polisciapplicant210

I think this whole procedure is terribly frustrating. Universities should notify all applicants at once. This way they just make people nervous and hopeful, which in most cases is wrong hope...

If they do it by phone, and at this speed, because some time has passed since this guy was informed and no one else has claimed an offer, I am afraid that they might not inform everyone today... which I of course still hope. Edit: okay, now there is another offer by mail.

I still have not heard from Berkeley, which is very disappointing (mainly because I paid a 100 $ application fee and I think I can therefore expect to be informed not much later than anyone else). I also wrote them on Thursday, but did not receive any answer so far. I remember that several people had the same problem a few days ago. Is this still the case? Has anyone else not heard from Berkeley?

The strange thing is that in previous years Princeton POIs sent out a few informal admission emails the day before everyone else was notified. But this year, it seems, it takes them longer... Drawing on experiences from the past to predict the future does not seem to be a good idea. (linear regression failed)

I havent' heard from them either (Berkeley). I also haven't heard from Columbia... At the end of the day, this will increase my hopes just in order to crush them a little later. Anyone in the same boat?

You mean this year or was that last year? Did they already send out their M.A. admissions? All of this is kind of crazy...

Same for me. I said I want to, but now that I got a Ph.D. offer and my (planned) funding source is not going to fund me, I will definitely not enroll in their M.A. So the question is: Did anyone say he wants to be considered for the M.A. but already receive the rejection for the Ph.D.? As far as I remember they say on their website that admissions for the M.A. are rolling and that it takes longer for those than for the Ph.D.

I haven't heard from them either, which makes me kind of hopeful. On the other hand, I also said I'd like to be considered for the M.A. program, so I'm worried that's the only reason why they did not answer yet. Is that the case for you as well?

When you ask them, they will always tell you the latest day when they would ever announce their decisions. In most cases, I guess, they will do it earlier than when they say. For example on many websites you will find the information that they will announce decisions in March or April, although they most likely do it in February. As you pointed out, Harvard has never done it later, and there should be no reason for them to do it differently this year. I assume that they want to avoid getting too many emails if they announce a precise day and then cannot stick to it.

I think it's very likely that we will see both Yale and Princeton sending out their admission decisions tomorrow. In the last five years Princeton has never done it later than February 21st.

That's not entirely correct. Chicago, NYU, etc. already consider the fact that some of the people they admit will not attend. First, they do not accept some of the applicants that have a really high chance to be accepted by HYSP (why should they waste a spot for someone who will certainly not come?). Second, they consider how many people they had to admit in previous years to get the number of new students they wanted. Therefore, they have a pretty good idea of how many people they have to admit in the first place. Only if their calculations don't work out, will they take people from the waitlist.

I don't believe that, looks like fake. Nobody is working there at this time. And no one would call so early.

A master's degree is not a bad thing. It buys you some time to prepare for another round of applications. You can learn from your mistakes and improve. I know a number of people who got master's degrees from British universities, including some from LSE, who then got into Ph.D. programs.

Does anyone have concrete information on when the 'big four' Harvard, Stanford, Princeton and Yale will make a decision?

Hey guys, I was rejected by one school today which made me feel terrible. I am international applicant. After the rejection I went to a friend's party to forget about the bad news. When I came back I found a Duke admission in my mailbox. The essential part of the story is not to lose confidence, even when facing bad news.