CoraKoala

Oh noooo... Thanks for your sharing!
Can we also imply that they received an unexpectedly large number of applications this year?

Hi everyone, another ELOE applicant here. I've been lurking in this thread for a while LOL
Since this is the only program I applied for this year, it's literally an "all or nothing" situation to me. 
I've been super anxious since last week...
Here are some thoughts that may be helpful to relieve our anxiety a bit:
We are being anxious because we did put a lot of efforts into the application. There are always a percentage of people who make only perfunctory efforts and hope to get lucky (especially GRE is not required this year). They probably don't care about the outcome as much as we do. At least, we've already surpassed them.
In addition, most of those who shared their stats on this forum (including this thread and threads of previous years) are applicants who hold a certain degree of confidence in their backgrounds, otherwise they would not be willing to share in public. Therefore, we have a feeling that all applicants are competitive as the applicants who shared their backgrounds are mostly at an above-average level.  
 

Ahhhh is today the day?! Who knows. All I will say is that regardless if we hear today or not, and regardless if (when we do) we get the answer we are each hoping for or not, this does not make or break us. Each of us were drawn to apply out of a hope and desire to make this world a better place, and that doesn’t change with an email today- it only changes the path we might take to do so. For some of us, HGSE might be a part of that journey. For some of us, we might learn HGSE is not our next step but discover a completely different path we had not previously imagined for ourselves, and that is okay too. Don’t lose sight of your goals and passion, and don’t forget that any program- HGSE or otherwise- is only a small piece of the story, even though it seems so all encompassing to each of us at the moment. Be proud of the work you put into this process and taking the step to apply, and trust that you alone will define your next chapter in your story, not this decision. Go out and keep changing the world no matter what lands in your inbox today (or next week, or month end). Deep breaths and best of luck to  all!!!