Klutch2381

Well, looks like UW-Madison released acceptances and I didn’t get one. I’ll cross them off the list too. Lol. I’m trying not to get disheartened. Just the sheer thought of going through this process a third damn time is giving me the heebie-jeebies. SMDH. Still a lot of schools to hear from, but I legit thought I’d have an acceptance or two by now.

I’ve heard it before too. I don’t know how legitimate it is, but I’ve definitely heard it referenced before.

In doing my acceptance/rejection-oology — I think Michigan will be the first or second week of February. I believe UW-Madison will be mid February. When I first applied and got rejected by UM, I received it on 2/20; so I’d wager their acceptances will come out before that. Also, Yale interviews will probably be sent out early February. Side note: it’s crazy I can be waitlisted by Notre Dame, and not even have receive an offer from my undergrad institution (Florida State) as of yet. I know this: if they don’t accept me they better never ask me for a damn dime when I become a famous academic. Lol. I’m a spiteful man, but seriously. They better not. Lol

I think you’re referencing Santa Barbara and we’re referencing Cal Berkeley. Sorry about the rejection from UCSB. Have you gotten an acceptance or interview yet?

I really don’t think they’ve released anything yet, but it should be soon (i.e., history). I know someone put a rejection in from them last week or so, but I don’t think that was real. I believe we might see some news later today or even this weekend. Looks like they’ve released decisions before on weekends. Also, they’re a wildcard. They’ve accepted students from all over the spectrum recently, so I’d be optimistic until you receive a rejection.

I see. Well, I’ll give it a few hours. If I don’t receive anything by tonight, I’ll chalk it up as a rejection,

Do you know how UT notifies? Is it a call or email?

I also just got a waitlist email from Notre Dame. It’s better than nothing, I suppose.

I reached out to the grad coordinator at UW (Seattle). This is what he said for anyone that is awaiting UW and didn’t get accepted the other day: We have sent out our initial set of invitations and, unfortunately, our admissions committee did not include you in that set. However, there is a chance that we'll dip back into the pool of candidates for another set of invites. Please feel free to reach out again as things progress. Best wishes.m

Congratulations on your acceptances and interviews! That’s awesome. I applied for the 2020 cycle, so this is my second time at bat. At least I have one interview upcoming, and overall I’m optimistic. I really would like to hear from UW (Seattle), but it looks like historically they don’t issue all their acceptances at once, and I haven’t been rejected by any of my dream schools, yet. The night is still young!

True. I just need to stay off the results board and I’ll be okay. I feel like a kid on punishment watching his friends play outside in the summer from his window when I venture there. Lol

FSU (undergrad Alma mater), Rice, UCLA, UT at Austin, USC, Colorado Boulder, Emory, UNC, U Mich, Kansas (they recruited me), Rutgers (thought I’d be a good fit for their program, but appears to be a decline), Ohio State (one of my LOR/professors Alma Mater… rejected), University of Chicago (rejected), Northwestern, U of Wisconsin, CAL Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, UVA, Penn State, Cornell, Notre Dame, UWashington (Seattle), Yale (joint PhD with sociology and African American studies), UPenn (joint sociology PhD with Africana Studies) and LSU. My research interests broadly are social inequality, race, and social stratification, so I mostly applied to schools heavily entrenched in those areas. My situation is a bit different because my girlfriend is completing her medical residency currently, and I intend to marry her. She’s probably going to complete a fellowship somewhere after she’s done, and we need to know what the logistics are going to look like. The first step in that process is I have to get in somewhere for this fall, so I’m a bit pressed for time. We’re both 30 something, so time is a thing too. The pressure is real (lol), but I legitimately couldn’t have done it with without her. I received fee waivers from ND, Wisconsin, and Northwestern. Also, my professors are EXTREMELY supportive. They may want me to get in almost as badly as I do. Particularly, the director of my MA program. Having them this time around to look at things, run things by, etc., has been a huge boon to my chances, I believe. I didn’t even know my C.V. was bad the first time I applied, because I was the only one that looked at it, for example.

