For those of us who haven't heard yet...

[Genia13]

I only applied to one school, so I am very nervous. Today is the 1st of March. They say I will get a notification by March 15. I submitted in December. However, other people got notifications at the beginning of February, so I already think that's a bad look. ?

[Sloproth]

Checking the results page and combing the forums has basically become my part-time job. Except I'm not getting paid, and it doens't help anything. Come to think of it, not all that different from my actual part-time job.

[janetherock]

Help!!! I applied to a Psych PhD at Univeristy of Pittsburgh (Pitt) and still haven’t heard back, positive or negative. I got rejections from Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, and UMich, and I’m still waiting to hear from Johns Hopkins, Stony Brook, and Rutgers-Newark. 

Pitt is the only school where I got an interview, and there are barely any results on the Results page (I saw a few rejections, but they’re all people who didn’t get interviews). 

I’m really worried because Pitt is basically my only option right now, and I just talked to another applicant yesterday who was admitted to the same program (by email from her PI and the school). I also know another applicant who got waitlisted. I’ve gotten neither so far. 

My question is, do PhD programs generally send acceptances out all at once, or do professors send theirs individually? Also, I’m coming straight out of undergrad but a lot of applicants had taken a year off. I feel like that hurts my chances even further. 

Its gonna suck if I don’t get in. Now that I know someone else was already accepted, my hopes are going down. I guess I’m going to wait a couple days and then email admissions. I’ll be so bummed if I have to take a year off, seriously. Like I get that this happens, but I have some stuff going on in my life right now that’ll make my life pretty hard if I have to find a lab job and then reapply next year. Fingers crossed!

[Ternwild]

14 minutes ago, piexe said:

My question is, do PhD programs generally send acceptances out all at once, or do professors send theirs individually?

Not all universities do acceptances/rejections at once.  Quite a few of the universities I applied to do rolling decisions, which means they will fire out acceptances all the way until their deadline.  If you haven't gotten rejected, you're still in it.  It's also good that you haven't been waitlisted, because that means you still have the option of being accepted.  Don't give up hope.

That said, you need to start working on your resume and start applying to jobs.  Whether you like the idea or not, you should always have a back up plan.  Taking a year off may be rough for you, but being unemployed during that year is even worse. 

[janetherock]

18 minutes ago, Ternwild said:

Not all universities do acceptances/rejections at once.  Quite a few of the universities I applied to do rolling decisions, which means they will fire out acceptances all the way until their deadline.  If you haven't gotten rejected, you're still in it.  It's also good that you haven't been waitlisted, because that means you still have the option of being accepted.  Don't give up hope.

That said, you need to start working on your resume and start applying to jobs.  Whether you like the idea or not, you should always have a back up plan.  Taking a year off may be rough for you, but being unemployed during that year is even worse. 

That made me feel a little better. I was asked to go to the interview weekend by my PI, so it’s possible he is just doing this on his own timeline. But you’re right, I definitely need to start seriously job-searching. Hopefully taking a year off from school will make applications easier next year! Thanks for your reply 

Edited March 2, 2019 by piexe

[ArchieMJ]

Hey y'all. So here's my timeline applying to Portland State University for the Applied Developmental Psychology PhD program:

Submitted my application by 11/30/18

Recommenders submitted from 11/30 to 12/01/18

Currently no updates or even interview invitations

Called yesterday 03/01/19 to check on my status, and admissions said I'm still "under review." I emailed my POI soon after. 

I kept checking GradCafe and one or two other people had invitations for an interview late January.

I am 80% convinced I will be rejected, but I gave it a shot. 

If anybody else applied or knows anyone who applied to Portland State's grad program, I'd love to hear your experiences.

[bandanajack]

On 3/2/2019 at 2:08 PM, ArchieMJ said:

Hey y'all. So here's my timeline applying to Portland State University for the Applied Developmental Psychology PhD program:

Submitted my application by 11/30/18

Recommenders submitted from 11/30 to 12/01/18

Currently no updates or even interview invitations

Called yesterday 03/01/19 to check on my status, and admissions said I'm still "under review." I emailed my POI soon after. 

I kept checking GradCafe and one or two other people had invitations for an interview late January.

