grace2137

I heard about Princeton sociology and have worried english programs may be next... Though, I have taken a few cursory glances and it seems some programs have specific info about the 2021 cycle on their websites already, which is promising. I do have a question for the group - how is the current situation shaping where you are deciding to apply, if at all? It's a liiittle early to be toiling over it too much, and I imagine how universities respond/fare during the forthcoming fall term will be very telling - but I'm curious to hear where everyone else's thoughts are currently.

I would be interested to hear what others are doing as well! I am by no means an expert and am just figuring things out as I go, but so far my plan is to continue working my job in publishing remotely to save money, try to keep up with languages I was studying in undergrad (duolingo here I come...), and do really in depth research on programs/read scholarship I haven't had time to otherwise.

I was, sadly, let go from my last waitlist the other day, so... here we go again!! Honestly I am really terrified to see how the financial fallout of our present situation will affect admissions for next year. It seems like this was the worst year possible to get shut out and need another cycle. I have certainly learned a lot, and my application will be much stronger next time for a number of reasons, but still part of me wonders if it will be nearly impossible and I will just be throwing $1800 out into the ether.

Thank you thank you for reaffirming this! The thought that an MA would become necessary was perhaps more of an anxious thought than anything else (life is hard y'all) -- but thank you for validating my initial instinct that acquiring a bunch of debt for this right now is absolutely NOT the move. I know MAs are very helpful for some folks, but I know my biggest issue this cycle was simply not having enough time to meticulously tighten and polish my materials like I wanted to, and I can definitely find that time without an MA.

I'm in a similar boat - I still have a few waitlists pending but am not optimistic, so at this point it's either taking one of the partially funded MAs I was redirected to (UChicago, UVA, NYU) or going for another cycle. My shutout contingency plan has always been to forgo the MA/not to take out any debt, and just work and save $ and revise materials. I still lean that direction - taking out an additional $33-70k in debt sounds INSANE. But I don't know if the present circumstances (less funding/less spots/more applicants) will shift the admissions game to the point where an MA will be practically mandatory to get a PhD acceptance in the next few cycles. So then my thought was to apply to funded MAs and PhDs next year - but will fully funded MAs still exist next cycle? I recall reading on this forum that even this year, several that usually offer funding have cut back, and departments will only be under more financial strain -- so those offers may be hard to come by as well. Once I have an official response from my waitlists, I'm going to reach out to my undergrad mentors and see what they think I should do. I'm honestly not sure! We're in a tough spot and unprecedented circumstances - it's definitely hard to strategize.

I'm still waiting on some waitlists but am most likely in a very similar boat - graduating undergrad this spring, have around 30k undergrad student debt, no PhD acceptances, but have admission to 3 MA programs that offer partial tuition remission. I went into this process saying that I would not do a master's program, mostly because I think accruing more debt is a terrible idea and I also just don't think that it is something I need in order to be able to articulate a research focus, etc (for me personally - I know masters programs have been essential and very generative for some folks trajectory as a scholar, so ymmv). It feels more tempting now, but I think I will stick to my guns and end up declining these offers, staying at my current job (assuming it stays safe in the economic downturn) to build my savings, and gearing up for another cycle. I'm worried, as I'm sure you are, about what next cycle may look like given the economic depression (more applicants + less spots, less funding). But I'm not sure that doing a master's program would really make any of those hurdles disappear, and I don't want to strap myself with more debt in such precarious economic times. Even if I did go, I would also have to work part time to make ends meet with rent etc -- while doing graduate level coursework, teaching, working on a master's thesis, and eventually refining application materials for a second go at the end of the program. At that rate, I'm better off staying in touch with my undergrad mentors and rigorously revising my application material while working full time - I'll make more money, probably have more time to focus on materials I have started, and not accrue any debt. It's worth mentioning that applying while in senior year of undergrad is extremely difficult to pull off period, and I think my biggest downfall in this application cycle was my inability to spend as much time as I wanted polishing and refining my materials. Ultimately, you should do whatever will make you a more competitive applicant, since the competition will only get harder. A master's can make people more competitive applicants, but it isn't the only way.

