I hope everyone is enjoying their December. In our part of the world, we’re marking the month by celebrating several holidays—Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and New Year’s, to name a few. With that said, our office will be closed at various times in the coming days:

December 23, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. until December 28, 2015 at 9:00 a.m.
December 30, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. until January 4, 2016 at 9:00 a.m.

You may notice that our office is closed right before the Fall 2016 application deadline with fellowship consideration (Jan. 5!!!). Which means we won’t be available to answer most of your last-minute inquiries about the application. So I encourage all candidates to review their application materials thoroughly, check their email inboxes (and spam folders) for any recent communications from us, and of course, browse the blog for relevant content which addresses major application questions.

To get you started, here are 10 blog posts that’ll be helpful:

• 3 things every recommender should know
• 4 Tips for Letters of Recommendation
• 6 Quick-and-Dirty Tips For An Outstanding Admissions Essay
• A Quantitative/Language Resume Breakdown
• Eloy’s Top 12 Application Questions
• How NOT to write your personal statement
• How to answer the Fall 2016 short essay
• What I wish I knew as an international applicant
• What’s with the GRE/GMAT and TOEFL/IELTS?
• When you’ll receive your admission decision

And don’t forget to make sure ALL of your application materials are received by the deadline. I cannot stress it enough the importance of submitting a completed application for admission. Even missing a single document can make you ineligible for admission to SIPA. So please, contact your recommenders and remind them of the deadline, confirm with ETS that your scores were delivered to our office, and review your Status Page for any discrepancies. Then, read this blog post that outlines the nuances with the Status Page, which can be tricky. You can review all requirements here.

If you have any last-minute concerns prior to the fellowship deadline, as always send us an email at [email protected] with your full name, application reference number, and a descriptive subject line so we may review your account in a timely manner. Just keep in mind that it may take us a little longer to respond to your inquiry, as we receive A LOT of emails during this time of year.

Once that’s all squared away, take some time to relax this month and recharge before you submit your application—that small break may be just what you need before you take a final glance at your essay responses. And, if you haven’t already, watch this video, which may just re-inspire you as to why you’re applying to SIPA in the first place. (Come on, I know some of you have doubted yourselves at least once throughout the application process.)

Lastly, no matter where you are in the world, I wish you a very happy holiday season!