ChrisTOEFert

It's not over yet. Depending on where you applied the final decision day is April 15th. While you might not have heard anything back yet, some programs are very slow. One of the schools I am applying to doesn't send out notifications until JULY for some of its programs. I was shocked when I saw that on the results board when I was just doing a general search. I know how hard it can be, but you'll just have to force a smile and take a big breather. If you have not heard anything by the end of February I don't think it would be impolite to fire off a quick email to the POI whom you applied under if you have a decent relationship, or to the grad co-ordinator of the department if you feel weird about option 1. Just say that you were wondering the status of your application and was hoping someone could shed some light onto how the process was going. Worst case they say no new developments, best case they let you know how things are moving. Don't tie your self worth to a grad school acceptance/rejection. It is a minor hurdle. Yes it will suck immensely if you don't get in because of the time invested and the feeling of disappointment, but literally everything about your application is out of your hands the second you hit submit. Hell, I did my undergrad thesis with the McMaster prof in my sig, volunteered as a RA in his lab during my MSc, took several of his classes during my undergrad, and was in relatively friendly/frequent email communications with him while doing my MSc elsewhere.....yet I still have no idea how my application is doing because he has gone radio silent since December. I've sent him two emails about setting up a collaborative project with a huge name in my field that wants to work together with me and him and still nothing. So even if you know someone well, this time of year blows, it's best just to relax as best you can

It is not the universities responsibility to communicate that you need to have every transcript in, it is your job to ensure you do. If you add it to your application, have it on your C/V, or whatever way in which they found out you went there, it is solely your responsibility to show that you went there with a transcript. I think the school did more than enough by reaching out to you to say that you were missing something. Think about the alternative, you didn't attach it, they said screw it you having a missing piece, we aren't reviewing this, and give you an early rejection. They also have no requirement to put you back in the priority pool, whatever that is? Is it for early acceptance or something? If they deem that after reviewing your transcripts they want to go with someone else, you and your father really don't have any recourse. Their decision is their decision and you have to live with it. Also, what your father did is completely out of line, he had absolutely no right to do this. While I am sure the department deals with helicopter parents on a weekly basis (probably daily during application season), I don't really see how they can look favourably on his decision. To answer your question: Yes, you are in the wrong. I would be beyond livid with my dad and grateful the school took the time to reach out. The month time frame is nothing, it likely might have taken them that long to comb through all the applications to make sure everything was complete. Perhaps the prof you are applying under was sick, away at a conference, on sabbatical for a couple extra weeks, etc. and didn't get a chance to get through all the apps in what you deem a timely manner. Just breathe.

I applied to McMaster University and the University of Toronto (both in Canada). I just heard back from U of T this morning regarding an acceptance.

Applied to two Canadian schools only, as they are both "at home" and require minimal commute from my home city. Applied to McMaster University and the University of Toronto. I finished my MSc at Toronto in August of 2016, accepted a PhD program that was in Copenhagen for October 1st, 2016...hated it...was back home by November 1st, 2016. I'm happy that my previous acceptance for Fall 2016 at U of T, and me subsequently rejecting it, did not hurt me in this application season. I got an email from my MSc supervisor, who is going to be a co-supervisor for my PhD that I was accepted as of Friday or something. I am happy, but truth be told, I hope McMaster comes through as I am a little bit more invested in the project and it is more aligned with my research interests. Good luck to all.

To add onto this, big stipends don't necessarily go very far, even if you're frugal, live with roommates, and do everything in your power to not overspend. So I got into a dream program that any new researcher would have killed to get into that started Oct 1 of 2016. I was funded for €57,700 per year, which included a €600/month travel benefit. My flights were covered as I was going to have to intern at 4 different home-base universities, my materials were covered, and I got 2 free laptops. So, basically, if we convert to Canadian money, I was banking about $90,000/year, which is beyond ridiculous for a PhD salary. I was making the same as my supervisors in my undergrad and MSc. BUT! the one problem was, I was going to be living in Copenhagen. I did my research, I knew Copenhagen was expensive. I'd heard the horror stories of the €12 pint of beer, the $2000 CAD a month room rentals, etc. I thought I was prepared. I wasn't. So I rented a room in Copenhagen, that I frankly lucked out on. It was quite literally across the street from my lab. The rent was cheap for the location, $1,100 CAD/month for a 15m2 room (so about 5m long and 3m wide), in a quiet apartment complex, and my roommates were a married couple in their mid-to-late 30s that went to their vacation house every Friday and returned late on Sunday...and they had a super cute, friendly dog. Then I had to buy a new phone...which was $600 CAD, then food came (which yes, $50 a week is doable, if you eat beans and rice). It was closer to double that. Realistically, my stipend was insane...for Canada and the US. But it was actually basically directly on par with University stipends in Canada (~$17,000) with maybe an extra 2-3 thousand thrown on top once you took the Scandinavian COL into account, which NOBODY told me about. Even my supervisor whom I was in contact with frequently never mentioned how insanely expensive it was, he undershot several things by several hundreds of dollars. Buying clothes was completely out of the question for me, as Levi's jeans that I could easily get at home for around $50 on sale were $200+ in Copenhagen. As the others have said here, be prepared. Ask your supervisors realistically about the COL. Ask to be put in touch with a friendly grad student that has lived in the area for a couple of years. If they do a meet and greet/wine and dine and you're invited, ask the grad students honestly. I did an interview in Germany for a PhD placement and my first question was point blank: how much money do you make, and is it livable? I got some honest answers that told me that had I been accepted, I probably would not have chosen to go. They made decent money for the region, which was a small town in Thuringia, "East" Germany, but the COL for apartments was dumb high for the area, doubling or tripling that of nearby towns and cities. Good luck.

