BwO

Best of luck to you!! Here's hoping that you'll hear back with positive news soon.

@TheorySchmeory Congrats! Well, unless you have another offer to respond to immediately or if you’re doubting the prospect of attending Columbia, I don’t think there’s any harm in staying on the waitlist, especially if it’s a short one. Perhaps you could ask for details about your waitlist position or the timeline for decisions in your response to the waitlist email, if you really want to manage your expectations? 

@TheorySchmeory Congrats! Well, unless you have another offer to respond to immediately or if you’re doubting the prospect of attending Columbia, I don’t think there’s any harm in staying on the waitlist, especially if it’s a short one. Perhaps you could ask for details about your waitlist position or the timeline for decisions in your response to the waitlist email, if you really want to manage your expectations? 

@TheorySchmeory Congrats! Well, unless you have another offer to respond to immediately or if you’re doubting the prospect of attending Columbia, I don’t think there’s any harm in staying on the waitlist, especially if it’s a short one. Perhaps you could ask for details about your waitlist position or the timeline for decisions in your response to the waitlist email, if you really want to manage your expectations? 

I'm keeping a bottle of wine at hand, because I'll need it -- whatever the outcome. 

I'm keeping a bottle of wine at hand, because I'll need it -- whatever the outcome. 

Everyone ready for the moment of truth due to come sometime this week? 

Mostly worried about people who have already committed and who are either intentionally or unintentionally delaying denying other offers. 

Anyone else still on waitlists and loosing their mind? Because I am loosing my mind. 

@BwO I'm honestly not sure. I reached out yesterday to another program I am waitlisted at, and the DGS told me that most people have neither accepted nor denied their offer of admission. She thought they may "not be able to go to the waitlist until another week passes," but said that they are committed to the April 15th deadline. So while my conversation with this DGS did not make me feel confident that they would pull from the waitlist, I definitely feel more optimistic than I did after speaking with the DGS at Indiana. 

@karamazov @kolyagogolova congrats to you both!! haven't had any definitive news on my end (from The Other School in North Carolina), but hopefully i'll get to see you there this fall! (or, well, the next, depending on how the pandemic situation goes.)  

@karamazov @kolyagogolova congrats to you both!! haven't had any definitive news on my end (from The Other School in North Carolina), but hopefully i'll get to see you there this fall! (or, well, the next, depending on how the pandemic situation goes.)  

Me too ? I'm glad you're in!

Well, I just received an offer from UNC off their waitlist. I am now officially going to have a heart attack.

@karamazov @kolyagogolova congratulations on the UNC waitlists! It’s wonderful that the school’s paying for your travels to their visiting weekend, since it only goes to show how much they’d like to have you in their program. Anyway, while I suppose Durham differs slightly from Raleigh, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the general environment/culture in North Carolina after your respective visits, given that I’ll very likely be committing to Duke (sight-unseen) should the opportunity arise. Having never stepped foot in the States, let alone NC, I suppose this will be a rather risky move, so I’m trying to find out as much as I can from others to ensure that I’ll make the right decision (if I'm given the chance to). 

I suppose so! Who knew whining could be so fruitful?

Yesssss!! I suppose the long wait paid off after all.

I’m......in at BU. What? What? I...HUH?

I'll definitely send you a DM after the visit to give you my impression of the area! 

I’m an international student, so it’ll be really expensive for me to travel to the US for self-arranged visits, although I have certainly considered that. If you can afford to travel, though, I doubt there’s any harm in contacting the DGS to schedule your own visits outside of regular visiting weekends (especially since you’ve potentially, in a best case scenario, four schools to choose from). Otherwise, I think speaking to current students will be your best option. It’ll be a good way for you to form a support network early anyway, so you can better navigate whatever program you might commit yourself to/wherever you might be moving to this fall. 

I’m an international student, so it’ll be really expensive for me to travel to the US for self-arranged visits, although I have certainly considered that. If you can afford to travel, though, I doubt there’s any harm in contacting the DGS to schedule your own visits outside of regular visiting weekends (especially since you’ve potentially, in a best case scenario, four schools to choose from). Otherwise, I think speaking to current students will be your best option. It’ll be a good way for you to form a support network early anyway, so you can better navigate whatever program you might commit yourself to/wherever you might be moving to this fall. 

Ouch, why does this penchant for sadism resonate with me so much?
But anyway, here are my $0.02 worth. Even if "happiness" isn't the main criteria for your decision, it doesn't mean that you should be abjectly miserable either. You don't have to be the happiest you've been in your life during the course of your grad studies, and this will likely be impossible anyway given all the inevitable stress, but you also can't be so downtrodden that you're rendered almost incapable of doing the work you're meant to do in a PhD program (if that makes sense)? I suppose this means choosing a program where you know you'll be supported adequately for the next six years, academically, psychologically, and financially. I don't doubt that the programs to which you've been accepted are offering you rather sizeable funding packages, but there are certainly some places (Brown, Princeton) where you can make your money stretch more than others (Columbia, Berkeley) — would you like to live more comfortably and with some savings? Or is the bare minimum enough? Does the school have a strong grad union? What are the teaching requirements? Also, I trust that all these programs are challenging in their own ways, but several places (UChicago, Berkeley) used to be infamous for being shark tanks. I don't know if their reputations for being exceedingly harsh still hold today, and it'll be definitely better for you to check in with the current students on your visits. But if certain programs are in fact more 'hardball' than others, then ask yourself if you're the sort of student who thrives in such hyper-competitive environments, or if you're better suited to more collaborative pedagogical strategies. Ultimately, you have several great programs to choose from, so pick the one that suits your needs — whatever they may be — best. 
Edit: I'm guessing that your mentors would have also vetted your POIs with you, but if they haven't, do ask around about their reputations and supervision styles. 

Reupping this, since I'm curious to know what the etiquette is for waitlistees to express their continued interest (beyond the initial "yes, I'd like to be on the waitlist" email). I'm also interested in knowing about how to ask/whether it is polite to ask about the size of the admitted cohort, the size of the waitlist, and one's ranking on the waitlist, in order to manage expectations. 

Reupping this, since I'm curious to know what the etiquette is for waitlistees to express their continued interest (beyond the initial "yes, I'd like to be on the waitlist" email). I'm also interested in knowing about how to ask/whether it is polite to ask about the size of the admitted cohort, the size of the waitlist, and one's ranking on the waitlist, in order to manage expectations. 

Does anyone know what kinds of questions are appropriate to ask when you're on waitlist somewhere (in this case, UW)? I am a novice to this whole process and generally afraid of emailing people in general. I mostly want to know 1) size of waitlist 2) general timeline for the process, but I'm not sure the best way to frame these questions.