FrigidSky701

I totally feel you. I mean, I have a thesis to write but I just cannot focus and my productivity level is at all-time low due to the anxiety that is plaguing my everyday life. Like how many more weeks do we have to wait? 

My daily schedule:
1. Check my email
2. Check GradCafe results
3. Check this thread
4. Go back to 1.
5. Do this for 10 times a minute.
I love this waiting game :'P

I feel that. I just want UCLA to give out rejection letter so I don't have to just assume that I got rejected!

I feel that. I just want UCLA to give out rejection letter so I don't have to just assume that I got rejected!

My daily schedule:
1. Check my email
2. Check GradCafe results
3. Check this thread
4. Go back to 1.
5. Do this for 10 times a minute.
I love this waiting game :'P

My daily schedule:
1. Check my email
2. Check GradCafe results
3. Check this thread
4. Go back to 1.
5. Do this for 10 times a minute.
I love this waiting game :'P

My daily schedule:
1. Check my email
2. Check GradCafe results
3. Check this thread
4. Go back to 1.
5. Do this for 10 times a minute.
I love this waiting game :'P

My daily schedule:
1. Check my email
2. Check GradCafe results
3. Check this thread
4. Go back to 1.
5. Do this for 10 times a minute.
I love this waiting game :'P

My daily schedule:
1. Check my email
2. Check GradCafe results
3. Check this thread
4. Go back to 1.
5. Do this for 10 times a minute.
I love this waiting game :'P

According to the results page, there definitely were a few instances where people did get accepted in Feb. That is why I am keeping my hopes up.

What the &@$!. I received an answer by someone from UVA requesting my correct version of the writing sample, so I sent it to the person and called him by his first name. It turned out that he is a professor at the University. Because I sent it to the alleged email address for Jennifer, I did not obviously read his signature at the end of email cuz I was too desperate on this matter, but now I see it, and I feel &*&#ed. Should I laugh at myself for doing that, or curse myself for possibly ruining my chance, or just brush it off because he ain't my prof yet? Anyway, it was a hilarious and frightening moment at the same time.

I just found out that I was accepted to Georgetown's Theological and Religious Studies program! This is my third attempt at Georgetown and my seventh (yes, you read that correctly) application cycle. Never give up!

Translating the hell out of my native language into English so I can get some ca$h. It really helps me to get the anxiety out because I enjoy translating.

Congrats!

To those who haven’t heard back, here’s a word of (hopefully) comforting advice. To start with an annoyingly cliché but true suggestion: try your best not to take rejection too personally or as an insult to your intelligence or capacity. Let me explain. People have repeatedly mentioned on this forum that applicants with “very good or near perfect stats” get rejected to Phd programs all the time. This is entirely true; I’m an example. When I applied to Phd programs a couple years ago, I had a 3.95 undergrad GPA, 3.9 grad GPA, and a GRE of 170V/164Q/5.0. I had a very good writing sample, a publication under my belt, and great recommendations. Naturally, I applied to 7-8 top schools. But I was rejected to ALL of them—every single one; I didn’t even receive an interview! As the weeks of waiting went by, I fell into despair. Why had I worked so hard and spent thousands of dollars? I thought about giving up on academics altogether. 
Here’s the silver lining. I was determined to find out what had gone wrong and try again. As it turns out, there were two things I had messed up. First was the statement of purpose. Without going into too much detail, the description of my academic background and interests was rambling, imprecise, and stale. There’s an art to writing statements of purpose, and I didn’t pay any attention to it. I kind of just figured “Hey, I’m a good writer, let me write about myself.” Don’t do that. Get profs to look at your statement. Second, my declared research interests were too narrow and didn’t fit very well in any of my desired programs. It’s worth repeating: FIT is everything. I had friends with much, MUCH lower stats get into amazing schools because their research interests fit hand-in-glove with the departments.
So, I’ve applied again this year, but I really did my homework this time with my SOP; I adjusted how I framed my interests; I had professors look over it. I took some more classes; I changed a bunch of other things (I also found a more relevant recommender). This time I’ve received a handful of interviews, and I reasonably expect several acceptances (fingers crossed). The moral of this story is that, yes, it’s incredibly discouraging to hear nothing and get rejected. And perhaps for some this will suggest moving on to another field. But for those who are determined to pursue doctoral studies, don’t give up. Revise your whole approach to your application and try again. This sort of story is not unique to me; I know many others who applied three times before they finally got into top-tier programs. Now they are thriving in their fields. 
Apologies for the long post; I hope this encourages some of the disheartened out there. Find out where you can improve your application. Your points of weakness may be different from mine. Work on those areas throughout a year (or two), and jump back in the ring!
 

I don't think that it hurts your chances of being admitted to solicit a decision notification.  It's just that it behooves schools to notify their top choices quickly, so that they can coax such students into attending their programs.  Hence, if you don't hear quickly, IMO chances are you weren't a top choice, and are likely not admitted. It's a correlation and not a causation. Perhaps you are the fallback, on an unofficial wait list of sorts. 

Yep. I just did that because I am now really anxious and I have to sleep soon, as I live abroad and I must go to work tomorrow. Hopefully there is some good news when I wake up. Thanks for all the help. I really appreciate it and I feel more hopeful.

Thanks for the kind words. I will try my best to relax as I just purchased new desktop, new keyboard and new headset. I am on five-day holiday from today, so I will try to ignore everything by diving into virtual world. Wish you luck too! Fingers crossed