feminist21

An update: I have finally chosen Cincinnati. My main reason was staying within the US education system and not having to pack again after finishing master's from the UK to complete PhD in the US besides the obvious reason that I loved Cincy so much on my recruitment visit! Good luck to all those still deciding! And cheers to a bright future for all of us!

By all results, did they mean both the Social Sciences and the Humanities divisions? Thank you for the update! I have refreshed the Clarendon page way too many times since 1 April.

Yes, exactly! At least we know we can still be hopeful because the Clarendon page does not say anything about all successful applicants having been notified as of now...I hope they'll update that page soon...all we can do is wait as of now. =/ Is your program housed in Social Sciences or Humanities?

I would still be hopeful to wait over the weekend since my admission email came over the weekend, I think. And with time difference, it makes it all the more confusing...I hope they don't delay the decision date(s) any further...I am dying to find out and want to make a final decision about picking a school already!...it's been a long wait.

Yeah the Clarendon page has not been updated since 25 March, and I am desperately waiting for Humanities decisions! Good luck to all of us still waiting on Clarendon!!

I have finally withdrawn my application from Toronto and Erasmus Mundus programs, so now the decision really comes down to Oxford v. Cincinnati. Still awaiting funding decisions...how's everyone else's decision making going?

Congrats!! So does UT seem to be the final choice?

That is interesting to know that your department was courteous enough to let you know about the Clarendon result. The Clarendon page states that they only notify successful applicants. Did you apply for any other kind of funding?

Canadian universities have far more applicants than US universities because there are only a few of them for the entire country, so don't get discouraged. Most likely, it might not have been a good fit for your research interests, which is the reason they let you go. But you have other awesome choices, so yay!!

Some schools take time to make their decisions because of the number of application or maybe they are just waiting to hear about internal funding and stuff like that. I wouldn't give up hope until at least the first week of April. If you were waitlisted, they would have told you. The reason you haven't heard is likely to be that they are still making decisions or on the negative side, the schools might inform its non-acceptances toward the end. Keep up the hope though, and you shall hear from those schools soon; it might be a good idea to drop them an email if you were curious. Who knows the acceptance letter might have gotten lost in snail mail?

Was your MSt at Oxford funded, or did you have to shell out huge amounts of money on your own? And are you now applying to DPhil within Oxford? Any idea about doctoral funding there? The reason I ask is because I am waiting on funding decisions from Oxford myself now (and I was accepted in a MSt program). Good luck on the application outcomes!

Sometimes, it helps to check faculty in other departments because the education system here in the US is so flexible that one can easily manage to research across multiple departments. Have you tried looking at any other faculty profiles outside the GWS department at UF to see if your interests might click? I know for sure it is crucial to find the right adviser and mentors for doctorate, but for master's, the degrees are mostly taught until those last few months when you begin working on your thesis, which will likely be via independent research. So mostly in the initial stages of a master's level, one would be brushing up and advancing one's research skills and trying to focus on an area within or related to GWS while still exploring multiple interests. That's what I think although this opinion might vary across departments and programs. I wish you the very best in deciding where you'd like to see yourself in the next two years!

I saw in your info "No GRE." Did the schools you apply to not require GRE scores for your area of study, or did you take any other tests? And the Yale offer looks great; congrats!

I am in a similar situation as new mexico. I have a full funded offer here in the US but am still waiting on funding decisions from Oxford, so I guess we'll know soon where we're headed. I can honestly see myself being happy and continuing my research either in the US or in the UK (or anywhere in the world for that matter) as long as I have only my education and career to worry about and not the funding. fyi: I posted in this thread because I have some interest in women's spiritualities and reformed religions and thought it might be a good idea to see what everyone else is talking about in religion today.

Quite honestly, if I were you, I would go with the funded offer. It's never a good idea to take out loans when you can benefit from the same sort of education for free or maybe even a minimal price. And even if we don't look at the finances, the weather in FL will definitely be better (aka warmer) than in NJ for sure! Also, it is important that you find what your right fit is in terms of disciplinary (or interdisciplinary) interests.

Congrats on making the decision! Cheers to great times ahead for you at UCSB!

Can't blame me for trying--who knows the person might still be subscribed to the thread! It's better than waiting although by next month, the wait should be over.

As a reply to my own question: Oops I just saw you mentioned it was March 31 via email.

The Clarendon page was recently updated; I think we should definitely have a solid picture by the first week of April.

I think a week after the decisions were due would be a good idea.

From what I know, most PhD programs would be willing to accept master's degree credits, up to a certain number, if both the degrees sought were in the same field, and preferably, from the same country. And I certainly don't think admissions committees prefer students with two-year degrees; they should be pretty open to accepting one year master's degrees, especially because most European and Canadian master's degrees are one year long...now if you meant US one-year master's v. US two-year master's, I would say it depends on the program you are applying but also that two-year US degrees might suggest more experience since the educational system would be the same. Brandeis seems to have a pretty good program; I would not worry much about the duration of the program at this point although it might take you and additional year to complete your doctorate later.

Congratulations to those who have received teaching assistantships! I just got offered one too! And just wanted to let everyone know that I had a wonderful time in Cincinnati during the recruitment weekend. I also heard from the European program recently, and now I am stuck choosing among Oxford, Cincinnati, or the European program (leaning more toward the first two). How's everyone else coping up now that the decisions are finally in our hands instead of the admission committees? For those who have also attended recruitment events, please share your experiences. P.S.: I remember some of you wanted to know what the reply deadlines were. For me, Cincinnati wants a decision by April 15; Oxford wanted a decision by March 9 (I told them I was still awaiting funding decisions); and the European program wants an answer by March 30 so that the Commission could make their final decisions in April. I have no idea what's going on with Toronto's waiting list movements though.

I know I did not even consider applying to schools that did not offer full funding to its accepted students (because it seemed impossible to arrange for funding on my own without going severely in debt). And yes, University of Washington's statement seemed scary at that point. All this application fun would start once again when I apply to doctoral programs in the future.