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@Gamb1t That is such awesome news!! Congratulations. I'm sure more good news will come your way pretty shortly. Sorry to the bearer of bad news for all the Stanford hopefuls: I was at an interview this weekend and two people I met were at Stanford's interview last weekend. There were 9 people invited out for 3 spots. The Stanford ship has sailed. Fingers crossed for all!

Hi all! @MilesToGo it does seem strangely quiet on the results board in our arena this year. @KTF87 That's awesome that you're having so much success! From what I hear, Northwestern Performance is a pretty fantastic program. It's also nice to hear about some action in our field. I was wondering where the Northwestern, Brown, Columbia, etc, people were! I believe there are three of us on this forum with applications to Stanford, yes? It's the only school I have heard nothing from and based upon the history on this forum, I think that ship has sailed. @dopamine_17 How did your UCLA interview go? Are you presenting at the UCSB mini-conference next weekend?

Thank you both so much for your responses! This is really helpful.

Hi wonderful gradcafe community! I couldn't find any previous threads that covered my dilemma so I am throwing this into the hive. I received a phone call yesterday from the head of a program saying that they were really excited to have me, but she "doesn't want to fill out all of the paperwork if I am not seriously considering that school." She also said that my offer on paper will be lower than what I can actually get, and she can negotiate a little bit more money if I actually send her my acceptance letters from other programs. Is this normal? I was a little put off by the conversation and not feeling particularly comfortable sending her my offer letters from other schools. Has anyone done that before? I really don't know how to handle this.

@MilesToGo As far as I can tell at this point, most of the universities we are throwing around on this thread are sanctuaries and don't appear to be bending to the will of our current regime (to put it politely). Fingers crossed for you (and everyone else) that I am not naive in this assumption.

@dopamine_17 Congratulations on the UCLA interview! Unfortunately, I was in the English and Philosophy departments as an undergrad, so I don't know the cogs of that department's machine. But, I did meet with one of the PhD professors before application season started and she is the BEST. I was pretty sad that I had no overlap with their graduate faculty because I like her so much. Based upon her feedback and the intel I received from my Cal interview, the best advice I can give is know to why that school's department fits with your agenda. I learned from my Cal interviewer that part of the interview was to figure out how my proposal meshes with their program . . . they were trying to fill in the holes from my statements. Also, UCLA's PhD department (the three of them) does not consist of any practitioners: any dialogue involving praxis is probs not going to butter their bread. That's just my opinion, based on my meeting with one of them, but there it is.

Hey MilesToGo: I didn't receive that request, but a ton of people posted about it on the results page. You may want to lurk on that page to get some intel.

lemonboo: That is so awesome! Congratulations! Gamb1t: I know it's hard, but try not to let it get you down. There are so many factors in this process we can't control. Research fit with the particular professors who are not going on sabbatical, don't have an overload of dissertations in progress, etc . . .all things we don't really know when we apply . . . these all have a lot of weight in this process. Wherever you land is the place where the faculty can give you the most support you need to do what you want to do. I don't know if you have read the threads from past cycles but they are really helpful. There are people who were accepted into amazing programs in March / April after a string of rejection letters.

dopamine_17: I don't go to UCLA if that's what you're worried about? I did go there for undergrad, however, and loved it. Gamb1t: I remember reading on one of the past year threads that someone had to skype in lieu of campus interview because of a conference conflict. I think s/he still got into that program.

Gamb1t: I feel you on the refreshing every fourteen seconds. Had I not happened to apply to programs that start the process really early, I would be permanently attached to the results page despite the fact that there are few participants in our field. Welcome dopamine! I applied to UCSB as well. I'm not an insider, obviously, but I did visit the campus in the fall. Dr. Simon Williams is retiring this year and they are looking for a replacement for both him and Dr. Kim (she went to UCLA), so their department is in a bit of a transition. From what I understand, they lean a bit more toward theater and dance than performance, but they seem to be quite flexible about taking classes in cognate departments and at other UC's. It seems like it is virtually impossible to get a clear indication of the rankings within this field because it's hard to compare Theater, Performance, and Theater and Performance. The one ranking guide I could find ranks UCSB as #4, but also doesn't list Brown at all. Nevertheless, UCSB is supposed to be a pretty great program. And, for what it's worth, the people I interacted with during my visit seemed happy which left an impression because it was the end of the quarter. My current campus did not reflect the same kind of calm (students or faculty) that week, so it stuck out. I'm assuming that you are asking because of their interview weekend?

Thanks everyone! The speed of the offer alone was so unexpected, I think I may still be a little in shock. It seems that the acceptance rate of people on the threads here in past years has been pretty high (I stalked all of the past theatre threads during application season . . .there. . . I said it). So, I'm feeling pretty good vibes for our little group. mjdances: my fingers are crossed for you with Cal. Did you get your MA at Tisch / did you apply to their Ph.D? Gamb1t: that is a serious tattoo!

Welcome to the group mjdances and Gamb1t! I think my interview with Cal was ok, but who knows . . . I thought my UCSD interview was terrible and I was accepted to the program. lemonboo: The interview was about an hour, and the questions were really specific to my application. From what I could gather, every interviewee was asked tailored questions to try to fill in some gaps about fit, etc. I was, however, asked the standard, why this program? mjdances: how did your interview go? Where else are you applying?

Miles: There was another posting for a Cal interview on the results page besides mine so I was wondering if it was one of you. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings on that front but they contacted 8 people for their interview shortlist last week. They also said it was a rather large applicant pool this year . . . I wonder why this forum is so quiet. Anyway, I hope you guys aren't slowly losing your minds to the waiting process. Good news is coming!

MilesToGo: I definitely prepped by brushing up on the faculty work that I read in the last year, but I was not told who would be in the room other than the head of the department, so it was a bit of a Russian roulette situation regarding focus. Definitely read as much as you can about anyone / thing you mentioned in your SOP. Having said that, you really only need to know faculty work as it pertains to why you believe you are a fit for that specific program. They're not going to quiz you and don't expect you to know everything that any of them have ever written. Because you don't have access to a research database, I suggest you look up faculty books and familiarize yourself with those. Also, know your research plan well and how that fits into the discipline / department. Both of my interviews so far have mostly consisted of questions specific to my proposal, background, and why that school. Can either of you claim the other posting for the Cal interview (Berkeley) on the results page? I would love to hear about it!

Thanks guys! The interview was with UCSD; I was really surprised to hear from anyone so early. Totally bungled the interview after an insane amount of prep, but oh well . . . not a whole lot I can do now but quietly pray that everyone else got temporary aphasia. MilesToGo: this process is so hard to pin down, but if it's involving literature and analysis / research, you are probably fine. A lot of people move into performance programs, specifically, from cognate departments and I imagine there are a number of lit heavy papers. I would hate to still have outstanding applications, though the two week turnaround for Tufts puts them right on schedule with everyone else, it seems.