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I have not experienced this but I knew someone who did. She finished her classes and left with essentially a master's from one institution before transferring to another and continuing her PhD. I'm not sure of the process, but I think that may be better than leaving and attempting to reapply. good luck!

I was accepted into my dream school! However, my dream PI is not accepting graduate students this cycle. There are other professors and while I *can* and would be fine doing it, it's not what I really want to be doing. I know it's not the end-all-be-all of my degree but... It's disheartening. What, realistically, are my options here?

congrats on berkeley by the way!! out of curiosity, can I ask what the stipend looks like out there? ahh that makes sense! I'm glad then. I went to one of the UCs ^^

I wonder if I can visit again even if I've accepted? I love it out there. Oh that's who was CC'd on mine too! I did mention her but there's another professor i would like to work with. I wonder if that's an issue? Aaah, here I am getting bogged down in the details already...

I just got my first acceptance!! I thought I had months more to wait out, but wow!! I'm walking on air. I'm stunned. I'm alternating between crying and screaming. It was my top choice too! Of course, there's the details... A different professor than my top choice to work for was CC'd, and my status on the site is different... but I'm assuming the email supersedes all that. Right...? Right?

thank you and congrats to you too!! haha how did you know it was UIUC? but yes!! I haven't stopped smiling all day. Did you accept? Did they CC anyone on your email? I'm worried it's too early; my application status on the site says "awaiting decision," but I suppose I'm just being a worrywart now!

UIUC!! I'm still stunned. Guess it's true that research is more important than GPA!! I'm still so happy.

I got my first acceptance and it's to my top choice! I can't believe it, I didn't expect to get in, let alone this early. I'm scared to accept the offer in case I wake up....

Ah I must've missed that. I definitely understand about the difficulty of finding a US masters program; I considered doing a masters to make up for my embarrassingly weak GPA, but I'd heard mixed things about having a masters as a domestic applicant to a doctoral program after, so decided against it. I do think it's unconventional, but I think it's a plus you know what you're looking for! I know some people who went for a PhD, ended up hating research and left. And maybe the major outside of chemistry won't be an issue in that case. Best of luck!

That makes a lot of sense! That part about how a recent PhD from the school may be remembered is essentially in line with what I've been told. I suppose my next question is... how much does culture of a graduate program change over time? If a professor got his PhD from a program 40 years ago but is established now, will his perspective on fit no longer be true? I obviously have no idea what goes into a LOR of this type and I'm curious about the process. I was under the impression they only talked about a candidate's qualities?

Best of luck. I would maybe ask one of your current letter writers for advice, since I know nothing about your intended/past fields, if you feel comfortable doing so. What I also think helps, is if you are ABLE to, ask to meet in person to chat... I wrote to a teacher I had in classes 5 years ago, asking to meet for graduate school advice (I asked his opinion on some programs, but that may not be as helpful here since it'll be in a different field for you... maybe they will know reputation stuff, though), and then asked about letters. We met, chatted and he was very candid, and it also belayed any concerns I had about tone. I definitely do relate about the communication stuff; it always feels very odd and I put it off because it seemed awkward. But now we know better and can learn from our mistakes!

So professors generally do expect to get requests not immediately after they have had a student. It helps to keep in touch, but I do have some questions... Is the person who did the BFA thesis advising within the field of your MFA? Are your former employers related to this MFA? I'm not in the arts, but I've been told that in my area (chemistry), when applying for a PhD, you don't want to have more employers than professor writing your letters... But I don't know at all if that's true for the arts. I think in general, if a professor has shown hesitation, that's not a good sign. One tip I had was to specifically ask if professors would write you a strong LOR. If you think that this person is still the best choice you have (i.e., they are within the field for your MFA whereas a recent teacher is not, they're famous, idk, maybe it's preferred to have university letter writers than community college letter writers) , you can ask if there's anything you can provide (transcript, maybe write a summary on what you've been up to the last decade, etc) that might help them. Otherwise, I think your best option would be the ask another former teacher with fewer classes. EDIT: to say that again, take my advice with a grain of salt as I am in a completely different field from you. Hopefully you will get some more specific to you advice.

This is some nice advice! I'll try to keep to it; I think it's probably a nice exercise to try to get more positive, too! And I guess if I'm honest, my coping mechanisms tend to be.....nonexistant I suppose it's extra hard since I visited my top choice for a conference; the campus, the research--i fell in love with it all, despite knowing it was pretty high out of my reach. I tried this immediately and it doesn't seem like there's any information on my program but I do know that it's low I hope that'll help later, but for now it just feels awful to hear that I have no idea why I'm counting myself out already since my writers seem to have faith in me but who knows ah... plan B......... yes, I should probably.... have one of those............. but I do have some plans if I don't get in at all. It comes at a slight "damn, I should've done this BEFORE applying this cycle" but I can take that advice and do it as a plan B!

Oh gift cards are a great idea! Our campus has some great coffee places and I definitely have grabbed coffee with them all. BTW, who knew CRJ was such an ambitious graduate student?

This is such a minor detail, but I am curious... Does having a letter writer who did their degree where you're applying help? In a weird like "legacy" way.