CleoOfSicily

Hey All!
Anyone who received an acceptance from Duquesne and is thinking of declining the offer please do that as soon as you can ?❤️
I got waitlisted and it's my top choice... I would really really appreciate it! Good luck everyone! May we all find a programme to welcome us!

I saw a funny tweet this morning, and I was about to give it a like. However, I quickly realized that the author of the tweet is a member of a department where I was recently rejected. 
 
So, of course, I declined to like the tweet. 

Y'all.........I heard literally nothing all week............even though I've seen people get acceptances and waitlists from several of the programs where I applied. Not even anything from my home institution (that one really hurts!!!). Officially, I'm still waiting to hear back from 9 schools, although I'm pretty sure 5 of them are foregone conclusions at this point. My last 4 are.....wait for it....Princeton, Cornell, Rutgers, and NYU. Ugh! Seems like ye olde buxom broad is warming up backstage for her inevitable aria upon the stage of my graduate-degree hopes. If I were a betting woman, I'd put money on me getting shut out this year.
C'est la vie (et la guerre)! Best of luck to the rest of you ❤️

Figured I'd get this yearly thread started since results are starting to trickle in.
Last year I applied to 14 schools but didn't get in anywhere.
 
This year I've applied to 25 schools, so we'll see how it goes.

So far I got into Ohio State

Hi Naomi!
I did not make it this year! But will work on my project and try again next year.
Hope your applications goes through xx
Good luck!

Any news? I am starting to lose hope 

Omg I forgot about that! There's still a little hope?

Thank you. I’m not feeling toooo hopeful. But hey, there’s still the chance of Durham internal funding for both of us. More waiting...

Hey! So I’m on the reserve list. Fingers crossed and you never know

Accepted to the University of North Carolina: Chapel Hill off the waitlist. Got a lovely call from Thomas Hofweber at work. 

I will be attending BU in the Fall! Has anyone else accepted a BU offer?

Durham with supervisors at Newcastle and Northumbria! My only application ? I did my undergrad at Durham and it really is a lovely little city. I know last year Durham got a disproportionately high number of awards from NB, so fingers crossed it’s the same this year. Well, two at least! 

Hey! We hear on 15th April  Good luck!

Hello Everyone!
For the people who applied for PhD funding to the Northern Bridge Consortium, any news? 

Hi, if I don't hear back from UC Berkeley this week, I am actually going to go crazy. I don't understand why there have been no rejections yet. It is mid MARCH! I just want to know for sure that I have ben rejected (or maybe waitlisted), so that I can live peacefully. Not knowing is driving me insane. There have been no more acceptances or waitlists (reported) since the end of January--holding out on sending rejections is just cruel at this point. Thanks for listening to me rant. Anyone else in the same spot? If so, let's talk--misery loves company. 

CMU is mine, and it's real. Definitely felt very early to me! The professor who emailed me said they just met today to decide (I would assume that emails to the other 7 may not all have gone out on a friday night? I'd think it quite possible). I included the numbers since I know at some point I will be rejected, and I will be grateful for someone else posting that I'm in good, numerous company. 
 
I just wanted to say -- after I submitted my application, I discovered this site, and couldn't help but compare myself to the people posting. I had applied for the master's, and decided to check the PhD box on a whim, because wouldn't that be amazing? I have little background in philosophy itself, no research, no published papers, no fancy grad seminars. My SOP was more a frolic through things that delight me than a coherent research statement. 
 
When I read here, I was SO impressed by everyone's accomplishments and focus. It seemed beyond belief that undergrads could be so put-together. I thought, wow, they're going to think I'm such an idiot, just for daring to submit my application amongst such quality, dedicated candidates. Away I went, thinking I've got no chance. Well, at least I tried, at least I had fun writing my silly essay! 
 
I was SHOCKED to get the email. Still am. (only reason I don't think it's a fluke is that it's very personalized). Have I mentioned - no philosophy since high school, no grad classes, no papers published, no "research agenda". My application was essentially a list of things I've done that've made me happy, and things that I hope will make me happy in the future.
 
I just wanted to write this in case someone sees it in the future, to realize that there is hope and there is a chance, that they should go for it and not be afraid by the grandiose things they read! If I hadn't decided to apply before looking here, I might very well not have. 
 
So, in the middle of all this stress for many, best of luck to all of you! It seems to me now that there really is a chance for everyone, which warms my heart immensely. (and I know that sadly, many qualified people lose in this lottery, which i expect to do on my other application lol. only I won't even be qualified!)

Also accepted at OSU via the portal!

Also accepted at OSU. No further details yet.

Accepted to Western Ontario and Guelph PhDs.

