Euler

That's just vague enough that you can't really bank anything on it- those kinds of things are pretty common through this process, and I have a couple of those "promising, but not an answer" responses I've gotten as well. If I were you, I'd take it at face value. You've got a good shot, but don't bet your life savings on it!

AAAAAAH THAT'S SO EXCITING, congrats!!

I've actually come to enjoy the weekends more for that reason. I don't spend the whole time glancing at my inbox, or getting startled when a car goes by that I think might be the mail truck!

I sure hope so! I was pretty upset by the fact that I got absolutely no news last week, but for the millionth time, there's still nothing I can do but wait.

Oh goodness! Maybe they were only allowed to send emails with 10 words or fewer? That's the only reason I could ever imagine an email like that would be appropriate. Somebody needs to be fired

Making travel plans is terrifying! Especially since I don't have a car, and that means I have to take two flights and two bus trips. The bus part scares me, since I've never done that before...

There could definitely be some better communication, but at the same time I know it's rough on their end as well. But even just a small "Hey, everybody, we're sending out decisions in the next week" is great, and so few programs do that.

They better look at that application if they're going to keep your money for it! I understand deadlines are deadlines, but when everything on your end was done on time, and recommendations were the only missing part, that's ridiculous. Clearly it hasn't slowed down their process. Of the nine decisions I'm waiting for, one I got an invite for a visit, one asked for me to email an image of the unofficial GRE page (that was a little weird) and also sent me fellowship application forms, and the missing seven have been 100% silent. It seems like the general time frame where schools send decisions varies drastically by program. It's great that you can check to see if the schools have sent out any information to other applicants on this site- it saves a lot of heartache knowing I'm still you're still at least in the running.

It's not really rude, but if you right now had acceptances from the ones you're waiting on, would you consider them? If so, I'd hold off until you hear back. But if you're 100% sold on another offer, and you know it would be your top choice regardless, there's no harm in turning down the rest.

Since I've been off for a year now, and because I'll be coming in with less math experience than those who have REUs under their belt and grad courses already, I've been reviewing/relearning/learning new things to keep me busy and happy. So I actually bought myself texts on real analysis, topology, and abstract algebra. It's somewhat surreal, since I've done virtually no math over the past year, despite wanting nothing more than to be in school doing math. And interestingly enough, I think it's been the best de-stressor the last couple weeks. Sure, the only acceptance I've gotten is from my back-up program, but I'm actually going to be going to grad school. I don't think that's really sunk in yet, but knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that I'll actually be formally studying math again makes me indescribably excited! If the next few weeks could go by in an instant, I would appreciate it. I can't wait until I can devise plans, fantasize about being at a specific school rather than just my current generic "going to school" fantasies. But really, I'm so incredibly lucky to have these talents, and even though it's my back-up, I still have a funded offer in hand. I don't know if all this emotion is because I don't feel like doing any more topology and am procrastinating by posting here, but either way...thanks for all the support, all of you. It makes me unbelievably happy every time someone posts another acceptance, and I love knowing some of you are cheering me on as well

It's so good to have other people around, so as to not annoy real-life contacts with my constant moaning! But at the same time, this thread coming to an end means no more waiting, and hopefully upward and forward motion for everybody here!

Yeah, pure math PhD programs are what I'm waiting on. Lists have been helpful in the past, maybe I'll mess with making up some more now. Thanks for the recommendation!

I just took a nap, and had a dream where I was accepted into my top choice. Waking up sucks sometimes. On a more serious note, since I'm working from home and don't have set working hours or anything, I'm finding it incredibly difficult to be productive these last couple weeks. I'm great dealing with things that are in my control- I like that kind of stress. But this is different, since there's nothing I can do about it, and like everybody else, I can't wait for this to be over.

Good to know! I haven't been watching a whole lot of Netflix recently, maybe this will be something to do instead of staring down my inbox.

Well, Februrgatory came and went with far fewer decisions than I was hoping. Here's to a more productive March!

I'm so sorry *hugs*

Is it worth trudging back in if I lost interest after the first season? I watched the premiere of the second season but felt pretty "meh" about it.

You'll have to update us on just how "luxurious" the amenities are

Still nine to go. One official acceptance, one official rejection, and I currently have two very promising (one school with two fellowship nominations, one school invite to a "very select group of applicants") and one very not promising (lots of acceptances and wait lists posted, no rejections, and I haven't heard anything). I'm hoping for an eventful week to say the least!

Oh, I mean I do that as well! But the email does tend to be more fruitful.

Yeah, I'm expecting one rejection letter (though nobody has posted that they've gotten one yet, so we'll see), and there's a good chance at one acceptance letter. But all the rest of it is waiting for email notification to check the schools' application systems.

It kind of blows my mind that mail is actually the method of decision for some places at all, when literally every other part of the application is digital I guess it makes our lives more exciting, waiting for the mail to arrive each day. It's like checking email on steroids!

I actually went to my spam folder and made sure everything was unsubscribed to avoid heart attacks from seeing unread messages there.

So one of my older brothers said kind of the same thing when he got into med school- though it took him two admission cycles since the first time he didn't have enough experience doing actual work or volunteer in the medical experience. He said when he got to med school, for the first time he really had to learn how to study, since everything before that was easy. I think a lot of us, maybe even most of us, have had that at some point. My undergrad experience was really easy, but I was also in basically a no-name school. But that was the result of my dealing with a whole lot of other garbage through high school like unchecked depression and ignoring my sexuality...anyway, now I'm here, after an unplanned gap year, and while I'm totally sure I need to be back in school in the fall, I'm petrified that I won't be good enough. Tangent aside, you should look up "Imposter Syndrome" if you haven't. It's exceedingly common in academia, not talked about nearly enough, and while it does often drive highly apt people to work themselves more and more mercilessly, it can make living with yourself unbearable at times. hugs You were accepted to all those schools for a reason. It wasn't an accident; it wasn't a fluke.

I would be on board if everybody switched to a system wherein all you received was a very large picture of either a thumbs up (everything in the picture being green) or a thumbs down (ditto, but red).