2018 Acceptance/Rejection Thread

[Guest RoughAnatomy]

16 minutes ago, dogman1212 said:

No, although that may have been a good idea. Judith Lichtenberg and Henry Richardson have very close interests to me. Do you think it would be too late to send a friendly email notifying them of my application?

Typically establishing a relationship (of some kind) with faculty prior to applying is advisable, however; attempting to force contact has an ersatz quality to it that may comport as so-called "petitioning." My reason for the query cuts against the historical benefit, as well: my POI suggested that applications are strictly sequestered from the faculty and thus it is the admissions committee alone who decides our fate. Who's on the committee? Dunno.

I was ambivalent upon receiving the email and still am - partly because historical precedent suggests meaningful faculty connections substantially increase one's opportunity for admission; partly because I'm assessing the process from the context of the Canadian secondary education environment, wherein faculty connections are damn-near constitutive. I have a BA/MA in sociology and, because of my faculty contact and the methodology I employ, am finishing a Ph.D in pediatrics. (I'll clarify that I made the contact because of my work, not family, friends, etc.)

As for the second question, the answer is much more succinct: no. At best, the faculty interprets your email as a sign of insecurity or unpreparedness; at worst, the faculty interprets your email as an attempt to prejudice their determinations. But many people are accepted cold, so don't assume you've made a lethal mistake. 

 

Edited February 20, 2018 by RoughAnatomy

[Guest RoughAnatomy]

40 minutes ago, Neither Here Nor There said:

Re: Georgetown. Delayed by a week or so is not clear. If the average day is the 17th, it could be to next week. But if the average is earlier, it could be as soon as Friday. I second what the others. Thanks for contacting them for us. 

I've also emailed Columbia and Harvard, for anyone wondering about those committees. 

[dogman1212]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply RoughAnatomy. I agree with your suggestion: I think sending an email to a faculty member at this stage may send off the wrong message. 

Edited February 20, 2018 by dogman1212

[be.]

20 minutes ago, RoughAnatomy said:

I've also emailed Columbia and Harvard, for anyone wondering about those committees. 

Any word back from Harvard?

[kretschmar]

27 minutes ago, RoughAnatomy said:

I've also emailed Columbia and Harvard, for anyone wondering about those committees. 

Let us know if Columbia says anything!

[Guest RoughAnatomy]

Nothing from Harvard or Columbia, yet. 

 

[bridgephil]

Has anyone who applied to UW Madison not heard back at all?

[Goonasabi]

7 minutes ago, bridgephil said:

Has anyone who applied to UW Madison not heard back at all?

I'm in that boat. I imagine that there's still many of us who haven't heard anything final back? I dunno. So hard to tell. But we can always cling to the hope of a late wait list! 

[Cogitodoncrien]

8 minutes ago, bridgephil said:

Has anyone who applied to UW Madison not heard back at all?

As of right now, I am one such person. 

[bridgephil]

At least we have each other.

[Cogitodoncrien]

3 minutes ago, bridgephil said:

At least we have each other.

It’s a tired old phrase, but this forum is evidence in support of it: misery loves company. 

[Guest RoughAnatomy]

8 minutes ago, Goonasabi said:

I'm in that boat. I imagine that there's still many of us who haven't heard anything final back? I dunno. So hard to tell. But we can always cling to the hope of a late wait list! 

Applying and being rejected from grad school is like writing a sincere, heartfelt missive to your first love, only to discover they've chosen to date someone who's mostly like you save for some arbitrary difference. 

[ArendtYouKidding]

22 minutes ago, bridgephil said:

Has anyone who applied to UW Madison not heard back at all?

I am also in that both with you all. I'd love to know what their strategy is....

 

I'm waiting to hear back from 13 more, but so far, have had four rejections. The ones I am most anxiously awaiting are Yale (the dream), UConn (Runner-up to that dream), Arizona, Colorado, and the University of Washington. Should be any day now, right?

[Guest RoughAnatomy]

17 minutes ago, ArendtYouKidding said:

I am also in that both with you all. I'd love to know what their strategy is....

I understand your anticipation, it's part of The Human Condition. But we need to accept that, as philosophers, the UW faculty are simply living the Life of the Mind and are thus too wrapped up in their thoughts to expeditiously announce their decisions. 

...I like puns. 

Edited February 21, 2018 by RoughAnatomy

[episode413]

Does anyone know whether schools have a (implicit) rule of not admitting their own undergrads? I did my undergrad at UW-Madison and an MA at UChicago. I applied to Madison and actually really want to go back for PhD. I haven't heard anything back yet so I assume I'm rejected. I got accepted at Toronto using another writing sample (I have two and sent different ones to different schools). So I'm curious about which factor mainly led to the rejection (if it's knowable at all) and whether I just shouldn't have applied to Madison. 

