sashababie

I feel for you, especially because my under GPA was a near fail..I'm not going to say how low, let's just say most schools would frown at it. I did try to salvage by having better MA grades ( a very big reason I went to a MA program in my country first before applying for PhD in the US), but seeing people say Help! my-GPA-is-3.6/last 60 3.7-I-don't-know-what-to-do! isn't as annoying as I thought it would be, actually :roll: It just shows some people aim high and don't like to underachieve, whereas I'm a bit happy-go-lucky? One acceptance is good enough for me

I'm not sure if this pertains to the topic, but to put it simply, I decided to apply for PhD very very late in the game--namely, in July of 07--took my TOEFL (I'm an international) in August and GRE in October, did okay on the TOEFL (117) but GRE verbal was a disastrous 590(83%)!!! I also spent most of October organizing an international conference for my current institute, began hastily putting together my applications in November with earliest deadlines of 15, Dec. It's no small wonder that such rushed app files would contain a myriad of typos, not to say much less than perfect SOPs--I simply couldn't do thorough enough research on all the programs I was interested in, but I did manage to match my research interests with faculty and program orientations just barely. I had 2 different writing samples that I sent out according to my impressions of what they were looking for, but I'm still not sure that was a good move--probably not. My advisor and recommenders were wonderful giving me time and advice out of their own busy schedules, but they did kindly prep me for re-app next year if denied admission everywhere. I'm really grateful for the results (probably heading to UM-AA in the fall), but I do hope nobody else would do as I did!

This is my first year, and I can see why people need two, three years or more to get into their dream programs. I was lucky enough to be admitted by a good program even though nearly all my top choices turned me down, so no need to go through that ordeal again until graduation and job-hunt, but looking back on the application process I now see trillions of flaws that could've been avoided, and in some other cases I should have been more aggressive etc. Hats off to those that never gave up and congrats to everyone who ultimately succeeded

snagsby and amethyst : How did you learn of Chicago's decision? If it's by snail mail then I'm in for another long wait. *sighing and joining the queue for NYU*

Huge relief knowing that a lot of other applicants see the accept-then-withdraw as highly unprofessional, I was under the impression (from reading earlier discussions here and elsewhere) that people have done so in the past and seem to see it as a (quasi)normal part of the application process. For my own part, I was told I am ranked at the top of the waitlist, the correspondent believes I have a good chance of getting in, and I know for sure I will receive full funding if admitted, all of which makes this more of a dilemma than if I was not likely to be admitted. The decision would've been much easier :cry:

Don't know why I'm so pathetic but yes to "waiting on Chicago" too and haven't got the nerve to ask (doubly pathetic :twisted: )

Would you mean declining somewhere else and bet on getting off a waitlist? I'm seriously considering doing so mainly because one of my acceptances is from a program with two highly regarded professors in my field, and I definitely wouldn't risk making a career-long grudge by accepting/making deposit and then withdraw and incur their wrath :roll: But even if the chair at said waitlisted program gave a very positive response, I still hesistate to put all my eggs in this one basket. Now that the worst is for the most part over (only waiting for a few anticipated rejections) I'm going to spend my time debating on how to get through this situation :evil:

I am, and really hoping they make contact by email first THEN enclose an attachment or something and say the official letter will come by snail mail. All these ups and downs are wrecking my nerves and my MA thesis :cry:

I personally don't mind the impersonal emails of rejection schools have been sending us, I live half way across the globe and regular mail takes three weeks to reach me, I'd much rather be informed with a quick click first so as not to fret about "unnerving silence" :roll: About mailbox/spam paranoia, I started having that ever since I received an offer that reads as follows: Sender??????????Subject?????????Date Mr. Such and Such?????(no subject)?????1, March 2008 !!!

I got tired of the unnerving silence too (as Antigone put it ) and emailed a program by which I've been waitlisted ever since Feb. 1, I did not receive any definite answers but at least the response was kind and encouraging enough to fuel me for another few weeks until the final verdict. I did this after careful evaluation of pros/cons and decided it wouldn't hurt, and moreover I hoped the email would remind them of my interest in the school, at least so that they wouldn't think I'd given up waiting and accepted another offer! But now I'm itching to start contacting all the programs I haven't heard from up to now, and not so sure if the gesture is appropriate in every case. :cry:

After one waitlist and one admit I've been getting a row of rejects, and the update on Chicago isn't very heartening either :cry: I wrote to Michigan yesterday asking for waitlist information since I had hoped to arrange a trip to the US and visit the programs I'd hoped to be admitted into, but with only one offer I guess I could save the money for future research trips *sigh* so much for planning ahead and getting hopeful :twisted:

hello vaino thanks for your encouragement, I applied to English and Comparative Lit. at WashU, Literature at Duke, and Complit everywhere else. Keeping my fingers crossed, and best of luck to you too!

hi I've just been introduced to this site by a friend, been doing lots of reading, it seems lot of Complit applicants have received admission results whether it's accept/reject (NU, NYU, WashU, Duke, Columbia, Irvine..). I haven't heard from these schools ever since those "application submitted" auto-replies, feeling a little out of the loop right now Should I brace for rejects from these schools to ease up on the frustration? All I got so far is: UM waitlist, Illinois accept, UPenn reject