Dialectica

I was just about to vent about this. I can't stand when faculty moves are announced at this time of year for this reason. Tim was certainly my POI. I'm very frustrated. That said, I would still very much like to attend. I'd love to work with Gary Ebbs and Kirk Ludwig, for example. I'm also hopeful that they'll make up for this loss for metaphysics in their department.

Anyone going to claim the Irvine acceptances?

This seems really odd to me. It would make sense if, say, s/he found out via the application website/portal, but it indicates that this was via email. But that's very early, and with no other such reports, it doesn't seem legit.

It was gorgeous. And, yes, I think comparable to the youtube videos. I can't dwell on it too much or else I'll only be that much more crushed if I don't get in this time around.

Same! I was waitlisted last year. I visited. It was lovely. But ultimately didn't get accepted off that waitlist. I'd love to go there.

Listening to a lot of music. Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Grad Cafe.

That's awesome! I'm very interested to know whether this is a special case or not. If you get any further information as far as the timing of their decisions go, I'd be very grateful if you informed us.

Somehow I have the feeling this story *won't* give me hope when the decisions start rolling in.

I created this thread assuming (as I think we all should) that the odds are low at worst, or, at best, completely unknown. The idea is to think of anecdotes that give hope to those who feel self-conscious about some portion of their file (e.g., low GREs) or how their season is starting out (e.g., only a few waitlists, or only rejections). There is hope even with low stats or unknown undergrads. There is hope even if you are rejected from low-ranked institutions (see the first story posted).

Yeah, some UCs have been known to dip into a hidden waitlist, and, as @desolesiii mentioned, UT has as well, among others.

I wish I could give more details, but I don't want to give too much for anonymity reasons. And, even more sadly, distinct identifying features can be relevant to admissions.

I actually have one more. I knew an applicant that only had a few waitlists most of the season. Near the end of the season they started getting in off those waitlists. These were mid-ranked programs—programs to which both they and I would be happy to attend. But at the very end of the season they were accepted off of a "hidden" waitlist (those waitlists programs utilize if they have already gone through their initial waitlist) to a top 20.

I changed what I could (for the most part). After asking the two programs at which I was waitlisted why I was waitlisted, they simply said it was an especially rough year—one even said I would have been accepted outright had I applied the year prior. If I learned anything it was this: it can be a very random process, so just aim to make the best file possible (though, focusing on the sample), and leave the rest to the adcoms.

...that is precisely what happened to me last year. I had two waitlists. Ultimately I was rejected from both on April 15th. It was awful.

I thought it might be interesting to give some anecdotes that might give a desperate applicant some hope. I'm also just very anxious and bored awaiting the results of this season. These stories would ideally be underdog stories (stories involving an applicant going against the odds—though, it's hard to find someone to whom that doesn't apply), e.g., someone with really low GRE scores, or whose season is going particularly poor but whose final results are great. I have one such story. I'll spare some details but this applicant had a low quant on the GRE, was rejected almost everywhere (applied all over the PGR), and the only acceptance this applicant ultimately received was from a PGR top 5. The ONLY acceptance. That's pretty incredible and, to me, indicative of how unpredictable this process is. Sometimes that unpredictability can play in your favor. So don't lose hope! Even if you're seemingly shut out—don't lose hope until it is truly over (then cry, if truly shut out).

It's going to really sting come February.

After looking over past results (motivated by an unhealthy anxiety), I just wanted to express my frustration and bewilderment at how inconsistent some programs are in making their decisions. UNC, for instance, releases their acceptances in mid-January one year, and then mid-February the next. I wish there were SOME predictable part of this process (other than that it is unpredictable).

I can relate. However, I don't resist.

Congrats! This is precisely what I'm hoping for, an early acceptance. The stress of not knowing whether you'll go on to do philosophy (at least for me) is burdensome. I'm happy for you! It's so exciting to hear that results are already coming in (even if they are few).

You might be right. But we also have to consider how many lurkers are not current applicants. I have a lot of anecdotal evidence that seems to indicate there is a large amount of current undergrads and MA students that lurk but aren't currently applying. We also have to split up folks that apply to terminal MAs almost exclusively, those that apply to MAs and PhDs, and those that are just applying to PhD programs. This all assumes, of course, that these view counts are so easily interpreted.

If only such a group could preserve anonymity.

Regardless of the actual explanation for this, I'm simply telling myself that it means the applicant pool is smaller this year. I'm taking any solace I can. I'm, of course, mostly joking. But it does seem a striking difference in posts than this time last year. And, as @Turretin pointed out, there will certainly be an uptick—and likely more than just an uptick—in posts when results start coming in. I would think the number of posts at that time might be a better indicator of how "quiet" this season is.

I feel less burnt out from apps than I do from the wait. I was shut out last year, and so I'm just sick of not knowing what my future looks like. I just want to hear back already.

The scuttlebutt has it that there are a few programs that use the combined verbal and quant as a way to weed out a large amount of applicants in the first round, without looking at writing samples (or at least not very closely). But, nobody has confirmed it, and why would they? That certainly might make for a less attractive program to which to apply. But there are plenty of anectodes out there that many at high-ranked programs just don't care about the GRE in admissions.

I'm in agreement with the above comments. But I want to emphasize a bit more that you should add more of your own original argumentation to your paper. Of course, this assumes you paper is better as a result. If it cannot be made better by doing so, then I think you should either send it as is, or see if you have another paper you could amend in this way. And short papers can be a great asset. However, you have a lot of room to add your own argumentation, which makes it even more attractive to do so. Although I understand the feeling of 'rustiness' with respect to writing philosophy, you'll have to ask yourself: would you feel this way entering your MA or Phd program? If so, that's a little worrying. You'll have to brush up sometime, why not try and do so in improving this paper?