MediaMom

Could you set up a few Skype conversations with faculty, and possibly a grad student or two, so that you at least get to have the same conversations you'd have had during a visit? That might help you to decide. You can also ask if the admission office has any videos or interactive web tours of campus, and I'm sure you could find some current grad students via web forums who could give you info on the city and what it's like to live in the area, etc. This might help you to make your choice. Good luck.

Not to diminish what you're feeling, because of course you have a right to feel it. But you're "ALREADY" 25? Oh honey. I didn't have my master's until I was 27, and that was 10 years ago. I'll start work on my PhD this fall, at age 37. You're not old, you've got time, and maybe what you need to do is step back for a few years and just focus on a few things at a time. Life experience can give you a huge edge, on a number of levels.

Typically the stipends are paid out over the nine-month appointment as a paycheck. It is taxable income and your pay stubs will show all taxes withheld and you'll get a W2 at the end of the year like you would with any job. You're essentially a university employee during that time. This makes it easier for them to fire you. Most stipends are given under the condition that you maintain a certain academic record and perform specific duties. If you flake out and stop doing your TA work or stop coming to classes, etc., they can take away your assistantship and stipend. If they've already paid it out to you in one lump sum, how could they get the money back? Instead, it's like any other job. If you stop doing the work, you stop getting paid.

In my opinion, follow the money. Unless the funded offer is coming from Jim Bob's House of Degrees I Make On My Computer, a funded offer is always better than a very, very expensive one. For what it's worth, my husband grew up in Alabama and Mississippi and went to Ole Miss as an undergrad. His first job out of college was in Ann Arbor. It was a shock, but it didn't kill him, and 20 years later he's still never lived any farther south than PA. (We live in eastern NY now.) You can do it!

I agree that it depends on what you want to do down the line. If you know you want a faculty position and to teach, and you have no teaching experience, then you might want to opt for the program that will give you more of that. If you want to practice as a psychologist and think that the RA might give you an opportunity to develop a specialty in an area of particular interest to you, then it might be the better choice. The end goal is the key - figure out where you want to end up and then start plotting a course to get there.

Harvard isn't worth the debt, especially when you have the option of a nearly fully funded program at a reputable and known university. But that's just my two cents worth.

I've gotten two acceptances over the phone. In the first case, I actually got the email notification to check the online system first, so when the call came, I already knew I'd been accepted. But the call also notified me of funding, which the online system does not address. In the second case, the call came first, before the online system was updated, and that offer also included funding. I got the impression with the second one that I was one of very few people being offered funding, and they wanted to notify me ASAP to be sure I was still interested in the offer. As the above poster said, I think it really depends on the department and the size of the program, the type of funding offers going out, etc. But to answer your question about Spring Break, yes I think it is possible to get a notification during that time. Many professors are still on campus working (in fact, a week of no students/classes on a quiet campus is a great time to get work done!) and I've heard of several acceptances that came via phone on the weekend.

My undergrad degree is in English but if you asked my mom, she'd tell you it was "something to do with communication." Not that she could explain what communication is.

I would send an email to -- or call -- the DGS for the program and say something like this: I understand that I am on the wait list right now and that there is a chance I will not be offered acceptance into your program; however, I remain very interested in the program and its faculty and would love an opportunity to learn more. At the moment, I don't believe that I'll be able to travel to make a personal visit to the campus. Would it be possible to schedule a Skype meeting sometime in the next couple of weeks so that I can ask a few questions? Also, if there are any graduate students who might be willing to talk to me, I'd love to start an email conversation with them or even schedule a phone or Skype meeting. Thanks so much! If you get the meeting, ask really good, interesting questions about the program and its faculty and the research you want to do, etc. And also take the opportunity to ask exactly where you're ranked on the wait list, what your chances might be, and what kind of likelihood there is for funding for people coming off the wait list. If you think you might be doing a second round of applications next year (if you don't end up with any acceptances this year) you might also ask for feedback on what would have made your application stronger. Good luck

There is always a possibility that enough people will decline for you to get moved up the list and get an offer. But honestly, I wouldn't count on it. If you did get in, the earliest you'd know is late April. If you have other offers, I'd just focus on those.

IMO, take the PhD. If you ultimately want to get a PhD, why put yourself through the process of reapplying and relocating AGAIN, when you're already being offered a funded place in a PhD program? And why pay for a master's degree when you can get a PhD for free? (Well, more or less.) The PhD program might not be as "prestigious," but it must have something of value to you or you'd have never applied in the first place, right? All of this being said, I would strongly advise you to not make ANY decision until you've heard back from everyone. You should have all available information before you make your choice.

Agreed - I called all of my schools to check on the status of my materials and the people in admission were rude to me at all but one school. I got the, "We'll call YOU, leave us alone and be patient" speech at three of the four schools I contacted. It was made very clear to me that applicants calling to check up on them was just not "how it was done." So I suppose I'm just lucky that none of those schools ended up effing up my applications. And this is the place to vent these frustrations, absolutely.

I would set up a phone call or Skype interview so that you can ask, in real time, what the MA acceptance really means. Does this mean that you can potentially be fast-tracked into the PhD program? Does this mean that you're guaranteed eventual entry into the PhD program, or will you have to reapply? Etc...

Well it certainly can't hurt to try again! Good luck

Did you make any changes to your application from one semester to the next -- for example, did you do any independent research/writing, change your SOP to reflect new research interests, retake the GRE to improve your scores, etc? Have you been in touch with anyone in the department since your initial rejection to ask them what exactly it was that they felt you needed to strengthen in order for them to reconsider? My thinking is that if you just turned around and resubmitted the exact same materials, then you'll probably get the exact same response. If you can show that you've taken their feedback seriously and have worked hard to improve your own knowledge of the field and credentials, then you'll have a better shot.