Jenny01

I have not heard back from a program I interviewed for, which I was really excited about. I was told I was a top candidate and would hear back by now. The fact that I have not heard back and they know I am considering other offers has made me lose hope. I sort of wish they had not interviewed me at all so I would not have gotten my hopes up. It is such a competitive program and I felt like I was so close. It is hard but hey it is Friday I can drink my feelings without having to worry about being up early tomorrow.

I have a feeling based off the little bit of information you have shared that they see a lot of potential in you and do not really want to see you go. Ultimately I do think it is in any students best interest to "leave the nest". Aside from what @Anxiously Hopeful has pointed out it is also an opportunity to build your network find new resources and potential projects. Go on and put that potential to work!!

Congrats to everyone!!! Especially for being accepted into multiple programs, job well done! I spent about a year researching programs and got in contact with prospective advisers as soon as a program made it on my list. I have been ranking programs based off my interactions with POI, interests, funding package, department size and region. For me personally fit was more important than research interests (I feel comfortable saying this because I spent so much time selecting each program I could not go wrong with any of my POIs). Based of my past research experience I have learned that I have a pretty big umbrella of interests (my interests even within my concentration are so niche having a big umbrella does not necessarily mean much). I hate the idea of being stuck with an adviser that I cannot get along with. It is something I had to deal with as an undergrad, academia is so difficult and stressful as it is I don't want to be in a situation where I am constantly second guessing every interaction. Under fit I would also include age. I spoke to a handful of grad students whose advisors were retirement age or close to and they felt like the advisor was a bit checked out and not as invested. I did not apply to work with anyone that was within a few years of retirement age. Department size is probably the next thing I am most concerned about. I was able to interact with a decent amount of grad students leading up to applications. Some of these students were from big schools with big departments (I can tell you that these are schools a lot of people in the Anthropology forum have applied to) and most of them felt like they were on their own in the process. Advisers just do not have the time or head-space to prioritize students at any point in the year. The nice (kinda) thing about it is that students tend to band together and really help each other make it through but this also made the departments sound very clique-ish, a lot more room for politics. As I am typing this I realize politics is not something I have considered but may be important for others to think about. If you know anyone that may have insight they feel comfortable sharing you may be able to avoid an uncomfortable, drama riddle department. I considered funding packages and region about equally. Because my interests are so specific I knew I would have less options than I already did if I spent a lot of time worrying about being in a "cool" city or town. I was more concerned about the funding package being enough to cover my expenses without having 3 roommates. I have struggled a lot financially through out undergrad (and life in general), I wanted to make sure I did not need a part time job or to take on more of a teaching load than required to survive. I know I am a grad student and I will be broke anyways but I have a good idea of what level of broke I am okay with. If you have been accepted into multiple programs it means something. I know its a crapshoot but that it makes it more meaningful. Regardless of politics and funding constraints multiple programs chose you, do not be afraid to negotiate your funding package, you are worth it. @sawdust&diamonds aside from what I have mentioned lab resources are extremely important to me, departments that did not have access to the kind of resources I want and will need for my dissertation did not even make it on my list. I don't know exactly what you mean by strength of the department but I did look into what previous students of POIs were doing. I did not look at the placement rates of the department as whole. Depending on your research interest a particular POI may have a lot of successful students because the POI has a lot of access to resources and a big network, this may not be reflected in the overall placement rate of the department. I did not consider faculty members that were not in my stream even if the department was great as a whole. I did not care if it was four field program, I actually prefer if it isn't (again because of the niche). I hope to have my mind made up two to three weeks before April 15th, I think that maybe just enough time for the department to offer my slot to someone else. Even if department does not have an official waitlist, I know some put aside applicants they won't reject until the last minute. I have been encouraged by both POIs of the institutions I have been accepted to and by one that has not made their decision but it is looking good to take as much time as I need. All three have encouraged me to visit other campuses, ask a lot of questions and take my time making my decision. Do not let anyone pressure you into making your decision earlier than you have to (https://cgsnet.org/april-15-resolution) from my conversations with POIs there are some programs that are notorious for pressuring students and it is highly frowned upon and seen as unethical.

