Progress!

Ah, progress. Feels good. I think my Harvard application is as good as it is going to get. I was hoping to submit today but am a little delayed. However, I am confident I can submit before business hours tomorrow.
I just looked over my next couple of applications, and the one I have to do by hand looks simple enough that I can complete and mail in everything tomorrow except the personal statement portion. This will be the longest statement (MINIMUM 6 pages, double-spaced!!), and I never thought I'd say it, but I have no idea what I am going to do with all that space. Still, I think I can use my Harvard and Yale essays as a starting point, so that is good news.

The hardest application to finish (ANTS) is not at all the one I expected to be difficult. What makes it difficult is that I have to write a totally separate couple of papers because they ask very different questions for the statement of purpose and essay. I took my Yale statement of purpose and alter a portion of it to use as part of my essay, but I realized after doing that I had misunderstood the original question and will need to completely re-do it. Still, this school claims to process most applications in 3-4 weeks, so if I get it in by mid-February, I am actually going to be okay. My goal is to have it done by Monday or Tuesday (early Feb), as I want to be top of their list for financial aid, which is also on a rolling basis. But I am not going to beat myself up over it.
All this being said, however, I am really freaked out about this recommender who is MIA. I sent her an email a day or two ago that clearly but politely expressed that I was anxious and wanted to make sure she will be able to make the Harvard deadline. I haven't heard a thing, and I am starting to really, really, really panic. The good news is that my fourth letter writer for the school that required four letters I am sure would be willing to send it also to the other schools as a third letter. The other good news is that I know exactly what she wrote (she's the only one who shared her letter with me) and feel it is a good and very positive letter. The bad news is that it is not an academic reference, and the whole point is that I needed at least one academic reference. I was already short the requirement of two. The other bad news is that I will need a new fourth letter for the other school, which will have only three unless the prof pulls through...but the good news about that is that I have someone in mind. Please join me in praying for a strong, positive letter still to come through from the prof.