[ArendtYouKidding]

4 minutes ago, RoughAnatomy said:

I understand your anticipation, it's part of The Human Condition. But we need to accept that, as philosophers, the UW faculty are simply living the Life of the Mind and are thus too wrapped up in their thoughts to expeditiously announce their decisions. 

...I like puns. 

Ah, philosophy puns! What better way to past the time. I bet these could get good.

6 minutes ago, episode413 said:

Does anyone know whether schools have a (implicit) rule of not admitting their own undergrads? I did my undergrad at UW-Madison and an MA at UChicago. I applied to Madison and actually really want to go back for PhD. I haven't heard anything back yet so I assume I'm rejected. I got accepted at Toronto using another writing sample (I have two and sent different ones to different schools). So I'm curious about which factor mainly led to the rejection (if it's knowable at all) and whether I just shouldn't have applied to Madison. 

Episode413, to my understanding, "no-incest" rules primarily apply to hiring at schools. Oftentimes schools won't hire those who got their PhD from the same school. Congratulations on Toronto! 

[bridgephil]

6 minutes ago, episode413 said:

Does anyone know whether schools have a (implicit) rule of not admitting their own undergrads? I did my undergrad at UW-Madison and an MA at UChicago. I applied to Madison and actually really want to go back for PhD. I haven't heard anything back yet so I assume I'm rejected. I got accepted at Toronto using another writing sample (I have two and sent different ones to different schools). So I'm curious about which factor mainly led to the rejection (if it's knowable at all) and whether I just shouldn't have applied to Madison. 

I've actually asked a couple professors at this (I'm not at UW, but I am currently finishing undergrad at a PGR ranked school), and they said that even if they like you, they'll often reject you for your own good. Apparently it looks really bad in academia (esp. philosophy) to get your phd from the same school you did your undergrad in and it can hurt your chances significantly in the job market. I think it might also make the school look bad? I totally get where you're coming from though - I really like the school I'm at now, so I wanted to apply here, but my professors said they wouldn't accept someone who did their undergrad here. 

[Cogitodoncrien]

11 minutes ago, bridgephil said:

I've actually asked a couple professors at this (I'm not at UW, but I am currently finishing undergrad at a PGR ranked school), and they said that even if they like you, they'll often reject you for your own good. Apparently it looks really bad in academia (esp. philosophy) to get your phd from the same school you did your undergrad in and it can hurt your chances significantly in the job market. I think it might also make the school look bad? I totally get where you're coming from though - I really like the school I'm at now, so I wanted to apply here, but my professors said they wouldn't accept someone who did their undergrad here. 

I second this. I also did my undergrad at a PGR ranked program, and that was the word I got from advisors and other professors. 

[BrandiLouu]

Has anyone heard from University of Virginia (Clinical Psychology) or Texas Christian University (Experimental Psychology)? Haven't seen or heard anything from these two schools. Thanks in advance. 

[rohrlikealion]

1 hour ago, Cogitodoncrien said:

As of right now, I am one such person. 

I just heard back about MFA in Fiction last night via email (rejection unfortunately) so I would imagine they'll send out other program notifications soon! 

[coffeepls]

13 minutes ago, BrandiLouu said:

Has anyone heard from University of Virginia (Clinical Psychology) or Texas Christian University (Experimental Psychology)? Haven't seen or heard anything from these two schools. Thanks in advance. 

Hi! Just as a heads up, you're in the philosophy thread so you probably won't find many people who applied to those...I don't want you to think that people are ignoring your post  

[kretschmar]

13 minutes ago, BrandiLouu said:

Has anyone heard from University of Virginia (Clinical Psychology) or Texas Christian University (Experimental Psychology)? Haven't seen or heard anything from these two schools. Thanks in advance. 

 

6 minutes ago, rohrlikealion said:

I just heard back about MFA in Fiction last night via email (rejection unfortunately) so I would imagine they'll send out other program notifications soon! 

 

Hey guys– this is the philosophy admissions forum, so it is unlikely (though possible) that anyone here has related knowledge.

Best wishes on making it to brain land.

[BrandiLouu]

14 minutes ago, kretschmar said:

 

 

Hey guys– this is the philosophy admissions forum, so it is unlikely (though possible) that anyone here has related knowledge.

Best wishes on making it to brain land.

Oops, I'm new to Grad Cafe. Sorry I didn't realize. Thanks for the heads up 

[philoguy]

1 hour ago, Goonasabi said:

I'm in that boat. I imagine that there's still many of us who haven't heard anything final back? I dunno. So hard to tell. But we can always cling to the hope of a late wait list! 

Clinging right now, haven't heard anything. I did take a look at my application and there was a notification telling me that they didn't have my test scores, which is weird because they explicitly stated they don't want gres(?).

[kurumetarou]

2 hours ago, bridgephil said:

Has anyone who applied to UW Madison not heard back at all?

Seems like some people have already got the big no. I haven’t got mine yet. Wonder why they would send rejection mails in batches. I thought it was an automated process. No words from Toronto either.

Edited February 21, 2018 by kurumetarou