menalta17

Has anyone heard from University of Washington's Health Services PhD program, regarding interview invites?? It's been fairly quiet and I can't tell if the folks invited to interview simply don't stalk/use TheGradCafe or if I've lived another day in their application review...regardless I would love to stop holding my breath :/

One school I applied to has sent out rejections weeks ago but I've yet to be rejected. I want to see that as a good sign but at the same time its getting late in the game. I could either waitlisted or maybe my POI hasn't gotten to email her rejections list. IDK. Plus...the last time I reached out and emailed a school to ask about my status, I was brutally rejected b/c of my "personal statement". I feel like that was their way of just saying 'we were thinking about keeping you but now that you've annoyed us, we'll let ya go'. So I want to know, but I don't want to ruin my chances or MOSTLY break my own heart too early. One part of me has walked away from the whole process but the other part of me is stuck on hold, praying some good news comes. It really sucks.

Overall great advice! The only part I would add to is the section about GRE. Most top 30 programs will cut you if you're GRE is too low but this is not true for the rest. My GRE is absolute garbage, I mean HOT, wafting garbage, yet I'm on two waiting lists for 2 Clinical Psych PhD programs (prayers for me). I think it's more important that people pay attention to the school's requirements. Most are forthcoming with whether or not the GRE has a cut off or if they take a more "wholesome" application approach. Lastly, I was actually rejected by Michigan State because they said they wanted to hear more from me in my personal statement (yea...of all things to be rejected for. lol). I though the rest of my app did the talking but it turns out Personal Statements are maybe a liiiiittle more important than we'd care for them to be. But again, great advice and that's awesome you collected data/feedback for everyone! Hopefully people actually use it lol

Hello, fellow Grad Cafe users! As a current student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, I wanted to alert you to a situation that is going on here and has been ongoing for over a year. I posted this in "The Bank" because I feel that it is directly related to issues of funding, but if an admin would like to move the topic, feel free.
So, currently, the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) at UIUC is planning to go on strike as of February 26th. The GEO bargaining team has been working with the University on a new labor contract since last January or February, because our last contract expired in August 2017. Clearly, things have not been going smoothly, as UIUC's TAs and GAs have now been working without a contract for over 175 days now. Issues at stake include livable stipend wages, the timely sending out of appointment letters (which are frequently sent out less than a month before the start of term), transparency regarding the spending of student fees, and health care coverage. The most important issue lately has been that of tuition waivers. Administrators are trying to include language in the contract that would allow them someday to turn tuition waiver-granting appointments and departments into non-tuition waiver-granting entities, which would jeopardize the ability of future students to get tuition waivers.
More information can be found here http://www.uigeo.org/ and here http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-university-of-illinois-grad-students-strike-20180208-story.html. I would also recommend the GEO's Facebook page as a resource.
I post this so that those of you who are considering the University of Illinois can do so with as much relevant information as possible.

The POI is not responsible for accepting you alone (if she is even part of the committee). There is a graduate committee that reviews applications, gets feedback from the professors who interviewed you, and then makes a group decision on who to accept, waitlist, and reject. There are many reasons why a student might get rejected, and I wouldn't say the PI led you on. It is assumed you understand that this is process, and there is a real possibility you might not get in. They simply informed you they were interested in you and would love for you to join their lab, and IF you got accepted, then you would have to look at the funding package as a factor for your decision. 

Can anyone share waitlist success stories to encourage others through the waitlist process? There are some similar old threads that have been encouraging to me in the past, and I would like to revitalize the conversation. Did you or anyone you know come out on top against all odds or start the season off only being waitlisted?

I've experienced the same where people have advised I shouldn't and others say you should. I've personally emailed to restate my interest being I'm waitlisted as well and all she did was acknowledge it was received and thank me. The email, in my opinion, doesn't seem like it can hurt. Especially if it's done ONCE in a brief and concise way that restates your enthusiasm for the program without coming off desperate. There's a delicate method to it. I'm not sure if it can heighten your chances significantly but it definitely can't hurt as long as you're not menacing! Good luck and do what's best for you!

It's a good sign! Pray funding comes through but in the meantime let him/her know you're definitely down. lol

*cough* boost!

Many accepted applicants are going to decline their offers and many others are waitlisted. So having information on declined offers could be really helpful for those who are waitlisted. Please post here if you have declined an offer to help others make their decisions! This will be great if you share school name, subfield, funding situation, and type of funding with others.

School Name
Subfield
Funded/not funded
Type of funding (fellowship or assistantship or combination)

the suffering never ends 

Go with the program you're most drawn to. You can weigh funding, prestige/ranking (if that's something you care about), location and costs of living in that area as well...You can even weigh if you would prefer to stay in that area after networking and completing your PhD. Maybe how well you clicked with the POI/faculty & other students. I mean...it all comes down to you and what's important for you during the next 5, tumoltrous years. Best of luck! 

