summavanlaude

Just call them up and ask if the results for MA are out yet. In most cases, the schools hold the reject decisions till the end so that they are absolutely sure they are going to reject you. They first wait for students whom they send out acceptances to accept/reject it, offer the rejected spots to waitlist candidates and then see if the spots are filled (especially in MA) and then see if any of the candidates far down in the waitlist can be moved up the list. My best guess is that you are somewhere in the waitlist- probably not on top of the list, but somewhere in the list. Just call and ask them.

@CP fun In general umich is ranked top 5 while upenn is ranked top 10. Having said that, there might not be a great difference between top 5 and top 10 in the longer run and what might really matter in this case is the reputation of your PI and the labs he/she collaborates with (for post doc positions and possible faculty appointments). Would you mind telling me when you received your offer from umich? PM would be great!

Didn't realize the post is from 2012

I am not sure if this is relevant here, but I got into a masters program with no funding whatsoever (and no waiver of the full tuition fee). The Professor had promised about potential TA/RAships that I might be eligible for down the line. But unfortunately they never materialized. The highly enthusiastic kid I was back at 21, I rushed into the program and finished it at 23 with crushing student debts which took 6 years to finish. Now I am looking for PhD programs (and have a couple of funded ones within reach), and apart from research fit, the most important thing am looking for is the funding. This comes as important to me as 6 years of the prime of my life was spent on working in the industry on something I hated from the bottom of my heart cos it paid bucket loads of money, out of which I managed to save nothing as every last penny went into repaying the student loans. I am starting out a fresh leaf now with a near empty bank account and a clear head. So IF you are planning on taking up an unfunded opportunity for 5-7 years, think THRICE before doing it.

Has anyone heard back from UMich after the recruitment weekend?

I usually go with tossing a coin when I am this torn for decisions, especially when it is binary (just two choices). I toss the coin and that split second when I wish for a heads or a tails tells me what I REALLY want. But of course, something as serious as investment of approximately five years of our lives deserves more than a coin toss. Or perhaps not

HI @B_Allen that was super useful information! I think your post needs to be pinned here. one of the only first-hand information I have received on this topic! Actually, you allayed one of my major fears about professors, especially my POI trying to drill me on some weird topics from college that I might have long forgotten! If it is going to be a general discussion about the direction of research and such, I am probably looking forward to it! You got my interest up a notch. Hope you get a positive response from Toronto!!!

Hi B_Allen, How did the interview weekend go?Is there something you would want to give me as potential pointers for my upcoming weekend at UMich?

Thanks @B_Allen . That gives me hope! And congrats on your interview for UofT! I don't want to be too much of myself of course. But what freaks me out is the interview process. They have mentioned I will be interviewing with a "few" faculty members. I have always been bad at interviewing. Let me keep my fingers crossed and get some mock interviews done with friends probably!

Congrats to all of you with admit offers and invitations to interviews! I am a bit confused about what a "recruitment weekend" entails. I have received an invite to visit UMich for their recruitment weekend and their invitation letter looks very promising. But looking at the rejection letters they have sent to a couple of friends, I am now apprehensive. Their rejection letters look as good as an acceptance letter with super encouraging phrases ("excellent credentials, impressive records, blah blah blah, but limited places so no admit for you"). My question is, would this recruitment weekend be an assessment interview where they actually reject candidates based on performance in the interview or is it going to be a "two-way street" where the invited candidates are most likely to get an offer and its for the university to impress the candidates?