Karou

Yes! I'm surprised they emailed on the weekend (technically Friday midnight). I've got a tough choice ahead of me though now (between Upenn and yale)

I'm all out of reactions for today, but thank you!! In a few months, it'll all be behind us like a long, bad dream! 

Whelp, got the official "LOL NO" from Wisconsin, so it's down to Cornell as my last shot at a PhD program this year.  Cornell is my strongest match and was my strongest application of the group, so we'll see how it plays out.  I feel like it was much improved from last year as well.
/crosses fingers

Right there with you! Really curious as to what's going on with Yale right now, from past years, the ways in which applicants are notified seem pretty inconsistent!

Thank you! I heard back about UCSD about 20 minutes after UCI.

Harvard casualty over here as well. Honestly, I'm just really relieved that they've finally made it official!

Harvard casualty over here as well. Honestly, I'm just really relieved that they've finally made it official!

Same, I just want this whole process to be over! I thought this week would have brought some news but... crickets. I know it's been eventful for a lot of people though!

Same, I just want this whole process to be over! I thought this week would have brought some news but... crickets. I know it's been eventful for a lot of people though!

Congratulations @hahahahaleigh, looks like you actually got two admits, that's amazing!
No news yesterday, it's almost as if Harvard was trying to prove us all wrong by not releasing rejections on Valentine's day!

Also... sitting here feeling sorry for myself and I get an email acceptance from Brandeis. It helped to put things in perspective.

Being told this isn't because you're black or a woman.  Don't be so narcissistic.  Learning to fail and being able to stand back up and brush yourself off is life advice that EVERYONE needs to live by.  You need to learn how to fail and understand that failing doesn't make you a failure.  There's a difference.  How did you learn to walk?  You failed and literally got back up and brushed yourself off.  Only, now, you don't have your parents there to pick you up.  Now, when you fail, you need to pick yourself up.  Friends and family surrounding you, encouraging you, is important to making that possible, but you are still the one who needs to do it.  Sure, every time I have been rejected over the last three years, I could have curled into a ball, called myself a failure, and never tried again.  That option is entirely available to you and there are times I've certainly considered doing the same thing.  But the mind set of "I've succeeded at everything I've done up til now" has only diluded you into thinking you're some unstoppable force--none of use are.  Now that it looks like you've hit a small obstacle, you have only just realised that you aren't so "unstoppable" afterall.  That fact is, that's okay!  It's okay to fail. 
We, as humans, will all be confronted with the limits of our own success, at some point in our life.  What makes a difference between the strong among us and those who aren't is whether we accept our failure, learn from it, and work hard to push ourselves beyond our limits.  Is the struggle harder for some than others?  Yes.  Do some have to work harder to get to places that come so easily for others?  Yep.  Do some people have a list of things trying to keep them from succeeding, that are entirely out of their control (societal, financial, etc.)?  Absolutely.  The question you, and everyone here, have to ask yourself is: Am I okay with taking the loss and moving on?  Or do I want to prove to myself I can push myself to recover from this and succeed through perserverance.  No matter what decision you choose, you're welcome to it.  But don't blame people who encourage you to be stronger just because you don't think you can or don't think they understand how hard it will be.  You may not take value in what I have to say because I don't know what it's like to grow up as a black woman in a society that severely marginalises against you.  That's fine.  But it doesn't make what I say any less valid as advice for dealing with failure.  Telling you it is okay to fail and try again, is not invalidating the struggle you go through to do that.  It's acknowledging that the journey will not be easy, but we have faith you have the strength to do it--even if you don't think you do. 
If you take nothing away from this, at least take this with you:  The only difference between failing and being a failure, is your perception.

I just got my first acceptance, everyone! I was getting worried after 4 rejections in a row, but I'm happy to finally have some good news!!

Thanks @Karou! I'm kind of in shock, to be honest. I spent an extra year in my MA program after I decided to apply to doctoral programs so I could really focus on applications, and I think that paid off.
Edited to add: Congrats to the Harvard HOS admit, whoever you are!!

I'm also ready for a potential Valentine's Day Massacre, honestly I'm just hoping for news of any sort at this point! 
Also @HardyBoy, you are killing it this season! Big congratulations!!

I'm also ready for a potential Valentine's Day Massacre, honestly I'm just hoping for news of any sort at this point! 
Also @HardyBoy, you are killing it this season! Big congratulations!!

@villageelliot, my experience was also similar to yours in terms of contacting POIs. Some exchanges were brief and to the point (replies along the lines of "yes I am taking students and will look out for your application") and others turned into longer conversations; perhaps over the span of a few days but never much more than that. But I didn't reach out again when these conversations naturally seem to come to an end, I definitely didn't "force" any contact after that because of the reasons you and others have mentioned. For what it's worth, I had no prior contact with the person I will likely work most closely with if I end up at Duke (I reached out quite late, and she was on research leave at the time), so don't worry too much! 

My last two acceptances hit me right in a row.  As I was about to leave work on Monday, I saw a message pop up in my email.  I read it, silently freaked out, and ran down to call my mom from my car.  As I was on the phone with my mother, I went back to the email to read it back to her, only to find another acceptance waiting in my inbox.  I was so surprised that I swore loudly, not realizing my mom had me on speaker phone.
 
Oops!

@villageelliot, my experience was also similar to yours in terms of contacting POIs. Some exchanges were brief and to the point (replies along the lines of "yes I am taking students and will look out for your application") and others turned into longer conversations; perhaps over the span of a few days but never much more than that. But I didn't reach out again when these conversations naturally seem to come to an end, I definitely didn't "force" any contact after that because of the reasons you and others have mentioned. For what it's worth, I had no prior contact with the person I will likely work most closely with if I end up at Duke (I reached out quite late, and she was on research leave at the time), so don't worry too much! 

My reaction to any PhD program that I applied to with a strongly related MA in hand. Made me wonder if they double checked my CV before sending that letter of rejection...   Yeah, I was a bit insulted.

agreed. its been all over the place. a phone call feb 16 here, an email in mar 4 there.
but I'm still eyeing this friday as like the big day for decisions. and if i on't hear by then, i'm going to assume rejections or waitlists. 

Yes, those dates seem right! I was mostly just trying to make the point (not very clearly at all haha) that we shouldn't freak out if we didn't get a phone call, like the person on the results page did, because applicants seem to have been notified through a range of different mediums in past years! Phone calls, emails, website, etc. Good luck everyone!

Oh wow, you've decided already! But if you're sure, you're sure. Congratulations!!
In other news, I just received an email from Columbia trying to sell me on three different MA programs. Not sure if I should feel insulted. ?

Anyone else get an offer from Columbia to transfer your application to an MA program?  (I'm assuming everyone did and it's a cash cow for the school)  I was like "I already have an MA in history, Broseph."
I mean don't get me wrong, if I had Oprah money I'd do another MA at an Ivy just for the hell of it!

Pretty much my reaction haha!