RipCityBaby

Sent a PM! 

First time posting, hoping to commiserate. I unfortunately went 0/8 this application cycle. 
Based on my discussions with adcomm members/DGSs, a vague transcript from my previous PhD program was fatal. I attended the program for a year, achieved candidacy, but withdrew to care for a family member (father with PDS/Alzheimer's). My previous program had stringent residency requirements and proffered an ultimatum at the conclusion of my two semester sabbatical: return to the city - or within 50km - or have funding withdrawn. I chose the latter. 
Unfortunately, and at the counsel of my letter writers, I forewent including this information in my SOP. Absent this context - and though my CV made clear my attendance period - many programs read my transcript as indicating I was just now withdrawing from a program I'd attended for four years. Justifiably, they were reticent to admit despite my otherwise favourable profile (4.0 GPA, several publications, many conferences, and a 170/168/6.0 GRE breakdown). 
Dejected is a word to describe my current mood; soul-crushing annihilation is another! (Mostly kidding.) I'm not entirely sure why I made this post, to be honest. I think vocalizing the failure to a group of people who understand mitigates the sting - and perhaps prepares me for the embarrassing work of alerting all the "You'll get in everywhere!" people in my life as to my rejections. 
To all the admits: congratulations! I hope to join you all next year. To the rejections: read like you're being paid to, publish like it's your job, and kick next year's ass.
 

What would you do?
It's the day before your assignments due and you haven't done anything! You post it to a public forum looking to crowdsource your assignment rather than put in independent thought. Is it ethical to ask strangers to complete your homework? Feel free to elaborate, but obviously the longer the better....?

Just waiting on McGill Sociology...hopefully will hear in the next week or two. I will have to email them and ask for an update if I don't hear soon as Canadian schools don't follow the whole April 15th deadline.
 

I too am a mom to two little children. I've got a few acceptances to schools, one would move me across the country but also pay me fairly well. I love the program, I want to attend. But I am also feeling sadness and anxiety over my decisions. Where I am now, in a MS program, is in my hometown, with two sets of supportive grandparents that are a huge help. Moving away from this support network, having to hope my husband gets a good enough job to cover childcare, is incredibly stressful. My other school option is in Canada, and much closer to home. But it comes with its own challenges - visas, work permits, travel restrictions...its just very stressful. Even when schools do provide subsidized childcare, the waitlists can mean you have to find some other place, and those other places have waitlists too. None of this is easy. Your analysis of the disenfranchisement of parent students is spot on. So here's some support, from one mom to another. This shit is tough.

I too am a mom to two little children. I've got a few acceptances to schools, one would move me across the country but also pay me fairly well. I love the program, I want to attend. But I am also feeling sadness and anxiety over my decisions. Where I am now, in a MS program, is in my hometown, with two sets of supportive grandparents that are a huge help. Moving away from this support network, having to hope my husband gets a good enough job to cover childcare, is incredibly stressful. My other school option is in Canada, and much closer to home. But it comes with its own challenges - visas, work permits, travel restrictions...its just very stressful. Even when schools do provide subsidized childcare, the waitlists can mean you have to find some other place, and those other places have waitlists too. None of this is easy. Your analysis of the disenfranchisement of parent students is spot on. So here's some support, from one mom to another. This shit is tough.

I hope you do too! 

NP...hope I get in somewhere...lol 

Thanks! 

Rejected from University of Toronto.
Still waiting on Berkeley (Jurisprudence and Social Policy), American (Justice, Law, & Criminology), and McGill (Sociology).
At the moment it looks like I will be headed to Simon Fraser and just hoping for some pittance of funding. 

I also got accepted at American this morning! Congrats to all of us! You both going to visit on 3/22?

I also got accepted at American this morning! Congrats to all of us! You both going to visit on 3/22?

Congrats to the person who got accepted!
I’m in the same boat, this wait period is excruciating, trying to hold out hope! This is my top program. Thanks for starting this thread, hoping others join in the commiseration and that we get some positive news soon.

Same! Maybe we both end up in Canada!

It’s taking forever to hear back from my schools..good lord! 

U Ottawa: They are letting me send in my application late! They are so nice! Good luck on your side as well! Keep me updated on your schools! 

The argument that people straight out of undergrad are more likely to finish a PhD because they "don't know what else is out there" makes absolutely no sense to me. I would think a non-traditional student would be MORE likely to finish because they DO know what's out there and yet have decided to dedicate time and resources to pursuing the PhD. I think it's easier for people coming straight from undergrad to drop out because they want to "explore what's out there" whereas someone who has been out of school longer has most likely put a lot of thought and effort into making this life change.