AmityDuPeuple

Congrats! Brandeis is an amazing school!! I am pretty biased though

I am sorry you are going through this. I can tell how much a fair shot at being seen/heard (through your app) means to you. This situation stinks. I definitely think it is lose/lose. They are missing out on a potential student who is passionate and has a strong sense of justice. I am sure wherever you end up will be lucky to have you!

I would start with the graduate center and move on from there. If it was a mistake on their end, they should be able to help with contacting the department. Just because they admitted applicants does not mean all of the admitted students will accept their offer and attend Albany. Again, if your application is strong and you are a good fit they may put you in first position on the waitlist and then admit you when someone declines their offer. And in the worst case scenario, and you aren't admitted and/or there is nothing they can do to give you a fair shot and Albany is your first choice and you would choose it over any other university, I would ask if they could save your application and review it next year. I am not sure I would recommend transferring from one program to another, but have a friend who started in one PhD program and transferred to another. It was the right decision for them and it resulted in great opportunities which eventually led to a TT position at a great university. Hope is not lost. If there is anything that all PhDs have in common, it is their persistence and dedication.

I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that a.) there won't be any more people admitted to the program and b.) they sat on your application for a month. The application process is so varied from institution to institution that there is no way of knowing for sure how they process applications and then how the committee reviews them. A few things could have happened. Your application could have been sent along with the rest and for whatever reason the generic email you received went out later than expected or wanted (maybe they sent them out when all departments applications were in). There may have been a delay in the system for whatever reason. Who knows? I think in this situation it is best to err on the side of caution and give them the benefit of the doubt. If your application is strong and they feel you are a great fit for their program, I am sure they will do what they can to get you an offer. I would craft a carefully worded email asking for clarification and explaining your confusion and concern, save it as a draft, give yourself a day or two to think about how to edit it, edit it to be sure it sounds professional and concerned but not angry, and send it in. Maybe have a friend or two look over it too before you send it in. Computer mediated communication makes it hard to read tone. If someone is having a bad day or feeling defensive about something else, even a thoughtful and well worded phrase placed in the wrong spot might make your email come across in a negative way. I am sure it will all get cleared up. The anxiety and uncertainty is making us all on edge.

Current MA student at Brandeis. They are working on it. I don't know how much longer it will be, but I know the committee has met a few times.

I have and I haven't heard anything yet. There aren't any acceptances or rejections on the results board yet. It seems like they might send them out in two waves about a week apart, but each year is slightly different. I think we should be hearing from them some time next week.

I completely understand. I come form an interdisciplinary background and also tend to be intradisciplinary (soc makes it really easy) too. When I was deciding whether to pursue soc or anth as my disciplinary anchor I looked up statistics about average median income for those who hold PhDs in both fields as well as job growth and available work outside of academia. Ideally, I want to be a tenured professor, but I also want to be sure that a plan B will be fairly easy to come by. Soc won out with the ability to work outside of academia and the median pay, but not necessarily in job growth. I think they were 1% or so behind the projected job growth for anth. Also, soc is just a better fit for what I want to do. I think you should take into consideration the compromises you will be making to research the topic you want and aim for what would be closest to what you would do if there were no disciplinary, monetary, political, etc. factors constraining your research and writing. This does not answer your dilemma of whether to apply. But maybe it helps?

If it were me, I wouldn't. I cringe every time I have to pay an application fee. And if all things are equal between the schools and you already have an offer of funding you can live off of, is there really a good reason to apply?

The first always seems to be the one to set it off. I was resigned to just letting them role in until I received the invite from ND. Now I check my email 20 times a day and frequently check this forum for any tidbit of info that might surface about acceptances/rejections/interviews. At least we know there are others in the same boat. Solidarity makes the uncertainty and the wait a bit easier.

Have you already been admitted to these programs? I ask because piggybacking visits off of each other is generally frowned upon. That being said, I would imagine that many programs would understand our desire to do so, being that you are an international student and travel is expensive. I would also be careful for in the way you ask, if you do, for additional funding from other schools. They may feel as if they are contributing to or aiding their competition in some way. This certainly seems like a tricky situation. Best of luck and congratulations on your acceptance!

