RomulusAugustulus

I think the condition is rarely 'no funding', the condition will likely be something you must meet. (Though if they haven't mentioned funding, that would be something worth asking about!) Generally conditional acceptances just mean they need a final transcript. Was the transcript you sent with your application official? I've heard of other conditions like those stated above (get a certain GPA by end of the first year or semester to stay), but usually these are things that would be required of you in graduate school anyway. I wouldn't worry too much!

I will second the note about Canadian schools. There are acceptances in late May posted from some Canadian school's I've checked (including Toronto) even when there were earlier acceptances to the same programs. But also, for those applying to US schools: it DOES happen that people get off the waitlist last minute. I got accepted to my MA program 2 days before the April 15 deadline! So, even though it can seem very dejecting it is really not over until you have heard from every school. I've gone through a season with rejections across the board before. It is hard, but don't lose hope until it's really over. And remember that just because you don't get any acceptances one year, doesn't mean you won't ever get any in the future. Best of luck to you, OP!

I would also add that you shouldn't feel like you need to pick the PhD over the MA programs just because it's a PhD. The first time I applied I got into 1 PhD (also my last choice) at a decent school, but when I visited I did not think the fit was right. I got in last minute to an MA and turned down the doctoral program and never regretted it. Now I've been accepted to a much better PhD program with a better fit. So if the doctoral program didn't feel right, but the masters did then go for the MA. Then you will have the experience in the field which will help when applying to your top choices down the road. I think this is better than going for the PhD then dropping out (which will probably make it very difficult to get into a PhD later, unless you meant transferring rather than just dropping out which is more acceptable).

I just sent you a PM about this!

I was also going to ask if they offered any financial help for the visit. If they did, I would say go. If not, since you live abroad it is reasonable not to go and I think they will understand. In that case though, I would email them saying you are very interested in the program but you are not able to make it to the visiting days and would it be possible to meet with someone (or several people) over skype to discuss the program in more detail. That way you can still meet some profs face to face and get to ask some questions, etc. The program I am going to offered to do this for students who couldn't make the visiting days (they also gave short notice and had several international admits).

If you think the professor wants you to speak up more, and you feel unable to, my advice would be to meet with the professor, but meet with him about something else. Find some topic you want to discuss with him (a class discussion you wanted to talk over in more detail, an upcoming paper/project/conference, anything). Meet with him about that, and if he mentions your class participation then (if you feel comfortable discussing it with him) explain why it is difficult for you. The benefit to doing it this way, rather than meeting with him specifically to disclose your situation, is it may feel less like a personal confession (to both him and you). The other benefit to meeting with him about something else is it will show your interest in and knowledge of the topic, without having to reveal too much in front of your classmates. It may make it so he doesn't even mention your silence in class, because clearly you are engaged and motivated. Or he might say something like: "these are great comments, you should bring them up in class!" and maybe that will help you feel more comfortable/able to speak up? Obviously a lot depends on the professor, and your own feelings about whether to discuss your life with him. Best of luck with the situation, however you handle it!

Assuming this is the correct program, administrative emails are here: https://math.northwestern.edu/people/staff.html I would email the graduate program assistant. That, or apparently this goes to the director of graduate studies (who would be a professor, but they don't give a name): https://math.northwestern.edu/people/contact.php?alias=grad

This is at best extremely naive and at worst highly offensive. I have lived in Philadelphia for 24 years. Yes there are parts that are more dangerous than others. I live in one of the so-so parts of Philly (not highly dangerous, but not the safest). I have still never been robbed, beaten, pick-pocketed, or harmed in any other way. I am small, and female. Cities like NY, Philly, Chicago, etc. are large, they are not homogenous. There are parts of Philly that are extremely safe, and parts that I would not want to live in. Please don't generalize and please don't mis-inform people about the dangers of living in a city. You don't live in a large city. You are speaking from a prejudiced point of view, which is not helpful to the OP in making an informed and logical decision about applying to schools.

My guess would be combination of the two. Probably focus on why you choose the field, but add something about how the particular program/school will help you achieve your goals in that field. Good luck!

Schools don't often revoke acceptances, except in a few extreme cases (usually if a student acts inappropriately during a visit). And yes they would absolutely contact someone if they chose to revoke an admit. Silence just means they are dealing with other things! You'll hear more news all in good time.

I wanted to point out that a lot of posts here are encouraging the OP not to worry about Institution name is Inst. 2 isn't as well respected as Inst. 1. But the OP says that their degree will still be from Inst. 1 (via taking online courses while working in the lab at Inst. 2). The OP is more concerned with physically having to be away from the school they applied to. So I would say to the OP, if you didn't specifically apply to work with this professor, than stay at school 1, as long as there is another lab there you can work at. Good luck with a tough decision!

I applied too. I was accepted to the university (also for archaeology) but haven't heard anything about the scholarship. I didn't even know they did interviews. Anyway, I won't be going so it's probably for the best! Good luck all.

