melian517

Declining a spot at University of Toronto today. Hope this helps someone out!

Officially accepted Notre Dame's offer!

Have you tried asking if they will reimburse your expenses if you visit? All but one of the schools I visited were able to cover all of my expenses, so I feel like it's a reasonable question to ask, especially if you explain that you're not comfortable accepting until you see the environment and the culture of a place. Fingers crossed that you'll hear about funding soon!

I didn't either! Keeping my fingers crossed that you hear from the waitlist soon and that your choice becomes easier!

Yesssssss. I have one school that I think would be the best for my career but the city would make life and finances more difficult for us, and another that is lower ranked but the cost of living is soooo cheap and I know my partner would be happier there. Trying to choose has honestly been the most stressful part of the process for me.

@brainlass thank you, that's really helpful! I figured I should not praise other programs, especially since I haven't figured out where I actually will be attending yet. It felt weird to keep it so short, but I definitely feel a lot better knowing this is standard practice. I know having multiple offers is a good problem to have and I'm incredibly grateful, but this part is honestly such a nightmare for people with social anxiety @Carly Rae Jepsen thank you for this, this is so helpful!!

I'm trying to write decline emails, and this whole process is just so awkward and heartbreaking. All of my POIs spent so much time and effort in trying to recruit me, and I don't want there to be any hard feelings. Do I have to give reasons in my decline emails? I haven't made a decision yet because I'm still deciding between two schools, so I can't say I've decided to attend somewhere else yet, but I also feel weird just saying I've declined without a solid reason (all of them have really great fits on paper, but it was just a gut feeling when on campus that's making me say no).

I'll be declining my offers from Rutgers and University of New Mexico today. Hope this helps someone out!

Whoops, I just assumed as well! Sorry, and thank you for the correction!!

I know! It adds so much unnecessary anxiety to the process. Apparently!! You would think they'd just send out the rejections all at once rather than staggering them like this, especially since someone else had posted on here (I can't remember where) that they called and sent out all acceptances and waitlists weeks ago.

Finally got that Berkeley rejection email. Knew it was coming for a while but it's just nice to have that door officially shut.

If anyone is on the waitlist at UBC, I just declined my offer earlier today (my subfield is medieval)

I agree with everyone here that prestige doesn't really matter for your BA or MA! Just work as hard as you can (while still taking time for self-care, of course), cultivate good relationships with faculty EARLY so they really know you and your work by the time you need recommendations, and make sure that there's at least one faculty member in your area of interest. For what it's worth, I went to a "prestigious" MA program and some people received many PhD offers while others received none—it's all about what you DO in your program, not where you go!

He's actually one of the main reasons I applied to ND! Such a brilliant scholar. I got to meet him at the prospective student day, and he is probably one of the nicest people I've ever met!

In general I agree with this, but I think it does depend a little bit on the program. I was just at a campus visit, and it's an amazing department at a public university in a relatively poor state (they're still able to fully fund students though). The DGS told me that they are only given the funds for one prospective student per subfield, and I was it for mine. So even though as a rule I think programs should pay for people to visit, it also really depends on the financial situation at the university.