Warelin

I think this greatly varies depending on the university. Some of the universities I visited had already taken note of the professors I had expressed interested in working with and had ensured that they had scheduled time for me to meet with them and discuss my interests. Some of the departments remembered very clearly who I was and what my interests were without having to look at their notes. These meetings were conversational in nature. The professors were really looking to hear more about your research and seeing how they best fit in within the scope of the project. Some departments gave a more general agenda and it was up to the applicant to have scheduled time with any professors.

It also may not be allowed by the department for you to keep a full-time job. A lot of times, departments expect you to be fully-engage with the program. This often means your attendance and participation in events outside of classes.

Congratulations!

I'm not sure if it possible to realistically figure out a way to accurately interpret programs. There are a few factors that play into this. How many people were accepted into a cohort? What percentage of those applicants dropped out after earning an MA? How many people decided to not enter the National Job Market? How many people decided that they wanted an alternative academic job or decided to pursue another career instead? How comfortable was the student with leaving the city of their school? Does the student feel comfortable moving their family across the country if they've started a family? Was the student completing the degree as part of a passion project? I'm sure there are many other factors which I can't think of but these are some things which can impact placement data and which can often not be seen through data alone.

My cohort is mixed. Half of us have MA degrees; half of us only have a Bachelor's degree. I don't think 23/24 is considered 'too young' for a program. I don't think TA'ing or adjuncting count much for PhD programs. It might be a nice 'bonus' but I don't think it'll make a difference to whether or not a program accepts you. Fit is still and will likely always be king when there are so many well qualified applicants applying.

Thanks @Mayli. Stanford, Oregon and and Kentucky are now the only ones missing. Any updated information on any school is always appreciated too!

Congrats!

I'd like to add a note here: There are some schools that have 'invisible waitlists'.

If you do contribute changes, please make sure to update the year of the offer as well. This will allow other applicants to see how recent the offer was made. I've highlighted schools in green that are missing stipend information. These schools include: Oregon, Boston University, Missouri, Kentucky and Stanford. If you have funding information on those schools, please contribute it If you notice a number is wrong, please feel free to correct it. Please do not erase entries from the list.

As another point of reference, Wisconsin has a nice record of information that list applicant stats. (There are more available by other universities as well. I think there are laws that Public Schools must make the information publically available somewhere.) Taking a look at Madison's stats: 211 people applied in Fall 2015 for English. 35 were offered admission. 17 enrolled. 156 people applied in Fall 2016 for English. 9 were offered admission. 7 enrolled. 149 people applied in Fall 2017 for English. 10 were offered admission. 2 enrolled. Comparing it to Biochemistry: 242 people applied in Fall 2015 for Biochemistry. 46 were offered admission. 18 enrolled. 243 people applied in Fall 2016 for Biochemistry. 60 were offered admission. 22 enrolled. 239 people applied in Fall 2017 for Biochemistry. 61 were offered admission. 23 enrolled,

15 acceptances can be considered large by a number of colleges. A few years ago, Brandeis only had 2 spots available for their cohort. There are other colleges which also regularly only send out acceptances for as many spots as they have. If a cohort is only 6 people, they won't send out a 7th acceptance into someone else rejects their offer. A lot of these colleges usually end up sending no more than 10 acceptances.

I'm bumping this thread because I think the current cohort could find it helpful when they make their decisions.

@WildeThing I think this one was meant for you!

I'm not sure if this will be the news you want to hear but: I don't think the long weekend will make a difference on when colleges notify. I can't find any college that has that day off.

Cycles are never quite what you expect. It's always a pleasure to see the highs of a cycle and the friendships formed. Congrats on the waitlists for Columbia and WUSTL! Congrats! Here's to hoping you hear back from more programs soon! (This year has been incredibly competitive because they've gained a few new resources as well as having gained an additional month of stipend-support. The previous stipend was guaranteed for 10 months; from now on, it's guaranteed for 11 + whatever additional funding you can secure with all the funding opportunities they have. There are a few courses that you can take during the summer that also come with a $2,000 stipend because they're associated with the Mellon Summer Dissertation Seminar. Here's to hoping they move you from their MA to Ph.D. list! I think there's some hope to be had!