NEPA

I figured I wouldn't clutter the main results thread with this, but does anyone want to claim the Syracuse admit and wait list on the results page? Has anyone else applied to Syracuse and (not) heard anything back yet?

Congrats to everyone who's been accepted recently and my condolences to all those who got rejection letters right before the weekend. As for me, I've heard absolutely zero from any of my schools so far. Grr! I think next week will be the real excitement for me, especially if BC keeps to the week-to-ten-day time frame they gave me a few days ago and if Rutgers notifies around the same time as last year.

If anyone's interested, Dr. Kelly said that they expect to have all decisions made in a week to ten days.

Well, yellowshoes, I decided to take your advice and e-mail Dr. Kelly about whether he could tell me if there was a timeline for notifying remaining applicants. I'm eager to hear what he says.

If I'm not accepted into any of the PhD programs I applied to this year, I definitely plan on taking a look at BC's MA program if I were to get accepted into that rather than the PhD. Like you've all said, it's gonna hurt to have to invest all that money, and I'd want to ask around about how it would affect my chances to get into a good PhD program, but I've liked what I've seen of their department as a whole. I would definitely want to talk to current MA students, and maybe a visit would be in order since I live about 5-6 hours from Boston. How they treat potential MA students who want to visit could be a good indicator of how they treat actual MA students. (Plus I have a friend at BC now so I could maybe share an apartment to save money.)

I've been noticing that as well. It seems to be -2 each time, so maybe there are two people out there who don't like you for some reason. I wouldn't worry about it; it's their problem. (Although I am getting a bit sick of having to +1 you and a few others because you've been unfairly targeted for negatives.) It looks like it happens every time you talk about anything that involves your applications to Ivies or highly ranked schools. Jealousy, perhaps? (And that's coming from someone with very modest school choices.)

Thanks for the good wishes! I guess we'll see.

I'm not sure if the others you mention include me, cpaige, but as for me, my comment meant no disrespect to the Ivies, et al. I've met some fantastic people (including yourself and others on this forum) from the best schools in the country. It's not a matter of thinking the people there are snobs - it's just a different atmosphere and learning/working environment than I'd most likely be comfortable with. (Kind of like I'd also prefer not to live in Japan. Great place, just not my thing.) I love being at a medium-sized school with mostly undergrads, and that's where I'd like to teach and research. Also, this can be a sensitive subject since I think many of us outside the big name schools find that our backgrounds sometimes get looked down upon by some in academia (not anyone here, just in general) and rightly feel slighted, since we love where we are as much as anyone else. But hey, if someday Yale offers me a job, who could say no to that?

Thanks for your post, Realist. You're right - we all need to consider the realities of job placement when going for a Ph.D. and I really appreciate hearing the wisdom of someone who's been through the ordeal and succeeded. I completely agree with your assessment of career success. However, I take one issue with your segment on potential future employment. In my view, there are an awful lot of extremely good smaller universities and less-known liberal arts colleges that provide a fantastic education which you seemed to gloss over a bit or even discount ("North X State"), at least from my read. I know they're still not enough to provide a tenure-track position to every new Ph.D., but as a current student at a smaller university where I've gotten an education I wouldn't trade for anything in the world, I felt I should emphasize the importance of the many less-known schools out there, which can form the majority of schools overall, depending on your definition. Some of us applying to grad school don't want to teach and research at a really prestigious university; they're great, no doubt about that, but it's just not my thing, personally. That said, I think my disagreement is more about your emphasis than anything else. But perhaps you'd agree that someone not looking to teach and research in the Ivies or other top-ranked universities might have more leeway when it comes to selecting a Ph.D. program based on rank alone. Maybe I'm totally wrong, but looking at the type of schools where I'd want to teach eventually, it does seem true.

Yale folks - I've been trying to get them about when notifications go out, but I've gotten voicemail every time I call. I've been pretty swamped so I haven't had too many opportunities. Sorry not to have more news!

