Hi, not sure how I missed this, but it turns out that CUNY's Ph.D. program requires that two letters of recommendation be academic/from professors. I've been out of college for 11 years, and have one former professor and two professional/employer letters. If it's going, my app has to go out today, and of course, there's no one at CUNY to reach today.
Should I assume that they'll toss out my application, and therefore simply not apply (and spend the $125 to do so), or do people think it's worth taking a chance and calling them next week to make sure it's ok (retroactively)?
Thanks for any advice.
When I applied to CUNY the first time, I too had been out of school for more than a decade. I submitted 3 LORs -- one from a former UG psych professor and the others from university-based professionals. My application goose-egged.
When I reapplied 2 years later, I had a master's degree and very strong faculty LORs. My personal statement was also much tighter and very focused on my professional ambitions. However, as I mentioned to you previously, I didn't quite grasp just how very psychoanalytic the CUNY program is. The upshot of this is that though at least 2 of your 3 LORs may be less than ideal -- and I would be inclined to lose the one from your band leader -- your personal statement may make or break you being invited to interview. I can't overstate how helpful it would be if you have something informed to say about the personal relevance of psychodynamic theories to the way you envision your future practice. It's essential that you know your audience. For example, City recently hosted a
conference featuring an elite panel of thinkers in the area of object relations. Are you familiar with any of the panelists? If you are, you might consider mentioning your interest in their work.
Have you, by any chance, read Neal Altman's
"The Analyst in the Inner City: Race, Class, and Culture Through a Psychoanalytic Lens"? Be aware that the CUNY program has its own clinic that serves a minority, inner-city population. This is integral to their theoretical charter.
While I didn't play my cards smart enough to get into City (I didn't have nearly this much info to go on), if you can get accepted there you will have made out very well indeed! The faculty are top-flight intellectuals and the curriculum has been recently upgraded. And, of course, the tuition can't be beat -- which is why they get an avalanche of applications.
At this late hour there is little that you can do except to polish, polish, polish your personal statement. Given the potential deficiencies in your LORs, this is where you must make up the difference. (I began mine quoting an old New York Magazine reader's competition for "meaningless aphorisms": "Nothing's so bad that you can't run away from it" -- and then tried to spin some gold around it. It was an unconventional approach. I think it grabbed the reader's attention -- I believe it helped hook the fish -- I interviewed -- even if I was ultimately unsuccessful in reeling it in. My bad.)
Good luck.
