When are y'all submitting your PhD apps?

[callmelilyb]

Hey everyone! As far as I can tell nearly all of the PhD programs have application deadlines in the first week or two of December...actually 7 of the 8 places I am applying to are due December 15th.

I'm just curious when those of you who are applying to PhD programs are planning on having all of your application materials submitted? Do a lot of you already have them all sent in?

My goal is to get all of my materials submitted the Monday before I leave for Thanksgiving break, November 23rd. I plan on just forking over the cash to overnight hard copy materials through USPS...one of my applications is due December 8th, do you guys think I am cutting it too close or taking a risk by turning the applications in only 2-3 weeks before the deadline?

Thanks guys!

[Anastasya]

I am actually really nervous about this. I hadn't decided on applying to PhD programs until mid-August (yes, super late notice), and I don't really have an adequate writing sample. I am working on it right now, and will be finishing it the first week of December, after which I will overnight it to my first batch of schools. Berkeley's deadline is the 8th of December, and I can only hope that I finish everything in time. (I do have a backup writing sample in case everything falls apart, but it doesn't really display my strengths as well as this new one will.)

I would love to be able to send in my applications mid-November, but it is just not an option. Hopefully it is not as detrimental to getting accepted as it was when I applied to undergrad.

[hamlet]

december 1st.

[greekdaph]

I applied last year and, at least for schools with December deadlines, submitted most of my online applications a day or two before the deadline and overnighted many of my paper materials so they'd arrive on the day of the deadline.

And it didn't seem to matter in admissions.

Not that I'd advocate that approach, as it added considerable amounts of both expense and stress, but as long as your materials are in by the deadline, it doesn't matter how early they're in. As far as I can tell, most programs don't begin reviewing applications until after winter break, anyway. Get your materials in as early as you can, but don't drive yourself crazy getting them in way before the deadline.

Note that this applies to recommendation letters, too; I was, for instance, admitted to a program to which one of my recommenders submitted a letter a full month after the deadline. People seem especially willing to cut their colleagues some slack in this area.

[callmelilyb]

Oh my, you guys have no idea how much you have brought my stress level down! Thank god for this forum! I wasn't really worried that it would affect my admissions prospects but rather worried that waiting until the last minute would give me no time to remedy any hitch-ups (like items not arriving or scores getting sent to the wrong place).

Anastasya: I am in the same boat! I was originally planning to apply for MA programs which are not due until January/February but my professors encouraged me to send PhD applications out so I started to scramble to get my materials together about a month ago! The writing sample is my biggest concern at this point too...I'm also applying to Berkeley, and it is one of the programs that has an earlier date (along with UT-Austin that is due December 1st). All of the others are due December 15th.

Glad to hear that submitting materials a few days before they're due isn't uncommon or wildly reckless!

[rising_star]

I'm just curious when those of you who are applying to PhD programs are planning on having all of your application materials submitted? Do a lot of you already have them all sent in?

My goal is to get all of my materials submitted the Monday before I leave for Thanksgiving break, November 23rd. I plan on just forking over the cash to overnight hard copy materials through USPS...one of my applications is due December 8th, do you guys think I am cutting it too close or taking a risk by turning the applications in only 2-3 weeks before the deadline?

Sounds to me like you'll have plenty of time. It's not as if they're going to start reviewing materials one week before the deadline anyways. Also, no need to overnight. I would save $10 and send via USPS Priority Mail, which will still give you tracking.

I applied last year and, at least for schools with December deadlines, submitted most of my online applications a day or two before the deadline and overnighted many of my paper materials so they'd arrive on the day of the deadline.

And it didn't seem to matter in admissions.

Not that I'd advocate that approach, as it added considerable amounts of both expense and stress, but as long as your materials are in by the deadline, it doesn't matter how early they're in.

Apparently greekdaph and I are from the same school of thought. I was overnighting applications on Dec. 30 for Jan 1 deadlines and on Jan 14 for Jan 15 deadlines. Given the stress and the $10 additional per school, it's probably better to finish things with 3-4 days to spare so that you can use less expensive mailing options. I seriously never got a single application in more than 5 days before the deadline and, though I'm in a different discipline, I can't say it had any effect whatsoever on my admissions, receiving funding, etc. But, I'm a procrastinator by nature so I actually prefer to leave things until the last minute then cram them in.

[glasses]

Apparently greekdaph and I are from the same school of thought. I was overnighting applications on Dec. 30 for Jan 1 deadlines and on Jan 14 for Jan 15 deadlines. Given the stress and the $10 additional per school, it's probably better to finish things with 3-4 days to spare so that you can use less expensive mailing options. I seriously never got a single application in more than 5 days before the deadline and, though I'm in a different discipline, I can't say it had any effect whatsoever on my admissions, receiving funding, etc. But, I'm a procrastinator by nature so I actually prefer to leave things until the last minute then cram them in.

