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Yup, that's me! (As you already know from FB, haha!)

No.

I don't know if there's any sort of standard, but I think if you have good reason, like having seen some things come through a month ago, that's fine. I don't see how inquiring would ever hurt you unless you're rude in your inquiry.

You're amazing. Thanks for all the work on it! It's immensely helpful in so many ways.

There's a few things at play here. There's lots of variation, but here's a few general examples I've seen: The 'typical' two rounds go like this 1. early acceptances because they're offering or nominating these students for a fellowship. These are the exceptional students they really want to attract to their program. Then 2. the other acceptances, later. Alternatively, some programs may do it like this: 1. some programs send acceptances out just once to a large group, betting that a percentage of them will decline, and they'll end up with the right sized cohort. So if they typically have a cohort size of 10 and they have a typical acceptance of 50%, they'll admit 20 to the program. These programs may have waitlists, but only for the rare case that their cohort size ends up unusually small. Or 2. they admit in phases until they get the desired cohort size; say, admit 10 expecting a class of 6, but then only 4 accept, they'll reach out to the next two on the waitlist until they get their desired size. Some schools will also have a hidden waitlist. That is, they plan to admit, say, 8, so they extend to their top 8, then they move on to their waitlist, then they'll move on to their hidden waitlist (least desired, but they're budding or may have some promise they can develop). It seemingly rarely gets to the hidden waitlist. How do you know you're on such a waitlist? You don't, but you may infer you're on it if you haven't heard anything from the program while acceptances/waitlists/rejections have been reported. You may, however, still have some hope if you're waitlisted or even rejected and it's April 15th. I've seen several cases where these students are offered spots/funding after April 15th because some other admits didn't get back to them in time, and the program has a set number they want in their cohort (or need in their cohort to keep their level of funding). But, if it were me, if I started collecting a lot of rejections or waitlists, I'd ad hoc apply for some funded MA programs as a backup.

Quite a few are still taking applications. That spreadsheet has a list of them and the deadlines. For example, University of Missouri-St. Louis has a later deadline.

Unless the degree or transcript designates it as an online degree (and I doubt it does) then I don't think it makes any difference whatsoever. But you should probably also ask your advisor, as they will know best and, hopefully, will also be a letter writer for you. You can tell them your concerns, get their reaction, and go from there.

Many wait til mid-late February, so there's still lots of time.

You can absolutely decline the visit weekend and say you've already narrowed it down. That way it doesn't waste anyone's time, and they can offer your slot to someone else (potentially). If you're very confident program A is the right fit and that there's no program C or D hiding in wait, then there's not a problem in accepting before the visit weekend. But there's also nothing beneficial about that, either. You can visit, meet potential advisors, and maybe even negotiate your package a little more. I'd wait for the visit to accept just to make sure you're making the right decision and giving yourself the most leverage possible.

Funny enough, I happened upon another thread in another field about this same thing, and it was clarified that all their applications said it, including both those who were eventually admitted and those who weren't. So it's just a logistical update.

That's amazing! As I said to another buddy earlier (who I'm pretty sure I know who it is here), "It's always good to feel wanted." Sounds like you're very wanted there, and that's awesome. Congrats!

Like energeia said, I read this as "if you submit it as a PhD application and you're accepted*, you'll get funding." * You'll very likely be accepted. The alternatively, an unfunded MA, is likely untenable, anyway unless you have the money to support yourself and pay tuition. I don't see a downside to responding very quickly that you'd like it to be considered for a PhD, and then make the decision whether to stop at the MA (and transfer elsewhere) at that time.

Declining the phone call would be weird, in my opinion. You should have it. They might press you for a decision, but that's where you can say something like, "I'm really excited about the prospect of attending X University, but there are at least two other programs I'd like to wait to hear from before making a decision." They'll understand. In the meantime, and given that information, it's a good time for you to ask about additional funding opportunities, be it fellowships or summer teaching. Ask questions about the program, the department, the culture, the city. This is your opportunity to make a great, real first impression and might lead to them extending to you an even better offer.

I was a little confused about the FAFSA mention, as well. I didn't have to do that previously. I'm not sure the circumstances when you'd need to fill one out for grad school if you're receiving a stipend.

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