Professors and Deadlines

[Hohenheim]

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Quick questions:

Has anyone found within his/her experience that Adcoms place more weight on Letters from Deans, Chairpersons, etc than just regular Professors? Then what is the optimal time to get your file completed at schools? 1 month early? I know ASAP sounds like a good answer here, but I was wondering if anyone had something more concrete by way of a window of time.

 

[Maebea]

Quick questions:

Has anyone found within his/her experience that Adcoms place more weight on Letters from Deans, Chairpersons, etc than just regular Professors? Then what is the optimal time to get your file completed at schools? 1 month early? I know ASAP sounds like a good answer here, but I was wondering if anyone had something more concrete by way of a window of time.

Get letters from people who know you well. A letter from Lawrence Summers (OK, a bad example) will do you no good if he cannot say that he really knows you. If your interactions with a dean or chair have not been significant, then a letter from them will be meaningless. The letter writer needs to not only say that you are smart, creative, hard-working, affable, etc., she also needs to site instances where you demonstrated these qualities.

As far as completing your application, early is good, early and correct is best. My experience has been that 2/3 of the applications to our program are received at least 10 weeks before the application deadline. Applications that come at or near the deadline may raise concerns about the applicant's true enthusiasm for the program and/or their time management skills. To be fair though, there are several individuals in our program who submitted applications near the deadline, so this suspicion does not always cripple an application.