Yes, definitely meet with him! You don't want to get yourself in a situation where you decline to meet with him, then don't get funding at your top choice and need to accept your 2nd choice. That will just make you look foolish. Also, you never know, he could tell you something about the program that makes it more appealing than your top choice. Prepare a few questions ahead of time so you have something to say if the conversation gets slow.

I'm sorry this is a late response but I have to say this: Literally NONE of these schools are in "notoriously dangerous and chaotic places". They're in cities. Are you just not used to cities? Yes there are dangerous sections to all of those cities (and most cities), but those schools are all in safe sections of their respective cities. Just make sure, when you actually get accepted and are ready to move, that you know where in the city to avoid. But no no no these universities are not in dangerous places.

If your talking ancient languages, my guess would be yes. If you are talking modern languages, as a general rule no, these will not count towards your degree.

If you need to make a decision asap, email the graduate administrator and not your POI. Unless your POI is on the admissions committee (and you shouldn't assume that they are) they will likely know nothing about when you might hear. Politely email the grad administrator for your program and ask when you can expect to hear from them about their decision. I would include your application number or student ID number if they gave you one, so they can look it up and see if they've even already made a decision.

I don't know anything about the programs, except that Vandy and CU have two of the top education schools, so congrats! BUT I can say that Nashville is a much cheaper city, if funding is an issue. I did my MA at Vandy, and am likely going to be doing my PhD at Columbia, so I obviously think they're both great institutions . I just wanted to post to let you know you can PM me if you have specific questions about Vanderbilt or Nashville. Though, like I said, I can't tell you much about Peabody (except that the campus and library are lovely).

I will just point out though, that if your program is funded (specifically if you receive a stipend) you may not be allowed to hold another job. Or sometimes schools put restrictions on the number of hours you can work an outside job. It varies from school to school and obviously depends on your funding situation, but you should definitely make sure you know if there are any restrictions before you commit to a job.

Well, according to the website there are 32 scholarships a year. So 32/number of applicants, which another website estimates to be about 1000. So 32/1000= 3.2%. Good luck!

Obviously it is hard for us to answer this without knowing the schools (or the field, in my case). BUT I can say that the general public doesn't really "get" how graduate school works. Universities that have big names for undergrad are not necessarily the best graduate programs for any given field. For example, in my field, Harvard has a kind of cruddy program that my professors have suggested I avoid. But the general public hears "Harvard" and thinks, "Oh wow, obviously you should go there". Unless they work in clinical psychology, your parents probably don't know what's what regrading grad schools in your field, so make your own decision based on what you think is best and what people in your field regard as a better option. However, I do agree with juilletmercredi that a partially funded PhD is hardly ideal. You might make sure there is a possibility to increase that to full funding after your first year or (preferably) sooner.

On a totally unrelated note, it's hilarious that your "B close-parenthesis" got turned into that little smiley guy. I thought at first you were trying to make a (not so subtle) hint about which program the OP should choose.

This would definitely be nice, I agree. Apparently some schools do not allow programs to keep wait-lists so they simply don't reject potential candidates until people they've accepted accept their offers. It's why so many people wait forever to hear without being told they are on a wait-list. Some schools don't reject anyone until offers have been accepted, others just keep a few in 'limbo' and reject everyone else. Some programs just accept more people than they expect to attend and reject everyone else at once. It's actually amazing how much things vary from program to program. It's a bummer, but it's how this whole screwed-up process works.

Since you got your BA at VCU, why don't you email one of your undergrad profs in poli sci there and see what they would recommend? Since it wouldn't be their program you would be rejecting, they would probably give you a pretty straight answer about whether the MS would set you up to get into a top PhD program. They can probably give you a better sense of how this would look in your field then we (or at least I) can. Good luck!

Programs often say they can't provide information on why applicants were not successful. Since you were in contact with a POI, however, I think your best bet would be to email that POI thanking them for their help during the application process and asking if they have advice on what you could do to improve your application in the future. As Mr. Bugle said, its more complicated than just a matter of test scores. In another application pool maybe you would have gotten in, but this year there were other applicants they wanted more. It doesn't necessarily mean you weren't qualified. Do you have undergrad profs (your recommenders perhaps?) who can give you advice on improving your application as well?

I am still not totally sure I see the point of this. It makes more sense to me to withdraw your application and just tell your family (or whatever your specific situation is) that you got rejected if that is what they need to hear. It honestly seems a little rude to me to call a program to tell them you applied but actually don't care but could they please send you a rejection so you can make your family, who thinks the program is swell, stop pestering you. (Please forgive me if your situation is more complex, but I feel that a graduate program would find this a bit presumptuous). Anyway, like I said earlier, I am sure they would oblige. They certainly don't want you if you don't want them. But it might make it a bit awkward if you ever run into someone from the program in a professional setting.