I agree with the above.  If you are wait listed, the best you can do is write it off and start considering other schools with which you are still waiting to hear from or have offered you admission.  You should not engross yourself with worry over whether or not you will be pulled off of that wait list.  Avoid being hung up over one specific school even if it is your top choice; you can hold on to an offer and wait to see what happens with your top choice but be ready to go elsewhere if it seems like it will not work out.
 
Generally, if you are an alternate, it does mean that the program is still very interested in you and considers you someone they would be happy to admit, but due to spot limitations they make offers to their top choice candidates first.  If they were not willing to admit you, you wouldn't be an alternate (people do get rejected post-interview often).  That being said, this is something to remember while you are forced to sit on your hands.
 
If you are offered admission somewhere, it is nothing to shake a stick at and you should be excited about this.  However, I am no stranger to wait lists and have been globally wait listed in two application cycles.  Last year the number of wait lists I was on was half of what I am on this year but the real question is does that increase your chances?  It's hard to say.  Each one is mutually exclusive and you would have better luck asking a Magic 8-ball about your chances since it is based on the decisions of those with the offers.  I think ultimately it is best to hold out to see if you get any first-round offers but as you are informed that you are listed as an alternate, just thank them for the update, restate your interest should an opportunity present itself, and find something to do to occupy your time.  Last year I had one school tell me the spot was filled within a week of informing me of my status as an alternate, and another one dragged out for six weeks.  Find a hobby, stop checking your email after 5 and on weekends so you don't drive yourself crazy meticulously seeking updates, and consider it a break from the stress of the admissions process.  Last year, I just found distractions after work to take my mind off of it and I gradually shifted out of freak-out mode by doing so.
 
People do frequently get accepted off of wait lists.  I have yet to experience it but I think all of us in this situation will still have our fingers crossed.
 
*None of this is accusatory or assuming any reaction/response/behaviors, just general advice on the subject at large for anyone reading.

I'm also waitlisted at a couple programs. Such an emotional roller coaster, it's definitely stressing me out. 
As an aside, I'm not sure if it was you who posted a link to this thread on the results page, but please don't do that again (you, or whoever posted it). Clogging the results page with comments (which don't belong there) instead of decisions makes it more difficult for current and future applicants to find relevant results. 
Good luck this application cycle. 

Short answer: no.
Long answer: I've received rejections after receiving mass 'open house weekend' emails and asking for clarification around the event. They're just for interested, prospective students to visit campus and get to know faculty and peers but in no way does it equate an interview. I know that's not what anyone wants to hear but...as someone who had to learn the hardway, I'm just passing it on.

Hello:
I'm usually a silent reader, but I've found that discover gradcafe has helped immensely with the anxiety of waiting to hear back from schools. I applied to Rutgers, NYU, Columbia, and USC. I want to get my PhD in Social Welfare and my research interest is Intimate Partner Violence and homelessness as it pertains to women of color. I have never worked this hard in my life for anything, truly I have invested years in this work, and it is only in the past two years that I've realized how much more impactful I could be to serving this community by investing in research that could potentially change how we are addressing trauma in shelter settings, and looking at more holistic ways of healing in order to fully address the impact of IPV. It's literally the only thing I think about. Anyways, I'm babbling. I'm supposed to hear back from USC in the next few days. It has been extremely difficult being patient and waiting, and my friends are definitely tired of hearing me talk about this. Thanks for giving me space. 

I am unsure whether I have been shut out (yet), BUT! I have been before! So, I thought it might be good to create a space for those who didn't match with a program this cycle. What do you think went wrong? Are you going to apply again? If so, what are you going to do in the meantime? If not, bless you for knowing that academia is space we all should be running away from, and what will you do instead?

Yea...I'm almost sure this is gonna be another year of shutouts. It's almost March. I was waitlisted at 2 schools for interview spots. At this rate, I'm sure this has been another bust. I got further than last year but I'm still hurt something I want so badly, just won't work out. If I hadn't already started into adulthood and working, this would be 10x worse.

I feel for that person if it's true.

!!!! I was just accepted to a great MA program. They have a great renaissance lit program and I’m so excited! I’m sorry if i seemed a bit melodramatic before but this has honestly been such a long process. I initially applied to 6 MA programs and 4 PhD, each with lots of hope/consideration. I also have two more apps still pending but it feels so good to finally hear a yes! Especially one that’s funded. And from a phone call of all things. 
Thanks again everyone for being so supportive. I will probably seek professional help in the upcoming months and  I really appreciate everyone here.

