Ilikekitties

I was waitlisted by my top choice PhD program back in February, and I was told that I would receive a final decision by early April. As it is now mid-April, I'm wondering what the "hold up" might be. Any thoughts?

I'm getting SO anxious and it's hard to sleep at night. I just wanna know already!

Got another rejection yesterday.

Got another rejection yesterday.

Hey all. I have three grad programs that I have yet to hear from, one of which is a waitlist at my top choice PhD program. Assuming that grad school doesn't happen this year, I'm gonna have a decision to make about my current job. I'm currently teaching English at a university in China. I like the job, but I don't think that I want to teach ESL forever. My contract with the university expires in July, but I do have the opportunity to renew my contract and teach again for the next school year. I'm kinda stuck. There are serious pros and cons to teaching in China. I've been here since September and I miss the variety American food, which is a con. I have dietary restrictions that make eating in this part of China pretty difficult (basically I must limit carbs for medical reasons, and the province I'm in is known for its wheat production). It's a small city, so imported foods are hard to come by and expensive. Full on Nescafe haha. This, along with air pollution and career track relatedness are the biggest cons I think. There are also some serious pros, like designing lessons in the comfort of my apartment as opposed to being in an office all day, time off, creativity in lesson planning, hanging out with students, being able to afford to eat out, living alone, etc. But, I also wonder what my chances are of finding a job in an anthro-related/research-related field in the US. I have a BA (2016) in anthropology with an emphasis on cultural anthro. I have academic research experience and TA experience as an undergrad, but most of my jobs in college were things like tutoring. I do have a museum collections internship that I did for one summer, but it's not relevant for my research experience or interests. I mean...what are the chances? I don't have any "connections" that are no doubt needed to get a job these days. Any advice?

My profs knew me well because I went to a school with about 1300 students and class sizes were small, so I'd assume that their letters were pretty personalized.

Profs did look over my statements both last year and this year. I went to a liberal arts school, so no admissions committees there, but maybe my recommenders sat in on meetings as PhD students? Idk. I have not asked my recommenders about what they wrote, but I trust that they all wrote positive letters. They didn't say anything otherwise. However, last year one of my recommenders (who I did not ask again this cycle) wrote caveats in hers about her thinking that I should take time off between undergrad and grad.

One of the three is an official waitlist. As for the other two, one is an English school with a rolling deadline (I applied in late January) and the other is a Canadian program that, from what I understand, just sends out decisions later than most places in the US.

Aren't all PhD programs hard to get into though? That's what I was told as an undergrad. My subfield is cultural/environmental/nutritional anthro. I'm currently teaching English in China. My second major in undergrad was modern languages where I studied Spanish and French. In undergrad I studied abroad for one semester on a field-based program in Costa Rica and I also attended an ethnographic field school in Jamaica.

That's a good idea! I haven't emailed any POI's about my apps. Last year I did contact one person at a PhD program that I got rejected by about my app, and I never got a response. Usually they give a reason that's along the lines of "not enough spots." I applied to that same program this year and I got rejected again, although I was told that I was among the top 30% of applicants It was a top program. I graduated with a 3.8 GPA and I have research experience. It's hard to tell if my GRE scores could be holding me back or if it's just bad luck. I mean, Idk why a top program would consider me with my GRE scores because my scores would definitely be lower than most applicants.' I heard that some programs don't even LOOK at applications if GRE scores are below 300 (or whatever number they set). I really don't wanna retake the GRE to get a few more Verbal points. If I retook it it's not like I'd go from a 150 to a 160 or whatever unless I got a tutor or something.

Thank you so much. Wow! I'm so glad that things worked out for you!

Hey all. I am nearly a year out of undergrad and this is my 2nd round of applications. Last year I applied to 11 programs and was accepted to 1 with minimal funding, so I did not attend. This year I applied to 6 programs, and so far I've gotten 3 rejections and 1 alternate list decision from my top choice PhD program. I'm not hopeful that grad school is gonna happen this round, either. Although I graduated SCL, one of my profs/recommendors thinks that my GRE scores may be part of the reason why I've gotten such rotten luck (I took the GRE in Fall 2015 and got 139Q(literally bubble-raced it)/150V/4.5W). I know they're horrible, but...honestly I just don't think that I have the aptitude for tests. Even with the ACT, my highest score was a 23, and that was when I was actually taking math courses. Currently I'd say that my math level is below that of a middle schooler. So, as I may very well be applying for the 3rd time this fall, I'm just curious how many times it took you to get into your current program. Is it "normal" to take a few tries to get in? I get that PhD programs are crazy competitive and I'm not trying to beat myself up about it, but it's hard not to.