One of my lab peers tried to sabotage me today. Our adviser spends a lot of time comparing us, our work ethic and how much time we spend in the office. Before he arrived there was an unspoken rule that we would largely ignore these rants, do our best and no one was trying to be his favorite by stepping on others. I have not gotten a chance to get to know him well and he is hard to read. I tend not to trust people who are hard to read they are generally over-complicated and disingenuous. It doesn't matter he is here, our adviser is very happy with him so I make the effort to be friendly. We have not had enough interactions for there to have ever been something he could possibly be upset with me about. I was suppose to reach out to him and coordinate access to materials I needed. Our adviser is unavailable today and I don’t have access to the materials but sabotager does. I reached out to him yesterday and today and he never responded. I decide I should just show up just in case and there he is shocked to see me and refusing to make eye contact. Our adviser calls speaks to him and of course asks if I showed up to get what I needed. So if I hadn’t taken the initiative when our adviser called to ask what was I up to? What was his plan to say I completely neglected my responsibilities? I never reached out?

I am annoyed at the people in other threads and on the results page who have been wait listed for a program and are announcing that people who have been accepted should hurry up and decide. The real kicker I saw said something along the lines of: if you got in can you please turn it down if you have other offers because this school is my first choice. The sheer entitlement. Also annoying: people who got into programs they applied to but don't want to go there (?), so now they are bashing the only school that accepted them, that they applied to. Moaning and groaning about having to go through a second application cycle. Why did you apply if you were going to be a snob about it? So you could add it to the list of institutions you got to turn down? Jokes on you. Being able to pursue a career in academia is privilege. It is not a given right. Whatever you think of yourself doesn't allow you to feel entitled to anything. Everyone who pursues a career in academia works hard. Nobody owes you anything. You are not the smartest person in the room.

I interviewed with a program in my top 3 almost 4 weeks ago. I know I was the first person interviewed. Since that interview I have had one other interview and an acceptance (w/o an interview). I want to check in on the status of my application. My POI is director of graduate admissions so I think it would be a good opportunity to reinforce my interest in the program even with other offers available. I tried googling what to do in this scenario and I found no useful resources. Help??

I checked the portal and saw the acceptance, I received an e-mail almost 12 hours later and heard from my POI the next day.

I just want to know!!! I think the wait has officially become worse than the process which I did not think was possible.

Yes there's definitely still hope. Also, April 15th is 2 whole months away there's time.

Emails for interviews have been sent out. Rejections have been sent out. If you haven't heard from them you may be on some unofficial wait list.

@synthema they should be wrapping up interviews soon.

@charliekkk I am a bioanth student some of my experiences may not apply but I have had a little success. This is also my first application cycle. I don't know that I can speak exactly to what an admissions committee wants. I have some thoughts based on my adviser's guidance and feedback I have received from POIs. I personally felt like my writing sample was really weak. The data was good, the concept was good but I did not allow myself enough time to polish it properly. I think the fact that I collected a lot of data and spent a lot of time preparing materials helped. I have a bit of field experience. I have a lot of lab based experience. I think this is going to vary the most depending on your concentration and individual interests. My experience shows that I can spent ridiculous amounts of time in a lab setting collecting, organizing or analyzing data. I do not know if one is necessarily better than the other but rather shows a different side of your potential. I discussed my experience in employment, internships and classes outside of anthro. I found this to be a plus and something that POIs asked about. I would say fit is probably the most important thing. I reached out to POIs early had multiple interactions beyond email with most of them. ?

Thank you! The momentum has only added to the anxiety as I try to prepare for the interview and have a looming maybe.

Made an account to follow this thread. I have been stalking the website for a little while and figured I might as well join. I am applying to bioanth programs I have already applied to: UT-Austin Johns Hopkins Boston University University of Toronto-Scarborough University of Oregon This is my first time applying and I have heard back from two of the schools got one interview and contact from POI with encouraging news after the first admissions meeting but no official decisions have been made. Still very anxious about others.