bikakica

Also claiming an admit at Brown! 

Also claiming an admit at Brown! 

Claiming a Chicago (theory) admit!

Also claiming an admit at Brown! 

Fully funded acceptance at Brown!! (Ahh now I'm conflicted because someone I'd really be interested in working with there...)

Congrats!! I *hope* I can also be accepted ... Though, since I haven't heard already, I doubt I'll be getting good news

Claiming a Chicago (theory) admit!

Claiming a Chicago (theory) admit!

Claiming a Chicago (theory) admit!

Several people on this thread have expressed suicidal thoughts. If you are having these thoughts, it is important that you seek professional psychological attention. If you feel that you are in a state of extreme emotional distress or may be a danger to yourself or others, consider contacting loved ones and/or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255). Developing resilience in the face of rejection or other difficult circumstances will be critical to our lives and our professional success, regardless of whether we ultimately pursue a PhD or not. That starts with developing healthy coping strategies. Please seek help from professionals who can help you to develop those strategies. Mental health comes first. Finally, please know that you are not alone. You are not a failure. Your life is not hopeless, and it is not meaningless.

UT Austin PhD acceptances will be coming out this week. A faculty member reached out to me Sunday notifying me of my acceptance. 

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/02/us/groundhog-day-2018-shadow-trnd/index.html
looks like there's going to be another six weeks of pending applications...

So is that confirmation that the results posted so far aren’t real?

I think there could be a few reasons for staggered acceptances, but, in the short term (when some decisions are released over several days), it's probably because different committees (i.e. the theory committee or IR committee) finish deliberating sooner than others. 

I'm really hoping to hear from either Northwestern or UT-Austin today. 

Guys and girls...the rankings thing is straight-forward:
Ideally, you want to go to a CHYMPS. A top 10 is good. A top 20 is fine. Outside top 20? Not advisable. 
That's it. 
Are there caveats? Sure. For example, the big publics in the 7-20 range are pretty hit or miss. The privates in the same range fund and place their students better. Does Emory place their superstars well? Certainly. Are there some very highly ranked programs that don't really punch their weight in terms of placement (*cough* Duke *cough*)? Yes. 
But all of this is to say that these exceptions are relatively minor and inconsequential.
I strongly, strongly advise you to not try to 'buck' the rankings/prestige trend. It's hierarchical for a reason. As you move up the ladder the training is better, the faculties are better, the methods are better, the funding is better, the resources are better, and the networking is better. All of these factors are going to help you, maybe, get a job. And you can sit there and say, 'but what really matters is what you publish'...okay...but that doesn't change the fact that you should try to go to the best institution you possibly can, and if you cannot get into a certain threshold of program, you should seriously consider (and that's really a nice way of saying: don't fucking do it) not attending and trying again. 

In general, the programs that send out acceptances in January tend to be those who are competing for applicants that might have better options. The logic is that an early offer + early visiting weekend might cause prospective students to consider the program more seriously than they otherwise would have. These tend to be places ranked 15-30ish: Wisconsin, OSU, UT, Emory, and so forth. The CHYMPS schools typically don't send out decisions until mid-February to early-March, both because they receive a larger number of applications and because they don't have the same need to fight for good students. As @DreamersDay said, remain skeptical of any high-ranking admissions on the results page at least until next month.
On another note: please take care of yourselves in these upcoming weeks. Get some sleep, drink water, do whichever type of exercise you prefer. Keep busy with work if you can, and try to limit your daily visits to this site. Remember that the admissions process, while noisy and imperfect, is a matching exercise; you've identified the programs that seem to be the best fit for you based on public information (faculty, methodological approach, etc), and now it's time for admissions committees to identify which applicants fit them best based on a combination of public and private information (Prof. So-and-so isn't taking on new advisees this year, we're trying to expand our IR subfield, we're trying to become a more quantitative department, etc). There are two conclusions you should draw from this:
1. If you're rejected from a program that seemed perfect for you, there's a decent chance that it was due to one of the aforementioned private objectives. At this stage, being "above the bar" is a necessary but not sufficient condition for admission; you may have been edged out for an idiosyncratic reason that was beyond your control. Try not to let it get to you. After all, you didn't want to live in Palo Alto anyway - housing prices are ridiculous and it's too far away from your family.
2. If you're accepted to a program, it wasn't by mistake. The committee has read your writing sample, statement of purpose, and letters of recommendation, they've seen your transcripts, and they believe that you would be successful in their program. They're willing to invest substantial time and resources in you. Remember this if you begin to experience the imposter syndrome that afflicts so many incoming PhD students.
Best of luck to all of you!