I'm in a similar position. Applied to 6 schools and got 3 rejections, and the other 3 have yet to send decisions.

I got another rejection

That's fantastic!

There's one prof who I really want to work with at the school that I got waitlisted at. She only became part of the faculty in 2015, so Idk how much "weight" she has in the decision-making process. There are other faculty I'd be compatible with as well with this program.

Idk. I applied last year as well and I got most of my rejections in March. People kept saying "no news might be good news!" but that wasn't the case with me.

Yes, I understand. I thought that your initial comment was very good at putting rejection into perspective and comparing academia to things outside of academia. I'm in no way saying that people who were once in my shoes can't be empathetic, but I am saying that grad students and grads/professors have the gift of certainty in terms of being in a program and hindsight in terms of being able to reflect. I have the gift of certainty with college; 5 years ago I was a wreck waiting for undergrad schools to get back and I didn't know what was gonna happen. I thought that the world was gonna end because I didn't have a concrete plan. Now I think "well, now I'm in a different place and I'm facing new struggles." People in the workplace will probably always feel this way, especially when it comes to job security. I could go to an undergrad forum and give some good advice to some kids in agony, and I'll have a certain understanding of that, but I also have the sort of "bias" or whatever because I've been where they're trying to go. Again, this doesn't mean that advice from me wouldn't be helpful or that I wouldn't be empathetic. That being said, I think that everyone's struggles are relative and they all should be acknowledged as valid, so someone struggling to get into grad school and someone struggling to get a job or to get grants have something in common. We're all at different places. I got one acceptance last year, but it was to a MA program with minimal funding in a very expensive city, so I decided not to attend. The decision not to attend ended up being for the better because now I'm really glad that I didn't go to grad school right away. Hindsight is a gift because only now do I understand that the choice not to attend was a good one. 1 year ago if you had told me this, I would have called you crazy because I was hellbent on going to grad school.

@AP had great advice. I'm not dismissing them. I'm talking about posters in general on here. Although most posters mean well, I do think that thinking about perspective is important, however, because not everyone has been to grad school and has past experiences to reflect on. Someday, maybe we will. Grad school is a place where many of us want to be and have tried to be, and have failed basically. Many of us don't have the experience or the privilege to say "ok, this is how I felt at this time in my life. Now I feel this way still, even though I'm where I wanted to be years ago." Not that exactly, but I think this goes for everyone who can look back. Some of us can only look forward. It's not a criticism of posters. It's just a product of where we are in our careers. I'll say the same thing about my professors who made it through grad school and who now have jobs in academia: good job, you made it. I see that there will always be troubles. But...you got there. You still made it. Some of us haven't even gotten there and we don't know if we will. I'll also say that if I ever make it into grad school, I will never again understand what it's like for an applicant who hasn't gotten in. I may be like "well, it took me a couple tries, but eventually...." okay. An applicant who gets rejection after rejection doesn't even know if they'll get in "eventually." It's the uncertainty that sucks more than anything. People told me, "oh, you're an excellent applicant. You'll get in!" and then I didn't. It's a total crapshoot.

I'll just say something: some people, in general, speak from the position of being in a program and dealing with disappointment, where others are speaking about getting rejected from programs or not getting any acceptances. These are two very different places and hindsight is 20/20. Some of us just wanna get in and worry about the trials of grad school and academia later. We know that grad school isn't always a happy place, but it'd be nice to at least get there first.

Hey all. This is my second year applying. As you can see from my signature, last season I applied to 11 programs and got accepted to one with minimal funding, so I did not attend. This year I applied to only 6 programs, and I've already received 2 rejections and 1 waitlist. So, as a result of these setbacks, I'm feeling a bit....hopeless. After last year's episode, all I want is good news, but I don't know if it will ever come. Does anyone else feel as miserable as I do?

One of my recommenders wrote to me after I notified her about my most recent rejection: "I'm sorry to hear that, XXXXXXX, but keep hope alive! Excellent candidates are supposed to receive rejections in this system. Remember your value."

Ikr! Like it just makes it harder for students who really want to go to this program (I do). For an idea of numbers, this program, in 2015 (their last admission cycle), there were 123 applicants and they accepted 21 of them. 10 applicants accepted the offer.

Their cultural anthro program does staggered admission, so I'd have to wait until Fall 2018 to apply again.

I don't know when the admitted students weekend is. I saw one online for the undergrads, but I didn't see anything for their anthropology dept. The email said that I should expect to receive a decision by early April.