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Can someone claim Penn and state who the email was from? Also, was your portal updated? Thanks!

Hi everybody -- I know I asked this in the past, but it may have gotten buried. Can someone claim the Princeton acceptance? How were you notified and by who? And do you know if they have accepted all candidates?

Haha! I was telling myself the same, but I also thought it is best not to give myself false hope. I guess it is just best to wait and see!

Paper rejections seem cruel. Even paper admissions. I rather find out as as possible and then later on receive a paper admission letter.

For the poster on the results page, I haven't heard anything from UCSD either.

Sorry, don't mean to be short. I'm sure you're fine, but your initial assumption not to contact them anymore is the safer option. Good luck

I would definitely wait if you've already reached out even once.

To echo many of us here, I did not reach out to any POIs at Princeton either. Hoping for news soon... good news that is. ?

I’m sure each school handles waitlists differently, but I’ve heard that some schools replace whoever declined an offer with someone with similar interests. This is probably because they can’t have too many candidates who would like to study with one advisor, and also handles situations in which say only one spot opens up and advisors disagree on who should fill that spot. That said, if there is a clearly strong candidate they may choose them over someone who has similar interests to the applicant who declined the offer.

Just for some context, I am also going into school with just my BA, and I graduated from a college that is not very prestigious. I took off three years doing unrelated work but spent about 6 months re-familiarizing myself with the literature before applying. I believe my SOP and LORs are the main reasons I was accepted. If you have strong LORs and can write strong essays, you may not need a MA/research position. But I'm sure both may be of help and can be rewarding. Also, your undergrad faculty advisers may be able to give you the best advice since they are likely more aware of your strengths/weaknesses as an applicant.

Anybody have advice on negotiating offers from very different schools? I've been offered 10k more from an Ivy ranked in top 30s than a state school ranked in top 10. I know I probably don't have barging power, but if anybody has any advice on this that would be helpful.

I would agree with other posters that there are several considerations to have. Without knowing more information, I would definitely agree that you should go with a school ranked in high 20s vs the one in mid 80s. Fit does matter, and you do want to have faculty members who will be able to provide you with useful feedback. But eventually, all doctoral students (hopefully) will come to a point where they know more about their specific project than their advisors, if not all other scholars. That said, you want a mentor who know is very well versed in the literature of your broader field. Personally, since my topic was so specific I only applied to one school with a scholar studying the exact same thing. I chose all the other schools based on professors who had tangentially related topics and where I was interested in taking two field exams. If they did not offer comprehensive exams in areas I was interested in, I did not apply. Since you are just coming out of undergrad, I would not rush into paying for an MA If you truly don’t feel that the advisor can provide guidance on your project, than I would reapply to PhD and MA programs next fall with a revised application. MA degrees cost a lot of money, and I think many would agree that they don’t guarantee getting into a top twenty program or faring better than some people with just their BA.

If you're able to, also try to attend both visitation weekends. I'm in a somewhat similar position and well I know which school I'll most likely attend since it's much better ranked and has a better faculty fit, it is also good to gather as much information as possible. Also, meeting this Illinois professor is never a bad thing. Even though it is unlikely that this person will be your mentor, you can always follow up with them at conferences and its good that they will have a face to your name.

Many of us have already or will be receiving denials. Not only to programs we knew may be a stretch, but also to programs that we were confident we would get into. Just wanted to share a few things: 1) I've heard from an admitted student that they were told by a middle range program that they were denied because they thought this applicant would ultimately deny the offer and hold up the waitlist. Remember, it's in the university's best interest to accept the best candidates that will likely attend. So it is possible that you'll receive denials because programs think you'll choose somewhere else or that you'll be unhappy there. 2) On a similar note, an article on Posselt's book on admission processes of elite schools states: For instance, those whose programs were not at the very top of the rankings frequently talked about not wanting to offer a spot to someone they believed would go to a higher-ranked program. They didn't want their department to be the graduate equivalent of what high school students applying to college call a "safety school." In this sense many of these departments turned down superior candidates, some of whom might have enrolled. Many of the professors sound insecure about their programs even though they are among the very best. 3) Ultimately, I know it sucks to be denied. Especially if you are denied to all the programs you applied for, but just know that denials are very common with graduate school admissions and that's why many of us apply to several programs or apply during multiple seasons. Good luck!

Presumably, yes. But I think most programs will expect you to be studying and that may be easiest done near your program (unless researching abroad). However, I think many students leave their campus for 6 weeks if not more to visit family and friends, etc. Also, well you may not be obligated to stay on campus by your department many grad apartments leases are annual rather than by semester so unless you can get a sub-lease you’ll have to pay rent anyways.

Well it's how you want to view your academic year stipend since it doesn't sound like it includes summers. You can just divide by however many months that covers but that doesn't take into account federal or state taxes.

Sounds like an acceptance that has been approved by department but not graduate school yet. Congrats! If you don't mind me asking, where on the portal did you see your status updated? EDIT: Oh, you're saying you were called and told recommended for admission. That's great.

I would generally say to avoid contacting the department, but this may be a case where it is appropriate if you feel that you really need to know asap.

Can someone claim the Princeton acceptance? Was email from potential mentor, DGS, or was it automated from portal? Do you know when acceptance weekend is?

Ah. Thanks!

Did any of the UCI admits get an email "UCI 2017 (not 2016!)." She refers to an earlier email sent with a typo but I didn't get any emails referring to UCI 2016. I'm just being paranoid I've missed out on some important info. Thanks!

I would say most admissions notifications happen by mid-February/late February. With the exception of programs that have late or rolling deadlines. Also, most schools require you to accept/deny admission offers by April 15th.

Thank you all for your comments! I did not do any sociology in undergrad ? I know to start with the classics, but did any of you have any particular readings (articles, collections, textbooks) you would recommend? Thank you!

What tips do you have for transitioning into graduate school/adapting to the workload of the first semester? I've been out of school for about three years and am going into a PhD program without a master's, so I'm thinking I should rebuild my knowledge of the literature to help ease my transition. It'll also hopefully help me to become a faster reader. Any other suggestions to make returning to school easier?

Haven't heard from Princeton or Harvard yet. Harvard notified all on one day last year, so I was hoping to find out today. Princeton seemed to do waves so it may be awhile before we find out.