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Also, guys, I think this comic routine kind of summarizes the applicant-grad school relationship. They rush you and rush you to apply and then immediately go silent once you submit your app. It's right down to the detail that some folks get fed up by how School A treats them and instead opt for 2nd choice School B (in this case, we'll call it "Brian").
 

These forums are definitely what you would call a "biased" sample. There are probably plenty of applicants like you out there, but all you see here are us anxious worriers, lol. 

Also, guys, I think this comic routine kind of summarizes the applicant-grad school relationship. They rush you and rush you to apply and then immediately go silent once you submit your app. It's right down to the detail that some folks get fed up by how School A treats them and instead opt for 2nd choice School B (in this case, we'll call it "Brian").
 

Gosh, it's hard to count. I check my email every time the ping for a new message sounds on my phone. Since I have three email accounts total, two of which are spammed often with a lot of adverts, I'd say around 10 times today. Usually, it is much worse. If I add in gradcafe results searching, my total is more like 15. 
 
These two spammy accounts annoy the hell out of me for this reason. The only thing that makes up for it is the email header, "Harry Potter and the Meth" whenever ff.net sends me an alert for HP and the Methods of Rationality. At least then, I can get a chuckle instead of rolling my eyes at yet another Coldstone ice cream deal [those folks don't take "no" for an answer]. 

Guys, I just realized that this might be House of Card's Claire Underwood talking about her Season 2 interview......
 

(not from said interview, but this is what came up on Google and it fit, folks)

I understand waiting a bit on acceptances in case interviews go sour or 1st choices turn you down, but for the people who don't even make this invisible "cut", why wait?
 
Keeping up on here and sometimes directly contacting these schools, I already know a good half of the schools I applied to have rejected me [not all though, so I'm not gonna cry a river] and would appreciate it if they could just send the letters now and be done with it.
 
It doesn't even need to be a nice form letter via snail mail. Just "Rejection" or "No" in the subject line of an email would do quite nicely. 
 
 
And on a related note, some transparency on why we were rejected beyond the "many qualified applicants" BS would also be greatly appreciated. I don't need anything beyond simple yes/no checkboxes, but I know that's asking for too much, even if such a simple system does seem easy enough to implement. It's better for them if unqualified fools like me  continue to pay application fees.

I'm in the exact same boat. Maybe there is an unofficial waitlist hiding around there somewhere? Or maybe Oregon is just cruel. For now, I'm going to still consider it to be a rejection. 

I've heard that similar things have happened in the past with MIT. You'd think the preeminent tech schools would be better at emailing people.
 
I can't imagine the emotional roller coaster of getting into your top choice and then having it revoked...

Glad to hear that I am not alone. I wake up every morning telling myself that I'm only going to check it just once or twice. Before I know it I've relapsed and checked it 10 times before noon. The worst part is that I even check it between 2am and 5am when I get up for a sip of water. I'm always afraid that my fiancé is going to catch me checking it at like 3am so I go out to the living room for a quick fix haha  

I'm an email junkie because I have push notifications on my phone! So I don't "check" per say, but every time I see the little email icon, I get all excited. For no reason.

Also, guys, I think this comic routine kind of summarizes the applicant-grad school relationship. They rush you and rush you to apply and then immediately go silent once you submit your app. It's right down to the detail that some folks get fed up by how School A treats them and instead opt for 2nd choice School B (in this case, we'll call it "Brian").
 

I haven't heard a peep from any schools that had a December 1st deadline. On the other hand, I've already been accepted by schools with January 15th and February 1st deadlines. 

I understand waiting a bit on acceptances in case interviews go sour or 1st choices turn you down, but for the people who don't even make this invisible "cut", why wait?
 
Keeping up on here and sometimes directly contacting these schools, I already know a good half of the schools I applied to have rejected me [not all though, so I'm not gonna cry a river] and would appreciate it if they could just send the letters now and be done with it.
 
It doesn't even need to be a nice form letter via snail mail. Just "Rejection" or "No" in the subject line of an email would do quite nicely. 
 
 
And on a related note, some transparency on why we were rejected beyond the "many qualified applicants" BS would also be greatly appreciated. I don't need anything beyond simple yes/no checkboxes, but I know that's asking for too much, even if such a simple system does seem easy enough to implement. It's better for them if unqualified fools like me  continue to pay application fees.

There are schools in my list that I know have already sent out their acceptances and are even notifiying them of the prospective student events, which means I am 99% sure I'm not in.  Yet, I've only had one official rejection. I hate to be in limbo.  If I'm rejected, fine, tell me.  I'm a cold truth over warm, false hope kinda girl.  Limbo sucks.  And it hurts their feelings?  Please!  I guarantee it hurts mine more.  I understand that there are more rejections than acceptances and thus it takes more time, but you only have to write one email and then have a secretary send it to the group with the recipents either BCCed or undisclosed.  I know because I used to be a graduate admissions asistant while I was an undergrad. 
 
Unfortunately, this is just the way of the world. The winners always find out they win before the losers find out they lost, usually by process of elimination.  Just beause it's the norm doesn't it mean it doesn't suck.

This is a good point. Especially when you have to reapply next year, it would be really helpful to know so you don't reapply to a bad fit. 

I don't know about others, but I actually would prefer this. If I didn't get admitted because of luck, fine, I'll reapply next year. If it was a money issue that will be resolved next year, students who didn't graduate, etc. that would be great to know. If my research is not seen as fitting in with the lab, then that's not likely to change, and I could then focus on other schools I may have overlooked for fit in subsequent years of applications. I got shut out last year but applied to some of the same schools this year. If I had known they had no interest in me based on my research interests, etc., that would have been ~$150 I could have used to apply to a school that might have been more interested (or just pocketed to get a massage at about this time in the process - man, that sounds good).