Thanks a lot for this ❤️ 
He has not been responding since May (2020)! But I am trying to develop back up plans because it's really time to graduate and leave! Yes! The programme that accepted me is in the UK + it's a conditional offer (i need to get the MA to get fully in!) so I am doing everything I can to ensure I graduate on time! 
And as you said, if I get in in one of the US schools I will definitely get out of the programme or take a leave of absence!
I wouldn't want to burn bridges, because in the event I don't get a job (in or out of academia) abroad, I will have to return and the department has some nice teaching spots. I just hope everything works out fine!
Thank you again for your support! x

Thank you so much for this by the way! Your experience is very inspiring, but it is also very real because my writing has been dramatically affected by the jobs i worked during my masters. To be completely frank, I do not think I will be able to sustain this rhythm for the duration of the PhD as well. I hope things are better for you now!
Thank you again for sharing your experience! it is not as depressing knowing that am not alone in this.

Unfortunately, this imbalance is normalised in academia. My MA supervisor stopped responding for about 1.5 months after the third contact hour we had, but with his agreement to supervise the project, the university required six. He got back to me after we had a cigarette break together at a conference. I ended up with a 69 because one of my later sections was rushed... so not a distinction, but very close. We ended up developing a good relationship and he agreed to referee for any and all PhD applications.
Assuming you get into one of the other funded programmes (if I understand correctly):  if your offer is unconditional, you can leave your masters programme without repercussions except burned bridges with that specific supervisor whose absence is outside of your control depending on your particular agreement. you can probably reach out to their "more important" PhD students to see if this is normal for them. Also, checking in with a secretary is an option. I know someone who was about to go to the market (shortly pre-defence) when their supervisor had an emergency hospitalisation. The uni was able to fund that student a little bit longer as a tutor and RA until the supervisor was back.
If the programme is UK structured where you definitely need the MA/MPhil to continue, then yeah that would be unfortunate, but if not, then just jump ship and suspend your master's studies. Or, given that this is philosophy and not a science with a PI and lab, you could probably change your supervisor, formally or informally, as long as you end up with a good product..
There are options, but you have to make it known to that professor first, then question their students or the administrator, then, if need be, the director of your MA, then if need be, the head of the department.
I hope it works out. ❤️

You came off neither as insensitive, nor as a show off.  You are among friends here.  everyone here is experiencing the very same vagaries of the graduate school application process [which, much like capitalism, remains skewed in favor of the best off].  The only problem with your post is the fact that anyone attempting to offer some tacit guidance is essentially doing so from an external position of limited information.  I am not sure what is going on with this absentee professor, but in terms of taking the offer from the university with uncertain funding potential, this is going to depend on the feasibility of completing scholarly level work while, at the same time, working to pay your own way.
I was able to work 2-3 jobs while completing 4 undergraduate degrees and a masters.  But then again, certain professors will accept work that is done on little sleep, whereas, in such a case, the best content is the grammatically correct spelling of one's own name top-left.  However, I have found that PhD level writing is scrutinized well above the undergraduate level, and so to be well rested and clear headed is essential to performance.  If you do choose to pursue this offer that you have without funding, you should lower your expectations of the quality of your work in anticipation of a drop in your GPA - at least in your first semester.  That's okay.  My GPA has dropped a bit.  But just be aware that until you find a source of funding, you will not be freed up to do your best writing.
You state that you have labored and toiled in remedial work to get yourself through university, and this is admirable.  Surely you demonstrate that you possess the work ethic to push through and meet your goals.  Nonetheless, I began my first semester as a PhD student in philosophy with a 10-20 hr part-time job to supplement the RA stipend, and I found that for me it was too much to handle.  So, I would advise that you honestly ask yourself if you are ready to be resourceful and hard working in order to make this work.
I have never heard anyone, here or elsewhere, advise a PhD applicant to accept an unfunded offer.  I would not go so far; I would not apply such an absolute rule of sorts.  But you may, again, want to run a feasibility test on the entire situation [do I have love money or angel investors? what are the chances of funding in subsequent semesters (scholarships, grants et al)? what is the cost of living and employment wage in the city of this university? employment rate? employment opportunities at the Univ? and so on]. 
Congratulations on this offer.  Regardless of the details, this has been a brutal application season and all-in-all, you have done very well so far as I can see.  I am hopeful that you find your way off one of those waiting lists and into a program that answers this funding problem.
Best regards.   

I really did not mean to be insensitive/ show off. Is just that, even if I get funding for the programme I got accepted at or get in at a funded programme, my fate is in the hands of a supervisor who does not bother answering and reading emails and drafts. Feeling powerless sucks and just wanted to vent it out.

thats what the venting thread is for