Lamantin

Thanks, I figured that was the case. I usually dress business casual, but I didn't want to walk in my future cohorts vastly overdressed.

This may have been covered elsewhere, and if so I'd love to be directed there, but is there a particular dress code for prospective visits to departments? Would jeans be acceptable?

Try looking through this thread first; it might have some insights for you.

It not only depends on the field, it depends on the program. Program X may require some form of formal or informal interview, but the same program at another university of similar rank may not. It's hard to predict. You could use the results page and see if past posts mention any kind of interview at the programs you've applied to.

Best, I've never seen anyone other than some female students use quotes.

You've already answered your own question. She thinks you're a strong candidate, otherwise contacting you would be both a waste of your time and of the department's time. Don't convince yourself that this means you are guarenteed acceptance, any number of things could get in the way. It's a good sign nonetheless.

Mary Sheriff primarily, yes, but my interests also spill over into Daniel Sherman's areas as well. Have any of you had any actual contact from anyone in the department since the acceptances went out?

Flaneuse, It was pretty unpleasant, especially post-interview. I don't mean to be intrusive, are you planning to work with Mary Sheriff? Good luck with the rest of your applications.

I was the MA admit. My field is Modern and Contemporary art with an emphasis on gender studies.

Well, I'm not really sure what to make of my situation. I was invited to a phone interview for a PhD profram and told I was a strong candidate. I emailed a thank you note to the POI and followed up on the conversation; she responded a week or two later saying she thought it was a very pleasant conversation. After that, I noticed admits coming in for the program. Then I noticed rejections and now I've seen a waitlisting for the program. When I check my status, it says that no decision has been made. This, of course, leads me to believe I've been unofficially waitlisted, which seems like a kind of second hell compared to a regular waitlist. Luckily I've been accepted into a good MA program with full funding, but the program in question was one of my top choices.

UPenn. "State" was the verb in the third person plural. Assassina, the advice I was given by a few of my profs was to apply to a range of programs (size, rank, and degree offering) that fit your interests. I'd advise applying to both MA and PhD programs. You may turn out to be more competitive than you realize. That said, there seems to be a general notion on these fora that one need to jump straight into the top ten PhD programs and disregard the masters altogether. That works for some and it's certainly not a bad road to take, but if you find a good MA program, the masters can be a wonderful place to hone your interests and skills. As for UPenn itself, there is a difference in most top tier programs between a terminal MA and an MA-PhD. The former has less funding, and may not have any (such as at UPenn), and can often be perceived as a cash cow. Often it's easier to get into though. I don't think telling the committees that you're interested in the PhD will open you up to funding in those situations. The MA-PhD is what you get when you apply to the PhD--you can earn or apply for your MA after a certain period of time, typically after writing a qualifying paper.

From my conversations with UW-Madison, they do a diligent job of ensuring that all their admitted students have full or close to full funding for some period. Now, that might not translate into a guarantee of funding for the whole two years. I've heard that the Williams MA is always partially funded and, to boot, a great program for a terminal MA. Most schools state on their website whether or not they fund MA students. Rutgers and UPenn state unequivocally on their websites that they do not fund students applying to the terminal MA.

Well, that would certainly make sense.

After throwing darts and searching for any and every flaw in an application, the adcoms then proceed to select an unfortunate few who, despite being rejected, hear nothing while others report their outcomes. They feed on breeding insecurity. They enjoy the slow torture. The Obama one is pretty plausible too. haha!

How do you determine if you've been put on an unofficial waitlist?

22, but I'll turn 23 shortly before beginning my program. I'm hoping to have my degrees wrapped up by the time I'm 30.

Hugh10, have you heard anything official either way? I figured we'd receive an email at least. Maybe they're waiting on rejections though.

You might try to check the results board to see when results have come back in previous years. This will give you a sense of a pattern. However, programs don't often announce when acceptances/rejections will be announced, and it may seem sporadic at best. Because it has such a late deadline, I would assume you won't hear back for quite a while, perhaps March.

These notes are much needed and, frankly, soothing to those of us still awaiting news from schools that others have reported being rejected from already.

The results board is showing rejections from Northwestern now, but I haven't heard anything since my interview other than a vaguely positive email from my POI. Time to wait and see (as though I weren't already doing that).

I should probably get out of this coffee shop. I've been stealing free internet here for hours. Human interaction would probably be of some benefit too, not that watching West Wing isn't great and all.

I had a phone interview with my dream school a couple weeks ago. Coming out of it, I was surprised by the questions, but I answered them to the best of my ability. Even my profs thought the questions were geared more for a job interview than a grad interview. The conversation was friendly, interesting, and lasted roughly 40 minutes. I thought all of these were good signs. I sent a thank you email a few days later, but only recently got a reply. The professor was still very friendly in the email, but given the gap from when we spoke to when she emailed me, I thought it strange that she hadn't indicated whether or not I had been accepted or rejected. Realistically, I assume that I've been rejected. The website also doesn't indicate that any decision has been made. Should I take her lack of notification as a bad sign?

Infiltrate the school, hide in the floorboards, bribe students.

Congrats! That's great news.

I think Auvers has a strong point. This forum is in desperate need of pick-me-up animal photos. We're all trudging through the same crap, waiting for offers, thinking about offers, etc and could use a distraction. That said, I don't post often on here, reading the thread is as interesting as posting for me, but, Hal, your posts are on the pedantic side. It might help not to treat your posts as short essays. It might help not to talk to us as though we don't know anything about the field. Certainly posting long diatribes about how you've been egregiously wronged isn't helping your case. Please, let it go.