Well, I started translating the application fees into bottles of wine and the resulting number makes me sad and WANT the hypothetical wine. And then one I heard recently: "If I wanted to pay so much to be rejected, I would have just paid for an online dating service."

Don't judge. Humor is how I cope, people. 
 
I took a nap, had a weird dream about grad admissions, and decided that there were two great songs for categorizing my reactions to bad news from schools:
 
1. 
Reaction Rating ---- Kim Crying 
 
Adele ~ "Someone Like You" 
Applicable lyrics - 
A. Someone else got the invite "I heard that you're settled down
That you found a girl and you're married now 
I heard that your dreams came true
Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you"
 
B. Not hearing back FOREVER Old friend, why are you so shy? 
Ain't like you to hold back or hide from the light"
C. Conflicted feelings & stubborn pride "Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you
Don't forget me, I beg, I remember you said
Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead"
 
 
2. 
Reaction Rating ---- Art History Snapchat That is Soooo Done 
 
Skrillex ~ "Stranger"
Applicable Lyrics: 
"I just gotta thank you, all the love I gave you
Came and you took it all away
And now there is no pain, there's everything to gain here
Now that I'm lost I think I'll stay
In hell, there's comfort in these flames and I don't feel the pain
In hell, I'll forget your name here, you'll become a stranger (Become a stranger)
I'll forget your name here, you'll become a stranger
(You'll become a stranger)
I'll forget your name here, you'll become a stranger
(You'll become a stranger)"
 
 
 
BONUS - 50 Shades Quote for the Occasion 

First of all- if only 60% of the final grade is determined by tests, then it's a very good start. What is the other 40% determined by? 
Seems to me like in order to do well (meaning- more than just passing), a student in your class can't focus solely on the tests. But, to answer your question- I would have the entire grade be based on weekley statistical analysis projects combining whatever was learned in the past class with everything that was alreadt taught. I would phrase the question in a way that wouldn't tell the students which statistical procedure to carry out, but rather give them a question and see if they can understand themselves which procedure is needed and how to carry it out,

Ditto on clinical. My school search was often very frustrating in this aspect. Sometimes I could only make it work when a clinical professor was also an "associated" faculty member of a crim or social psych area. 

GRE success is probably a better indicator of an applicant's SES (a strong predictor of grad school success through no fault of their own) than tenacity. In fact, I have actually heard that very few people manage to improve significantly between testings, which has lead some to advocate preparing and taking the test only once. [actually, ETS aims for this very thing in the name of "accuracy"] It also appears to be the case that you have purposefully ignored my earlier post about comparison to the SAT. I studied quant for 3 months using the exact study schedule you put forward with absolutely no improvement to my score. 
 
There is nothing wrong, in theory, with using a standardized test. However, if the standardized test is not supported by empirical data to be a better predictor of success than other measures, it is a indeed a bad and arbitrary requirement. In fact, such a lack of support defeats the purpose of using a standardized test as a semi-objective measure. 

Check out:
Stenstrom, D. M., Curtis, M., & Iyer, R. (2013). School Rankings, Department Rankings, and Individual Accomplishments What Factors Predict Obtaining Employment After the PhD? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8(2), 208–217. doi:10.1177/1745691612474316
 
Abstract
The outcome of a graduate student’s hunt for employment is often attributed to the student’s own accomplishments,
the reputation of the department, and the reputation of the university. In 2007, a national survey of psychology graduate
students was conducted to assess accomplishments and experiences in graduate school, part of which was an assessment
of employment after completion of the doctorate (PhD). Five hundred and fifty-one respondents who had applied for
employment reported whether they had obtained employment and in what capacity. Survey results were then integrated
with the National Research Council’s most recent official ranking system of academic departments. The strongest predictor
of employment was department-level rankings even while controlling for individual accomplishments, such as publications,
posters, and teaching experience. Equally accomplished applicants for an employment position were not equal, apparently,
if they graduated from differently ranked departments. The results also show the degree to which school-level rankings,
department-level rankings, and individual accomplishments uniquely predict the various types of employment, including jobs
at PhD-granting institutions, master’s-granting institutions, liberal arts colleges, 2-year schools, outside academia, or no
employment at all.

I think it can be a tough market either way, but people have consistently told me I will have an easier time finding a job within Criminology. My dept chair said there are 4x more job listings than there are new Crim PhD's each year (I will have to ask him where he got that). I've never seen any actual stats, besides one that said within sociology programs, criminology is the most likely specialization they are looking for in new professors. But, if you think about it logically... there are A LOT more psychology programs than there are criminology programs, so, the market could be flooded.
 
Jobs are one of the reason I chose Crim over Psych (I have a psych background too), but it was also just what made more sense with my interests. It disagree that it would cut you off from secondary interests - I think that it's beneficial to have an interdisciplinary background, and I put a little social psychology in most of my research projects because it's a secondary interest of mine. You may have to do what other people want you do to in grad school, but when you have your PhD, you can carve your own path out as you may. I think it comes down to personal preference. Can you not live without psychology research? Then go that route. Can you not live with criminology research? Than go that route. You probably couldn't go wrong with either program.

Ooooh...I thought of another one!  Dido's "See the Sun"
 
"And you probably don't wanna hear tomorrow's another day, but I promise you you'll see the sun again."