Cecilia22

I am. I interviewed, (loved it), heard nothing, so emailed about two weeks ago and was told I was not in the first round of invites, and that it would actually be grad admissions (and not the subfield) who determines if a second wave of invites will occur. I have no timeline for this possible invite/rejection. Someone on here was told mid-March/April, but I myself was never told that... Waiting, but not really. Realism has set in.

Just my subfield -- RPC. Does not apply to any others, from what I can tell. In fact, it may benefit another area, as it opened up a spot in the department as a whole. But I'm speculating...

Therealhogwarts, No. I am in the nebulous "not on a wait list but not rejected yet" zone at Emory (interviewed there, too). This is Vanderbilt. So sad!

So, my top choice, which flew me out (several thousand miles) for the interview weekend, informed that all of their senior faculty will be on leave next year so they decided to accept no one. But I was in the top three. Is this a "Rejection"? Or an "Other"?

Yes, me! So I emailed and was told the process is "ongoing," and that initial offers have been made. The area faculty, apparently, don't get to decide if a second round of offers get sent; that's the Admissions Dept's job. So, reading between the lines, they offered the two spots and will see if the accepted students accept the offer. If they don't accept the offer, it is not clear that s second round of offers will be made. I think I call this an unofficial wait list.

I'm with you, Kleets. Interviewed, but have not heard anything. Based on all the information I've gathered, they extend offers but give a short window for the accepted students to decide (2 ½ weeks). I imagine that I will hear once those students make their decisions, which will be in another two weeks. I may end up contacting them for the simple reason that hearing nothing at all may be a bit more stressful than hearing No. I like closure…Good luck to you!

Skype is hard! Just had mine, and was thrown off by it. It is much harder to read body language cues, to get a feel for the room, to make any meaningful eye contact… I also felt like there was a "Let's cut to the chase" vibe, which makes a ton of sense but is also a bit sterile. It was only 25 minutes, and I think the first 10 felt like a warm-up. I babbled. Not happy about that! It seemed to run more smoothly when I got them talking (not surprising), and having a few key questions is a real must. The above post is great. I also said something along the lines of "I am familiar with some of what you've done, and I'm interested to know future directions for your research…" I also needs some logistics answered, and was glad I asked. Overall, were I to do it again, I would find a far more succinct, confident way of stating my research interests. It is a softball question, and there is no excuse for stumbling over it as I did. I was more nervous than I expected... Lesson learned!

PCRL went out, too. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I thought I could spare you an awkward email. Travel plans had to be made by last Friday, so I would guess all invites have been sent. I have no clue how many were asked...