Applications

So writing a note on my blog is not the most efficient use of my time, especially not to tell you that I'm slightly freaking out with the grad school applications. I started the online process for each school last night, staying up way too late, because it had to get done. Or started at least.

Tip: for anyone planning to apply to grad schools, and using the online processes, most of my schools allow you to work a great deal and fill in a great deal of the preliminary info at the start, you know, address, major, etc, and you can do the hard stuff later on. Just get the process started. And most of them get your application fee at the tail end, when you submit. Only one of them requires the application fee at the end of the biographical section, before the final submission.

The thing holding me back at this moment is the letters of recommendation. It's like my packing... (hmm probably shouldn't draw that analogy because I so hate packing...) anyway it's like how I need to gather every single item together and look at everything, at the whole, before I can begin to put it inside my suitcase. I need to make my requests for letters of recommendation, but I feel I need to get all, every single last one, of my ducks in order before I do so. Because I want the writers to write the best letter possible. So to me, this means I should provide them with

1) My Statement of Purpose (aka admissions essay). As I said, it's currently around 10 pages. Which is ridiculous. I can't ask someone I'm asking a favor of, to wade thru 10 pages of that stuff. I have to have at least a second draft that's much shorter, and concise.

I may, however, subject you lot to all ten pages. :) In sections of course.

Actually this has always been a problem of mine, too much information. Why ~wouldn't~ they want to know ~everything~? Why can't I bombard them with all the information I have? Why can't I ramble and ramble until my brain is empty ten pages later? Why can't my email and blog entries be an hour long? (to read?) (Yeah, you readers know who you are! :)) Brevity is NOT one of my strengths. And it was one of the reasons I had a challenging time back when I did sales, because I always worked with the assumption that the prospective client would want and need allll of the information I had in my head before they could make an informed decision. When in actuality, most of the time they honestly only needed as much information to feel comfortable closing the deal.

2) My curriculum vitae (CV) / resume. Mostly done, but may need explanations.

3) a sample letter of rec for me, or at the very least, a list of highlights with suggestions of things they can use in their letter

4) all of the details with the schools' websites and everythings.

Now, I'm running into some issues. I'm planning to ask my professors in Taiwan to write letters, in Chinese, and perhaps translated officially. I just finished a Chinese language essay on a trip around the island of Taiwan, but it needs just a bit of polishing before I send it as a ~finished~ product to Chinese teachers. In addition, I've looked at the online processes and realized there is a lot of English language hoops to get through... they both have adequate English, but I worry that it's a bit overwhelming! And time is limited for my native English speaking sororal contact. This combination of time squeeze is giving my stomach knots. And I don't want to wait too long either, because that's not fair either. But I feel I really want to get this information in.

So these things are at the super hot priority list. Oh, right, that and not fail my classes! :P Sigh. And life events always remind me that however huge I make these events in my head, things happen in real life that are more important, so on a cosmic scale, one series of applications won't make or break me.

grrrr...... But it would still be nice if someone can please bestow upon me the power to freeze time?

~Debbie