Theory007

you could be waitlisted?

As always (I think) I agree with skoth_girl. If you are interested in a TT position I would not hesitate for a moment and choose OSU. As @Dwar also said, the funding situation tends to be a bit sketchy at OSU so you should make sure that's all sorted out before you turn anything else down. From what I can tell, OSU is a fantastic program and so is its placement. Going there will grant you a better degree, better research, and make you more competitive on the job market. The only reason to go elsewhere (in my opinion) is if you would get a particularly supportive/great/amazing/outstanding advisor elsewhere. But it's probably more likely that you'll find that at OSU compared to the others. Good luck and congratulations - you have many options and many people have none.

Will you be back next year? I'll be here then to cheer you on. In the mean time work on those GREs (literally put in 10 months of study for them), perfect your statement and writing, sample and I'm sure you'll be golden next cycle!

Yes, I'd go to the PHD program. There has been a lot of talk about this already and I'm sure others will chime in, but in most cases even a prestigious MA degree will not help your future PHD application much (assuming that's your goal). Of course if you spend the time in your MA to publish papers in competitive journals then that's a different story. But most people do not even if that's the intention. And even with a good MA degree in two years, the admission process is always super random and you could end up in a situation where you received no PHD offer even if you technically were better prepared than now. If your long-term ambition is to do a PHD I'd take the offer you have in hand and not feed the cash cow that most MA programs are (thinking Chicago, Columbia, and others...).

The single best thing you can do is to spend a year getting killer GRE scores. It will make the difference I promise

Well done! You must be happy you got in

And we have not seen any UVa admits either in this forum. It looks like rejections and waitlists were sent out a while ago but it's not even clear that anyone has been admitted yet to UVa. So weird.

Don't give up friend! Everyone has a chance and you too!

Any UVA admits? Fields?

Sounds like you're in at UCSD. I'd be feeling really good right now if I was you

Given that you in at Wisconsin it looks like your aim was perfect

It does not seem slower to me. The only two programs you can really count on to release decisions in January is Madison and OSU and several others are beginning to come out now as well. It is quicker than usual actually. Try not to check your email every 5 min. Many programs will not release decisions for another month or two.

My suggestion is to not try to prepare for interview questions. I understand it can be nerve-wracking and that you want to do well, but the best thing you can do it to represent yourself as honestly as possible to whomever you speak to. Besides, interviews are not only about whether or not you can answer academic questions but if you seem like a decent person someone could work with. And if you're getting an interview it probably means that your academic credentials are good enough but that they are trying to figure out if you're a good fit overall.

That makes complete sense to me! If other programs do the same it may result in decision delays across the board.

My sense is that students with pre-covid scores will be seriously considered, and since the GRE is optional many places it's likely that only people who did well who will submit their scores. Basically a high pre-covid score will make you stand out and should, I think, favor you in admissions. There is no good equivalence to the GRE in the rest of the application so I wonder how adcoms are supposed to make good judgements about candidates.

As I mentioned in my previous post, admission decisions are likely to begin coming out soon. I encourage all you amazingly smart and driven people to do your very best not to go insane in the meantime. I recommend to try to stay busy with other things and resist the temptation to check your email every 5 minutes. Know also that you may feel disheartened when you dont hear from a school on the day where acceptances come out. Unfortunately that is just a part of the process and usually it does not speed things along to inquire professors and staff about your application. Finally I'll say that even if your applications are not successful this round then do like many of us have done and reapply next year or the year after. A phd is not something anyone can accomplish over night and it really makes no difference if you postpone by a year or two. But best of luck! I'm sure many of you will receive great - and life transforming - news the coming months!

Unfortunately it's true.

Historically Madison and OSU are among the first out with offers. It seems early but an informal acceptance is not out of the question in my opinion. However the bulk of the acceptance letters is still to come so I would not worry if you applied there.

