Hopephily

Thank you!

Literally, moments after posting this thread, I got accepted to Northwestern--a program for which I would say I am a very good fit. Thanks for weighing in everyone.

You might peruse through the grad cafe results for last year to see if NU sent out acceptances all at once or in waves.

Thanks! Primarily epistemology.

Thank you! I'm just so relieved...

I just got into Northwestern! Nice email from Baron Reed!

I know that we are all advised to apply broadly. So there are some applying to upwards of 25 programs (I've even heard of someone applying to 30). But from what I gather most of us are in the 12-20 range. I was one of the many that did not get into UNC. Thinking back, I was hesitant about applying there in the first place, given my interests and the those of the faculty. I'm sure I could have learned a great deal working there and would have found new interests that aligned well with the professors there, but it wouldn't have been one of my top picks at this juncture in my studies. Of course, there are a number of programs that I applied to which have this property. I must say, thinking about this makes me question (at least to some extent) the general advice to "cast a wide net" when applying (that is, of course, unless your interests fit a wide range of programs well). Given my particular interests, I think there are about 5 programs in total, for which I think I would be a good fit. Of course, applying to such a small number of programs sounds crazy to a lot of ears, but I can't shake the feeling that the vast majority of programs that I applied to would likely find me to be a square peg in their round slot. Maybe I'm exaggerating the importance of fit, but I'm inclined to think that when ad comms are combing through hundreds of qualified applicants, that fit would be a very important factor. Any thoughts?

This is my second season applying. I'm not really sure what I'll do if I don't get accepted. I have decided not to reapply since I feel as though I've done everything I can this last year to improve my application. I will probably look for a full-time job with benefits, which may mean giving up on an academic career.

That makes two of us!

http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_25035043 My bad, this was already spoken of in the other post.

This is great news. Many congrats!

"Probably"?! Yikes. Did you speak to someone in the Phil department or someone in the graduate admissions office?

Well, this is my informal congrats!

Classical music (mainly Chopin) or Radiohead.

Yeah I reported what I heard, although it doesn't mean what I reported is in fact true (although I'm inclined to think it is). Still, I agree that it's quite unusual for USC to announce this early and am also not sure of what to make of rejections coming before acceptances if that is indeed what the person I spoke with implicated (as I said, he/she said nothing of the sort explicitly). As for the bigger issue: I would recommend you call the department directly if you're concerned. Apparently the application that the ad comm looks at is different from the application that the Graduate Admissions Office (at large) works off of. And for us at this stage, it's the former that matters not the latter. I should add, that the person I spoke with assured me that the scanned copy would suffice for the ad comm. Here's the number I called: (213)-740-4084. Hope this helps.

You optimist, you.

no joke.

Just got off the phone with someone in the Philosophy dept. at USC. Apparently the various statuses (with the exception of 'acceptance' or 'rejection') don't really mean anything. Also, the person I spoke with mentioned that rejections will go out in about a week. The person said nothing about acceptances.

This is an accurate depiction of my experience just now. However, the gentleman told me, "I can't find any transcript for you, dude." So looks like I'll have to send another. I tried calling the department (to no avail) about trying to have them use an unofficial copy in the interim. Not good.

Called USC, currently on hold...probably a lot of students freaking out this morning. Why is "on hold" music always so bad?

Mine reads: WE ARE REVIEWING YOUR APPLICATION. THE STATUS OF YOUR APPLICATION IS UPDATED DAILY AND/OR AS CHANGES OCCUR TO YOUR FILE. BECAUSE OF THE VOLUME OF MATERIALS WE RECEIVE, PLEASE NOTE THAT IT TYPICALLY REQUIRES 8-10 BUSINESS DAYS FROM THE DATE OF RECEIPT FOR DOCUMENTS (SUCH AS TRANSCRIPTS) TO BE PROCESSED INTO YOUR FILE.

Thanks for the update and yikes! So did they find yours? Or did they say to email them unofficial transcripts?

Yep, I got the email this morning. I believe I had the official scores sent too, but I'm not really sure anymore... Yeah I'll definitely let you know if I hear anything back from them as I sent an email inquiring.

The email requires that I mail the transcripts and says nothing about emailing unofficial transcripts, so I'm not sure this will work.

I got the same email. I could have sworn that I uploaded unofficial transcripts in the application. Have you heard anything from them?