013/11/14/how-to-create-a-bibliography-or-works-cited-page-in-microsoft-word/

 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CDsQtwIwAw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQErOX_SWhks&ei=4M7zU-mTIIbKsQTTu4G4Dw&usg=AFQjCNFu18Sjuk1ogOfg9mG6JKlpYhrVxg&sig2=dFIvGvWO3g00U9D-oMtttQ&bvm=bv.73231344,d.cWc&cad=rjt

[xolo]

I'm really concerned about getting my LORs in time, especially for those 1 Dec deadlines (I've got a couple of those).  I know my mentor will step up for me, but what about the professors I don't even know until this fall?  yikes. 

 

And I can't believe the SOP writers that write out their SOPs in a week, I spent months writing mine and it was stressful,  I feel very satisfied with the end result though. 

Edited August 20, 2014 by eyepod

[aojfifjoaisjaiosdj]

I'm really concerned about getting my LORs in time, especially for those 1 Dec deadlines (I've got a couple of those).  I know my mentor will step up for me, but what about the professors I don't even know until this fall?  yikes. 

 

And I can't believe the SOP writers that write out their SOPs in a week, I spent months writing mine and it was stressful,  I feel very satisfied with the end result though. 

 

I'm surprised it even takes that long. With an outline fully planned out in my head it would take me a few hours at most.

[xolo]

Well that's wonderful if you know what you want to say and good for you.  For me it wasn't so easy to decide what I wanted to say.  I had some unusual, non-traditional experiences from which I told a unique story, but that was a lot of work!  And it is hard for me to tell a good tale.  I think it ended up orders of magnitude better than even 2-3 revisions back.  Now I'm afraid to touch it.

Edited August 20, 2014 by eyepod

[aojfifjoaisjaiosdj]

To be fair, I don't know what I want to write yet, either, and I think that'll take a month or two.

 

I fail so much at Word that I can't even figure out how to make page numbers start from page 3 in my honors thesis. :<

[fuzzylogician]

I'm surprised it even takes that long. With an outline fully planned out in my head it would take me a few hours at most.

 

It's probably good to separate the actual physical writing aspect from the writing aspect that also includes conceptualizing the essay, researching it, adapting it for each school, editing it, and revising it according to comments from professors. The former can (perhaps) be done in just a few hours, but if you do the latter in just a few hours then you may be in very bad shape. These documents need to develop and mature over time, and it takes much longer to arrive at a final version than just a few hours. I think it's important to have a first draft early that you can walk away from for a few weeks and come back to with fresh eyes later. It's very important to get feedback from multiple people, and to revise accordingly. People also often advise customizing the SOP for each application, which also takes time and work. Months (and stress) doesn't seem like an inaccurate estimate to me.

[aojfifjoaisjaiosdj]

It's probably good to separate the actual physical writing aspect from the writing aspect that also includes conceptualizing the essay, researching it, adapting it for each school, editing it, and revising it according to comments from professors. The former can (perhaps) be done in just a few hours, but if you do the latter in just a few hours then you may be in very bad shape. These documents need to develop and mature over time, and it takes much longer to arrive at a final version than just a few hours. I think it's important to have a first draft early that you can walk away from for a few weeks and come back to with fresh eyes later. It's very important to get feedback from multiple people, and to revise accordingly. People also often advise customizing the SOP for each application, which also takes time and work. Months (and stress) doesn't seem like an inaccurate estimate to me.

 

Yes, I agree, like I said in the above post.

 

I wonder who I should ask to read over my SOP. I guess I'll go with Cable, since he went to grad school relatively recently.