Oklash,
I empathize so much with you. Please don't give up on yourself. Please don't even consider the thought of hurting yourself or worse. You deserve life! You deserve happiness. You can and will find your path. But I know that sounds so much easier than it is actually done. But please, listen to me:
I have been where you are. A few years ago, I applied to graduate school and got rejected at 6/8 programs. This crushed me. None of my top schools seemed even remotely interested. I was rejected swiftly. One acceptance was to my safety school. One acceptance was to a good program, but no funding. I was living at home. I didn't have a source of income. I was in a very bad relationship, which was ending. I didn't think the amount of loans I would have to take out to go to school and minimally survive was a good choice. I just couldn't bear the thought, and I said no. This devastated me. I felt like such a fuck up. I spent hours and hundreds of dollars to apply to these schools. It felt like such a waste.
My parents were pressuring me to move on. They didn't exactly see what this meant to me. I dreamed of going into academia. I really wanted to teach. And I felt like it would never happen for me. I felt like a crucial part of my identity was lost. They told me to get a job somewhere and move on. The only job I could find was at K-Mart. Meanwhile, my professors and advisors told me, "There's always next year. This happens. Just try again." Try again? As if this is easy? As if this is affordable? It's neither. This process can be soul-crushingly difficult. It depressed me. I spent months deeply, clinically depressed. Not many people understood what I was going through or had the bandwidth to relate to me and talk to me. I felt so alone.
But, I chose to just adapt and to go on a totally different path. It was not easy. I changed career tracks. I didn't like it. I still don't. I struggled to find work outside of retail, but eventually did. It was meager, however. Finally, I met my then boyfriend (now husband). I began to learn that life is not linear. Life often does not make sense. The path is arduous and twisted and broken and frightening, but sometimes, there is method to its absolute madness. I would have never met my husband had this all worked out the way I had hoped. I also realized that your career does not have to be the only way you find fulfillment in life. There are ways to engage in your love and research interests outside of academia. Focus on finding those things. Focus on filling your life with people who you connect to and can confide in. You need support during this process. You need friends and love. And sometimes, that is the greatest fulfillment in life.
Like you, I have a BA in English and philosophy. I felt really unemployable where I was living in the Midwest. But when I moved to a metro area, I suddenly found I was very employable, just not in anything I deeply care about, which has been okay temporarily. I have worked in an off-shoot of my field, and I have spent time building my resume with professional experience. I have saved up money to apply again to graduate school and fund some of my education, should I get in. I spent years preparing to try again. And, in that time, I focused mostly on healing myself--repairing the broken confidence, proving my commitment to myself, and polishing the skills I need. My time away from school and this process has honestly been so well spent, and I have hope it is paying off.
My advice for your situation is to consider doing those things: take a year or two or three to build your resume;  consider moving to a metropolitan area where there are more jobs, if you can afford it; stay committed to your field through independent study, research, and attempts at publication; research different programs, maybe try a completely different batch of schools; seek out professionals in your field to provide you constructive criticism on your applications; find friends and a support circle; find other hobbies and things that make you feel good; focus on your mental health by seeking medical attention, talking to a therapist or loved one, taking a break from this process, taking a vacation (or stay-cation), taking up a new hobby, trying new exercise, etc.; and finally give yourself a break.
Listen to all of us in your shoes. We are all struggling. You are NOT alone! You are NOT a failure. You should not blame yourself so much or feel so worthless. It's just NOT fair to yourself. Give yourself some credit for all of the hard work and effort you have put in. Give yourself credit for taking a risk and trying again. Look at how far you've already come. You are GREAT. Please don't forget that! <3

SAME.

You're sometimes contacted and sometimes not. I had emailed two programs and asked for my status, in which they told me I was waitlisted and another proactively sent an email in December stating I was. It really depends on the program and probably how traumatized they are by 'What's my status?' emails. I would say now is a great time to ask. Once you clear mid-Feb, most interviews and/or accepts have been done or sent out, so now is a good time to figure out if you've been waitlisted or rejected. Too early probably would've been Dec.-Feb. 1st...or anytime before you see someone post an 'acceptance' or 'interview'.
IMO.

This hits so close. I have been told by three out of five schools I applied to that I was on their "shortlist". Waitlisted for my top choice. No clue about how long the list is, where I stand, how many people they accepted etc etc. 

Thank you for this post.

I am over 2 weeks on a waitlist (the closest I've ever been to getting accepted anywhere) and I am just counting seconds in the day while I'm at work. This is my second time applying to PhD programs in the last 3 years and they said it could be until the middle of March before they send out an update.

The waitlist is a killer for me because it is limbo- is it a yes or no? Where I am on the list? Who is better than me and what am I really up against? How many spots are there?