dustbunnies

Thank you!

I was waitlisted for the American Studies PhD program at Harvard, and I'm wondering what is an appropriate amount of time for me to wait before contacting the department now that the 15th has passed? I've been checking my account, and there haven't been any updates. I emailed the department ~2 weeks before the deadline to ask if the deadline was being changed due to covid chaos, and they said it wasn't (and also didn't say anything about the waitlist being already abandoned). I don't want to come across as impatient, even though I absolutely am. I was thinking of emailing on the 22nd (a week past deadline) if I haven't heard anything by then. Is this reasonable?

I placed an order from a small local bookshop, and they threw in a "Read Books Punch Nazis" sticker. Such a little thing but it improved my day so much.

I fell back in early January and fractured my spine; was stuck at home for ~2 months. I was finally able to go back to work (with a huge list of limitations), and coronavirus hit two weeks later, shutting down my place of employment. I've been waitlisted for a program and haven't heard anything back yet (at least I haven't been rejected, I guess). Being stuck at my house for the vast majority of this year has already got me stir-crazy, and now the towns around me are shutting down public parks, hiking trails, and the like because they were getting too crowded. I hauled out my sewing machine today to start making masks for a local shelter, and the damn thing broke. I'm just having a bit of a meltdown right now, and I don't want to wake up my partner because he works tonight. So hello. Here I am. I just needed to vent.

I mostly use it for cute animal pictures right now, but I periodically stress-check the grad admission threads. I doesn't really help with the stress, lol.

Congrats! I was also waitlisted (different uni/program), and got a very similar response. What my advisor told me is that being waitlisted means that they do want you there, but for whatever reason (more on this in a sec), you weren't the first on the list, so to speak. She also explained that the admissions process largely comes down to departmental politics; if a specific professor admitted two students last cycle, they might not get first choice to admit anyone this cycle, even if the applicant in question is perfectly suited for the program. Other reasons might be funding allocation, the possibility of professors going on sabbatical, etc. It's very much an "it's not you, it's them" situation. If they didn't think you belonged there, they would have just said no. As to getting in off the waitlist, I'm not sure how much variance there is between programs, but the director of where I applied said he's been there for ten years, and last year was the first that they didn't take anyone off the waitlist. I've also had several former professors tell me that they'd been waitlisted for various programs and gotten in, so it is a thing that happens. Good luck!

Good luck to you! I'm still waiting to hear, but I've seen a handful of folks here and on reddit debating whether to accept their Harvard offer or not, so I'm crossing my fingers that they all prefer the other programs and also were offered better funding!

I was rejected from Brown (again), and waitlisted at Harvard. The AMST director said it could be another 6+ weeks before I find out for sure if there's a space for me or not. I swear I'm going slowly insane.

I was rejected from one school, and waitlisted at the other. I spoke to the department chair this afternoon and he basically told me I might not hear back for another 6+ weeks, it all depends on other applicants who received offers responding to them. Yay more anxious waiting! ?

I've gotten one rejection so far, still waiting to hear back from another program. I wasn't doing too badly (read: only compulsively checking email/app portal/grad cafe twice a day) until two people posted acceptances on grad cafe. Now I'm borderline camping on my laptop refreshing every page and trying not to be too optimistic.

That has to be so stressful for you! I'm sorry your professor did that, that was so unprofessional no matter how you look at it. Here's to hoping you did get in and he just got flustered and panicked.

Forgive me if someone has already asked, but would you share the gingerbread blondie recipe? Those sound delicious. I've been making brown sugar-coffee caramels; wrapping them is time-consuming enough that it consumes some of my excess energy.

I'm a first-gen student who returned to school at 26 to get a BA in History (previously had an Associates in Culinary Arts). I'm graduating in May, and I'm trying to hop right from undergrad into grad; I'm afraid if I lose my momentum, I'll never go back. I already quit my life once and restarted, I don't really want to do it twice. And I know that age is just a number and all that jazz, but I'm 29, and I really want to start grad school before my 30th (November). I haven't heard anything back yet from the school I applied to, but according to the posts board, only one other person has. Judging by the results of the last few years, they do at least notify you if you've been rejected, which is something. I'm just a ball of stress, and every time my email beeps I panic. Obviously hoping for acceptance, but I feel like if I don't hear something from them soon my head is going to explode. My husband is trying to be very zen about the whole thing, which isn't really helping, but I appreciate the effort. ❤️ I also really appreciate this thread, because I can vent to folks who get it and are in the same boat. We'll get through this!