fuzzylogician

Sounds like you're on an unofficial waitlist and might not hear back until closer to the April 15th deadline, when some of the admitted applicants start accepting/declining their offers.

Sorry to hear that, and good luck with you other choice! Sounds like you're enthusiastic about going there (and will get funded to go there), and that's the most important thing. For what it's worth, I think it's the right decision not to get into debt for a linguistics PhD, especially if you have another funded offer.

Thanks.. I know the decision is not set in stone, but it's not that easy to reverse either. I'm happy for your friend for making a decision and feeling that confident about it! I know it's a "good" type problem to have, but receiving so many great offers is making my life difficult. Several professors I talked to during my visits have said that I cannot go wrong, whichever place I choose, but I think what another prof said, that I'm sure to have regrets and second thoughts - no matter what I choose - is more likely. But you're probably right, I should ignore irrelevant and biased opinions and concentrate on what I feel is right. "Our semantics graduates have always chosen school X", or "school X is my alma mater and it's a great place to go to" aren't really convincing arguments for choosing a graduate program.

Filled it out, hope it helps. I didn't know about half of the artists you had on there. Good luck with you project!

Wait it is. But if they told you that you were the only person on the waitlist, then there is a very good chance you'll get in. Even the best programs have some of their admitted applicants reject them, which would clear a space for you.

miratrix and liszt85 - Thank you both! It's good news that I can concentrate on fit when making my decision where to go, and not worry about the money.

Going into the process, everyone had very clear opinions about where I should go. Now that the decisions are in, they are being very vague about which school I should choose. I think (hope?) that it's because I'm considering choosing something different than they originally suggested, and they're trying to be supportive of my decision. I just had this conversation yesterday with the head of my department, waiting for the elevator: her: so, do you know where you're going yet? me: well, I'm seriously considering going to school X. her: huh... me: do you think that school Y would be better for me? her: both schools certainly have great advantages. *elevator arrives, conversation ends* I've had similar conversations with most profs at my department, and it's creeping me out. I know "I can't make a bad choice", as they say, but I want to make the best choice! ugh.

It sounds like you prefer the MS offer over the other ones. I think the question is really, what you want to do with your life. If you *know* that linguistics/psychology is your passion and you want to continue on researching in that field, then you should get your PhD. If you're not sure yet or think you might want to go into the industry, then the MS might be the better option. You'd get a funded way to improve your skills, enabling you both to get a good job in the market or to get a good slot in a PhD program, whichever one you choose. Definitely visit before you decide. My opinion about one place changed drastically following my visit. I've been struggling with the fact that most of my profs think that I should go elsewhere than where I currently think would be best for me. I'll probably go where I think is best, but it worries me that others suggested a different place, so I am holding off on actually announcing where I'll go for at least another week. I want to be sure I've made the right choice before I let go of my other options.

OP: you need to figure out what the norm in your field is. twip25 is offering you anecdotal information about his not mentioning profs and getting in. I can tell you that I *did* mention profs by name at every place I applied to, and had very positive results with this approach. Mentioning profs by name and showing familiarity with their research is NOT sucking up to them. It's part of demonstrating that you have done your research and can show why you are a good fit with the department. Sucking up would be "Prof X is awesome", as opposed to "Prof X's work matches my interest in Y"; "Prof P's approach to Q can enhance my ability to employ similar techniques in the study of R" and suchlike. Really, each of us needs to find our own approach to writing the sop, and I wouldn't flat out advise anyone that their way is wrong just because I had success going a different way. All this teaches us is that there is more than one right way to do things.

I'm curious to know who's going where and what were the deciding factors in your decision.

I'm so glad someone brought up this subject. The stipend issue really has me worried about accepting some of the offers I've received. Specifically, how far will a stipend of 20,500$ get me in Boston/Cambridge? Are 22K enough for LA and NYC? As an international, I am finding it very hard to estimate the cost of living in different US cities.

I am trying to compare all my offers at once, based on the impression I got when I visited the schools. By now I am starting to have clear non-favorites, and I'll decline those offers in the next few days. For the remaining offers I am trying to go several days thinking "I'll go to school X" and see how I feel about it. My offers are comparable in many ways, so it's going to come down to that intangible "feeling" I have for each place. I still have one last meeting with a faculty member of some school scheduled for next week, but after that I want to decide by the weekend. I'd love to finally make my decision and get some stability back into my life.

All of the schools I visited said it would take 4-6 weeks. If you're not sure, why not call the department and ask?

To attend a visiting day? I'd say yes. You need to know that you can work with at least one of your potential advisers. That's crucial to a successful and timely completion of your PhD. However, again, if you already accepted, that reasoning diminishes.