Looking at past years, it seems like the earliest anybody waiting to hear back from Yale will get some sort of news is around Feb. 19th. Most acceptances and rejections seemed to go out late Feb. early March.

Waitlisted for NC State. I just need one acceptance. The suspense is thick.

You have got me there. I have no idea. Someone else said it in this thread best, no news isn't bad news.

I know a few of us have been invited to visit Notre Dame, but I don't recall hearing about any rejections.

Thanks for the info! I am trying not to get my hopes up, just in case. That being said, when I spoke with Terry McDonnell about the visit he seemed confident that my interests aligned with those of the department, including soc of food (used as a vehicle for exploring deservingness and issues related to inequality). My interests are a bit different from the other ND grads whose dissertations focused on food, but they align in so many other ways too. I think ND would be a great fit. Not to mention I grew up in NE Indiana so I already know about the cold winters and the weird weather, so hopefully I won't have to spend too much time reacclimate if I do get offered a spot.

@royalbench You might want to check the acceptances/interviews/rejections thread. It is a bit more active than this one. http://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/85946-fall-2017-acceptancesinterviewsrejections-thread/?page=9#comment-1058441970

I think it depends on the visit. If you are already accepted then it will most likely be pretty relaxed and it is really just a chance for them to sell you on the school and the program and for you to make a good impression on your (potential) advisor(s). If you haven't been accepted (like myself) then the visit may feel a little more formal. Despite what ND says, I still can't help but feel like the visit can deeply impact the decision they make. On Thursday I am speaking with a professor who earned his PhD at ND to see if I can't glean a bit more information about what these visits are like and hopefully receive insights and reflections on the program now that he is a few years out. If you'd like, I can post what he says about the visit.

I think most, if not all, are talking about the soc program. This is a thread within the sociology forum.

Great! Thanks for sharing! I feel like I could write a novella while trying to prepare for my impending visit. I'd like to be much more deliberate than what I have been; this definitely helps me feel better prepared to answer some questions beyond the basics. Thanks again!

Agreed, though it doesn't hurt to take some of the advice as a grad student.

Welcome! And Congratulations on your acceptances. I don't think that it would be rude to ask about funding for visiting. Do they already have a recruitment event planned? If so, I think it makes it a little easier to navigate when asking for available funds. I think most programs have it in their budget, but may not be willing to advertise it. Expressing interest in a visit and inquiring about any available travel funds, in my opinion, only serves to show your desire to attend UCLA and your willingness to ask for the necessary aid you need to make it happen. This may reflect positively on you, as once you matriculate into a program you will have to be or become comfortable with asking for money via various grants and fellowships. I asked Brandeis for travel funding when deciding on my current MA program (it was not offered via email) and they were happy to help. That being said, I have noticed many programs do cap their travel stipend for prospective students at around $500, so you should be willing to pay the difference if need be. Also, don't mention your other visits and the funding they have offered. This doesn't come across well. You might want to check out this blog. I have found it incredibly helpful in other ways and there might be advice that is pertinent to what you are asking. She also has a book, The Professor is In (same title as the blog). As a disclaimer, I do appreciate what she has to say and much of it is incredibly useful, but there are times when she comes across as elitist and potentially classist. For example when discussing attire for campus visits she suggests purchasing $400+ boots because they look professional and keep your feet nice and warm. This is great, but I don't know many grad students who can drop that kind of money on boots. Best of luck!

I think it really depends on the school. I applied to some schools December 1st and still haven't heard back, but I also applied to ND on January 4th and heard from them on the 19th. As far as cost goes, I have no idea. I imagine that they wouldn't be double the cost. But again, I have no clue. I am not sure how most universities work, but I think that many try to offer some sort of financial support for qualified students, even if they are earning an MA (in your case an MSW) and not a PhD. I wouldn't stress about it until you se if you are accepted and what kind of funding package they offer. Once you get in, then you can figure out what you need to do to afford it.

It doesn't seem unrealistic. Are you wondering because that is a fairly short turnaround or because you feel it is too long?

Would you be willing to share the hard questions, or just generally what they related to? It would be help others prepare ideas beyond answers for the usual questions.

Seconded! It is great to hear that people are getting acceptances. It lets those of us playing the waiting game live vicariously through you for a moment!