fuzzylogician

I've found it useful to look at CVs of grad students at top programs in my field. They usually had the same type/amount of information as I had to give in their CVs, so I could get a good idea of how it should look.

I like chi0's advice. Call and inquire generally without giving your name, unless they offer to tell you your results . Anyway, even if you did give your name, I doubt it could hurt you this late in the game.

It sort of does sound like a waitlist to me. I imagine the school will have more precise details the closer to April 15 it gets, but it's conceivable that you won't hear anything back before that date. I think that sensible courses of action would be to a) try to get the school that admitted you to extend its deadline beyond April 15 and try to find out if there's a ranking of the second wave applicants and where you stand in it, and did (/how many) second wave students got in in previous years. If it comes down to it, I'd suggest accepting the offer you have at the last minute. If you get a better offer later, you could try asking if they'd let you take it (I've heard several times that schools don't usually force students to attend who don't want to be there in the first place*). I think it's better than being left with nothing. * Of course, hearsay could be wrong...but I think it's still a better bet than ending up not being able to go anywhere.

If I were you, I'd probably go to the top Ivy school, assuming I got a funded offer and it's a good fit. It would have to be one hell of an award for me to consider declining a dream school and risking not being accepted later (not to mention delaying starting my career by at least another year). *disclaimer* I don't really know too much about the award you won...maybe it is that prestigious Anyway, congrats on winning it!

Possibly. But they're making the rest of us, who are actually trying to have a meaningful discussion and help the OP, suffer :| .

Thirded. The wait drove me more than slightly mad...

rising_star and liszt85, stop. Please. This has gotten beyond ridiculous by now. I talked to the grad directors at the schools while I was visiting. I said that I really liked the program but other programs offered me a lot more money and I was concerned that the offer I got won't be enough for me to live off. I asked if there was a possibility to get some of my moving expenses covered (moving from overseas, it'll be expensive) or if there was summer funding I could get. It ended so that they couldn't guarantee in advance that I'll get additional summer funding, but they said (and the grad students confirmed) that at least until this year, whoever wanted to work in the summer found something to do. Since I'm an international and need the department's help to find employment, that was important info for me and I decided that it was enough. The top programs I applied to have a policy to fund all grads equally, so I didn't expect an outright increase in my stipend anyway. I'm no expert on what's the right way to ask for increased funding. Personally I wouldn't beat around the bush too much, but who's to say it's not the better approach? I think that starting off by inquiring about 2yr funding and mentioning that other programs have offered you that is a good way to go. It won't be a waste of time even if you don't succeed--it'll be time well spent.

It depends on many factors. Are you happy with the school you go into? Do you think it's a good fit and you can do good work there, or are you disappointed and think you could do better? Can you afford to go to the school that accepted you without going into too much (any?) debt? What are you going to do this year otherwise? Do you plan to do work that will strengthen you application next year and increase your chances of being admitted to bigger and better (funded) places then?

liszt85 and rising_star, you two seriously need to stop this argument. Neither of you is going to convince the other, but maybe you could agree to disagree..? You might as well give it a shot, what have you got to lose? It worked for me with some schools, but unfortunately not with my top choices. But if your programs want you badly enough, maybe you'll succeed. It's at least worth a try.

That's bad! how insensitive of them.

My guess is that as long as you graduate before you begin the graduate program, you're OK. As for deferring for a year, I assume that the graduation requirement could be proven later in that case (=you could delay your graduation). If I were you, would only choose to defer if I was seriously worried that I might fail the class and not be able to graduate at all. Otherwise, I'd check with the program to make sure that graduating in August was acceptable, and wouldn't defer. But this is really much too important for you to rely advice you got from internet strangers--ask your intended program!

In the end it's your decision to make and your life to live. You'll be the one happy with your decision, or regretting it. Take everyone's advice into consideration. Definitely visit both schools--visits can make a huge difference in your priorities. But then decide whichever way your heart desires*. *I think you should set aside parents'/friends'/adviser's desires from what your SO wants. Assuming (s)he will be following you wherever you choose to go, they should get to have a say in the decision. After all, it will directly affect their lives as well.

KayOwd makes a good point. Aside from that, I think that taking your spouse's wishes into account is very important. Making him move, lose his job and have to be away from his family and friends could put a strain on you marriage that you might not be able to cope with. In my opinion, option A doesn't sound like that large a compromise, compared with what you might lose.

I can only guess, but I assume that the difficult financial situation many universities have found themselves in is forcing them to accept less applicants than in previous years, making the selection process that much more difficult. Some places I know aren't even sure if they can take on new students this year, or how much funding they can offer them. Apparently some schools won't know what funding packages they can offer their admits until later in the year, which could be another hindrance in the process. Another possibility is that the programs you applied to have made their decisions and just haven't notified you. In that case, you have either been placed on an unofficial waitlist, or you've been rejected.

The best for what? Undergrad? Grad? Physics? Film? English? Social work? It makes a big difference. I don't think that we can (or should) agree on the "best" overall, whatever that means.

That is awesome! Congratulations!

I don't think it's asking too much to be informed after a decision has been made. Did you try emailing your potential adviser? The grad students in the department might also know if a decision has been made (so you can at least know what's going on). Unfortunately, there's really nothing you can do but wait, and large schools can make you wait a long time. It's difficult, but that's the way it is.

There are two posts on the results page from about two weeks ago, both posters were waitlisted. I guess that means that UW made at least its first round of decisions. If you're anxious to hear your results, you might want to contact the department and ask about your status.

Glad I could help

Seconded. From what you wrote, it doesn't sound like the private U degree will make itself worth the investment compared to your potential income with a degree from public U. Save yourself the money and go to public U.

My M.A. thesis adviser, who knows me for about 5 years now, told me when I started the application process something along the lines of "you won't get into the top places, but I'm sure that some program will accept you". Needless to say, I was mortified and spent the entire day after that in tears. I seriously considered quitting and saving myself the time and application fees, thank goodness my boyfriend talked me out of it. Now that the process is over, I've been accepted to all of the top programs in my field, so I obviously did a lot better than I expected!

I've done this once: after I withdrew my application to a certain school, I continued corresponding with my potential adviser there and after a while decided to ask her what she thought of my other offers. I got sincere and interesting advice I'm grateful for. Potential advisers at other schools I visited, who had asked me where else I was accepted, sometimes offered advice about those places, pointing out good points about them--which I really appreciated. I think the more distinguished the professor was, the more likely she was to say good things about other schools/people. I say, try asking Dr. X the way orangepotato suggested and you might get a positive response. Everyone understands that funding plays a big factor in our decision, so Dr. X should have no adverse reaction to your having to decline.