saffasrass

I can now officially say being waitlisted after interviewing feels worse than rejections or being waitlisted with no contact first. Rip.

I think the most frustrating part of this cycle has been getting stuck in a sort of "limbo" for some schools, where we've seen both rejections and acceptances go out, but heard nothing ourself. It leaves me with a sense of hope, even though I know it's likely that they just haven't gotten around to rejecting everyone. I appreciate the cold efficiency of UT and other schools who send everything out at once/within a few days of initial rejections/acceptances, leaving no ambiguity. Anyways, good luck to everyone still waiting to hear back from schools, or also stuck in limbo!

I'm both sorry to hear that and relieved. I hope your friend is having an otherwise good cycle. Send them my best wishes!

My worry seeing the rolling Cornell rejections is that they're going alphabetically lol. If anyone's already been rejected, is your last name early in the alphabet? ?

In previous years they've called admitted students and sent out acceptances after their first round of rejections. Last year they also seemed to have done a week or two of rolling rejections, instead of sending them out at once. That said, if you look at the history of results for Cornell across the years, there doesn't seem to be a consistent order that they reject/admit/waitlist. Crossing my fingers to get a call from Ithaca, NY in the near future though!

I was e-mailed Monday morning by the Program Coordinator to set up interviews in the first week of March. There was no indication whether they were sending these out all at once or on a rolling basis, but they have begun to reach out to those they're considering to "take part in their next stage of admissions." Hope you also hear back from them!

That's hard to speculate on I think. It definitely says something about you if you get accepted with full funding during one of the worst cycles in a long time (I know it got spotty during the Great Recession too). If the market improves, there will be fewer people looking in 5-6 years, which might also play out in your favor if you're not coming from a top program. That having been said, I think that your match with a program, publishing as a graduate student, and impressing your advisors and people in your subfield(s) of interest can go a long way in "overcoming" the lower ranking of a program. I also think that you shouldn't accept an offer to a program that you aren't excited about even if it's your only acceptance this cycle. If you believe you can get into a program that is a better match/ranking next time around, and you're willing to hold off another year, do it. Don't "settle!"

It's not uncommon, though take that with a grain of salt, as I can only say that from anecdotal knowledge. I've definitely seen a few people here and on Twitter who have had to apply multiple cycles. I feel like unless you have a very clear research agenda and know how to sell yourself well, it can be difficult to get through the applications and figure out how best to approach each school's SOP requirements, etc. That said, it is VERY likely that a large number of people applying to Soc programs this year will have to apply again next cycle. A lot of top programs have suspended admissions, leaving a larger pool of applicants than normal vying for a limited number of spots. Don't feel bad if you have to apply another cycle, as this is 100% out of our control. If you do end up applying again, at least you will have the experience gained navigating the process this time around!

The Development Sociology program is a PhD in another department in another college, so I'm pretty sure they're on their own timeline!

Cornell doesn't typically request interviews, and consistently sends out their first round of decisions mid-February. So we can either expect to start hearing back next week or potentially even later, since they made the GRE optional. Edit: last year was a bit out of the norm with them sending rejections early, but previous years they sent out both in mid-February. They seem a bit inconsistent. Best to reach out if you're anxious!

This 100%! I scheduled a chat with one of my letter writers to discuss backup plans last Monday, then woke up to an interview request the following morning. You really never know! We just have to try our best to be patient, as hard as it may be. I've been doing my best to throw myself into work and research, but it's hard when my outstanding applications are living in my head rent free.

For all those who have been waitlisted at a program: did you reply to the e-mail/DGS? Like I want them to know that I'm definitely interested, but I'm not sure if it's necessary to express that via e-mail.

No solid acceptances here, just a waitlist and an interview/virtual visit coming up. So on the one hand, those feel good, but I'm still playing the same waiting game. And there's so many schools who have set up interviews/admitted some people that I'm assuming I've been rejected from but are still pending. This whole waiting game is getting pretty exhausting!

It's on my backup to hit submit on if I don't get an acceptance by the end of February, but I'm sure you'd hear back after their deadline in March? They are definitely still taking applicants.

I'll cross my fingers we both get accepted off the waitlist! Indiana is my #1 too.

Sorry to hear that. I'm expecting one too, and the waiting is killing me. I hope you hear good news from other programs!

Anyone here claiming the USC rejection from the decisions page?

I'd love to talk to anyone who was invited to the Notre Dame virtual weekend if they're also on this forum. I'm curious what everyone else's research interests are and which professors they listed as POI.

Nothing so far, but they usually send out decisions mid-February. I'm sure they've been even more inundated than usual with no GRE requirement.

I hope so! I have just the one virtual visit/interview so far, which I'm thankful for, but I just want to find out about the rest! Good luck to everyone

I woke up to the invitation in my inbox. They have a virtual visit on February 19th, and all invited get the chance to speak to current students and professors. They say to think of it as a "recruitment day" not an interview, as everyone invited is either admitted or waitlisted and admitted. I'm not sure if they're still sending invitations, but if so I hope you get one!

What sort of message was it? A general invitation for an interview? Or more of a "well done for being a finalist!"?

Yeah, I think this is definitely the hardest part! Seeing people get CUNY interviews when I thought I had a good shot, and had a great call with a POI is pretty rough. I want to believe what some people have said about inquiring about the status of applications on the results page, but I also feel like I can't fully trust anyone who's not posting an admit/rejection from programs we know are definitely releasing decisions.

I feel like enough of us have applied there that someone would have claimed it by now. My guess is a troll saw someone inquiring about USC and decided to post an admit to screw with us. At least that's what I'm going to assume until I hear something from them.

If anyone else absolutely stressed out of their mind wants to chat and/or commiserate, let me know. I'd love to talk about our research interests, academic experiences, what we're currently binge watching, etc. Anything to stay distracted!