Another applicant

Yes, I know of at least one person (I think I know of two) who is planning to decline USC. A couple people I know liked USC, but are still trying to decide between that and other offers. Of course, USC may have over-accepted since they know people will be declining, so it's uncertain what that will do for waitlisted candidates. USC is pretty great, and they're definitely going to get a number of the students they accepted. Best of luck!!!

"Something went wrong. Please try again."

Just declined USC and asked to be taken off the waitlist at Yale and Michigan. Rutgers class of 2021!!!!

Ha. Apparently so, according to a poster above me. But I meant that (grades be damned) it's very important to keep learning, writing, and building qualifications and connections so that you can do well once you're on the job market in a few years.

Just think about the fact that you're going to be on the job market in merely 5 more years. If that doesn't motivate you to stay productive, I don't know what will!

It's this.

Hi all, I've been nominated for an Ertegun scholarship at Oxford through the philosophy dept. Does anyone here have any experience with this scholarship? In particular, does anyone have any idea what I should expect from the interview I have with Cecilia Trifogli tomorrow? I've already posted over in The Bank, but no one has written back. Figured I might have more luck here, as you seem to be an active group. Many thanks!

As someone with accept/waitlist status at 5 top-10 schools, I agree. Those of us with offers at the top of the list have the strongest reasons to decide early. Hopefully I and others like me can pull the trigger by April 10.

Hi all, I've been nominated for an Ertegun scholarship (through Oxford's philosophy dept) and will be interviewed this week. I don't have any information about the interview, nor did I know that I would be interviewed at the time I applied for the scholarship. Is there anyone here who has already undergone the Ertegun interview process and might know what I can expect from the interview? (Different departments may do different things, but any info anyone has would be appreciated!) Many thanks!

I just declined UCSD, and will soon remove myself from the waitlist at Arizona and MIT.

Ah, that helps. Thanks.

Me, too. Nothing from NYU yet. Maybe that just means they're batching it (since there are three of us). Though we could all be on the waitlist for the waitlist.

To be fair, it's hard to draw any inferences from this data alone. Some MA (and PhD) programs won't admit the best candidates because of fit, or because they think the applicant is likely to take other, better offers, or because they think they could help another candidate more. They may have just thought, for example, that you were ready to do a PhD, and that it would be better to give the spot to a promising student who isn't quite ready to move into a PhD program.

This was very important to me. My top pick was NIU when I was gunning for MA programs (although I ended up in a fellowship program instead of an MA) because (so far as I can tell) they're nearly as strong as Tufts and Brandeis and they offer full tuition and $12k stipends to their 6 top picks. Plus, it's a little bit less competitive than Tufts. Also, those who apply to MA programs would do well to look at each top programs' placement records. There are good programs other than Tufts, even though Tufts is academically very strong!

I'M IN!!!!! And it's not a dream, I checked!!