Rose

I was the one who called and got rejected. I wasn't expecting any other outcome, so honestly it helped to just confirm the expected instead of allowing myself to have little mini-fantasies that I would still get in so late in the game. At any rate they said they had just made some decisions that morning (Thursday) and would be confirming this via typical notification soon anyway.

I've had the same luck--last time I called (last month) it took several days for someone to call me back after I left a voicemail, even though I called during business hours. Contemplating calling today to end the suspense.

I considered calling but that wording in the "no decision has been made" bit about how decisions typically come out in March made me stop. I figure I'd wait until March 1 at least before calling to ask what's up because most likely they'd send out notifications to the rest of us by then.

Was it someone who was mentioned in your SOP? I'm hesitant to hold out hope given how this round is going for me, but on the other hand I'm also telling myself that maybe the person I mentioned as my first POI is just out of town this weekend and therefore not making calls...

I'm also still waiting. I was checking feverishly in the beginning and now only intermittently. I can't imagine it would be good news.

I think the general interpretation here was that this email meant that they are currently reviewing applications and will send individual decisions as they are made (as in, not right after the email you reference). I don't know about your situation, but the prior communications from the grad coordinator should just have been an email saying "This is to confirm that your application is complete." You would've gotten one sent automatically from the online system for application, one from Cornell broadly, and then a slightly more personalized one from Tina most likely (that's what my experience was anyway).

I agree with you in large part--this is nothing but toxic and although I can't help but take it a bit personally, I definitely understand that it's largely up to chance. Part of the reason I'm a bit antsy is that my interests walk some interdisciplinary boundaries, and I was pretty sure Northwestern was the perfect fit-or at least the best of the schools I applied to. At least with UMich I didn't have to take it quite as personally because the fit wasn't right and they're supposedly even more competitive. I don't think any of these (or any of the schools I applied to) are easy to get into, and I'm not even sure I'm comfortable saying which might be easier than others based on so little information, but my thought process was more that I might be in some peril based on the NWU decision, given the goodness of fit (albeit assessed by me) and the fact that northwestern didn't make every competitive candidate's list for comparative the way some other schools do.

Anyone else STILL in UCLA limbo? Northwestern put me out of my misery this morning...and if I were to go purely on ranking instead of by fit, I'd take that to mean I'm in pretty serious jeopardy of striking out.

I was also hoping someone else would bite this bullet. Mostly I think I don't really want to hear someone say the word "rejected" directly so I'd rather continue to keep the hope alive.

I haven't heard anything at all, and I thought there was at least one other person...

Ditto. I started immediately bracing for a week of carnage.

Mine still says "no decision has been made on your application." Sigh.

Not to reopen wounds, but any of the folks who got dinged by UCLA this morning: did your status change in the online system as well? I see some responses in the results page that say the email directed you to the website, and some don't specify. Maybe they got tired at midnight and will continue when they open at 9 or 9.30?

Me too (re: UCLA)--I checked the website and have refreshed my email constantly since waking up. Nada. What does that even mean?

I second this suggestion. I never used textbooks in college or graduate school (and wasn't a polisci major either) but find these handbooks immensely helpful in quickly bringing you up to date on the debates in various subfields. They're also useful because they're addressed at a higher level of competence than your average intended-for-undergrads-or-high-schoolers textbook, and they're compilations of legitimate articles with actual footnotes for follow-up on the areas you're most interested in.