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Congrats, Two Espressos! I've been rooting for you this whole season

From the results board, I see that someone was wait listed at Michigan? Congrats! I still haven't heard anything yet and keep checking my e-mail compulsively... Anyone else not heard back yet?

I don't know about what time is "okay" to call and ask, but I've definitely done this for a couple schools! I figured that the cost of being a little bit annoying did not outweigh my peace of mind.

You guys! I too am in this boat, but have just now gotten some surprising (good) news. So my partner applied mostly to schools in Europe and a couple in Canada that were long shots. Like, 5 spots for 300 applicants for a Master's. But he got into a school in Ontario that's within driving distance from one of my acceptances! (Well, if you consider 6.5 hours drivable... I do, since we were looking at a Transatlantic relationship for awhile.) On the flip side, the school that's close (ish) to him has been at the bottom of my three acceptances... so many hard decisions ahead, ugh.

I myself am not an MES person, but a friend of mine also had to decide between the MA in MES at Chicago and UT. She ended up turning down Harvard, NYU (with a ridiculous fellowship), Chicago, and several other prestigious schools to go to UT, where she was offered a TAship. From what I understand, UT is hands down the best for MES. I guess another factor is whether either or both are offering you funding? Good luck!

Hi! I'm in at Penn State, but for Comp Lit and not English. I'll be visiting in a few weeks. Honestly, the scandal doesn't really mean anything to me. I don't think it has any bearing whatsoever on the academic quality of the institution.

Basically. I think the best I can hope for is a wait list, but I'm not holding my breath on those two. Seriously. I have actually half seriously considered doing a complete 180 and becoming a massage therapist. Sigh. Maybe if this whole academia thing doesn't work out...

Nope, just Michigan and Yale. Such stragglers! Who are you waiting on?

That was Michigan.

So I finally broke down and called one of my remaining schools to check on my status, and the response was cryptic. The secretary said a decision had been made on my application, but that she wasn't authorized to make it known yet. I then asked if all the acceptances had gone out, and she said some, but others not. Apparently I should hear sometime this week. I'm thinking this means rejection, right?

I can't say much to your particular field, but Northwestern is very highly regarded in the US and is ranked higher than several Ivy League schools for undergrad. I would put it on the same level as schools like Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Washington University in St. Louis, and Berkeley.

So I have a bit of a dilemma. I've been lucky enough to have been accepted to three great programs and wait listed at another. DGS informed me I'm the first person in line. I'd definitely consider the school that wait listed me (and although this should be taken with a grain of salt, this school is better ranked in my field than my other admits), but I haven't been invited to visit. I'm going to be visiting the other schools, and I just can't imagine myself making a last minute decision should I be admitted without having visited the school and mentally prepared myself. Should I remove myself from the wait list? Would you choose a school that you haven't visited, when you've seen other schools that admitted you outright?

Okay, here's a new line of thought: is anyone else absolutely terrified of meeting POIs on campus visits? I just know that when I talk to them, they're going to be all disappointed and know that I BS-ed my way through my applications and am not worthy of going to their school... Although I truly am interested in the topics I mentioned in my SOP, I am not very knowledgeable yet. At all. Is this awful? On a more productive note: for those who have already done this, what have your experiences been meeting with POIs? What should one expect? Did you prepare?

Oh, and for the rest of you UT Austin applicants: apparently the committee had their official meeting a few days ago, so hopefully news will start trickling down.

Congrats! Does this mean they just don't have info on funding yet, or you're in line for funding? In any case, glad you're in! Are you going to try to go to recruitment weekend?

So if we didn't get an interview, that means we've been rejected basically?

How terrifying! I'll be traveling for the next two weeks, also I'm not sure which address I put down on my application...oh boy I want to know now! Who sends rejections via post? Also, quick question to those who were notified about Stanford Comp Lit via post: did you also get an e-mail or website status change?

Thanks!About your question, I'm not sure... Prof. Eburne's not really in my field of interest, but we did correspond a few times back in the fall. Anyway, I'm crossing my fingers for you! He said they were hoping to enroll a cohort of 4-6, but are of course admitting more than that.

That was me. Got a call from Jonathan Eburne about an hour ago. Totally psyched for recruitment weekend! Let me know how things go for you guys, too.

I wouldn't give up yet, Rose! I haven't gotten anything official yet, and when I contacted them last week they said they would be having an "official admissions meeting" soon, which I would think means the decisions aren't/weren't finalized yet. In any case, bon courage! I'm rooting hard for you.

Got my first wait list today. DGS informed me that I'm at the top of the list, so if one person backs out, I'm in... Does anybody know anyone who has gotten in off a wait list and actually ended up going to that school? What if you don't hear until April 14th and have to make a decision without ever having visited or gotten a feel for the program?!

That's rough! On this note, how much are people factoring their personal lives (partners, family, etc.) into their decisions? My partner will be attending grad school on a different continent, so we're looking at 2-7 years apart... What are people's strategies with coping with this/making decisions? (I realize this is very personal, but I imagine that some people must be in this situation as well!)

I see where you're getting this from, but in my experience, 99% of the time this is not the case! (I mean, look at Rory... she's actually a nice person, and she went to Yale, right?) Yeah, you'll run into the occasional snob, but they exist in every school. I think most people realize that going to an Ivy League school is not just about merit, but also about money and other factors. I know plenty of people who got into Ivies but ended up going to schools where they were offered scholarships. I've known a few people at my Ivy undergrad to be intellectually snobbish, but that might just be my discipline, and certainly isn't constrained to the Ivy League. Basically, I don't think you should worry about this. Of course Harvard has have some elitist jerks, but it's a top-notch school with lots of great people and opportunities! Good luck

Nah... she declined to comment on that part.

Yeah, that kind of freaked me out a bit. I e-mailed the graduate secretary, and she just said that we'd be notified on the website or possibly by e-mail. But the website doesn't say anything about being able to view decisions there... do you know if there's a special place to check our status, or is it just the application?