vandemataram

I lived off-campus for three years under various non-MAC landlords, so there are definitely options beyond those two. But it also sounds like UChicago grad housing is a great option!

Another UChicago alum/incoming PhD student hopping on this thread... At least for the Hyde Park area, MAC has a pretty bad reputation. Not sure about the rest of the city, but around HP they're somewhat notorious for not responding to complaints and maintenance requests.

I've been trying to figure out if there was a deposit... is that just for grad housing? I didn't see anything about a deposit in my acceptance letter or on the website where I submitted my decision, but I just want to be really sure that I have my spot secured!

Hi all, I thought it might be nice to have a place to share our experiences with the application process. I personally didn't talk to many friends about the process in case things didn't work out (I don't do well with conversations like "it'll all work out for the best in the end, everything happens for a reason" etc). I also didn't post a lot here because I wanted to be sure I'd remain anonymous until after I had all of my decisions. BUT, reading threads on Grad Cafe was a great comfort, so I thought that future applicants might also find it nice if we shared our ups and downs. About me: Education Policy (and related fields) PhD applicant, no Master's degree, no publications, 2 years work experience, 2 years RA experience as an undergrad Top 10 college, 3.85/4.0 GPA, honors thesis (Public Policy/Urban Education) GRE 170V, 164Q, 5.5AW Applied to Penn (Ed Policy and ECS), Columbia, Stanford, UChicago, and Northwestern After reading about a lot of other applicants on here, I realized some strong things and some not-so-strong things about my application. I have a solid (and highly relevant) academic record, but no master's, no publications, and less work experience than many others. Despite those potential weaknesses, I decided to apply once I received my GRE scores, which I felt (and still feel!) great about. I noticed that a lot of Grad Cafe-ers say that they have "excellent LORs," but as I didn't get to read mine, I really have no idea what they were like. They were written by people who I know think very highly of me, so I assume they were very nice, but I ended up getting paranoid during the (VERY LONG) wait between submission and decision that my recommenders had only said I was an "impressive student" instead of "extremely impressive," or whatever else GC-ers had claimed can make a difference. Same goes for SOPs: I have nothing to compare mine to, so I think/hope that they were good, but who knows? I definitely worried about this a lot in the time between December and March. My anxiety was assuaged a bit when two of my first three notifications were interview invitations (the third was a rejection that, upon receiving, I realized I hadn't really cared about anyway). Although I currently live abroad, I attended one interview weekend and participated in the other remotely. I thought that they both went great (I consider myself to be very good at interviews, and I enjoy professional-social-type situations). High point! However, I ended up on waitlists at both of those programs, as well as a third for which I did not interview. Two other schools admitted me to the Master's instead of PhD programs. So I had 0 acceptances, 3 waitlists, 2 MA acceptances, and 1 rejection. One of the schools where I was waitlisted seemed very optimistic that I'd get in (saying I was "very high on a short waitlist"/"on the top of their list") and definitely seemed to want to admit me. The others seemed much more up in the air. After weeks and weeks of no news, I started contemplating what I would do instead next year. My partner applied to the school where they had seemed most optimistic, and was accepted (for a different program), so I was planning on moving to that city with him and staying in touch with the faculty and re-applying. By late March, they indicated that their waitlist probably wouldn't be moving after all. (Low point). BUT, I woke up one morning to an acceptance from the school where I'd been waitlisted but hadn't interviewed! I'd mentally written that program off since I'd had very little personal contact with them, so it was definitely a surprise. I was so shocked/happy that I didn't even realize for around 30 minutes that I'd also been given a fellowship with a $30k/yr stipend, which I had *definitely* assumed I wasn't even in the running for. I waited a while to hear back from the other schools where I'd been waitlisted, but with way less anxiety because I knew I had a great offer regardless of what happened. Finally, I withdrew myself from those waitlists yesterday (April 14th) and accepted the offer with the fellowship. I'm not sure what I would have done if I'd gotten off of the waitlists at either of the other schools (i.e. whether I would have chosen the school where I'll be attending, or one of the others), but it doesn't really matter because 1) that didn't happen, and 2) I'm going to a *fantastic* school with amazing funding regardless. I'm definitely not worried about the "what if" scenarios The whole process was such an emotional rollercoaster, which I guess sounds a bit dramatic, but was honestly how it felt. I'm typically a fairly even-keeled person, so going from such confidence after the GRE and interview invites to such uncertainty and then despair definitely rattled me. I'm very glad that things worked out the way they did, but I also have a much better sense now of just how subjective the whole process is. Things could have gone very differently if someone had accepted their offer ahead of me on the waitlist, or if another school had funding for just one more person, etc. I guess my takeaway is that, if things don't work out, don't obsess over what you should've done differently, or what very minor part of your application should've been different, or whatever. This site, while such an amazing resource, can definitely feed that kind of obsession (I spent way too many late nights browsing GC for ideas of where I went wrong). Just take some time to relax/recover, figure out if you have the emotional energy to go through the process again (now or in a few years), and hope that the stars align in your favor next time. In other words, though we all know this already, grad admissions is a bit of a crapshoot. May the odds be ever in your favor.