I visited the linguistics department there about two weeks ago. What would you like to know? (you can also send a private message).

I'm planning to send each of my letter writes hand-written thank you notes (and maybe a small present) as soon as I decide which school to attend. I haven't been in touch with some of them for a while now since I've moved away and don't get to see them anymore, but I know from talking to profs at the different schools I recently visited that they have asked about my status when they met colleagues from those schools at conferences, etc. They've all been incredibly helpful and supportive and I want to make sure that they know how much I appreciate it. You're not obliged, but I think it's common courtesy to thank your recommenders and let them know how the process turned out for you. After all, they did invest quite a bit of time and effort on your behalf.

It's been my experience that lesser ranked schools are throwing money at me, while better ranked ones are not. Some simply have a fixed stipend that they're giving all of their grads, to prevent competition among the admitted cohort. I rather like that idea, even though it means a lower stipend for me if I choose to go to one of those places (which is very likely). I still asked, just to make sure. There was no harm done, but it didn't get me anything either.

I'm definitely going to try that. It'll be the best solution, if it works out.

I tend to agree with the comments above that you don't really need to visit if you've already decided to commit, but if you're looking for reasons to go, I'd add: - Meet current grads, get their impression of classes, the program and life in general. Ask them in person how they like everything, and if they can afford living off of their stipend. Sometimes you get very honest replies in person that you might not get in an email. - Talk to current advisees of your potential adviser, see how they like the style, etc. - Meet adviser in person, make sure that you connect on a personal level, not only on a professional one (can't stress enough how important it is to feel like you will be able to work with this person!). - Explore the town, see how you'd like living there. Get a sense of what's where so that it'll be easier later on when it comes time to find housing and move. - Form a general opinion based on the intangible "feeling" you get of how the department operates and whether you felt like you would belong there. Some of these might be less relevant if you've already accepted, but it'd still be nice to know more about them.

As an international I can't move until a month before my program starts, so I guess I'll be moving sometime toward mid-August. I hope that'll be enough time to find a good apartment, but since there's nothing much I can do to change the situation, I'm not going to worry about it. I'll be sure to look online and contact people in my department (just as soon as I choose which one to go to ) but in my experience, it's difficult to find good deals that way. Worst case scenario, I get a not-so-good place this year and look for a better one next year. That probably won't be the worst thing that ever happened..

Why exactly is this unfair? Did you not get a chance to interview as well? If you've been in contact with your potential adviser for a while and the conversations have been going well, then I don't think you're at any serious disadvantage. However, if you never had any personal contact with her, while the other person had an in-person interview, then I think it'd be advisable (and fair and understandable) to at least ask for a phone interview. Seems like if they're receiving applications until 06/15 then this week is definitely not too late for good news. Some schools say that they continue accepting applications until all of the spots are filled. I guess it depends on how many good applicants apply in a given year. I'd say you have cause to be optimistic. Good luck!

As my status says, I withdrew from 3 programs without even completing the process after I received better offers from other schools and knew for sure I wouldn't go there. I did it precisely because I understand how agonizing the wait must be on other applicants. However, my other offers are comparably similar in many respects, including rank, funding and fit. I just got back home yesterday from a two-week trip to visit all of those places, and most likely a general "feeling" I got for the place, the other students and the potential advisers will be the deciding factor. Since I'm very tired and jet-lagged, I've decided to let this week pass without making a conscious effort to decide. With time and perspective, I'm sure I'll be able to narrow it down to at least 3 or 2, then decide between those within another week. I don't feel bad at all about taking my time to decide. It's a life-changing decision. ( I will, of course, notify schools as soon as I know for sure how I feel about their offer).

I'm not an expert but I think that this statement may be a bit harsh. The best indication of your status is probably the results page. If others have been offered admissions to a program you applied to but you didn't hear back, then yes: a longer wait is likely to mean rejection (though it could mean an unofficial wait-list). But it could also be that the program hasn't finished making its decisions yet and you just have to wait it out along with everyone else.

I most probably won't be going either.

I didn't do it for the refund, nor did I get any. I did it out of fairness to the other people involved in the process - both the profs and other applicants. I withdrew from programs that were low on my list after I had received better offers from 3 of my top choices so I knew for sure I wasn't going to go to those places. I was interviewed at all of the schools I withdrew from and stayed in contact with potential advisers there; my field is quite small and I'm glad I made the contacts, but then at some point it started to feel wrong to keep writing about potentially going to a place I knew I wouldn't go to. The PAs also knew that I was a better match elsewhere (small field, as I said). Aside from that, I know for a fact that at least one of those schools doesn't have a waiting list, so I would possibly be denying someone of the opportunity of being accepted and offered funding at a place I already knew I wouldn't go to. Why would I want to do that?