unnnknown

To the best of my knowledge, all UCSB decisions have been sent out--their website has a page with all the data for acceptances for their 2024 cycle. https://www.graddiv.ucsb.edu/ucsb-graduate-statistics 

Hit the submit button on two of my applications today (and am just waiting on letters for the third). ??Thought there would be a little more relief, but now I'll just be nervous till the Spring. 
This is not meant to stress anyone out, I promise! I have a very short list of schools and have been working on things since the summer. Good luck to everyone who's in the home stretch! You all can do it and you're all awesome! You're so close and you will feel such a sense of accomplishment (however fleeting it may be for some).
 

Programs in the UK, at least when I was applying, accept you directly to the dissertation phase so you don't do any coursework. Given that, it's expected that you have a clearer idea of what you're going to work on and for some programs this involves figuring out who your advisor would be or if there's faculty to support you. So it makes sense that in the UK you contact the potential advisor in advance whereas in the US there's no expectation to do that because you would be spending 2-3 years on other stuff before you actually work with them anyway.

Just wanted to give some info about how the covid crisis is affecting graduate schools and future admissions. In Yale's case, what we know now is that individual departments will have autonomy when giving year-long extensions to current students, and will decide whether to give blanket extensions to everyone, on a cohort basis, or on an individual basis. Every extension of funding given out, though, comes with a trade-off: for six extensions of funding given out, the department will have one fewer admission slot to offer. This will probably play out over the long term, buying many current students extensions by taking two or three fewer students each year for a number of years. It's all in flux right now, but know that this will likely make admissions even more competitive (or it may even out with fewer applications overall, who can say?).

If there was a competition on who's the most behind schedule on their grad applications, I think I'd be a shoo-in for first prize.
The more I think about how much more I have to do, the more panicked I become, so I'm just not going to think about it and keep moving forward. @haleydanielle I feel you - the procrastination is real. Hope you and everyone else on here is making good progress!
I didn't reach out to any professors during my last application cycle (mainly because I was also terrified of the process), but I don't think that's the reason all my applications were unsuccessful. This year I've sent out two so far and gotten replies for both, so it seems like the terror was unwonted. Definitely reach out if you think your research dovetails with that of a particular professor really well. One of the professors I emailed said he wasn't on the adcomm last year and didn't even realise someone had applied to work in his area, so it could be very helpful to at least notify a POI of your intention to apply!

For me at least, late is relative. If there's still a month before your application is due and you've done your research on the prof and why you want to work with him/her, then it probably wouldn't hurt. If your deadline is next week, however, that might be cutting it a bit too close.
I guess it depends on what you're intending to get out of the potential exchange as well. Most professors are unlikely to have the time at this stage to entertain lengthy requests for consideration or discuss their work in detail, but I've been advised by others more experienced than myself that a short "are you taking in new students" could be a lifesaver, especially if a particular professor's presence is a big factor in your choice to apply to a program. All the best!

Good luck to all of this year's applicants! 
It was a grueling set of months for me last year, and I can only imagine that covid is making it even more chaotic and uncertain for you. However, I'm very glad I took the chance and applied. And I hope you're all in a similar place come next year.  
If anyone has any questions about JHU, feel free to let me know.