Some advice for January applicants

Two years ago I was where you are now. Here are some of the problems I had getting the application in, and what you should be doing.

I've already gone over what you need to put in the application, but here is the (incomplete) list again:

--Statement of Purpose
--Previous results / academic transcripts from undergrad
--2 writing samples
--CV/resume
--3 letters of recommendation

It's pretty hard to mess up a statement of purpose. They're a bitch to write just like a job cover letter, but don't be too creative and try to reinvent the wheel. Oh, read it aloud to someone you trust. You'd be surprised what can pass you by you until you hear it out loud. This sounds kinda stupid but trust me. There is a reason Oxford essay tutorials are done aloud!

Results/transcripts... make sure your registrars office can process this in the time needed. Make sure too you don't owe your old school money. They often hold your official grades hostage until you pay up. I'd aim to have this done in a week of two. If you don't have them on hand now, do it Monday. Really. You have no idea if the person who processes them will leave early for the holiday break.

Writing samples... I'd try and have an academic essay here for Hall and a policy paper or memo or something from the real world for Hunt to look at. Not anything too political. Aim for the centre ground. Make sure to go over your work again too. Your old teacher / boss may have missed something when they went over it in the years past.

CV/resume... I'd use the same one you'd use for a job application or internship.

Now the important one, in my view: the references. I'd have to say this is the most important part of your application. Try and get the people who have agreed to write these for you to actually start writing them NOW. I trusted my referees to do it without nagging from me. Bad idea. I ended up having everything ready to go weeks before the deadline, except the letters.

Letter one: former internship supervisor. Drove two and half hours each way to his office to get the letter done one afternoon two weeks before the deadline. If they don't have the letter for you by the end of December, expect to either have to track them down or have an alternate.

Letter two: retired professor. Sent the letter to his former secretary at the school ''encrypted" (this never actually made sense to me...) over e-mail instead of a paper letter. Took the school IT department a week to decrypt it for me (during a vacation no less). Gave me some stress but it worked out for once. Remember no matter where you are in the world most educational institutions are closed over the holiday / New Year's period. People have staggered vacations. Yet most people have deadlines on what to do before they head off. Make sure your letter is one of these must do's.

Letter three: finally got this one on the night of the last possible day to send rush overnight. Wow, if they'd been a day later I might have ended up at LSE instead...

Final lesson: you might trust people to write a letter, but not on your timetable. Hell, give them your own artificial deadline and not the official deadline.