LCB

I would say a little bit of both. Some departments are more organized and better at recruiting, and you'll hear a lot more from them. Some also have more resources to do so (so they're able to do things like fund campus visits and assign peer mentors and have lots of people contact you all the time). Some places might also be working with, say, a new DGS who are learning the ropes (this is the case at my institution, so I have an inside view; she's working really hard to change a lot of stuff, but it probably won't happen instantly). On the other hand, you might also take all of this into account. A department who contacts you a lot because of better organization and resources is a plus, yes? And if they're contacting you more because they want you more, all the better!

Don't count yourself out yet! A lot of schools send out fellowship notifications early, or notify people they know they want to attend, but have second and third waves of acceptances even before waitlisting people. Some schools accept around the same amount of people every year (so they do all their admissions in one swoop), but others have to wait for funding information to know exactly how many they can admit. So they notify one or two (the fellowships and maybe a few others) and then sit on the rest until they get a better picture of money. All of that to say... just because a few people have been accepted doesn't mean you've been rejected (or even waitlisted).

I agree. As much as it's getting to the point where everyone is itching to know news and information because other people are hearing back, also remember that it's still early in the season. Emailing at this point is a little too soon. I think there is a point where it's totally acceptable to email. For my MA applications, I emailed a program at the end of March when they still hadn't notified me of anything (even waitlist status) and I was trying to figure out whether or not to accept another offer. At that point, it's more acceptable because the deadline is only a few weeks away. But it's still early February, so I'd at least wait until March to start sending out those emails.

I'm sending good vibes for the rest of the schools though!

I had to share that from my own horoscope... I'll take the honors and awards right now, that sounds great.

I just received an email from the DGS - accepted to University of Louisville! They're also nominating me for a university fellowship.

I'm an MA student at OU right now, so I can give you some insights here. We are replacing those positions, though they are empty right now. OU takes 3 years because it's 2/2 course load (though that is in talks to change, but probably won't happen by next fall - who knows though?). There's actually some benefits to that, though. While 3 years is a pain, it does mean more opportunities. At other places, teaching/other positions often go to PhD students first. That doesn't happen as much at OU - MA students are right in the mix for all positions, and even get them over PhD students at times. My CV is super diverse because I've had more time and experience than most MA students at other universities. Because of that, OU places MA students at the top programs for PhD; we kind of have a reputation as an MA factory, where we take students and put them into really great places. I'd actually say that if you were looking to come here for your PhD, you might think about somewhere else, but if you're thinking about coming here just for a MA and then applying out, it's a great place to do that. On the admin side of things, many of the admins got replaced last year and our relationship with them has improved 100%. Last year was very shaky, but the new administration has been much better. So there's also that.