hitomimay

Here's my two cents: I wouldn't recommend asking the professor for news. It may seem a little pushy. Adcom and faculty are definitely overwhelmed and busy, and I guarantee they are not being idle, so they may be a little annoyed. Either way, you don't want to tack on a negative impression, especially while they might be trying to decide who to admit and who to reject on the short list...
I know the waiting sucks, it does for everyone, but as we all know, the news will come when the news will come. Chin up, I'm sure good news awaits!

@Fidelio: congrats on your USC acceptance! I'm going to PM you really quick since it'll deviate from the OP's discussion topic.

Thanks everyone for the advice!
To answer a few questions, I already have a Masters in Education with USC, so it does seem rather pointless now to get a 2nd one from a higher ranked school, unfunded to say the least in this economy (although I think I can get up to half tuition for HGSE), and I've been in touch with a few people from those programs, and there is no guarantee that you'll go straight from their Masters to their PhD.
Ah, looks like a PhD for me this year.

Update 12/22: Director of USC's PhD program just emailed me last night. She says she thinks I'm a very good fit for the program and she wants to talk on the phone tonight! OMG!!! ><'' Fingers crossed. Wish me luck! (Wasn't aware USC had interviews? O.o?!)

Short sweet and to the point.

Let's add slapping your husband's shoulder 20 times in quick succession yelling "They're looking at it!They're looking at it!They're looking at it!" to list of funny habits. I kind of feel bad for it now...

It just showed up online that one school cashed the application fee check included in my application 3 days ago. That means they opened the envelope!

I never congratulated you personally on USC! Congratulations! Clearly they are excited to have you on board Forget SUSE, go USC!

Thanks cacao to cacao and wildviolet. Appreciate the sentiments. Thankfully wasn't crushed, and it's all cuz USC was there to prop me back up lol. It was meant to be, I swear. I got home today after SUSE's rejection, checked my mailbox, and this large envelope from USC regarding my funding came, and it had a letter saying congrats again.
It was as if USC was saying to me "it's okay about SUSE, at least we love you very much" lol." <3

Thanks cacao to cacao and wildviolet. Appreciate the sentiments. Thankfully wasn't crushed, and it's all cuz USC was there to prop me back up lol. It was meant to be, I swear. I got home today after SUSE's rejection, checked my mailbox, and this large envelope from USC regarding my funding came, and it had a letter saying congrats again.
It was as if USC was saying to me "it's okay about SUSE, at least we love you very much" lol." <3

By reading just this thread I have found that there is no rhyme or reason for how the individual "colleges" put out acceptances or rejections. Some dont get interviewed and get letters in the mail, some get interviews and dont hear responses, some get rejections over email, some get notices of status updates, and some of us just spin trying to figure things out.

Also I think that before FEB 15th who ever has gotten an acceptance made it to the top of a list very quickly. Someone was looking for your app and they read it, or it was flagged because of some special quality you have, that your POI likes in you. At the end of the day, if we choose to believe this or not, we are still 6 days early on all letters, those of us who have answers should be thanking our lucky stars. The rest of us, we are applicants waiting.................lets keep our heads up and hope that something pulls through on the other end of March.

As for SUSE, UCLA lets keep fighting tooth and nail, unitl we find out a firm answer, personally I feel I still have a shot at all the schools I havent heard answers from.

only 10,000? psh. n00b.

We really should provide the community with a pamphlet, "When Someone You Love is Applying to Grad School". We can include sections like "Just Because Your Loved One is Smart, Does Not Guarantee Acceptance" and "How Adcoms Hold Your Loved One's Future in Their Hands" and "Why Telling Your Loved One to Look at the Bigger Picture is Frankly Insulting (No One Goes to Grad School for the Lulz)".

The all-knowing and powerful prophets of the adcoms will tell you... soon....

My roommates and I just discussed this. We decided that you don't say anything. You give them a hug, a pint of Ben & Jerry's, and complete control of the remote for the day/night.

I think I'm going to treat myself to that pricey spa and massage I've been eyeing for a while. I had better survive this waiting period and stress, I want that massage! Lol. In the meantime, I'm going to post a "vacation responder" on my e-mail for a few short days as I think my poor Gmail refresher button is just about to file an assault charge against me soon.

"I'm on vacation: from myself and the world. Thank you and have a nice day"

Just a month away...

OMG, I do that to my SO all the time! And I freak out when his numbers fluctuate: "what do you mean 80%? Last week you said 90%!!!"
Any one else's friends, family and SOs suffering from our constant anxiety and obsession lately? lol

I never realized my email, my cellphone AND my mailbox could be so disappointing.

there are OTHER websites like this one?! what are they? i need to diversify! people don't post quickly enough for all my refreshes

You can take my whiskey, but you better leave me my grad cafe.

This made me think of: We are the CyberGrad. You are compatible. Prepare to be upgraded.

Maybe I should find myself a Dr. Who board to hang out on.

We are the GradBorg. Refreshing is futile. You will be admitted.

See, now THAT'S brilliant. Time to unload and sell and donate all my unused crap cuz I'm going to move to a different city for a doctoral program... (must... keep... thinking... positive... thoughts. ><'')

i've come to think of january through march as a bell curve... it's still a bit early.

as far as interviews, none of my programs include interviews as part of the admission process. so i made sure to interview/"have a nice long chat" with potential advisers (one via telephone, the other in-person) before i turned in my applications. one said she'd love to work with me and that i should definitely be hearing from her in January (this was back in November). the other potential adviser was already suggesting projects he wants me to work on.. so i dunno, we'll see.

at this point if they call yo uand want an "interview" it's probably because they want to see if 1. you're legit, 2. you're a good match with the department's (or their own) research.

Update 12/23: So I had my phone conversation with the Director. Not an interview fortunately (those make me nervous!)
She says that while all my professor choices make sense, they may not be available for taking on new students as they already have around 9+ students. She suggested a number of other professors that I could expand my research interests towards and get back to her about it. How nerve-racking, but email sent. The good news is she said I was definitely a "very competitive applicant", so that puts some unease to rest (albeit surprising considering my background and experience)
For my fellow USC applicants: The Director of the PhD program looks over EVERYONE's application, and passes on ones that she recommends to the professors who will review them over Christmas break. Professors then will contact those they are interested in early January. Decisions will come out late January, early February. There's a fully-paid invitation for the 20 admitted students March 8/9 to meet and huddle, and they expect a cohort of 15.
Good luck again everyone. Keep us all posted on your application ventures. This stress and hive-of-bees (compared to butterflies) in our stomachs are definitely mutual lol.

Thank you!! I'm happy for you. I suspect a phone interview for you on Sat followed by your offer on Sat ... or Monday You totally have this in the bag