czesc

You may want to check the "Fall 2013 applicants" thread also.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm also an Upstate New York native (Buffalo) and I know Ithaca is one of the better towns up there. I'll also probably be spending my life in the library, so it probably won't really matter how much there is to do. But one thing that I don't like about Ithaca is how isolated it is -- more than a couple hours by car or bus to anywhere significant, and no real nearby airport to speak of. Also, if I had to own a car, that'd be expensive. And there's something just about the feel of the city that I prefer, regardless of how much time I have to enjoy its diversions. Anyway, this is still a really premature discussion for someone without an acceptance to be having! I'd go to the State University of Siberia right now if they'd have me.

Lafayette - thanks! I hope it doesn't wind up being my only choice though. I applied because I thought it sounded like it was maybe a good fit, but seven years in Ithaca? This city person shivers at the thought...

Hyde Park is nice. I guess it depends on how campus is defined? There are the main quadrangles of the UChicago campus, and then other parts (e.g. the law school, etc.) that are a little more spread out around Hyde Park. Dawg - thanks so much for your encouraging comments! I'd upvote you a thousand times if I hadn't already used up my quota today!

Very useful answer as usual, New England Nat. Thanks. Katzen - exactly. Now instead of feeling like I'll be rejected everywhere else, I feel like I might get a couple more waitlistings and have the pleasure of waiting til April to find out they all eventually dumped me.

Thanks, all. Amazing how much new life this consolation prize breathes into me. Part of me wonders why they even bother with the list, though, considering New England Nat's comments about how no one ever gets in off of it?

WAITLISTED AT PRINCETON! I am worth something, at least, even though I know I'm not getting in.

Admittedly, part of me is hoping that I can reverse-jinx the process by assuming rejection. That's what this has come to.

Probably someone just getting to their email and/or just getting around to posting on gradcafe. There are always stragglers. Oh well. Another good fit that wanted nothing to do with me.

My blood pressure is rising like crazy with every spam email I get, but I'm not hopeful there's anything coming this afternoon, considering there were two admits to UChicago here within minutes.

There's a Chicago acceptance up. Any details?

At this point, I'd be happy with a Princeton waitlisting just to give me hope that I'm seriously in the running in other places.

Thanks! That was a good idea. Unfortunately, looks like Leiden is not really geared toward my interests and Utrecht's program is two years (making it a bit too long and expensive for what I'm looking for).

Thanks, joga. The website for LSE says it's rolling admissions - do you mean they'll fill up by March? Any suggestions for continental Europe? I'd be concerned about going anywhere too far off the radar screen of US PhD programs. I've looked in Germany since I can speak the language there (though only at English programs) and didn't see anything especially useful.

Interesting. I thought it might be trouble to fill in that "other schools you're applying" box in the applications and probably shouldn't have (I can't remember whether or not I avoided it in every case when it was optional). I presume they asked you in the interview anyway, though? I haven't gotten anything from Princeton, but I assume my rejection will be the form letter since I wasn't interviewed.

Thanks, all. Sio - no, I don't have a masters already, though I do have a law degree on top of my BA (which may have been more of a liability than any help). This is my Screen Name - thanks for your kind words. I'm definitely gunning for a PhD in the long term and am not trying to go for a consolation masters. Unfortunately, I'm not sure whether my lack of success so far is a product of the process being a crapshoot or some kind of deficiency in my application, but in case it's the latter I feel like I should probably do something to improve my chances the next time around... I will definitely look into more schools outside London. One of the reasons I didn't mention any more is that I'm trying to narrow the amount of schools I apply to, in part because I'm really concerned about taxing my recommenders with more requests - especially if I get in to a PhD program and they become superfluous. I see that most of the deadlines have passed for funding so I'm guessing I'll have to self-fund. This is actually another one of my motivations for doing a masters in the UK since even the non-EU student tuition rates seem around half those of US schools. Luckily I have savings that I have been putting away to help survive on a lean grad student stipend, and while I guess it'll mean being poorer if I ever actually do get into a PhD, it might be an investment worth making if it helps get me there. Annieca, you say I have time - when do you think I need to set this process in motion by in order to get a place and not be beset with too much competition? There are some schools with deadlines in late March, others late June, others August and some with none at all.

Thanks, joga. I hardly mind not being right in central London -- I just need to be in a program!

Thursday seems like it's been the real "action day" for admissions...guess we may have to wait another week for more big programs to disclose.

Thanks for your advice, Canator. I definitely didn't apply to all Ivy schools, although maybe I still aimed too high. I haven't gotten interviews at several other places that have offered them, and I was a better fit for the schools that seem to have rejected me than for many that haven't gotten back yet. I know this doesn't mean certain doom, but none of the signs are pointing in any good direction. I'm definitely planning to see what my adviser says at some point, but that person works at one of the schools I'm waiting on official word from, and I don't want to jump the gun or awaken doubts. That said, I want to take this empty time to plan contingencies so that I have everything in place if/when the PhD process doesn't come off, hence this thread.

Hi all - so I am pretty convinced the PhD admission process is going terribly for me and am looking into UK MAs that have late deadlines as a backup. Does anyone have experience applying to rolling admission programs like these in the spring re: chances of admission? Would it be a horrible idea to contact my recommenders about it before results are out for all my PhD application schools (if I don't, the turnaround might have to be very tight on the recs, and my chances of getting into a rolling program even further diminished). Thanks! Programs I am looking into at the moment (not all history, but any general advice or advice from people who know these other fields appreciated): LSE - MScs in Political Theory, Comparative Politics, History of Int'l Relations, Empires/Globalization SOAS - MA History UCL/Queen Mary - MA Political Thought and Intellectual History Cambridge - MPhil Historical Studies, MPhil Modern European History

About a page back or so I posted the notice on Chicago's Social Sciences website that decisions would be coming out in March, but other departments have released already, so it definitely seems like we could get them sooner. I wouldn't expect anything from the Northeast today, especially New England, as it's in full freakout mode over the snowstorm. Office admins who would be in charge of the mass emails will be sent home early, etc.

My Plan B was to stay in my current job. Now I've been threatened with being fired. Guess I may soon have no Plan B? I wouldn't mind as much if I had a single admission or even the hope of one gleaned from an interview or something... I need a plan C.

Yeah but you can see the evidence on the board here of Penn doing that. For Columbia and Princeton, it looks like most admits came in one fell swoop last year (early POI leaks notwithstanding). Let's not prolong people's agony. Worst case, it's a nice surprise if somehow you got admitted to a school you thought you were definitely out of the running for.

Hmm...I'll take that either to mean it's good or it's meaningless, but probably not bad.

Hmm...I'm curious to know the application status of anyone who has had or is scheduled to have an interview at Penn.