lululadybug

Some schools do not utilize ranked waitlists because they want a well-rounded class, meaning they take into consideration who has already accepted the offer when deciding who to admit from the waitlist. But you should certainly inquire since many do rank their waitlists. I know, being waitlisted must be so frustrating. If at April 15 you haven't been removed from the waitlist, you may want to enroll at another school and then withdraw if you do end up getting off the waitlist, this does happen fairly frequently. But still so hard to make decisions!

I feel like me commenting here earlier might have made some of you worried that admissions committees regularly lurk here, but I honestly don't think that's the case. Most adcoms are made up solely of faculty, and they just don't have the time to be teaching their full courseload, reviewing admissions for new students, and living their own lives, to be hanging around here! I love working in grad admissions (vs. undergrad) because the faculty make the decisions and that makes me I feel like I can be an honest advocate for applicants and students without any conflict of interest. I do volunteer work on the side to help students even outside of the school I work at; it's just something I love. I really doubt many of my colleagues even bother to look much at GradCafe; I think I'm just a weirdo! Since I also handle financial aid, I will say that you all seem to be taking into consideration everything I would advise a prospective student to consider. The big thing that many folks forget to consider is cost of living as far as loan debt is concerned, and it can really make a difference, so definitely include that in your calculations. Lastly, I really can't speak for institutions other than my own, but at my institution a half-tuition scholarship is very competitive because there will only be a handful of folks awarded an amount higher than that and many that will be offered well below that. But that does not mean you still shouldn't respectfully ask to be considered for more funding; the worst they can say is "No, unfortuantely we have nothing else to offer" (and while you may think the school is just rolling in dough due to people not understanding how endowments work, believe me, there is a set scholarship budget that they have to adhere to in order to stay financially stable even outside of a pandemic!)

This really depends on how scholarships and financial aid are handled at the particular institution. At our school, the chairs and program directors handle the scholarship offers because it is all based on merit. For schools that consider financial need, then it may be different, though usually it is the merit funding that I think can be negotiated rather than the need-based funding that is likely allocated based on a needs analysis formula. In general, if you feel like the scholarship offer was determined by the chair, program director, or faculty admissions committee and not by the financial aid office, then you should reach out to them to discuss your scholarship offer. I very much agree with what the poster jgiara said above - if you have a competing offer, definitely leverage that as much as possible, and express that while the school/program may be your first choice academically, the competing offer is making it difficult to accept the offer from a financial standpoint and nicely ask if there is any additional funding that may be offered to you so that you can feel confident enrolling in the program. Negotiating scholarships is something that I personally hate is a thing at all because usually those that feel confident and comfortable negotiating are usually those that do not need the money as much but have had the privilege of being brought up knowing not to take no for an answer ("the squeaky wheel gets the grease" as I refer to it!). HOWEVER, it is a thing that happens so you should feel comfortable inquiring in a respectful manner. You've already been admitted at that point so you have nothing to lose by asking as long as it is done respectfully. Also, something I see happen A LOT - at our institution, whatever scholarship you are offered is what your scholarship will be annually for however many years your program is and we cannot increase scholarships for your second year. I often have continuing students that did not receive scholarship their first year, or received a lower scholarship the first year, ask if they can get a scholarship or increased scholarship for their second/remaining years. Unless the school/program you applied to EXPLICITLY states that they have a process for awarding additional scholarships to continuing students, DO NOT COUNT ON THIS HAPPENING. Make sure you negotiate your offer BEFORE you pay a deposit or complete your enrollment/decision form, because that is more than likely what you will be locked in with for the duration of your program. If you aren't sure if you should reach out to the chair, program director, or faculty to negotiate scholarship, then reach out to the admissions or financial aid office and ask them who you should speak with regarding your scholarship offer and they should let you know.

Oh I think you are fine! I think many faculty are open to communicating with applicants, especially if you have connected with them previously. My advice was generally for those that are really hesitant to reach out AT ALL. It sounds like your PI is interested in you and totally willing to discuss, so that's great! I hope your meeting with them tomorrow goes well ?

I work at an Ivy in admissions and financial aid, and we did see an increase in app numbers this year across our programs, a bit higher in planning than in others. From what I can tell, the gains for planning were mostly due to 1) GRE being waived, and 2) MIT not accepting apps (but I think that is more likely to increase our enrollment rate, not the app rate). We did NOT see the kind of spike in app numbers that we did after 2008 recession, so I don't think the economy weighed in too much as far as apps increasing, at least not in our professional programs. Though, some schools may accept fewer students this year depending on how many students they allowed to defer last year, so the overall acceptance rate may go down. On another note, before this discussion thread was created, some folks were asking on the results thread about whether they should feel comfortable contacting admissions to check in on decisions. I can only really speak for how that is interpreted and handled at my institution, though I do think it is similar at our peer schools. My advice is to contact the admissions staff rather than a faculty member or academic department/program staff. The admissions team is used to getting these emails and may be able to provide some insight depending on the question. As long as you are respectful and mention that you understand if we cannot provide an update or further information at this point, then no one will think twice about the fact that you reached out. We have gotten a number of emails from applicants that have heard emails have gone out but they haven't received one. Faculty are sending out unofficial early notices by email in some of our programs but not in others, and those that are sending early notice seem to be sending them out in dribs and drabs, so the fact that you haven't heard does not mean you are necessarily rejected at this point, at least from my institution's perspective. If you have a pressing reason for wanting to know your decision earlier, like you have an offer from another school that they are asking for an enrollment decision sooner than official decisions are being released, or there is a housing application deadline or something, then mention that, but again, expect that they may not be able to give you an early decision. If the school does rolling admissions, they may be able to accommodate you more than a school that works on deadlines and reviews everyone at once (like my school). Just trying to be helpful! I know it's a really stressful time for grad applicants and I like to support any student any way I can! If you have other questions or want advice, I'm happy to give my input.

Ah, I'm glad you reached out and they were able to accommodate you! Speaking from my 10 years of experience in grad admissions and financial aid, I can tell you that we really do want to accommodate the applicants (and especially admitted candidates) any way that we are able to, but sometimes our hands are tied by a particular timeline or policy.

As a lurker from an admissions office (not one of the schools you mentioned), I just wanted to see if the school that is asking you for a decision by March 15 is possibly part of the Council of Graduate Schools Resolution on April 15th; see the member list here: https://cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CGS_April15_Resolution_Oct2020Revision.pdf If you have been offered any amount of scholarship from the school and they are part of the CGS Resolution, they cannot demand a decision from you before April 15. Also, for our planning program, our faculty admissions committee chose to start emailing candidates letting them know that they are being accepted, but the official decisions will be posted in mid-March. I think many of our peers are doing the same, so if you see that someone else got an email but you have not heard anything, you still have a chance!!

I just wanted to make sure that you knew about the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) Resolution - it states that the CGS member schools CANNOT require an applicant to give a decision before April 15th if they are being offered financial aid (scholarships), and Temple is a member of CGS, so if you were offered a scholarship of any kind, you should have until April 15th to decide.... http://cgsnet.org/april-15-resolution