UChicago! (Sociology PhD with an IES fellowship to study Education Sciences) I *love* the school and the city, and the IES fellowship is sweet (the interdisciplinary community, the training, and of course the $$$ are all great)! Honestly I don't consider myself much of a sociologist (yet) but I went to UChicago undergrad so I know that the school as a whole is really committed to urban and/or education-focused research. Since the Sociology program is super flexible in terms of coursework, I can take classes in pretty much any department. This is not the outcome I anticipated when I started this process, but I'm so happy it's worked out this way!

I'll be starting a Sociology PhD in the fall -- I also went to UChi for undergrad and lived in the area for a year after graduating, so if anyone has any questions, I should be able to answer them!

IT HAPPENED!!!!!!!! I'd already started dreading the process of re-working my SOP, asking for LORs, etc... BUT IT HAPPENED!!!! I'M IN!!!!! Thanks all for your support! Best of luck to those still waiting, my fingers are crossed for you!!!

Glad this got bumped -- also waitlisted. Did they tell you that "as of this juncture, it is unlikely we will be able to select candidates from our wait-list"?

Currently on three waitlists (no acceptances). Really bummed because I feel like this means that I'm sufficiently qualified for the programs I applied to, but I'm just not an exciting applicant. I can't realistically reapply next year, so I'm really really hoping something comes through. I know that waitlists aren't the end of the world -- I could still get in! I'm qualified! There's hope! -- but still... feels bad, man.

I would probably just put the rank and not add anything else about it, but have a letter in your files in case any documentation is requested (this is probably unlikely, but it can't hurt to have just in case). Good luck!

A bit off-topic, but I'm also in India and the time difference makes this whole process even more nerve-wracking! Trying to schedule interviews, potentially hearing back in the middle of the night, trying not to send emails or submit applications at strange hours in the US... it's not easy!

Thanks!!! The MA programs I got into offered partial scholarships, but unfortunately I'm not in a position to take an offer unless it's fully funded. I'm just trying to remind myself that so far the signs seem to indicate that I'm a somewhat competitive applicant, so if nothing works out, there's always next year!

Maybe we can turn this thread around? I definitely feel like I'm coming in 2nd place a lot. I applied to 6 programs and have heard from 5 of them...1 rejection, 2 waitlists, and 2 master's acceptances (applied for Ph.D.) I know I should be proud/happy that they haven't all been rejections, and I should stay hopeful about the waitlists, but it's getting harder to stay positive. My fingers are crossed so tightly that the last school, or one of the waitlists, comes through! And ideally soon...I thought the wait from December to February was more than I could handle, so looking at another month (or more) is pretty daunting. Sending good vibes to everyone else stuck in limbo!!!

Yes and yes! All of the other interviewees were super qualified (and generally cool people) so I totally understand why I was waitlisted! I'm just a ball of nerves because so far I have two waitlists, one rejection, and one masters acceptance instead of PhD. Only waiting on one more, so hopefully either that or one of the waitlists works out! Good luck to you!!!

Hey everyone! I've lurked here forever, but I'm finally joining the conversation with a plea... Has anyone been accepted to the Ed Policy PhD program and isn't planning to attend? Or know anyone in that situation? I'm on the waitlist and am trying to wait patiently but I'm practically ripping my hair out from the nerves!!! If anyone isn't attending, I'd love it if you could let me know (or better yet, let the program know!) Good luck to everyone else stuck in purgatory! And congrats to all who got in!!!