I am 80% convinced I will be rejected, but I gave it a shot. 

If anybody else applied or knows anyone who applied to Portland State's grad program, I'd love to hear your experiences.

Damn that is long wait!

[anxiousqueen]

It’s been 3 months since I applied to Cambridge and I’ve been on department review ever since. People have moved up and gotten acceptances yet I’m just stuck.... I got 2 great acceptances but I want this soooooo badly and I hate waiting ?

[AndrewJake]

So what is the general feeling about calling or emailing to get updates? I had a great conversation with the Program Director before I even applied, then once I submitted I sent an email letting him know and thanking him (no response).  1/22 I emailed the women who does all the administrative work just to make sure my file was in order.  She confirmed it was, and they expected to make their decisions by "early March".

Fast forward to about a week ago I emailed my POI and she responded quickly saying she had not heard anything, but she was on sabbatical last semester so isn't on the committee this year. She said I should email the Program Director to let him know that I had been accepted somewhere else but that they were still my first choice which I did and still have not gotten a response.  That was 8 days ago and of course I'm dying over here....is it kosher to go back to the administrator for an update?

Thanks

Edited March 6, 2019 by AndrewJake

[Ternwild]

On 3/1/2019 at 12:16 PM, Genia13 said:

I only applied to one school, so I am very nervous. Today is the 1st of March. They say I will get a notification by March 15. I submitted in December. However, other people got notifications at the beginning of February, so I already think that's a bad look. ?

You need to start hiring a professional resume write and applying to jobs.  Save up some money and apply to more universities than one, next year.

23 minutes ago, AndrewJake said:

.is it kosher to go back to the administrator for an update?

No.  You don't want to pester or annoy.  You may have to bite the bullet on this one and accept you're probably rejected and start working on backup plans.  Hopefully this isn't your only university you applied to.  If I can give advice on anything, it is what to do when rejected or when to expect rejection.  Though it is not entirely uncommon for people to get late road acceptances, you still need to seriously consider what will you do if you don't. 

Edited March 6, 2019 by Ternwild

[strawberrycows]

Still waiting to hear back from a couple of schools...

Edited March 7, 2019 by strawberrycows

[Sleam]

So since I still haven't heard, I'm expecting a rejection. Anyone else? 

[Ternwild]

2 hours ago, Sleam said:

So since I still haven't heard, I'm expecting a rejection. Anyone else? 

Yeah, you should definitely expect them.  Aside from the Master's programs that I applied to within the last month, I'm expecting rejections from all of them, at this late in the decision process.  Tally ho!  Here we go!

[Sleam]

13 hours ago, Ternwild said:

Yeah, you should definitely expect them.  Aside from the Master's programs that I applied to within the last month, I'm expecting rejections from all of them, at this late in the decision process.  Tally ho!  Here we go!

Haha, yep. I've got Plan B in action already so there is that. Keep on though, eh? S

[Camillalxy]

Should I email admission committee of the programs which haven’t got back to me to let them know about my fully funded offer with additional fellowship? I’d really like to move on with an offer to book airfare, sort out summer storage and fall housing, etc. Also, I know people who emailed a program to get their decisions and to find out official rejections wouldn’t be sent out until late April...

[magnetite]

I emailed the two programs I hadn't heard from, letting them know I was evaluating other offers and would like to make a decision soon. They both got back to me reasonably quickly: one waitlist and one rejection. 

I think it's definitely worth contacting them to politely ask about your status, assuming you have genuine interest in attending their programs.

[Sleam]

Still waiting. I emailed the faculty member I had hoped to work with and she wrote back immediately but said that she wasn't on the committee. I emailed the program director but no word. 

[brightorangesocks]

While I'm waiting to hear from my POI/Department, is it ok to call the university's graduate admissions office to see if they know when my program is planning to start sending out decisions?

I don't want to be a bother, but I'm thinking grad admissions may be safe.  And while they aren't as likely to know the answer, its at least something I can do?
 

Talking to my POI it really does sound like I'll be admitted, but I just won't feel comfortable until it's formal.  I also would like to decline another offer but am *definitely* not doing that until I know for sure that I'm admitted and attending.