I like that you’ve applied broadly! I know some people say focus on 5-6 schools, and really try to hone in on what they’re looking for, but I’m convinced it’s intelligent to apply broadly if one has the means, inclination, and time to do so — or isn’t some super candidate (that being said — super candidates get rejected too). I applied to 24 schools. My LOR writers/professors from my sociology MA program encouraged and emboldened me to apply to as many universities as possible. My initial list was 35 schools. I whittled away at the list by removing schools that I didn’t think were a good fit (e.g., MSU), I was certain I was throwing my money away by applying to (e.g., Stanford), I had concerns about their funding (e.g., UNLV), or are in locations I really don’t want to live in (e.g., WVU). The remainder is a combination of prestige, I like their placements, I really like the program, and I think it would be a cool place to live. From your list, I applied to UCLA, UC Berkeley, USC, CU Boulder, UW, and Rice. If money were no object, I would have probably applied to all 35 universities I had with began with back in August. For the 2020 cycle I only applied to Rice and Michigan because there was a four year lapse in my undergraduate studies, which was due to a financial aid snafu that took me four years to redress; so I really didn’t have a relationship with my professors anymore, and getting LOR’s was hard. As hard a securing a PS5 is nowadays. Hell, maybe even more so. Thus, I was really limited with regard to how many schools I could apply to by haranguing my LOR writers to act. I only ended up applying to Rice the first time because they recruited me to apply and UM because it’s always been my dream school. I’ll be damned if I end up holding the bag this go ‘round to use a colloquial stock market term, and if I do end up bag holding — it won’t be because I applied to too few schools. Rice was the first school to reject me in 2020, and they were the first school to respond and responded positively this time, so it’s come full circle. I’m not a super candidate. I don’t have an incredibly strong GRE score (it’s okay. My quant score is low), pristine undergraduate GPA, publications, research assistantship, etc. What I do have is a highly compelling life story and sociology relates to my personal development and growth in a big way, a lot of perseverance, strong writing samples, and some interesting sociological theories. In turn, I’ve tried to focus on those things which I do possess this time around. This is a weird process, because it’s highly competitive but it’s not akin to a sport or something. I can’t play defense on any of you nor stop any of you from scoring. However, even if I could — is that the kind of person I want to be? No. I have to think there’s a place for all of us big dreaming and overly ambitious people! Here’s good luck to you and to you getting into some of your top choices!

I didn’t apply to Stanford. I’d already spent an exorbitant amount on application fees, and I didn’t like my chances of getting in based on the metrics of their accepted applicants. I applied to the rest of your list, though. I haven’t heard anything from Berkeley, USC, or UW. I don’t see anything in the results either, but I expect we’ll hear from UW very soon (possibly this weekend), and CAL and USC next week based on history. Good luck!

It’s so quiet in here, but I’m really dying to hear back from Michigan, Washington, UCLA, and Yale. UT and UNC are up there too, but we’ll see. I wonder why UCLA is taking so long this year? They appear to be one of the fastest, historically. I was stonewalled and summarily stuff-armed by Ohio State, University of Chicago, and I’m chalking Rutgers up as a rejection too. It’s cool. I’m not the biggest fan of cold weather as a native Floridian, so that’s the ego ploy I’m using to make myself feel better. Out of the four schools I’ve heard back from, I’m at a 25% success rate. I can live with that. Please Michigan, pleaseeeeeeee!

I just checked my UCLA application, and it has the same thing. Unfortunately, I don’t think it means anything in regards to admittance. I received a UM ID from Michigan and a subsequent rejection letter after in 2019.

Thanks! Yeah, I was looking at the results since you mentioned, and I haven’t received anything from Chicago or Rutgers — being someone got an interview from there today. If I don’t hear anything from either school by the end of the week, I’m going to chalk it up as a mental rejection. Good luck to everyone!

Anyone else heard from Rice? I just got invited to interview there next month.

Good morning, I applied to Rutgers. I haven’t heard anything from them, yet. My application doesn’t even say “under review” in the portal, but I know that can be deceiving.

Based on past application cycles, I think UCLA could potentially mete out some decisions as early as this Friday. I definitely believe we’ll start hearing from some universities next week, and I’m terrified by that prospect. I’ll be in Atlanta for work, and trying not to look at my phone every three seconds.

I just found this board and have been browsing past application cycle threads. Admittedly, I’m already pretty anxious given the circumstance, and I seemingly get more anxious against all scientific understanding and applicable reasoning, daily. I’m not sure if perusing those threads have acted as an accelerant or a dampener for my anxiousness. Moreover, I originally applied to SOC PhD programs in 2019, and foolishly only applied to two. I was accepted to neither. This time, I’ve retooled as I’m one class away from having my MA in sociology with a strong GPA and I cast a much wider net. I had a much better understanding of what the process entailed this go ‘round. It looks like some schools start meting out acceptances as early as next week, correct? *deep gulp* Anyways, I’ll be here with you guys to cherish our triumphs and wax poetically about our misfortunes. I hope everyone has a splendid application cycle!