fall-11

I think you should wait until you hear from the others. Sometimes it's easy to get hyper-excited, and your emotions take over (like newly falling in love) and later you start realizing all the things you didn't notice because you were so starry-eyed. Just calm down and wait a few more weeks. Your dream school isn't going away anywhere, and they aren't going to rescind your acceptance just because you're taking your time saying "I do." Won't the "I do" be more meaningful when you're actually accepting them despite offers from a bunch of other places? Alternatively, maybe Harvard or some other dream school will scoop you up, and you'll be glad you hadn't committed prematurely. Good luck, and congrats!

That's awesome! And congrats on USC!

Maybe ask the DGS at Indiana about how people waitlisted for first-year funding have fared in previous years? As in, did they end up getting the first year funding, or did it just not materialize at all? Like lyoness says, give it till April 14 to see if you get offered the funding. It seems strange that they would admit someone into the PhD without funding. Indiana is way too good to pass up, so keep telling them how interested you are in the program, and that you really want to attend and are hoping that they'll be able to fund you. Good luck, and congrats on getting into Indiana!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you, lolopixie and courtniep. Yeah, the waiting is much easier when you have at least one acceptance to sit on, and I've stopped grumbling (and am truly grateful) since I got that *one* acceptance about 2 weeks back. Hope you guys get one soon as well!

So, I decided to be annoying and call them. I talked to the grad secretary, who seems really friendly, and she said she thinks all decisions should be made by mid to late March. Okay, so that isn't terribly specific for those of us waiting, but at least it's something. Just thought I'd pass it along. ETA: she also mentioned that the DGA is away for a few days, which I'm guessing means we won't hear anything in the next few days.

Thanks for your input, dendro and Transnational. As it turns out, I had a very nice conversation with the DGS, but since I'm not even accepted yet, I chickened out of asking about travel funding... However, if I do get accepted and attend their TA training at the end of the spring, she said she'll try to get that trip covered. So I think if she had funds for the visiting day, she probably would have offered it herself. English depts probably don't have a whole lot of money anyway, and it's okay actually -- I'll think of it as an investment, and hopefully the payoff will be getting into a great program, which will make the $400 in airfare seem totally insignificant. Keeping my fingers crossed, and good luck to you guys as well!

I was wondering who all are going to the BU visiting day on March 25. I've been waitlisted (I posted on the results board on Thursday), but invited to go to the visiting day. I'm definitely going because I'm very interested in BU (and thrilled to even be on the waitlist) and will most likely accept if offered admission. Just wondering if anyone else from GradCafe is going -- catherinian? mutualfriend? anyone else?

Thanks for the reply, and no need to be jealous! I doubt it'll actually happen, because I'm too timid to actually ask about it. I don't want to push it or seem presumptuous. I'll just talk on the phone tomorrow and see if she herself mentions anything, otherwise I'll just pay out of pocket and hope they accept me, so that it's worthwhile in the end. Fingers crossed, and good luck with your visits as well!

I got an email from a school I really want to attend saying they really liked my application, and that they hope to be able to make a funded offer soon. So it's not an acceptance, but more like being high up on the waitlist. In the mean time, they've invited me to their prospective student visiting day. They didn't mention anything about helping with the cost of travel -- should I just assume that means they're not going to help with that? Or is there a way to tactfully ask? They seem pretty interested in me and the DGS will be calling me tomorrow, not for an interview per se, but just to chat and answer any questions I might have, etc. I'm assuming it would be tacky to ask about travel funding unless they offer it themselves, but I'm just wondering what other folks have done in this situation. I'm going to attend the visiting day anyway, despite the cost (about $400 in airfare) since I'm really interested in the school, but yeah, it's a bit of a strain on my budget. Thanks for any advice!

Thanks skeedy -- you're awesome for posting this!

I think the posting frenzy basically parallels the waiting frenzy, which I assume peaks in February So it probably won't be that high again until *next* February. @newms, my head hurts after watching that animation you posted -- ouch! But I love reading your posts -- always positive, encouraging, sympathetic. You should become a moderator or something and be a permanent part of GC!

Hmm... I was just looking at that -- I counted 7 waitlisted folks from last year. On the other hand, several people also got in off the waitlist and got late-breaking acceptances in April... I really hope they hurry it up and don't make us wait till April.

Did you email the DGS to get this info, or did they send an email on their own?

Ha ha, after reading that I noticed that your field is criminology But that's a really apt analogy!

I have a variation of this question -- I haven't heard anything from a program that has been notifying (both accepts & rejects) since 2 weeks ago. I'm hoping that means I'm on an unofficial waitlist or something. But is it a bad idea to email and ask? How long should I wait before asking? Thanks.

I'm curious about this as well -- I'll be visiting them in mid-March. Those who attended the open house -- how was it, and what was your impression of the place? Thanks.

I haven't heard a peep. I'm not too hopeful because they get 500 applications or something crazy like that... but it's just such a great program.

Oh my god, that made me cry. I think all the pent-up emotions were waiting to burst out, and that song and the animation just burst the dam open. It was beautiful. Thank you.

Actually, it wasn't even the CC field they used, but the TO field...

When I applied to MA programs a couple of years back, I was waitlisted at 3 places, and two of them eventually came through with funding (although it was after April 15, and I had already accepted an offer elsewhere). But what I'm saying is, it *is* possible to get in off the waitlist. So don't give up hope, and good luck!

Actually, I called the grad secretary for English, so I'm not sure if the creative writing folks will get notified at the same time, or whether they're a separate process ... good luck, though!

I called USC today to find out when they're going to notify. The grad secretary said they'll start notifying at the end of this week or beginning of next week. So at least now we have a time frame. Keeping my fingers crossed!

I got the same email about being in the final round, and invited to the open house. I'm actually going to Chicago anyway for spring break, so I asked the DGS if I could just visit then, and she said that's fine. So I'll be visiting later, not during the open house. I also asked about how many spots they have, and she said they've invited about 12 finalists to the open house, and will be able to admit (and fund) only 5.

My one was "In Review" this morning, but when I checked again in the afternoon, it had changed to a reject. Oh well.

Same here -- I think they're going to take their time.