Potato Cactus

Hey Peeps, Is there an etiquette on contacting departments you are waitlisted at to inquire about chances of admission? Do you only do this on April 15th? Do you do this at all? Should you do this if you have already contacted them in early April to let them know you'd like to keep close contact? Thank you all for your guidance! (\_/) ( *_*) />❤️

YES! More positivity, please!!

UCSB has been sending out information to soliciting applicants this past week. Looks like mostly waitlists and perhaps a rejection; no explicit information on waitlist movement or further acceptances.

Also, for anyone this might help, please don't turn to drinking, drugs or other unhealthy habits during this time. Once you're hooked those crutches will be worse than these rejections.

I still have a passion for cooking even though I'm not a professional chef and sometimes screw up making toast. Same thing for sports or any other passion. Unless I'm Gordon Ramsey or Tony Hawk or, *dun dun dun* - Saul Kripke, someone is going to be better and more successful than me at my passions. But that shouldn't stop me from pursuing my passions. Burn that toast and pick it up; look at it strait in the whole wheat and say, "you suck but you're still mine and I don't need a Michelin star to make more toast."

Accepted to UC Santa Cruz but no mention of funding.

Also assuming rejection from Wisc. Their cheese is fantastic.

Hi lurkingfaculty, I've always appreciated your insight on this forum; I am sure I speak for everyone when I say please continue lurking here and commenting. *small vent coming, asking for preemptive excusal and understanding; I know you probably have the same feelings as me.* I worked my tushy off to get a 3.86 in my MA. It really sucks to know that the best that I can do is not impressive. This is especially so when a GPA in a PhD generally does not matter; all that matters is if you meet the minimum and get your degree. (If I am more naive here than what I have learned about for PhDs, please excuse my inadequate tushy.)

OP has my condolences. Hopefully s/he/they take comfort in the unwavering objectivity of my jalapeños.

Whenever I touch a jalapeño there's only a 2% chance I won't end up in a shower trying to freeze hell above my knees. It's a crapshoot; but by golly I'll take a confidence boost if I'm given one.

Rejected from WUSTL. Email sent today - rolling rejections give roly-poly's a bad name.

I waived not because of social norms, but because I'd rather not read "____ is okay, which makes him a good fit for your program."

Does anyone know if WUSTL has rolling rejections? (Aside from those that will get rejected off a waitlist by April 15th.)

Awesome! Win-win! You get into a great program, and we all get great vidja game AI things. Bravo!

$5 and a cheese burger; take it or leave it

Since UCSB is having reduced admissions this year (4-5) and two people have posted acceptances on the Grad Cafe results page, I think we can assume that all first acceptances for UCSB have gone out. However, there is probably a waitlist in the making, so keep this in mind if you are feeling down right now (especially if this is your top choice). TL;DR: I know a guy who did psyop stuff for the government; he's pretty good at astral projection. Might be able to get his help to figure out UCSB waitlist.

Awesome! Keep tips like these coming. In the meantime, I'll make sure to assume an honorary rejection from U Mich since I did not apply there. EDIT: But seriously, thanks for the heads-up!

I can tell you did better than the 7th percentile on the quant portion of the GRE, i.e., I can't do this kind of math.

I would say that is a great positive signal; kinda like when you get an extra toasty cheese-it in a regular cheese-it box and so you can confidently expect more extra toasty cheese-its. Bravo, keep us updated on how things turn out for you and your other applications.

Here's a link to a few successful philosophy SoP's on Eric Schwitzgebel's blog (He's faculty at UCR): http://schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/2012/05/applying-to-phd-programs-in-philosophy.html I'll let someone else help with getting you a successful writing sample; I don't know of any resources (and mine was godawful, at least the one that got me into an MA program but rejected from all my Phil PhD apps). You might be able to dig on this forum and find a link from someone in the beforefore.

May God speed you to Cyberpunk 2077 to fix their awful AI. Jokes aside, that's amazing. This little potato is impressed and hopes more good things come your way (especially the opportunity to fix awful NPC AI).

My ignorance is hard to conceal.

Makes sense that more people would be applying because the GRE is waived for most programs. When I first applied out (this is my second round) I was attracted to apply to the few programs that did not require the GRE for financial and prospect reasons (my GRE scores were no bueno). This does squelch the hope that fewer people would be applying because of the pandemic, though. We probably shouldn't read too much into this news. I think you've made great points about how to take it. But also, 50% of this potato is despair. EDIT: It is possible that people who had jobs lined up might have decided to apply to grad school now because those options are no longer available. At least if someone gets into a funded Ph.D program they have (however measly it is) a source of stable income.

Grandiose self-conception and crippling insecurity

Oscillating confidence between "It's the best" and "His penmanship is excellent."