sunnyside

Ope, I guess CU Boulder has sent out their rejections because I definitely received one haha. On with the next results!
(I'm making it a point to share this here at the risk of it being TMI because I think it's super important to normalize failure. Ph.D. applications are really challenging, even during non-pandemic years. GradCafe has been a very helpful place to me, but I do think it tends to welcome posts from stellar candidates with multiple success stories, which, if you are like me, can make you feel extra anxious and intimidated.) 

Same here. They do have a “final” deadline in February, so maybe there is still a chance! If not, I am sure you will hear good news from your other choices  
I’ve already had a cycle where I didn’t get in anywhere, and last year, I struggled with not taking the rejections personally and the lack of feedback (as in, not knowing where I “went wrong”). But this year, I’m trying to be more objective. I put a lot of work into my application, so maybe they just saw something that let them think I would thrive elsewhere. There is a lot that we don’t know, like how COVID has affected their funding situation, which faculty are planning to accept students, and how the faculty’s research interests have changed since writing their bio.
This is all to say, I hope you are not down for long! Like I said, we’ll hear back from somewhere (maybe even Irvine!). I really believe we’ll end up where we’re supposed to. 

Ope, I see someone posted about an interview invite from NYU Steinhardt. A couple from Irvine, Stanford, and UMich Ann Arbor this past week, too. Meanwhile, I’m sitting here like Bernie at the inauguration staring at my cold and empty inbox haha ??‍♀️
On the flip side, I confirmed with UCLA that the HEOC program doesn’t conduct interviews. They were also nice enough to send out an email to all applicants saying that decisions will be ready by early February. 
Hopefully, we’ll be out of the dark soon, since it’s actually late January now and February soon! We’re almost to the end of waiting, everyone!!

That.... is very vague hahaha. 
I know people are feeling nervous about Irvine, myself included. I was re-organizing the table I made for this application cycle, and when I looked back at past results for UCI, I realized that there were always waaaay more interview invites by now -- perhaps all. It could be that GradCafe is a total ghost town this year, but I think it's more likely that everything has been delayed a couple of weeks due to COVID. In-person visitation weeks, which usually take place during the first couple weeks of March, are essentially impossible this year, so I wonder if that has an effect.  
I also saw a recent AMA on r/gradadmissions by an authenticated admissions director, and they said that, although Ph.D. admissions are a time-sensitive issue, once it's at the faculty review stage (i.e. your POI), there is most definitely a difference in processing pace because it's up to that professor.  I mean it's one person on Reddit, so take it with a grain of salt, but it helped me feel a little better! :) 
On the other hand, I've heard nothing from NYU Steinhardt or CU Boulder either. Wondering if it's been similar for other people?

Thank you so much for your response! I definitely keep checking if the status has changed on my application. Fingers crossed we’ll hear something in the next few weeks. 

I just re-read my reply to yours, and I think I phrased it in a confusing way! I spoke with staff members and faculty from different schools (including two that were UC's, one being UCLA). I actually received no reply from UC Irvine, staff or faculty... 
I meant that the non-Irvine people seemed to think there would be a delay, so I thought it could be applied to other schools as well. I'm sorry if this causes any disappointment. But yes yes yes, best of luck to you and all of us UC folks

Ooh, that's good to know! Thanks for sharing that there may be a delay. Love that this group tries to think positively... anything optimistic really helps at the moment. 
 
I hope we (uci folks) hear back good news (interview requests) sometime this week so we can just start celebrating something!! We need something good to hear going further into 2021 ??

SAME. Once the initial offer is posted, I feel the window slowly closing for me to get mine. 
For UCI, though, their "priority" deadline full funding consideration is December 1, and the final deadline is February 1. I'm sure they're going through the priority applications now. 

I spoke with a few staff and faculty during the application process, and they all seemed to agree that the pandemic may delay the application review process since it's the first time they've had to do a bulk of it online. Also, winter and spring terms either just began or are about to begin, and there's general political unrest on top of everything. It's helped my anxiety to know that professors probably have more pressing priorities at the moment.