My sense is that the GRE matters more for people coming from programs overseas and it's difficult to evaluate a profile like yours without this component. 165+ in each section could make your profile look strong overall and certainly good enough for many programs. Less could do it too. I guess my point is that I would focus on the GRE and try to get a great score. Write a focused SoP and a good writing sample and I think you would be in good shape. By this I mean that you would (depending on your GRE score) likely have a decent chance at program in the T30 -T50. Like many, you only want to go to T10 programs. While I understand the ambition I honestly have a hard time understanding refusing to consider other programs. For reference, most programs accept maybe a couple of people within each subfield and by going to a T10 program you would - roughly - need to be among the strongest 15-25 theory students in the world at that point. I'm not saying that you cannot get there, but it is extremely competitive and in the end a matter of being very lucky. My advise is to adjust your expectations; look closely at every T50 program and apply to those that are a good match with you. All else equal, it is of course better going to a higher ranked program but it's far more important that you are a good fit with the department. And when you go on the job market at some point, the quality of your research is going to matter a lot more than the school you came from. So the question is not if you can get into a T10 program but if you can get into a program that can help you become a scholar and produce outstanding research. To answer your question more directly; if you absolutely will not apply outside the best of the best programs then I would say that you probably should do the MA degree first. I think it marginally increases your chances of admission to T10 programs. But it still will be very difficult to get into the phd programs you mention - even with a strong MA degree. My advise is to approach the application process differently as I mentioned above; by all means apply to some T10 programs but I would not exclude the possibility of going to a really excellent program in the T30 - T50!

It depends on the department. Some places require theory students to go through the entire methods sequence and others do not have any requirement like that.

We agree then

I am less optimistic than some of the other posts. If you can get a verbal GRE of 168-170 along with a Q in the 160s then that is great. As far as understand a good enough GRE scores gets you in the door but from there you will have to demonstrate your academic potential in other ways. I'm afraid that your undergraduate record will not go away even if you go to an MA program and does well. You say you failed two classes during your undergraduate studies. For reference, an F in a phd course will almost certainly have you expelled from the program and any grade below B+ will cause raised eyebrows among the people who matter. A grade below B- will put you on academic probation and two grades of this kind will expel you from the program. My point is that it isn't possible to succeed in a phd program if you are not able to work at a high level consistently. Strong performance in an MA program may be, as you said yourself, a good way to move forward. No one will "laugh off" your application, but with your undergraduate record you would need to find several other ways to demonstrate that you're an outstanding student. I disagree (quite strongly) with the post above; people really do not get into phd programs (such as Princeton) with bad grades all the time. Trust me when I say this. On the rarest of occasions a person with less than stellar grades is admitted to a notable phd program, but only because that person was truly outstanding in other respects. Published papers, had a long-term research relationship with a notable person who could vouch for them, etc. If I was you I would do the following; 1. Get those high GRE scores 2. Apply to some MA program (as you suggested) and do really well. With high GRE scores I think that many MA programs will be within what is possible. At the same time I do not think it matters so much what program you actually go to as long as it is recognized. Get stellar grades while you're there and develop your interests. 3. Make a great writing sample, work on your SoP, and develop relationships with your professors. 4. Apply broadly to phd programs the year you graduate from your MA program. Clearly you should apply to where you want, but it is hard getting admission from anywhere and extremely difficult from a top program (15-20 applicants for each phd spot on average). I don't understand why you are unwilling to apply to a program outside T30. Higher ranked programs and more demanding than lower raked ones even though lower ranking programs are still demanding in an absolute sense. And of course higher ranking programs accept only the very best students. Given your background, everything you have said, and the way adcoms will likely read your application, I think it would be wise to apply in the T15-T50. It's not my intention to be discouraging - you can do it! But there are several aspects of the application that you can improve upon now (so do that) and then I would also adjust my expectations a bit if I was you. Hope that helps.

UC Davis is a very strong department and its acceptance rate is low. Even if you had a good chance of getting in (which you may or may not have), you should apply to several other programs. A lot of people here apply to 10+ programs. You don't have to apply to that many - but apply at least to half a dozen or so to maximize your chances. Remember that "fit" is what matters many places. Unfortunately the big deadline is tomorrow on December 15th so either you have to act fast or look at the much smaller pool of programs that have application deadlines on January 15th. Hope that helps - good luck!

You can get into a masters program without too much trouble Erica. University of Denver too would be a good place to start.

Maybe consider Colorado State for an MA?