Victory

By the way, there were 60 people on the waitlist I was on. You never know, good luck.

I got off the waitlist at Cornell. I expressed my enthusiasm for staying on the waitlist, I RSVP'd for the open house (and let multiple people know that I was coming to visit). I got accepted last week and the open house is on Friday, but I was planning on attending and taking notes on everything that I liked about Cornell and why it was a good fit. My advice is to express your enthusiasm AND show it...I suggest putting your money where your mouth is and scheduling a visit (even if you have already done this). Maybe RSVP for a conference or a talk that your department is hosting...etc.

Wow...bad economy to menstrual cups. Definitely not the logical progression of thought I saw coming!

If you can get a loan, why in the world would they care?

Are all waitlists ranked? I'm waitlisted at a school that I'd like to go to, and had planned on attending their open house (I was invited). I was going to put on the ole' razzle dazzle susquehanna shuffle jazz hands in the hopes they would be assured by my enthusiasm that I would attend if admitted. However if I am ranked 50/50...then there aint no goddamn point in getting out of bed. I should call and ask...I wonder if they'll tell me. The letter did say "small number of applicants" are on the list...but who the hell knows what a small number is.

Today I was rejected from Columbia's International Affairs program. They announced decisions in a blog post where they described how the application process went. It's not an exact science, but maybe it will help you out a bit. They said 60% of people had a unanimous decision from the committee one way or the other...admit or reject. The other 25% had to go to council for further review because there was not unanimous decision, and the other 15% were being considered for fellowships and had to go through further review. Longer could be good or bad :mrgreen:

I got my first rejection today from Columbia's International Affairs program. I was trying to make it a dual degree with urban planning, and they sniffed my insincerity out like a pack of blood hounds. They knew I wasn't 100% committed, and they rejected me in the first round on the first day.

Those guys admit they made a mistake, not likely.

An official email with school logos/lettering with a general explanation of how the applicant pool looked. For example, low funding this year due to economic circumstnaces, we reduced class size, applications increased by 35% and most were exceptional etc. We did pay $80 and invested countless hours of effort, I think it's the least they could do. Just because you're an academic doesn't mean you have the right to be an asshole.

Been getting really well aquainted with good ole' Chucky Shaw. He can be a bit sour grapes sometimes, but he's a helluva guy. HELLUVA GUY!

I got the acceptance to UPenn 30 minutes after I posted this. I was feeling pretty awful this morning, but how things change.

I've always suffered from mild panic attacks, but I was able to control them. Lately I've been getting them at work, or when I'm on long walks with my dog (and have too much time to think). I get so panicky about grad school admissions that I start to hyperventilate (almost passed out twice).Yesterday I actually left work 30 min early and didn't tell anyone because I was freaking out so bad (I just ran to my car and drove home). At work I get myself into this OCD routine where I'm checking my email probably 15 times a minute (I have gmail, so it refreshes automatically), while cycling through a few grad school message boards, plus doing my work. On lunch breaks I keep my blackberry set to my gmail account and refresh it every minute or so. I feel like it has taken over my life. Anyone else been getting crazy panic attacks over this stuff? I don't mean stressed out, I mean heart pounding, can't breathe, must leave the room or freak the fuck out kind of panic attacks? I can't wait for all of this to be over...

I'm really happy to see that so many of you waited until the night/day before to submit! I thought I was in the minority. I submitted all my apps on the night they were due within hours of the deadline. When I applied to ugrad, I submitted my online app at 11:55pm with a cut off at 12am. It was a last minute decision to apply to a reach school. I got in. :mrgreen:

8 programs...0 responses. Regardless of how frustrating it is to hear, I think what you have to remember (and others have voiced this sentiment) is that it really is still early. Yes, there have been some auto admits/rejects, but as for the rest of us, I think the first week of March will be when things begin to really heat up.

Got my Direct TV bill "ready for viewing". And the one that ALWAYS kills me...especially because it comes every single day is the one with the subject line "COLUMBIA SIPA Admissions". OH SHIT! I think, but... it always turns out to be a blog alert that I signed up for last week. It's like the dense kid who falls for the same trick over and over and over again.

I went to law school (briefly) in NYC. I came from Los Angeles, and even I found it *incredibly* distracting. Just take into account taking multiple subways to get groceries (and carrying them up flights of stairs) after a long day of class or studying. The nearest Ikea is in NJ, so either find stuff on the street, pay for overpriced shit, pay for overpriced delivery, or get ready to make several long and painful weekend trips. The process of finding an apartment will make you lose faith in humanity. Keep in mind I was out there in '06 when the rental market was out of control, and I found my place without a broker or broker fees. I was also dirt poor. In NYC, $$ can solve all of life's little problems. :mrgreen: I don't want to discourage you, as NYC is a wonderful city. Just think long and hard about going to graduate school there.

Just based on my own thread readings on this site, it usually means they like you on paper, and now they want to see if you'll be a fit in person. I've read of people getting acceptances only days after returning from their interview/vists. Congrats!

You can be a socio-path addicted to plastic surgery.

Don't you also think that you need to tailor your essay's to fit each school you apply to? So in some ways, it might be easier to get accepted to 4-6 schools than it would be to by 21 (unless of course you're starting over a year in advance). Everyone is different, so I'm just speaking from my own experience, but applying to 8 schools completely consumed me.

Back up plan? Pulling a Thelma & Louise. Well...I'm a guy, so some sort of equivalent.

I wrote a short and to the point email yesterday to Penn. I basically asked...Am I complete? There is no way to tell on their application page. No response yet.

These topics are really starting to take a dark and sadistic turn...haha

I work for a land development company, and unfortunately I'm at my computer all day. I do a little work, then read message boards, do a little work, then check my email, do a little work.... Nobody knows I'm going to grad school in the fall (except the VP who wrote my letter of rec). Hell, I don't even know if I'm going yet...it's a big if.

oh, snap

Girlatthehelm are you applying to PhD programs? Historic preservation (MA) programs aren't too competetive on the whole. This is an odd year (huge increase in applicants), but in 2007 even Cornell's acceptance rate was somewhere near 60% (you can find the official numbers on the APA website). Again, I'm referring to MA programs, but it sounds like you have some solid stats.