strongkleeneevalscheme

I am presuming that there will be some significant waitlist movement and news announced this week. Given my place of the waitlist of one of my favorite programs, my stomach has been in a pretty thick knot recently. The last few rejections in late March mostly washed over me as I became acclimatized to bad news, but I fear I will be really quite saddened if I don’t make it off the list. Although I am fairly happy with my one acceptance, I had hoped that I would have much broader options by the end of the cycle. It’s hard not to take things entirely personally.

Finally got my Berkeley rejection. I apparently made it into 'the last round' of whatever it was that took them so long. That was more of a consolation than I would have expected.

It's very hard for me to judge how I would have gelled with a number of these departments, which is part of the reason that this constricting sensation is so unnerving. Granted, the bulk of my independent studies and research, including my writing sample, was decidedly historical in nature, which seems to put me at odds with a formally rigorous department like MIT or Rutgers. However, I think it's fair to say that this reflects, in large part, the resources I had access to as an undergraduate, and it goes without saying that I did not select my alma mater with a philosophical career in mind. While I admit that on paper, my research interests surely appear more compatible with the more traditional concept-analysis style of good old fashioned philosophizing that you can see all over the roster at Berkeley and Pittsburgh, than with the logician-philosophers at, say, USC, I really did attempt to stress in my applications that I adored all of my work in philosophical logic and attempted to make use of every opportunity I had to advance my studies in that direction. In fact, I'd say that the reason I focused my research in my last year of undergrad on a historical program, rather than engaging with more recent formal philosophy, has more to do with confidence than with motivation or, dare I say, talent. Of course, my studies went well off the beaten path, but I was careful not to go too far astray from the areas of competence of my mentors at my college, and I feel like this apprehension ended up closing some doors for me in ways I didn't expect. I don't exactly regret anything, and actually doubt I'd change much of my undergrad experience. It's just a little frustrating to simultaneously know how much of this process relies on a compounding series of small things that are mostly out of my control, and yet still feel like I should have somehow known to allocate my time differently. Mostly I'm bummed I won't get to work with Stephen Yablo... What a hunk ? Hope you don't mind the little blogwork, but this is the venting thread after all! EDIT: Realized immediately after posting this how stupid I was to call my undergrad experience anything but wondrously eye-opening and totally transformative. I really should get a cup of coffee already and stop complaining about being exposed to 'the wrong kind' of late 20th century analytic philosophy of language. For all I know, I could have ended up doing marketing psychology if not for the sheer luck of meeting a score of incredible teachers and peers, and falling in love with an entire world of letters that I had no real reason to ever know existed. Sorry for the absurd self-pity, my devoted readers!

I have no idea. I get strong 'chaotic energy' from basically everything I know of that department. I imagine studying there would be like "Uncut Gems". I mostly want to keep my options as radically open as possible -- many of the departments I am waiting to hear from seem perhaps like the 'lite' alternatives of other schools on my radar. That's not necessarily anything to complain about, but it is a little disenchanting.

At least you could stay asleep long enough for REM! I am ravenous for news from CUNY as well. After my ignoble rejections from Rutgers, USC, and MIT right in a row last week, CUNY is the only major department on my menu that hasn't turned me down or stuck me on their waitlist. I am doing my best to be somewhat optimistic about my station on those waitlists, but CUNY is the last department I haven't heard from that I can feel really excited about hearing some good news from. Not that there's anything wrong with the back end of the catalog, but I happen to be way more enthusiastic about UT than any of them. To tell you the truth, it was getting the nos from USC and MIT in the span of three hours that really drove me up the wall last last week, and I am eager to hear something good soon. That's just to say that you're not alone in going a little bit neurotic with the rest of us. I am blaming it on that damned February 29th!

I want to thank you very much for writing all of that out for us. I have been going through any number of mental cycles over the past few days trying to wrap my mind around the essentially unlivable financial offer that I received from UT, and take much solace in knowing that the chump change they offered me was emblematic of some larger structural defects/antagonisms of the college of liberal arts (rather than an indication of my value as a student). Unfortunately, I absolutely adore the resources that I would have access to as a student there, but hearing that I am not alone in this predicament gives me much sobriety in informing my contacts on faculty that I cannot in good conscience entertain their offer as is.

You must have a masters. I am getting an even worse deal. On purely academic grounds, I would likely choose UT over nearly any school besides MIT; financially, I have no idea whether or not I have any real reason to attend unless I receive no further acceptances or am somehow further lowballed. I just got off the phone with a faculty member at UT who expressed a significant desire for my presence in the program. From what I know and his description, UT really seems like an ideal place to study the philosophy of language, and some of the dimensions of the program were hard not to go gaga at. I am not looking forward to providing such a wonderful department with a financial ultimatum, but it is seeming increasingly likely that I will be left with little choice. I should have foreseen having to choose between learning and money, but of course in my naivety I did not. If another school, say USC, offers me a better deal, I don't see what options I would have than to negotiate and take my business elsewhere if talks fall through. I just can't justify living on $13,000 a year for the rest of my 20s.

does anyone know how a waitlist works? is it an actual list? is it sorted by AOI? is it in any way binding or is it merely a suggested ordering?

Waitlisted at Pitt. Received an oddly personal email asking for my current level of interest in the program and floating the possibility that I attend the admitted student visitation at the end of the month. I say 'odd' only because I had assumed that a waitlist email would be more clinical, rather than warm and inviting. Perhaps this is normal, but it would take more willpower than I have to refrain from interpreting this as a sign that I am particularly high on that list; I will therefore ignore any comments on here to the contrary ?.

Unofficially informed of my acceptance to UT Austin as well. AOI is philosophy of language & philosophical logic. I was told that I would receive a full offer with funding information by the end of the day, but that email never arrived. Also never received an email from the graduate school admissions client, but my MyUT (or something similar) page is updated to indicate my status as an accepted graduate student, complete with an option to accept or reject the offer. I'm very happy that my first news after nearly two months of waiting on 11 applications was an acceptance; what's more, it's for a program I would be unconditionally happy to be a part of. UT turned out, more or less surprisingly, to be perhaps my favorite program behind those three highly prestigious departments at the top of my list. This acceptance makes me feel quite secure and confident entering the next phase of this process.