*heads back to the scream thread

[neko98]

I reached out to the program I interviewed with a little over a month after the interview. They told me they would come to a decision on who to admit by late last week (by 3/8 effectively). Around last Thursday, another student posted that the dept head had said acceptances would come out early this week. 

I’ve seen a few people post their acceptances to the results page in the last 2 days. I’m basically assuming I’ve been rejected at this point because I never got an email from the program, but it would be nice to know for sure, both for closure and so I can start devoting energy to my backup plans. My question is - would it be rude/annoying to send another email to the dept following up on if they know when admissions decisions will be released? What should I say if I do send a follow up email?

[Ternwild]

18 hours ago, Camillalxy said:

Should I email admission committee of the programs which haven’t got back to me to let them know about my fully funded offer with additional fellowship?

What would you say if you were them?  I would say "Good for you.  Take that."  The short answer is: no.  That's petty and will only guarantee your rejection and wouldn't help your acceptance, anyway.  At this point (mid march) it is time you focus on your acceptances and move on from those that haven't gotten back to you.

[Ternwild]

15 hours ago, brightorangesocks said:

While I'm waiting to hear from my POI/Department, is it ok to call the university's graduate admissions office to see if they know when my program is planning to start sending out decisions?

Yes.  Call.

[Ternwild]

6 minutes ago, neko98 said:

My question is - would it be rude/annoying to send another email to the dept following up on if they know when admissions decisions will be released? What should I say if I do send a follow up email?

No, it wouldn't.  (Unless you're sending them every day). 

"To whom it concerns,

Good afternoon!  My name is xxxx and I applied to your PhD program in xxx (application ID xxx).  I had a fulfilling interview on Feb xx with xxx and am extremely excited about the program.  I was wondering if it is possible I could follow up and check on the status of my application.  Any information regarding it or when I could hear back, would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you for any help you can offer, in this.

Xxxx Xxxx"

Or something along those lines. 

[Camillalxy]

1 hour ago, Ternwild said:

What would you say if you were them?  I would say "Good for you.  Take that."  The short answer is: no.  That's petty and will only guarantee your rejection and wouldn't help your acceptance, anyway.  At this point (mid march) it is time you focus on your acceptances and move on from those that haven't gotten back to you.

That's true! Letting them know about my other offers might not help too much unless I say I would definitely accept your offer once you release it (something you say in a love letter when being waitlisted for college). Mostly I just wanna find out if I was silently rejected or I'm still on a waitlist. I've been making plans with respect to my offer, but nothing can be confirmed until I learn all the decisions.

[Ternwild]

28 minutes ago, Camillalxy said:

That's true! Letting them know about my other offers might not help too much unless I say I would definitely accept your offer once you release it (something you say in a love letter when being waitlisted for college). Mostly I just wanna find out if I was silently rejected or I'm still on a waitlist. I've been making plans with respect to my offer, but nothing can be confirmed until I learn all the decisions.

Then email them and tell them you're currently considering another offer and was wondering when you'd hear back.  Tell them you'd like to know what are you chances and when you'll hear back as you'd prefer to go to their program, but need to know whether you need to consider the other offers serious, soon. 

And then, in the background, take your other offers serious.

[JTspruell]

I still in the waiting boat as well for the Master's programs I applied to. I haven't been outright rejected, waitlisted, or accepted yet so the suspense slowly grates on me everyday. Although one of the PI's from Northern Arizona that I emailed in early January finally replied last Friday. He replied with: 

"I’m sorry for my delayed response to your email, I’m going through applications now for our incoming MS class and wanted to see if a) you are still considering NAU and b) to discuss your research interests more. My research is focused on using geophysics (primarily seismology) to understand tectonic processes in the earth, focusing primarily on the north and south American Cordillera. I know your interest is in structure, tectonics, and geomorphology and I wanted to see more specifically what types of research projects you would be interested in."

So we emailed back a forth a bit about he told me about his funded projects and current research. His last email finished off with stating:

"We’re still figuring out admissions decisions but should know in the next couple of weeks"

Hopefully this is a good sign, but I have definitely been applying to jobs as a back-up plan. 

 

Applied:  Northern Arizona University, Western Washington, Arizona State University

Rejected: 0/3  Waitlisted: 0/3  Accepted: 0/3  Attending: TBD