sweetpearl16

Oh, I completely agree with you. I just feel very lucky to have a DGS/POI who was very open with me about the whole waiting list process when I asked. I realize that my fate right now is in the hands of other people. And while I am hopeful that I will get off my waitlist, I don't really expect I will. But then I am also the type of person who would rather go through life expecting not to get something and be wonderfully surprised if it comes through rather than expecting to get something and being terribly disappointed if I don't.

I don't feel that way, but that is in part because I know that the reason I was waitlisted had nothing to do with my abilities or credentials. Rather my POI did not have priority in choosing adivsees this year. There are so many factors that go into who is waitlisted and who is accepted. Being waitlisted doesn't necessarily mean you aren't wanted or are second best. Sometimes there are just politics at play that are completely beyond your control.

That's sound advice bamafan, but I would also ask the DGS what the waitlist situation is like. I know for the program I am waitlisted at, they only accept as many people as they can fund. As soon as someone declines, they admit someone from the waitlist with full funding. My current program does the same thing with their PhD. admissions. So I think it really depends on the program.

Along the same lines, does anyone know anything about UIUC archaeology? Anyone accepted or waitlisted?

Congratulations jmarti37! I've been following your story on the waitlist thread and I'm so happy that you got an acceptance

If offered admission, I would immediately accept. This is my top choice school. I've been on the waitlist there for nearly two months now, so its been very difficult. It's also frustrating because even though I've been accepted into two other schools, this is my only viable option (one school I got into doesn't fund incoming first year archaeology PhD students and the other school turned out not to be good fit and I've been discouraged from going there). I'm hoping to get an answer in the next two weeks. If I end up getting rejected, I will be disappointed, but then I will spend the next year publishing my MA, presenting at conferences gaining my experience, and trying to make myself a better candidate. A year off would probably be good for me too, since I went straight from my BA to my MA. I would definitely reapply to this school next year. There is a POI that I really want to work with, whose interests really align with mine (he did not have priority in choosing students this year, which is why I am waitlisted). I really want to attend but I have come to terms with the idea of taking a year off, I just want to know whether or not I will be accepted. The waiting is killing me, and the longer I wait the worse it gets. I swear being on a waitlist is like a slow death.

I'm still on a waitlist

Here is a link to the CGS resolution http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/asis/entsup/resolution.pdf. If your school appear on this list, then they abide by the April 15 agreement.

I can't speak for all schools but by the DGS at my waitlist school (who is also my POI) that the school extended offers to the next person on the list as soon as an accepted person declined. I know the same is true at my current school as well. I would bet that schools that don't use ranked waitlists probably extend this process into April.

When I got my waitlist email, I emailed the DGS expressing my extreme interest in the program and just asking where I stood on the waitlist. I also mentioned that I had a few other offers but said that my waitlist school was my top choice.

They don't always tell you that you are on the waitlist. Sometimes they just leave you hanging for months. The program I am currently getting my MA from has a waiting list of about 10 people. No one on that list has been informed that he/she has been waitlisted.

Thanks abeilles. I've pretty much decided that I will decline both offers that I have received and wait to see what happens with my waitlist school. Meanwhile I have already secured an internship that is set to begin in the fall. I'm actually thinking that taking a year off may be the best thing for me. Getting away from the classroom and academia for the first time in 18 years may do me some good.

Thanks so much pears! I actually went straight from undergrad to grad school. I wanted to take time off, but I let my dad talk me into getting an MA. It is kind of scary giving up two acceptances, even if I know they are not right for me. But after all the stress I have experienced this past year, I think a year off might let me research grad schools the right way and renew my desire to actually get a PhD. Or I might discover after all the academic politics I've had the pleasure of experiencing first hand, that maybe academia is not for me.

