Next Week

[farty14]

I have a "feeling" that acceptances (and possibly rejections) will start rolling out next week, with most decisions in the following two weeks after that. My "feeling" is based on looking through archives of the "results" of gradcafe and yuster. So, basically, this is my thread to kill time until I start hearing back. Who is with me? What should we do to distract ourselves?

[rising_star]

Gosh, I hope it's next week but that just seems like wishful thinking. I'd love to have a concrete idea that I can stop looking for jobs on idealist.org and at universities in places I'd like to live (for the free classes) sometime soon. Though I did find some amazing jobs where I am that could totally maybe work out if I don't get any acceptances with funding...

[UndraftedFreeAgent]

WashU (Poli Sci) sent me an email today saying that my application was complete, that they will be meeting in January, and all decisions will be mailed by the end of February/March. But based on previous years, the first batch of notifications (interviews), could come soon. It seems like they were emailing people on the last Sunday of January.

[peppermint]

Undrafted-

There are a couple of submissions on here from 2006- apparently that year WashU notified some applicants on Jan. 17 (for interviews). Good luck! Hopefully we'll all have good news soon.

[Minnesotan]

Who is with me? What should we do to distract ourselves?

Is it possible to remain drop-dead drunk for n entire week?

[LaraAnn85]

Yeah I'm going crazy. I got an interview invite last Monday (1/14), and heard about two other interview that I was graciously excluded from. Now the other 8 are driving me crazy! I'm fairly certain that none of them have extended interviews, so I'm just sitting...waiting...wishing. I just got an email from UW saying that my application just got sent for review, now I have to wait for it to be reviewed! Northeastern said they'd alert people at the end of the month if they are missing anything, so that means you'd still have time to send stuff in before they're finished! Don't they realize that I am going crazy!?!? By the end of every day I've convinced myself that I'm not getting in anywhere and I'm going to have to do this all again. Or I convince myself that if I do get in, I am horribly unprepared and going to have a miserable time. I don't know which is worse. AHHHH

[farty14]

Is it possible to remain drop-dead drunk for n entire week?

It is possible . . . and highly recommended.

[rising_star]

Is it possible to remain drop-dead drunk for n entire week?

Yes, but your liver may not be that appreciative.

[dmh26]

I know for a fact one of my schools will decide this saturday, and next week they will admit or reject. I found when I called about applying for a language fellowship. They instructed me that, contrary to what the website says, they don't want the paper work for the fellowship because they ultimately decide from the admitted applicants who they feel is adequate for the fellowship..lol

This is a very different process compared to the other two schools that I applied to who are offering the same language fellowship.

Now I am super nervous for next week! lol I would have rather not received that information :|

[jaw17]

dmh26: Is that Michigan....?

[dmh26]

dmh26: Is that Michigan....?

Nope, it is Illinois.

[polisciapp]

Hmm. So far my prediction has proved wrong. Oh well, I just wish I would hear something.

[peppermint]

Hmm. So far my prediction has proved wrong. Oh well, I just wish I would hear something.

I'm pretty surprised we haven't heard anything yet. Should we start speculating why?

Thursday seems like a good day to contact accepted students, for some reason. Maybe it'll be tomorrow! (wishful thinking)

[polisciapp]

I'm pretty surprised we haven't heard anything yet. Should we start speculating why?

Thursday seems like a good day to contact accepted students, for some reason. Maybe it'll be tomorrow! (wishful thinking)

Haha. Sounds like good reasoning to me.

[Minnesotan]

Maybe some planets need to align first, or something.

Move it, damned planets!

[polisciapp]

Raise your hand if you check the results page every five minutes.

*Sheepishly raises his hand*

[flyingwalrus]

polisciapp said:

Raise your hand if you check the results page every five minutes.

*Sheepishly raises his hand*

I check WUSTL's page probably a dozen times a day now that several rejections have been posted. The rest I check once a day, which I'm sure will (unfortunately) change once people begin reporting decisions by them.

[christina_bme]

Raise your hand if you check the results page every five minutes.

*Sheepishly raises his hand*

*looks around*

*raises hand*

It's official. I have no life anymore.

[rising_star]

I think most of the folks that hear from Ohio State this early are nominated for fellowships. Or maybe just on the social science side.

[sigh]

So...we'll hear from everyone this week, right?

[UndraftedFreeAgent]

So...we'll hear from everyone this week, right?

I wish. As I'm not the superstar some of you seem to be, It's likely to go down to the wire for me. I fully anticipate taking a few days off of work leading up to April 15, so I can be a jittery mess without scaring my coworkers.

[polisciapp]

So...we'll hear from everyone this week, right?

I sure hope so. I think many people will hear from some schools this week.

[rising_star]

I wish. As I'm not the superstar some of you seem to be, It's likely to go down to the wire for me. I fully anticipate taking a few days off of work leading up to April 15, so I can be a jittery mess without scaring my coworkers.

I'm not a superstar. I'm still waiting. And I hope I'm not waiting until April 15. But, since the national conference is then... I guess I could tell the school of my choice in person.

[Minnesotan]

Oh, to be a superstar and be able to rest on my laurels for a little while, as the acceptances start pouring in...

I don't think there are many superstars in this game. There may be some savvy people, more in tune with what adcoms are looking for, but that's as far as I'm willing to go in a world where perfect grades and a highly successful GRE only get your writing sample read.

[Canadianpolsci]

Look, there really are superstars, and the top 2 or 3 programs in any field will take 1 or 2 a year. These people in the end may not grow up to be legends in their field, but so far, they have done incredible things.

People with Rhodes Scholarships, with extraordinary math aptitude and contest results, with a joint science publication as a senior undergrad with a Nobel prize winner; published poets applying to study a PhD in literature, Indian students who receive the highest science qualifying exam mark of 150,000, and then the highest mark at the best Indian science school, and then want to go to Cal Tech.

But these people are rare, and they are not on these forums. This is because applications are easy for them. They have no flaws and they have a HUGE GLOWING advantage do to extraordinary name recognition accorded to a prize they won, or unbelievable achievement.

Again, Rhodes scholars are a mixed bunch. But one a year at least will be attending Harvard and/or Yale and/or Princeton to study Economics and/or Government and/or History.

These people take perhaps 10% of the best spots at the top 4 programs in every single area of studies. I have known some in my day. They are not really always a cut above. Sometimes they are, sometimes they were somewhat lucky, sometimes they just worked on their CV and are can-do people, but intellectually bland. But make more mistake, genius lives. Luckily, even at the very very best program in your field (minus perhaps physics and math at the best 3 programs in the world), you don't have to be a genius to get in.