Chicago MAPSS

[JerryLandis]

I imagine that many people on this website received a similar email to the one I got about 20 minutes ago. Rejected from PhD, admitted to MAPSS with a partial scholarship. Personally, I'm quite relieved to have been accepted SOMEWHERE, although I'm still waiting on some other MA programs that would be better suited to me.

I was wondering, though, how personal the email may have been. The email I received said that "the faculty admissions committee was very impressed with your preparation and statement of purpose, and with the fit between your ambitions and the opportunities MAPSS provides at this stage of your career." I'm assuming that, because they seem to have sent a similar email to a lot of people, this is a stock statement they have sent to everyone. Did everyone else who was accepted to MAPSS receive this same compliment? I'd like to know because I will have to re-write my SOP when I reapply in a year or two, and if they were genuinely impressed by my SOP then that would be useful feedback to have received!

[heu mihi]

Haha, yeah, mine said the exact same thing. I too took it as a genuine compliment at first, but I guess it's just a stock phrase.

Honestly, I take the whole MAPSS thing to be more of an insult than anything, given that it doesn't seem to be a great program, almost everyone who is rejected gets in, and it's just a cash cow for them for fund the people they really wanted.

[tourist]

I got the exact same email as you, probably word for word. I don't know if I should take their offer as a compliment or an insult, I'm stuck somewhere in between. However, knowing that I have been accepted to one PhD program eases my mind, because otherwise I would have likely considered this offer. Chicago's awesome and what's another 20 or 30k of debt stacked onto my undergrad debt? At least that's what I'm thinking I would've thought if I were without any concrete offers. Good luck with the rest of your apps!

[JerryLandis]

I don't consider it an insult. They could easily have rejected us without batting an eyelid, as every other university seems to do with ease. Almost every MA program is there partially to raise funds for the PhD program, but you actually have to apply to those!

[Joe Lordan]

I don't consider it an insult. They could easily have rejected us without batting an eyelid, as every other university seems to do with ease. Almost every MA program is there partially to raise funds for the PhD program, but you actually have to apply to those!

I applied to 6 of those MA programs, you can thank me later PhDs