awe

Actually, even if you sell the place at the same price you bought it for, you'll probably still end up better off. If you rent, you're basically flushing your money down the toilet. If you buy, you pay the bank, and then when you sell, minus the interest and the agents' fees, you get your money back, and you'll have lived for free for that time period. If you're able to buy a place with a few small fixable issues, you could improve it slightly (or a lot), and sell it for more, even in the case that property value stays the same. The main thing to watch for is the area; otherwise very nice houses are limited by the surrounding houses / neighborhood. So, a very nice house in a poor neighborhood is worth less than a poor house in a very nice neighborhood. You're only in trouble if the property value goes down. Other than that, assuming nothing terrible happens (your roof gets ripped off, etc.), you're almost certainly in a better position if you buy vs. rent. Think about it - if renting wasn't profitable, no one would do it. So, not only are they making money off your rent each month, but by the time you leave, all your money is gone, and you have nothing to show for it. If possible (generally speaking, and not taking into consideration special circumstances) my impression is that as a rule, if possible, buy rather than rent.

As I'm sure they said back in the days of the Soviet Union, "Relax, comrade! I'm sure he meant no harm".

Eh, it means that at one point they cared enough about you to ask for your missing letters. Unless they did that for everyone who was missing a letter, it suggests your application didn't go by totally unnoticed/ignored. Beyond that, it's all speculation. It is fun to go off on a daydream about what these little "signs"/events could mean (if anything) though. And then equally not fun to play the opposite scenario immediately afterward.

Like people have mentioned, you've got to try looking at the situation from their perspective -- in their eyes, everyone that's applied is more or less equal, until they begin reviewing applications. Once they've seen your application, you may not hear back for a while (even if they're fairly confident that they will reject you), because this is a big decision for them, as well. They put the quality of the work coming out of their institution on the line, and thereby their reputation; so, they want to be sure that 1) they let the best applicants they have in, and 2) they don't let anyone in that will be a liability. My feeling is: you asked for the chance to go to -- and in the case of a Ph.D. be funded by (in some cases) -- their school. Give them the time they need to decide. If you don't want to wait as long as they take, then either ask them what the status is, or move on. I generally agree that if there is no shot of them accepting you, they should let you know as soon as they can -- but who's to say that isn't what happens? Do you have any idea how many people are actively working on applications? Depending on the school / program, it could be a small number of people. Remember, their intention isn't to piss people off; they actually do want people to go to their school, so chances are, they're doing what they can. (I know in some cases, people may neglect the pile of 'rejections', which is unfortunate, and unfriendly. But, other than calling/e-mailing, there isn't much you can do about that. I suppose you could complain, but, they've rejected you; so what do they care?)

I have trouble believing that... it would be very non-characteristc of them. I suppose it's possible, but unlikely. Plus, if you convince yourself its BS, and then it turns out to be real, then that's good. If you buy into it, and it turns out to be be BS, then that's bad. Try not to let your desires blur the reality of what the data/statistics show. I'm not saying it's impossible, again, just that the probability is low that many more people will be accepted.

From the previous years it looks like they send out a few (very few) acceptances after the initial e-mails (which usually come the Thursday and Friday after the 'roundup'), and two weeks after that, the rejections get posted. So my guess would be next Friday for the mass rejection postings.