But they are probably not doing this. This is all hearsay from some random internet account with 1 post. They are just trying to get you all riled up, and I bet it stems from the long list of "Other" posts on the results board. They are just trying to start a panic where none needs to be. If the university was trying to weed out applicants, I think a far better way to do this would be to inform the incoming cohort either en-masse or on an individual basis that if you haven't heard about funding by date X (whatever that may be), you get nothing. I am willing to gamble that if you got into Duke as well as a second university, but got partial funding at the other one, you'd turn Duke down. Seems far more efficient a method than just "ignoring" emails. Honestly, if they ignored my emails I would probably just think I'm the problem and chalk it up to a bitchy staff and think nothing of it. I wouldn't decline an offer over it, provided I had an equal offer from both schools, or a choice period.

True, but they wouldn't give each one of them funding details. Taking even the most cursory glance at either the results board or these forums shows that a lot of students are kept in the dark about funding until after the April 15 mark or even later. I'm just really skeptical that, using your scenario, gave out 15 admits and all of them said fully funded plus tuition waiver in their letter. I bet 5 of those (i.e. the number they really want) were offered full funding and then if only 3 accept, then the next highest students are offered that funding, etc. until they have used up the funds. Sure they can accept more students than they have money for, but they sure aren't paying them to be there.

You really think a department does not have a concrete idea of how much funding they are going to have to offer students before they send out the acceptances? Even if they did, chances are they are only going to see a portion of students that they handed acceptances to actually attend, freeing up more money. I think your source is dreadfully wrong...

Jesus....I would rip that friend a new one. I wouldn't send an apology, just pretend you have no idea that that happened.

Hobos are always good, they help heat the buildings with their garbage can fires.

Well best of luck. Hopefully you get in somewhere phenomenal, and inexpensive.

That's terrifying! What is it about your acceptance you aren't jazzed about?

I am not entirely sure about your program, but I know for my program (Anthropology) they have yet to post anything on the results board. I heard over a month ago from my POI, but I was in a semi-unique situation in where I am in contact with him semi-regularly and he was a letter writer for me for all of my schools. Just doing a quick glance at the McMaster results board (http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=McMaster) shows very little of anything being posted from any faculty. Of course this is biased as not everyone who applies to grad school is on this forum, so it could end up being that you see nothing about postings even long after acceptances have been doled out; it's just the luck of the draw. I did see some postings on there from July of last year, so maybe your department is slow like that too. I would bet end of April is my guess, if you don't hear anything by then, send them a courteous nudge email.

McMaster has a very late offer cycle, the only reason I heard back so soon was because my POI is the manager of a lab group I volunteer at. I wouldn't freak out over one rejection. I was rejected from my home school twice (McMaster), and while it definitely does suck, you honestly are better off getting experience in different schools. You spread your wings as a researcher so to speak and have the ability to learn different theories and schools of thought that you might not have been exposed to previously. Keep your chin up, you still have 2/3 of your places to hear back from. Canadian schools are much slower at sending out notifications than are U.S. schools, so don't worry too much about the magical April 15th deadline, it doesn't apply to us, most of the time.

Guys, it has finally come to a close. I've FINALLY heard back from my final school, the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology (December 1 application deadline), and it was a no. It was honestly expected, this late in the game with no word about an interview when they were supposed to of have happened or be happening within the month, and being close to 4.5 months after the app deadline with no communication whatsoever. I wasn't holding my breath but it would have been nice to have the full 5/5 for the Fall 2016 admits. But oh well, the waiting is finally over. I will just say though, the Germans love to get to the point and don't sugar coat it: "[We've decided] not to offer you a position," and "we feel your interests and qualifications do not match the projects [...] as much as those of other applicants." I feel like if this was a US/Canadian school it'd be a little less blunt, but I like it. It made me smile. Here's hoping for better luck to the rest of you who are still Waiting It Out!