rebecw

Hello there! These two terms should mean the EXACT same thing.  Ideally, you will have the person who works the closest with you, your current and direct supervisor, to write your rec.  if he cant, and often that is impossible, then it is just fine.  But ideally, you will find your current supervisor, who would also be your direct superviso.  These are synonyms.

rebecw

Hey there—I agree with your perspective here.  You should not use someone who only supervised you for two months, or someone who doesn’t know you well.  If this means you are using someone else, even if from a different firm—that is just fine.  Youll just need to explain this in your optional essay.  Your logic is impeccable—you will just need to explain what youre doing and why, in your optional essay.  And remember, that essay shouldn’t be longer than 300 words or so—if this is the only issue you are addressing, you should be able to do it in half that many.  Hope this helps, and good luck!

rebecw

Hey there—this is a GREAT question, and one that will need juuust a bit of “Tender Loving Care” in your essays.  You should address this, but NOT in your optional essay.  Why?  Well it isn’t suuuuch a big deal really.  if you address it in your optional essay, you would be drawing attention to something that isn’t such a problem.  HOWEVER, here is where the art form of the optional essay kicks in—if you wanna NAIL this thing, you should address this issue, even just briefly, in an essay.  Just allude to the fact that since you were doing this other stuff, supporting your family, running extra curriculars etc., you had a couple off years at school.  That’s all—but do NOT write a whoooole optional essay about it—it will only detract from your overall application.  Hope this helps.  And good luck crafting your apps my friend!

rebecw

Hey there—yes, you are correct.  Simply explain why you did not choose your direct supervisor.  One or two sentences should cover it, max.  To your second question, YES.  Explain what kept you so busy in your essays—and in just one sentence, allude to the fact that for a while, it affected your grades.  No need to bring THAT up in your optional essay.  Hard to say without reading it, but off hand it sounds like we wanna downplay the academics—maybe they wont even notice.  Hope this helps, and good luck!