Getting In To Grad School

     An Applicant's Guide to Graduate School Admissions

Annoyed references

Submitted by Phillipa Kung on Mon, 2005-03-07 03:07.

Just as you only applied to 3 schools your first time around, I applied to six or seven schools across the board (some in the US and some in Europe). This has put a burden on my referees where one of them (my former academic advisor) has actually complained, denouncing the fact I have applied to entirely too many schools, far many more than she has ever seen any of her previous students do. This said, I find it unlikely that she will want to rewrite a number of applications in the order of 3-6 in a second round of applications.

In turn I ask, was it wrong for me to apply to so many schools the first time around? If none go through this time, how many schools should I reapply to next year? How do I convince my references to write again for me?

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Accommodating referee's needs

The first point is crucial: a reference who is annoyed with you is not a reference. Her suggestion that you apply to just a few schools is self-serving and just plain wrong. This person is not your friend or your supporter. Don't concern yourself too heavily with trying to turn her around; she is never going to be a great reference for you, and I would frankly suggest courting other interested faculty.

However, you do want to make things easy for all your references. That's why you should create an application dossier in your career center. They should be able to place generic letters of recommendation from all of your referees there, making easy work for your contacts whether you do 1 or 100 applications. You'll probably just have to pay the career center a few bucks each time you send one out.

Of course, if you're applying to Brand Name University and one of your referees went there or knows someone there, you may want to let them know... and ask if they might either add a specific paragraph for them or call someone up.

Submitted by Dave Burrell on Wed, 2005-03-09 06:07.
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