paulacole

GO IVAN!

Truly such a difficult cycle and kudos to everyone for getting through it during the middle of a PANDEMIC! Still waiting on final funding but very happy to have to be considering an acceptance from University of Florida ?

Yes! Exactly this and beyond... not only am I afraid of making the wrong choice of school, but I'm also afraid of making the wrong life choice! Tbh I wanted to post something similar but I have been afraid to say it out loud. How can we have worked so hard, only to start having second thoughts once the acceptances start coming in?! I suppose it might be weirder to be having absolutely no doubts, though. I'm sure you'll be happy with whatever you choose though - every decision is the right decision!

Oh no, @IvanC, I'm so sorry to hear this! That just feels so unfair. I hope they can give you a better explanation at least so you know how they evaluated. Obviously not ideal, but if there are specific requirements that they say you are missing on your transcript, perhaps you could suggest that you make up any gaps during enrollment? i.e. take some additional courses over the summer or during your first year in the program. I have definitely heard of that at other institutions offering that option (CU-Boulder mentions it in their PhD eligibility requirements)

Ahhh CONGRATS @IvanC and @kso1634! And a belated congrats to @AnxiousBeaveron the Stanford acceptance! Fingers crossed for everyone else still waiting to hear back ?

Hello! I'm in a very similar boat — waiting to hear back from my last PhD application, but pretty much prepared that I will get rejects from all the PhD programs I applied to. I was kind of anticipating that this cycle would be super competitive, so I ended up not even applying for Chicago's PhD and instead directly to their MAPSS program with hopes for a full or sizable tuition reimbursement. I do know they commonly offer MAPSS admission to PhD applicants that aren't accepted, so that would be something to look out for. I have read that you can also petition for more funding, though the cost can definitely be prohibitive even with discounts. I also applied to a few other terminal MAs in related fields that have historically offered funding, but given the state of the world, I'm not sure how much $$ they will have this year. I would consider applying again next cycle if I didn't get any funding anywhere, but TBH I'm also not sure how much more competitive my application would be, nor can I be certain about the long-term effects of COVID on funding availability. Really don't know whether I would bite the bullet or not! I think your professor's feedback is good though — research programs are still accepting applications and maybe put in an application, at least as a safety option. Wishing you luck too and keeping fingers crossed for you!

That's super helpful, thank you! Congrats on your acceptances so far too! Are you leaning toward any one program at this point?

Hey all! Congrats on the acceptances so far everyone! I have an interview this week and as I'm preparing, I'm just curious what interview questions you all have been asked this year? Any suggestions for questions to ask, or better yet, what *not* to ask? I've had two interviews with different schools so far and they couldn't have been more different... one was a very casual and informal conversation with three faculty members — honestly their questions felt like lobs so I left the interview feeling great! The other interview was way more formal and the questions were super generic to the point that they caught me off-guard. I was expecting specific questions but it was very much like "What do you expect of this program" and "What are you reading" etc. I left feeling like I totally bombed, so I really want to do well on this next one! Any advice or insight is much appreciated!

CONGRATS!! Is this the thread's first acceptance??? Can you share where? Must be such a relief ?

Been quietly lurking because I only applied to one IS program and expected to be an instant reject... but very surprisingly just got an interview for Illinois. Saw a couple others in the results too -- congrats and good luck!

Starting to see some activity in the results section! Congrats to those getting interviews and feedback. Wondering if anyone can claim the CUNY interview? I applied there too, very curious to know your subfield and PI(s)

Congrats on the interview ides! How did it go? How is everyone doing with the waiting game? I know most decisions will be made starting in February but I'm still checking portals daily...

I have some resources I put together — it's more PhD SOP focused but hopefully should still be helpful. I'll PM you!

Much to my surprise, I got my first interview offer for January! I know it's not an admission, but I do feel a huge sense of relief knowing that my application wasn't an instant reject. Thank you for the well wishes Jess!

Congrats Ivan, that's great! How did the interview go? Good luck London! Yeah I have a feeling January is going to be even worse with the waiting game... !