I have lost my mind during this whole process. I applied to five schools and was accepted by two and waitlisted by my top choice. This entire application process has been stressful and painful. It has also been extremely miserable and awkward for reasons I can't fully go into but have to do with applying and being rejected (due to stupid departmental politics) by the program at which I am currently completely my MA. I can't talk to any of my classmates about what happened. More than that, as admissions decisions have come out, I have realized that trying to apply to grad schools and complete coursework was not the best idea. I think the two grad schools into which I've been accepted are not right for me, no matter how much I've tried to convince myself of otherwise. More than that, due to everything that has happened, I have become depressed and lost my drive to continue on with my studies. I think if I don't get into my waitlist school, I really need to take a year off to figure out what I want to do with my life, what I want to study, and which programs really match my interests.

I figured that was what the email was, but a part of me hoped that it meant something more.

I mentioned this on the waitlist thread, but the DGS at my top choice, where I am waitlisted, sent me an email yesterday where he again went over the admissions process (they only admit a few people at a time, when someone declines, they take a person from the waitlist.) He then said it would be helpful to know of my continuing interest and if I had accepted anywhere. Then he told me they were anticipating a great cohort joining the school in the fall. I don't know what this email means, which is driving me crazy! I don't know if everyone on the waitlist. I don't know if it means they have had a few people decline their offers. And I really don't know what the last part about a great cohort means . All I know is that I have not been rejected yet.

I am waiting for someone to decline for UIUC (archaeology) although I am losing hope of that happening.

That's the problem. I don't know which one it is and if anything this further uncertainty just makes the entire process more painful.

Being waitlisted is so painful and sometimes feels as if you are slowly dying. In some ways it is worse than an outright rejection because you are dragged along for so long and you want to remain hopeful but at the same time you are afraid of getting your hopes up too high only to be crushed later. I got a letter from the DGS from the at my top choice school, the place I have hoped to attend for years and where I'm currently waitlisted. He just wanted to go over the waitlist process again and asked me to let the school know if I remained interested in attending and if I had accepted any other offers. I'm very curious as to why this email was sent on a Saturday and keep trying to tell myself it means nothing and is just a formality sent to everyone on the waitlist. Gah! I hate being waitlisted.

I really wish I had taken the time to more thoroughly consider what I want to study, how I want to study it, and which programs would best enable me to carry out my investigations while obtaining the training I need to make it in my field. The more I consider the two schools I have gotten into, the more I realize that neither is exactly a good match for my interests and I become increasingly disenchanted with both. A part of me wants to go through a new application season just to take the time to more clearly figure out what I want to do with my life and apply to the best places for me.

I regret not paying more attention to funding when I applied. Now I've been accepted to a program I really like, but doesn't offer much in the way of funding. A part of me also wishes I had gone with my original intention of taking a year off between my MA and PhD. Is it too late to do that now?

I just wanted to bump this up because this has continued to be a concern for me and I still haven't decided what to do. I got into the University of South Carolina, although from what I understand the funding at Arizona and South Carolina is fairly similar, and a lot less than 20,000. I guess I am worried that if the fellowship does not go through, I will be stuck trying to pay for rent, a car, food, and clothing on very little money. I am scared of going into debt although I would like to attend the school. Unfortunately I also do not have that much money put away in savings due to just finishing an unfunded terminal MA. A part of me wished I had considered funding more during the application process. Would it ever be acceptable to decline an offer because it is not financially possible to accept?

Is it worth it to write an email of continued interest to my POI if I am on a ranked waitlist? I emailed him a few weeks ago letting him know that I remained interested in the program and that I had two offers from other schools. Not much has changed since then. Should I email again? Also should I let him know that this is my top choice school? I hate being waitlisted at my top choice

I have one school that accepted me. I fit in well with the program, but it is new and the funding isn't that great (as in hard to live off of, let alone do research). But they really want me and have nominated me for a fellowship. The other one doesn't fit me as well, although I could make it work. They are probably going to offer me funding, but funding is competitive and there is no guarantee that I will be funded the entire time I am there. Of course the school I am waitlisted at provides five years of guaranteed funding I am regretting not considering funding more when I applied as I really don't want to go into debt in order to get a PhD.

I know William and Mary informed three applicants of their acceptance abut 3 weeks ago. They have a waitlist (and don't usually let people know they've been waitlisted), but will probably sending decisions out sometime soon.