nc2nyc

I just did this. I had so convinced myself that my dream school was impossible that I accepted a great offer elsewhere. Even posted to social media. Then I actually got into my dream school and had to backtrack. Sent an email to my POI and CC'd the Graduate School advisor and Admission's email, apologizing profusely. Didn't tell them where eI was going instead, but rather that it was an incredibly difficult decision and that circumstances had changed. They said they were disappointed but understood. And like that, I was free to accept the other offer.

When I got the acceptance to UNC for a PhD program, I was over the moon. UNC checked off so many of my boxes, and being someone who has no work experience, I knew how much of a long shot it was to get in anywhere. I also had applied to Stanford, as well as Knight-Hennessey Scholars (KHS), a prestigious graduate fellowship that is highly selective. I submitted essentially the same information/story as I did to my doctoral program. In early February, I was informed that I was not selected into KHS. I was okay, as I knew it was a long shot. In turn, I assumed that meant I had not been admitted to Stanford. A few weeks later, I posted on my social media that I would be attending UNC. I also shared some of my personal tribulations that I had never talked about publicly. In doing so, my posts went viral, with over 5,000 shares. I have received interview requests, requests to be on the news, and invitations to speak publicly. All on top of hundreds of personal messages commending me for my perseverance. I am not taking any of this well. I know it was my decision to share my experiences, but I never imagined it would blow up the way it did. And then I get a call from my POI at Stanford saying that I was admitted. I have no clue what to do or what to think. My post keeps getting shared more and more, and I feel like the decision to choose Stanford when its been so widely shared that I'm heading to UNC feels like I'm not keeping my word, or that I run when I see a better opportunity. How do I make this feel like it's my decision? And not the internet's?

While I'm over the moon to have gotten into my top choice UNC, and I knew Stanford was a reach, I'm taking the USC rejection pretty hard. I thought I was a great fit, I had a great conversation with some professors there. And looking at the forum results, it looks like they rejected a lot of highly qualified people, which should make me feel better, but doesn't. 3 down, 2 to go.

Could not be more excited! I've checked my email every 10 minutes for the last two months, and now that there is an acceptance letter in it, I am in disbelief. Got a separate email from my POI saying she is "thrilled" to work with me. So so so grateful.

Hi everyone. Glad to have some support through this journey. I'm actually a current MRP applying to PhD programs in planning. I'm happy to talk about both journeys. Age/Gender/Citizenship 24/M/US Undergraduate degree/School/Year graduated BA in Public Administration / large southern flagship university / 2019 BS in Environmental Design / same large southern flagship university / 2019 MRP / ivy league / 2021 GPA - GRE - TOEFL (for Int'l students) 3.8 BA/3.6 BS/3.5 MRP - Less-than-satisfactory GRE scores in 2019, but good enough for most masters programs I applied to; not submitting this time around Work Experience: Internships in urban planning, non-profit, urban design, economic development, and public education Research Experience: Transportation planning, community development, education policy Letter of recommendations: (from whom) Program chair from undergrad, Program chair from masters, current internship supervisor, former internship supervisor Schools applied to: Stanford (education policy), USC, UNC, Michigan, TAMU In: Out: Wait-list: Awaiting: Stanford, USC, UNC, Michigan, TAMU Results:

Hmm. So I applied to SHIPS, and on the application it had a separate place to upload my SOP. Granted it was way at the end, even after recommenders. I didn’t have a box with a character limit.

Submitted, 1 recommendation in, other assured he'd submit by the end of the day. Felt confident until I fell down a rabbit of of reading former KHS bios --- these people are incredible.