Transcript Drama Blues

[clip.clop]

I realize it will always vary from school to school, but does anyone have any experience(s) they could share regarding what happens when you've submitted EVERY other part of your application, but transcripts/test scores either aren't sent or get lost?

Here's the quick story: half of my transcripts have my former legal name on them, as do my GRE scores. It's not a last name change, either, so it's not a common thing like that. Anyway, for the places that haven't already changed my records, there's nothing I can do--I've tried. It's dumb and annoying, but most of time time it's not a big deal.

But, as always happens with PhD applications, some transcripts or GRE scores will get lost or just not sent at all, for reasons that end up being something like:

• "We didn't put them in your application file because we didn't think it was the same person as you!"
• "We didn't send them to the places to which you're applying because the information didn't match what we've got in our records when you attended here years and years ago!"

Anyway...assuming I call up all these places and jump through all the crazy hoops, what are the chances of an application being disregarded because of these annoying types of errors? The deadlines have passed, I sent out all the stuff well before the deadlines, but yet again it seems things have gone haywire.

Thank you for any insight!

(And, yes, I know that most applications ask if you've ever gone by another name. I always answer that, and this still happens. And, lots of them only ask for info about last names. So...yeah.)

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[xXIDaShizIXx]

I realize it will always vary from school to school, but does anyone have any experience(s) they could share regarding what happens when you've submitted EVERY other part of your application, but transcripts/test scores either aren't sent or get lost?

Here's the quick story: half of my transcripts have my former legal name on them, as do my GRE scores. It's not a last name change, either, so it's not a common thing like that. Anyway, for the places that haven't already changed my records, there's nothing I can do--I've tried. It's dumb and annoying, but most of time time it's not a big deal.

But, as always happens with PhD applications, some transcripts or GRE scores will get lost or just not sent at all, for reasons that end up being something like:

• "We didn't put them in your application file because we didn't think it was the same person as you!"
• "We didn't send them to the places to which you're applying because the information didn't match what we've got in our records when you attended here years and years ago!"

Anyway...assuming I call up all these places and jump through all the crazy hoops, what are the chances of an application being disregarded because of these annoying types of errors? The deadlines have passed, I sent out all the stuff well before the deadlines, but yet again it seems things have gone haywire.

Thank you for any insight!

(And, yes, I know that most applications ask if you've ever gone by another name. I always answer that, and this still happens. And, lots of them only ask for info about last names. So...yeah.)

Call up the department secretary or whoever handles the initial paperwork every winter and explain the situation. If you are on their good side, they will jump through the hoops with you and help you get everything worked out.

 

[FLpsychstudent]

I agree to call the contact person the department provides to sort it out. But it's also probably okay. I had a couple of programs not receive my official transcript on time, and they contacted me to let me know before passing my application on to the faculty. I think most places would give you a heads-up and give you the chance to rectify the situation.

 

[clip.clop]

I assumed they'd generally give me a chance first, so it's nice to hear I'm not the only one who'd think that.

Generally calling contact persons works stuff out, but there's always a handful that talk to me like I'm nuts/dumb just because I won't come right out and say why, exactly, my name was changed, because they always assume it's marriage and therefore common.

Related, does anyone know why certain places won't let me change my name on my records? ETS, for instance, won't let me change my name on my GRE scores even though the name on them has been outdated for nearly 5 years (i.e., if I weren't to get in this year, I'd have to re-take the GRE because the scores would be too old). I try to explain to them that their documents now quite literally reference a person that doesn't exist by that name, but they're just stubborn as mules. I mean--literally, EVERY legal document that has EVER been issued to me now reflects my current name, so it's not like they've any roots in IDs or birth certificates or anything. It'd just be nice to know if there's any logic behind this red tape crappery.