Nicko

Congrats to you all! Unfortunately, it turns out I'm not accepted anywhere... I still haven't heard anything from Boston but I suppose it's way too late now (how rude of them by the way...). It was nice to share this stressful time with you all, have fun!

Vanderbilt are pretty inconsistent! Sorry cicada, I can't really help you with your dilemma, all I can say is that it's good that you have one, at least you have somewhere to go! I've just been rejected from Columbia but they're still going to review my application for a masters there (an unfunded one probably, and I know they say this to everybody, so I have no illusion). Still waiting to hear from the other unis, not looking good though...

Yes, I think it's important that you talk to people on Skype, that will give you a good idea of what the uni is like. Especially students, I don't think they try to pretend their uni is better than it really is... And I totally agree about the city, it IS important that you love the place where you'll spend 5+ years of your life. I did call Columbia and NYU and it wasn't a fruitful exchange indeed. How did you find out that you were waitlisted at Columbia? Did they tell you? They told me I was still under consideration, plus I saw some people got a rejection email, so all of that makes me think that I'm waitlisted, but I didn't receive anything official to confirm this. Same thing about NYU, except I don't think they sent rejection emails to anyone yet.

I emailed a professor to make sure they did receive my application, and he replied that in fact I was waitlisted and he thought that the Graduate School would have told me. So either they did forget, or they just wait to know if you're rejected or accepted before they tell you anything. That's weird, I didn't receive anything from Columbia. What does it mean? Maybe I'm waitlisted and they also 'forgot' to tell me!

Thanks! Cicada, you should probably email them, I actually learnt that I was waitlisted at Brown by emailing them, they just forgot to tell me. Patrick K, what do you mean by 'status check email'? Did you email Columbia to ask them about your application? Sorry to hear that anyway. But at least you have NYU as a back up plan, which is not bad!

I'm waitlisted at Brown! I have no idea of what it means though, I don't know if it's (relatively) good or (slightly) bad news. I don't know how likely it is that I will be accepted eventually. Does anyone have any experience about that? Apart from that, still no news from the other unis, which starts to be a bit frustrating really!

Gosh, so many rejections! Sorry to hear that guys. I got a rejection from Northwestern as well. It's weird, I thought the interviews went really well... Still waiting to hear from the other unis, but I suppose I have to wait for the interview days to be done. Does anybody know when the interview days are/were for Brown, Columbia, UPenn and Boston Uni?

NYU said they'll give their answer in March, which makes me think that they're waiting for the interviews to be done before they tell me anything. So yes, the waitlist theory seems to be right Merci, j'espère que tu as raison ! Je suis quand même pas très rassuré, je pense être sur le fil du rasoir avec ces universités... What's the process with admissions after the open house? And how do you think they interview candidates?

This might sound a bit harsh but shouldn't we consider ourselves rejected from all the programmes which didn't reply to us? They already had their interviews, so it's surely over, isn't it? Just out of curiosity, what sort of price would that be?

Sorry to hear about the rejection. I was just rejected from Cornell today as well Still no answer from NYU, Brown, Columbia, or any other. Why do people hear back from them, and not me??!! NYU just told me that my application WILL BE reviewed! Isn't it too late already? They're probably just being polite, their interview day is in three days! Good luck Fransces, if they sounded happy, that should be fine!

Yes, do prepare it in French, although Northwestern didn't ask anything in French to me (well I'm French so it doesn't mean anything) or the other candidates at all. I suppose it depends, I did hear about a lot of unis interviewing in French. And yes, learn your SOP by heart, and think about as many theorists or general knowledge about your future research as you can. They might ask you some detailed questions, but most importantly, prepare some questions to ask THEM, it will show you're motivated and interested in the program. Don't worry and relax anyway, it's not very hard! Wj2011: does it mean NYU just invites all the people they rejected from the PhD programme to their MA programme?! Did they make you wait a long time before sending this news?? Maybe you can answer the question I ask earlier, I'm worried they're just not replying because I'm rejected, and their visiting day is early March, so I suppose I still have a long time to wait before they let me know!

It was pretty easy actually! Thanks for your advice! It was very informal and relaxed, but I still had to prepare a 15 min presentation of my interests. I had to meet some potential supervisors, etc., they mainly asked if I had some questions for them. I think it went well but we'll see. Now, I'm just waiting for other replies from other unis. I saw that NYU, Columbia and Brown already sent an email to their candidates to invite them for an interview day, but I didn't receive anything, does it mean I'm rejected? Do you think that not having heard from anyone yet is bad news or good news overall? Is it rude to email them and ask for some information?

It was pretty easy actually! Thanks for your advice! Very informal and relaxed, but I still had to prepare a 15 min presentation of my interests. I think it went well but we'll see. Now, I'm just waiting for other replies from other unis. I saw that NYU, Columbia and Brown already sent an email to their candidates to invite them for an interview day, but I didn't receive anything, does it mean I'm rejected? Do you think that not having heard from anyone yet is bad news or good news overall? Is it rude to email them and ask for some information?

The interview at Northwestern was pretty easy really. It was very informal, breakfast with the faculty, visit of the campus, etc. We had to do a 15 min presentation of our interests + introduce ourselves, etc, then we had five interviews with potential supervisors, but it was more like a relaxed talk, they mainly asked me if I had questions for them. Anyway, good luck with the interview!

Thanks! But do you think that not having heard from anyone yet is bad news or good news overall? Is it rude to email them and ask for some information? If I were you Patrick, I think I would go and do my MA at NYU, whether they accept you for a PhD afterwards or not, it still looks good on a CV, and it's a great experience...