COGSCI

Congratulations to both of you! If the PhD institution is reputable in your field, I would seriously consider going there. Academia is not about what 'label' you have on your CV. It is about how many publications and grants you have under your belt when you graduate with your degree. Choose a school that would allow you to do that. 
Lastly, one should never turn down a fully funded PhD over a master's program (if you are planning on staying in academia). Even if the master's offer is from Harvard. 
-From person who is going to attend a fully funded doctoral program over an unfunded Ivy league Master's program this year-

"IF YOU GET REJECTED ALL AROUND, CHANGE SOMETHING.  Make it better.  Don't just throw your hands in the air and say I did the best I can and then re-apply the next season with the exact same project, marks, and scores, as the end result is likely going to be the same."

**sprints toward the door, trips over garbage can, barks both shins on lab table, gets back on feet, begins running again, makes it out of door into cold, night air: screams**  

EUREKA!!

Pure genius.

(PS) stop humblebragging, you're making everyone's eyes roll 

Although ChrisTOEFert's comment is definitely not warm and fuzzy, he made some good points. If you do get rejected all around this cycle, it is time for you to re-examine your application and work on yourself. Even if you have 4.0 and perfect GRE scores, you might be lacking research experience. Even if you have 4 years of research experience, you might be lacking publications. One thing I realized is that there is always someone better than you in academia. SO WE MUST WORK HARD (till we get that tenured professorship LOL)!! Also, your life DOES NOT depend on grad school because school is not everything. There is a life outside of academia, seriously.
Waiting sucks, especially when you just have bunch of rejections in your hands. BUT that acceptance email/letter feels that much sweeter when you finally get it  

Although ChrisTOEFert's comment is definitely not warm and fuzzy, he made some good points. If you do get rejected all around this cycle, it is time for you to re-examine your application and work on yourself. Even if you have 4.0 and perfect GRE scores, you might be lacking research experience. Even if you have 4 years of research experience, you might be lacking publications. One thing I realized is that there is always someone better than you in academia. SO WE MUST WORK HARD (till we get that tenured professorship LOL)!! Also, your life DOES NOT depend on grad school because school is not everything. There is a life outside of academia, seriously.
Waiting sucks, especially when you just have bunch of rejections in your hands. BUT that acceptance email/letter feels that much sweeter when you finally get it  

I bet you got a perfect score on your GRE with your sound arguments  good for you! 

My thoughts exactly.
Also, seeing a post would not influence/pressure accepted students to decline offers earlier so I think the entire argument is only stressing people out. 
Now its time for the high school musical theme song: We are all in this together? (oh childhood LOL)

Good luck HJin,UCSF is a great school and I am sure people would turn down their offers soon enough if they have a better offer!
Waiting is always hard (especially on the waitlist) and frustrating. However, it DOES make that final acceptance so much sweeter when you get it  Trust me, I just went through it this month LOL

Good luck HJin,UCSF is a great school and I am sure people would turn down their offers soon enough if they have a better offer!
Waiting is always hard (especially on the waitlist) and frustrating. However, it DOES make that final acceptance so much sweeter when you get it  Trust me, I just went through it this month LOL

Good luck HJin,UCSF is a great school and I am sure people would turn down their offers soon enough if they have a better offer!
Waiting is always hard (especially on the waitlist) and frustrating. However, it DOES make that final acceptance so much sweeter when you get it  Trust me, I just went through it this month LOL

Good luck HJin,UCSF is a great school and I am sure people would turn down their offers soon enough if they have a better offer!
Waiting is always hard (especially on the waitlist) and frustrating. However, it DOES make that final acceptance so much sweeter when you get it  Trust me, I just went through it this month LOL

Good luck HJin,UCSF is a great school and I am sure people would turn down their offers soon enough if they have a better offer!
Waiting is always hard (especially on the waitlist) and frustrating. However, it DOES make that final acceptance so much sweeter when you get it  Trust me, I just went through it this month LOL

Good luck HJin,UCSF is a great school and I am sure people would turn down their offers soon enough if they have a better offer!
Waiting is always hard (especially on the waitlist) and frustrating. However, it DOES make that final acceptance so much sweeter when you get it  Trust me, I just went through it this month LOL

University of Toronto's faculty of education (OISE), UCL, and Teachers College (Columbia) are some of the top education research institutions in the world 
UPenn is a good school too! 

University of Toronto's faculty of education (OISE), UCL, and Teachers College (Columbia) are some of the top education research institutions in the world 
UPenn is a good school too! 

Hello Walker888, 
 
I would actually try to get into a graduate program in humanities field rather than pursuing another undergrad degree. 
Many masters programs are only for like a year and students from different fields can apply and get accepted. If you are thinking about pursuing a doctoral degree after, I would definitely look into different masters programs first (and maybe apply to the online program as a back-up)