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Happened to scroll past this out of a strange sense of nostalgia. I received a Fulbright last year and know of at least one person in my cohort who deferred admission to a PhD program for her Fulbright year. It obviously depends on the school, but it is possible. And for those of you potentially worried about the mess of those super short interviews--I'm not sure I knew a single person in their cohort who thought they didn't sound like a bumbling idiot. One person even hung up on them in the middle of the interview. Hang in there, and good luck all!

Another option is to look into something like the Fulbright. I was awarded one to pursue my Masters in the UK--like many of you above, I wanted this degree to help focus my interests, have another research project, and prep me for PhD applications. Other awards like the Gates-Cambridge, etc. could be options too. The pros are a prestigious award, tuition waiver, living stipend, an opportunity to spend time abroad, and a quicker (usually one year) degree; the downsides, of course, are the competitive nature of the application process and, possibly for some of you with partners/families/etc, living abroad for a year. Still, if you're just starting to think about Masters programs, I would definitely recommend taking a look at these options. The deadlines are usually in early/mid October.

Nothing from Columbia. Any word from Santa Barbara?

I would agree with the post above. I live a few blocks from UPenn now and would say the drive is much more likely over an hour than 45 minutes. Even at 2 am or a Sunday, you can pretty much count on Philly traffic being a headache, and that is particularly true during rush hour. On another note, I'll also be visiting Princeton in mid March!

Thanks Laodiceans! My apologies for not specifying--the University, Religion in the Americas subfield. So excited!

Officially accepted into Princeton today. Anyone else? It seems like they don't have an official visit day so I'm curious if anyone else knows when they might go.