@ the risk of sounding like an utter bonehead: what on earth are you guys overnighting, anyway?

All of my applications have places to upload things online (writing sample, SOP, LORs, etc.), and as for transcripts and GRE scores, I'm ordering them soon and they're handled by my schools and ETS respectively -- nothing for me to mail.

Am I missing something huge? I very well could be. There are so many parts to each application and so many applications in general that I'm swimming in forms and endless documents right now.

[Anastasya]

A number of the schools I am applying to don't have an option to upload the writing sample online. Because I don't want to send the school more than one package, I am waiting until I finish writing to send my transcripts. I intend to submit the online applications as soon as I finish these damn Statements of Purpose.

[JackieW]

Really, that early?? Only two of the schools I'm applying to have deadlines in December, all of the rest are in January. However, my goal is to get my December schools in ASAP, but I'm still polishing up my writing sample and my SOP. For all of my other schools, I want my materials in by December 1st.

This part is SO stressful and I just wish it were over!

[callmelilyb]

@ the risk of sounding like an utter bonehead: what on earth are you guys overnighting, anyway?

All of my applications have places to upload things online (writing sample, SOP, LORs, etc.), and as for transcripts and GRE scores, I'm ordering them soon and they're handled by my schools and ETS respectively -- nothing for me to mail.

Am I missing something huge? I very well could be. There are so many parts to each application and so many applications in general that I'm swimming in forms and endless documents right now.

Like another poster mentioned, some of the places I am applying want a hard copy of my writing sample, and I am sending in hard copies of my transcripts to each school as well.

Really, that early?? Only two of the schools I'm applying to have deadlines in December, all of the rest are in January. However, my goal is to get my December schools in ASAP, but I'm still polishing up my writing sample and my SOP. For all of my other schools, I want my materials in by December 1st.

This part is SO stressful and I just wish it were over!

Jackie: It looks the only place that we are both applying to is Rutgers (December 15th, right?)...dunno why but the rest of my programs are all due around the first two weeks of December (UT Austin, UMichigan-Ann Arbor, four UC campuses, and CUNY).

I can't wait to get everything submitted either, just want it all sent away into the black hole and out of my control! Though, I'm not especially looking forward to the $2000 worth of rejection letters I am expecting in Feb/March!

[rising_star]

@ the risk of sounding like an utter bonehead: what on earth are you guys overnighting, anyway?

All of my applications have places to upload things online (writing sample, SOP, LORs, etc.), and as for transcripts and GRE scores, I'm ordering them soon and they're handled by my schools and ETS respectively -- nothing for me to mail.

Am I missing something huge? I very well could be. There are so many parts to each application and so many applications in general that I'm swimming in forms and endless documents right now.

I last applied 2 years ago and, when I applied, things like CV, writing sample, SOP, and LORs all were handled on paper so I had to mail them in. (Well, my LOR writers mailed those in themselves.)

[callmelilyb]

Like another poster mentioned, some of the places I am applying want a hard copy of my writing sample, and I am sending in hard copies of my transcripts to each school as well.

Jackie: It looks the only place that we are both applying to is Rutgers (December 15th, right?)...dunno why but the rest of my programs are all due around the first two weeks of December (UT Austin, UMichigan-Ann Arbor, four UC campuses, and CUNY).

I can't wait to get everything submitted either, just want it all sent away into the black hole and out of my control! Though, I'm not especially looking forward to the $2000 worth of rejection letters I am expecting in Feb/March!

Actually, I just realized that Michigan's is actually due January 1. Since nobody is going to look over the applications before the Christmas Holidays are over I don't see why they don't all just make them due then. What's the point of turing my application in so that it can sit around in a locked office for a few weeks?

[JackieW]

Annnd I just realized Michigan's is due December 15th. (I'm applying to the Joint PhD in Women's Studies, so the materials are a little different, and it doesn't require the Lit GRE, for which my scores were not so hot!) Such a good school. *sigh*

[callmelilyb]

Annnd I just realized Michigan's is due December 15th. (I'm applying to the Joint PhD in Women's Studies, so the materials are a little different, and it doesn't require the Lit GRE, for which my scores were not so hot!) Such a good school. *sigh*

Yes, U Michigan is an awesome program. I've thought about the joint program as well, and depending on how the subject test score goes I may ultimately decide to apply to that instead.

Good luck!

[callmelilyb]

Did anyone else see the thread over in the general "applications" section about submitting apps? There are crazy people on there who already submitted apps that aren't due for weeks and months!

Holy cow. I want to keep working on my writing sample and SOP until an hour before they're due for crying out loud!