saphixation

Well yeah, and presumably it would be an automated system. But I like to imagine a one or two interns manning the phones at 2-3am as they suddenly start ringing off the hook...

He said "accepted via phone". Can you imagine the chaos if nsf released results over the phone??

Possibly even less - Fastlane went down an hour earlier than it has in previous years!

Nvm - that sucks, I'm sorry :-(

It says you need a student id, which is listed in your acceptance letter, in order to rsvp - that definitely seems promising. Of course, they could just be sending out the email to everyone, so it's hard to say for sure.... hopefully it's a good sign, though! Good luck!!!

Well, that does seem promising, then! Honestly, if I were you, I'd call or email them and find out what the deal is.

It's possible that this is an indication you've been accepted, but unlikely. Admittedly I received an invitation to an open house for accepted students at my top choice university before actually being told I was accepted, but the invite also told me to expect good news soon (I got my acceptance letter and financial aid offer a week later, right after I got home from the open house). Since your email didn't say anything like that, I think it's unlikely that it means anything more than what it says at face value. I will also add that NYU poly was one of the schools that emailed me constantly after I took the gre (I didn't apply there), including with invitations to various events, so it's possible the email you got is similar. It's still possible you'll be accepted, though! I got two acceptances very late in the season.

What does the rest of the email say?

I remember this time last year, I was incredibly anxious about hearing the GRFP results. This year has been much different; a week ago, my boyfriend and I adopted two adorable seven month old kitties, and they've kept me so distracted that I've barely even thought about the results coming out soon. It's great! Plus, their habit of waking me up every night at 4am when they start chasing each other around the apartment like maniacs guarantees I'll be awake to see the results the moment they're posted. I think it's the perfect system. So to any future applicants wondering how to cope with result season stress: adopt cats!

I love that movie! I feel like I've seen it a billion times from all the classes where I've had to watch it. May I ask how you connected it to the rest of your essay?

A couple of my professors specifically ask to be informed of all results, the reason being that knowing what types of students got accepted or rejected at various schools can help them give better advice to future students. They asked me to inform them where I did/did not get accepted when I was applying for REUs, too, for the same reason.

I think you raise a good point, but at the same time, it depends on your particular brand of "outdoorsy". There's plenty of outdoor activities to do, even in winter: skiing, snowboarding, sledding, snowshoeing, ice skating, hockey, dog sledding, ice fishing... Obviously these might not be particularly appealing to someone who isn't used to snow and cold, but they're definitely still options.

B and C haven't even accepted you yet, let alone started pushing you to make a decision. From what I can see of your situation, there's no point in rushing A except due to your own impatience. I get that waiting to hear back from your top choice is tough, but at this stage you need to just wait and see. Given that A has told you roughly when to hear from then, you should at least wait until then. Asking any earlier makes you look impatient and like you can't follow directions. If you haven't heard by mid-March or so, then you can consider asking if they've finished sending out invites yet.

I use thanks or thank you. I've never really considered it being my signature's job to make me memorable. "Till Niagra falls" is kind of cute, but mostly just seems gimmicky. If you really think that your signature is so important, it's probably better to stick with something safe so you don't risk putting someone off.

Is this for Temple? I'm not in your field, but when I applied there, I had the same thing on my application. It never changed throughout the application process (even after being accepted), so I don't think it really serves a purpose, or at least not one that we as applicants can see. I wouldn't worry about it.