Brisingamen

One of my apps asked me if I required funding to attend. I rolled my eyes, said "Duh!" aloud and indicated that this is the case. Though I did afterwards realize maybe it was also meant for people who have funding from an external source. I can't quite imagine being wealthy enough to attend a PhD on my own money, but if James Franco posts on TGC, he can perhaps weigh in on how this feels. Maybe Dr. Brian May too?

The waitlist is so much better than a rejection outright -- you still have a chance of being bumped up and accepted! It's irritating having ti wait when you'd hoped for a concrete decision, but hang in there. All the best to you.

In India, you can wear traditional formals -- sarees or salwar kameez for women (go for something that looks professional and workplace appropriate, no heavy zari or beadwork), or western work formals (suits -- either with pants or a skirt). men wear suits (ties and blazers) or a muted kurta and Nehru jacket.

mujereslibres, I think it's really surprising! Absolutely did not expect to hear anything so soon. I sent my transcripts out a couple of weeks before the deadline, anticipating they'd take a couple of weeks to reach so would be there after I'd submitted my application. They took three and a half weeks to reach (thank you very much, customs office, for hanging onto an envelope for a week). Sounds like they don't care if those materials are late... and they're probably still reviewing files, so don't worry. All the best, I hope you get good news soon!

No idea whether they have sent out all, but I got an email from the Chair. The application status page says it's "under review."

I'll claim the Davis result posted. I thought it was a bit surprising, as I expected they'd start sending out results only a bit later in February. Nothing about funding or fellowships or anything like that, just an email from the Chair saying they were recommending me for admission. Very pleased indeed. This has turned out to be a successful application season and I really expected to have to try again next year (non-traditional applicant, no letters from history professors, international). I am crossing everything for everyone waiting for an acceptance! (If I fall over repeatedly this week, it will be all your fault, but it will be totally worth it.)

Ohhh! Could I ask you some questions? I'll send you a private message if it's fine.

Hello! Hope you hear something soon. Applied to Toronto for a PhD -- it's one of the best fits for my research interests.

Congratulations! So pleased for you, catsandscarves.

Northwestern carnage. Commiserations to all those who posted rejections on the survey.

Also coming from a series of jobs and contracts outside academia, I endorse this point of view. Every job has its low points, every jobs has its low phases, in fact. Even if you do something you love, it can and does feel like drudgery sometimes (six years of marriage have underlined that). I'm going into this thinking of it as a stimulating job. It's not going to pay as well as some others, but lots of jobs don't pay as well as others. Be aware that you're not the only person who will feel the burnout or be disillusioned by what your dream was or start to think you want to shift focus completely. I know several people who trained for one thing and then went into something else (journalism school --> non-profit work, Montessori --> copyediting, agricultural science --> counselling, PhD public health --> fundraising for an NGO, financial planning --> PhD Communication Studies, software engineering --> PhD English, Masters in microbiology --> social work --> consulting, life sciences PhD --> social activism --> non-profit work). This is not a failure -- some people have their lives planned out or mapped out and stick to that, others don't. In a way I think those that trained for a particular job had a ruder shock than those who felt their degree wasn't "useful" in the first place and enjoyed it before moving on to something else, transferring their skills to another field. You will learn skills and those skills can be taken elsewhere. The important thing is to not get stuck into visualizing yourself doing only that one thing and then feeling awful because opportunities to do that one thing are few. This is a challenging job -- you can do it -- but if it doesn't work for you, you are still free to get the most you want to out of it (say that MA, which would be free) and then step out. In the meantime, all the best.

And U of Toronto told me before I applied that they have a maximum of two slots for non-Canadians. Taken a gamble there.

levoyous, I love that spreadsheet.

Northern Lights, my understanding is that the earliest acceptances are often linked to deadlines for fellowship nominations. So departments pick those students out first, and inform them first, because they want extra materials/ agree it would be nice to put them outof their misery quickly/want to get a psychological foot in the door because those are the students they are very keen on getting, for one reason or another. They might then finalise lists a little later and send out all formal offers at more or less the same time. Early rejection probably means they didn't see a fit at all. So if you've heard nothing, it's still good! More seasoned hands may want to weigh in...

People waiting on Minnesota, expect more results in the first week of February. Good luck!

Good luck with your interview, catsandscarves! Am sure you'll do brilliantly.

Thanks for the suggestions! Much appreciated.

That's good to know! They warned me about landing up on the waiting list and hearing late. Hoping those of you waiting for OSU get news.

I've heard of this sort of thing before -- sometimes funding issues mean they can't guarantee funding to a new cohort, so they decide not to take on any new students in a particular year. This happened at Michigan in the History department a couple of years ago (though I'm not entirely sure what the reason was). They were back to taking students again the next year, so I guess they sorted it out.

Valentine's Day notifications seem to be common. A friend of mine opened his email on Valentine's Day morning to find two rejections. Major bummer. He was discussing them late at night on the phone with one of his classmates, and there was this insistent "call waiting" notification. He was quite annoyed at who was trying him so late... and then, when he finally took the call, it turned out to be one of the schools he'd applied to, calling to congratulate him. (He was living in Asia, so with the time difference, that was during their work day.)

Thedig13, I'm sure they'd email if they can't get through on the phone.

No, not Pitt. Toronto.

The school I'm really waiting to hear from had an application deadline of 15 January, and they warned me I might not hear anything until April. Eurgh. The others should send word before that,of course.

I hope it all works out. Sometimes it feels as if the anxiety just comes from wanting to do things on a certain timeline. But we have to make tough decisions because very often, the timeline just goes berserk.

Yes, you are! *cheering from the stands*