I've heard absolutely nothing from any of my schools. Aside from the stress we're all feeling, I don't have a problem with that, because I wasn't expecting any of my programs to notify this early. (Although BC has been sending out rejection letters.) Our time to hear back will come. Good luck to everyone!

I still haven't heard anything from BC and my status online hasn't changed. My luck, though, it's just that my rejection letter was just on the bottom of the pile.

Why not? I have nothing to lose, a ton of you have peace of mind to gain, and I don't think a five-minute phone call would overburden the grad secretary. (Now, will anyone call Rutgers for me? 732.932.9576? Haha. I'm divided as to whether it would be messy to start a trend of calling each others' schools, but a quick phone call might not be such a bad idea as long as we don't all do it. The last thing we'd want to do is have phones ringing off the hook so grad offices can't get work done.)

At some schools, the university-wide fellowships are the really prestigious (and generous) ones that supersede department funding. I know University Fellowships at Rutgers are $35,000 a year and there are only about a dozen of them awarded. Not sure if that's anything like what Ohio does.

I was about to offer to do it, since I'm not applying to Harvard and I hate seeing you all so tormented. I know how nervous I am having heard basically nothing from any of my programs - I can't imagine how much more nervous I'd feel if there were dubious posts going up about programs I'd applied to. If someone's pranking, not cool. By the way, mega congrats to all who have been accepted. I've gotten behind in helping to celebrate here since I've had no admission results or news for this thread, but hopefully that changes soon!

For what it's worth, my Agora page hasn't changed. I'm not even gonna start trying to guess. I agree that BC may very well call; the only acceptance for BC listed on the Results page, for what that's worth, was done by phone.

I know the suspense is awful, but I'd wait. Even though you know the professors, it still risks putting them in an awkward situation. I'm sure they'd understand your curiosity, but still, they might get turned off if you asked.

I think I alternate between optimistic and pessimistic. I keep remembering the great interactions I had with my potential adviser/grad director at my top choice program and keep imagining getting the acceptance letter, opening it, etc. But then I start thinking, "Why would they want me?" and get a bit pessimistic, remembering how small cohorts are, how tough the competition is, and how much of a crap shoot the process can be. I agree with your idea - hope tempered by reality. We all really want to go to grad school, but I also keep thinking back to an exercise cpaige talked about that's designed to remind yourself how much good you can do in so many different ways. I try to remember that if I don't get into grad school this year, I still have tons of options for the future. (Still, getting this process over with will be a huge relief!)

All this weird stuff going on with the Results page is pretty unnerving. Fake posts are bad enough, but using someone's identity? Too bad that what could have been a good point of reference for when to expect decisions has started to turn into something we can't even take seriously.

I wouldn't sweat it too much. First of all, even if it's official policy not to call, that doesn't mean a potential adviser couldn't take it upon him or herself to call a student, so those results could have been isolated incidents. (Just my speculation, anyway.) Second, it sounds like you'll likely be getting the decision in the mail before you know it. No point in making your next few days a nightmare of worry! Don't put all your hopes on what's happened in previous years. Like a bunch of folks around here have said recently, the Results page can be helpful, but the only result that really matters is the one that comes in your mail or inbox!

I'm sorry to hear about the rejection. BC has a notoriously small cohort, so it could have come down to which professors had gotten grad students recently, or any number of factors that are outside of our control. I hope you get some good news soon! As for me, I won't assume anything until I hear from BC. My Applicant Status page still says something like "we look forward to reviewing your application" and lists my documents. I dunno.

Congrats! It's good to hear that the rumors about UIUC not funding their incoming cohort didn't pan out. Best of luck with the rest of your schools!

Just checked the Applicant Status page through Agora. Nothing's changed - it still only lists what materials they've received. According to the Results from last year, BC sent out at least some acceptances around February 1.

I've heard nothing from BC so far. If they sent it to me, it could be waiting in my mailbox on campus. (Our semester doesn't start til 2/1, so I haven't been around there this week to check it.)

Ditto the above. Kudos to cpaige and here's hoping that the news good news trickle turns into a flood starting February 1!