borednow

Saw some discussions at the Academic Jobs Wiki, and I would love to hear more from current and former applicants. What are the chances of alternates being admitted to fellowship? I assume that this year will be a lot more unpredictable due to the pandemic, budget cuts, etc.

Did anyone apply to the Met's Fellowship program? I know that results won't be out until February, just wondering if anyone else is waiting too.

I'm doing archaeology! Will be willing to trade SOP to anyone else too.

Essentially I have two researches in mind: i. A research idea that recently came to me, which is not very well-developed at the moment. However, I am pretty certain that this is the research I want to pursue. ii. A well-developed research idea with a comprehensive proposal, but I no longer think it is appropriate for my PhD research (it might work as an MA thesis though). The idea is that gaining admission into grad school will allow me to spend the first 2-3 years developing research (i), but for application purposes research (ii) will be a much stronger proposal. Is there an issue of 'dishonesty' with using a proposal that I know I won't be pursuing (at least for my PhD)? I spoke to a few people and they don't think it's much of an issue, since many grad students end up doing something completely different from their initial proposal anyway.

Just to clarify, this is a program that allows graduate students to study for one or two semesters in other participating institutions. Participating institutions include Harvard University; University of California, Berkeley; Brown University; University of Chicago; Columbia University; Cornell University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; University of Pennsylvania; Princeton University; Stanford University; and Yale University. For anyone who had experience with this program, how straightforward is the application process, and how does funding work? Do you get extra funding for relocation etc.?

Thanks fuzzylogician and takeruk, some very helpful points. I'm looking to apply again for 2017, and there are still a few questions: 1. The potential supervisor also mentioned that the other candidate's research can only be done at their programme, whereas mine could have worked in a number of other institutes. Assuming that they are indeed unable to make an offer to the runner-up if the first choice did not accept, could it be that they were selecting the candidate who is less likely to turn down their offer (i.e. with the more specific research)? If so, how do I overcome the 'problem' of having a relatively versatile research topic? 2. Given that they probably did not accept a graduate student this year, what happens to the allocated funding? Would they be able to, say, accept an extra student next year? 3. Will I stand a better chance if I attend the interview in person? (I was interviewed via skype, since they do not fly in international students)

In early February I was invited to an interview for a PhD programme. I realise that there were only two candidates on the shortlist, and only one was going to be selected by the department. A couple of weeks later I was informed that my application was unsuccessful, so I presumed that the other candidate was not only selected, but she had immediately committed to the university well before the April 15 deadline, which is why I was informed so quickly. Then, recently, I found out that the he has actually committed herself to a different university instead. Presumably that means that there is now an open slot in the previous university, but if that was indeed the case, why didn't they contact the 'runner-up'? (i.e. me) P.S. When I e-mailed my potential supervisor about what went wrong with my application (in February), he mentioned that the other candidate was not necessarily 'better', but he was a better fit for the department. He encouraged me to apply again next year, and that I will still stand a very good chance of acceptance if I do.