SAME re: UT Austin - glad I'm not the only one! It was making me a bit nervous at first because two of my other waitlist programs have been extremely responsive and involved answering my questions about the program and connecting me w current students, etc. As others have said, though, given the current state of affairs in the world, I wouldn't take anything personally or read into it if a program isn't super responsive to emails. There is simply so much going on. If you are ready to commit to the other program, I would let them know as a sort of last call - they might be able to tell you the likelihood of movement/how things are looking so far, etc. But, at the same time, I think the lack of in person visits and general weirdness of this cycle is likely to stretch out decision-making until the last minute for lots of folks, so they may not have much clarity to offer. I'm not expecting to hear anything decisive until after the 15th, honestly - but boy has this been a wild ride. At least this global crisis has kept me distracted from stressing about waitlist movement for the past few weeks, lol.

Yep, this is me. 4 waitlists, two of which were top choices. I'm hoping for good news but trying not to get too attached. What is everyone else doing to learn about the programs/prepare to potentially make a last-minute decision? These schools didn't invite me to accepted students weekends or anything like that and I'm not sure if I could/(should?) foot the bill to visit on my own. I may ask to be put in touch with current students to ask questions. Any other thoughts?

also curious to know what others think about this re: waitlist programs! My first instinct was that it may be an uncomfortable/weird request, but then at the same time the thought of making a decision sight unseen if I did happen to get in sounds overwhelming.

I've had a long weekend of confronting the harsh realities of shutout... I'm on a few waitlists and have 1 program yet to release decisions, but not getting my hopes up. Taking it better than I thought I would, though. Also, I have been ghosted by NYU, UVA, and Rutgers. I assume NYU and UVA take so long to reject because they also have an MA to sort out and I may be under consideration for that. Not sure why Rutgers still has "no decision" up for me when it seems many were able to see their rejections in portal yesterday. I've pretty much accepted that this process is going to be dragged out forever for me because of waitlists, but is it worth it to reach out in any of these cases or should I just sit on my hands and wait?

totally feel a lot of the sentiments that have been expressed about balancing serious relationships in this process... I've yet to get an acceptance, but getting in to grad school would have me and my partner of 2 years doing long distance indefinitely (in some potential cases, within a train/driveable distance, but in other cases not.) His career will never allow him to be flexible about where he lives, and is on some level as unstable and unpredictable as academia can be. I've definitely been struggling with anxiety about potential shut out this cycle, but at the same time, knowing I wouldn't have to uproot my entire personal life and leave behind my partner and so many friends who are like family to me (or at least not yet) would be a relief. I do think I would apply again another cycle - but I also would entertain staying based in the city where we currently live and focusing on an alternative career path. things are looking all kinds of intense for me because it seems that my top choice program (which is close-by ish/potentially feasible for us as well as a dream fit for my research interests) will be the last to notify. eep.

Took a break from checking my email over the weekend and saw this morning that I had missed an email from the DGS at Hopkins notifying me that I'm on the waitlist! Still no acceptances, but now have a few waitlists under my belt. It's certainly reaffirming, but looking like it's going to be a very, very long haul of waiting for me... Still have 5 or 6 programs that I haven't gotten official word from, though. I'm *hoping* that if I've gotten multiple waitlists it bodes well for my chances for an acceptance at one of the remaining schools - or that between all of the waitlists something will come through. But the pressure is certainly high and I'm experiencing all kinds of anxiety and terror. fingers crossed for good news for all this next week!

Who all are we expecting to hear from this next week? I know Johns Hopkins notified in early feb last year so they should be any time, princeton, nyu, UVA, possibly cuny...

In their email to WL folks, they made it sound as if acceptances were already sent out ("We have strongly encouraged candidates who received first-round offers to make a timely decision") but it's a form letter that they likely wrote ahead of time, so grain of salt. Perhaps those with acceptances aren't active on the forum or didn't add to the board/post.

Hey y'all - I'm one of the waitlist folks at UT Austin. Anyone have insights about whether people have often been admitted off their waitlist in previous years/the timeline/how waitlists tend to work for PhD in general (are they ranked/does it depend on someone in your period choosing another program/do programs tend to only admit their intended cohort size or account for some turnover and admit, say 20 to get 12 etc)? Alternatively, are questions about these things appropriate to ask the dgs/etc in an email? This was my first notification and I'm still waiting on a lot of programs, but it would be good to know what exactly I'm dealing with here.