2020 Applicants

[gooniesneversaydie]

13 hours ago, onerepublic96 said:

Not to be obnoxious but can anyone... would anyone... please lord can someone try to figure out what’s happening at BU? ?

Looking over the past years' info, it seems that they make phone calls on Mondays to those accepted and send out rejections the following Friday. So, hopefully Monday, since it's the last this month? I'm actually terrified to hear back from this one. I'd almost *almost* prefer the limbo to getting a 9th rejection, especially from this school. 

[Emailchecker]

14 hours ago, onerepublic96 said:

Not to be obnoxious but can anyone... would anyone... please lord can someone try to figure out what’s happening at BU? ?

I definitely would but I had a dream that I do call and they told me that I am rejected on the spot, and then I had a full-blown panic attack/breakdown on the phone, and then my breakdown had a breakdown...

[meghan_sparkle]

Just because there's a lot of questions about Columbia: the email from the DGS wasn't sub-field specific and looked like it was sent to all accepted applicants so I'm pretty sure all acceptances have gone out  

Basically it's at the individual discretion of subfields year to year to decide whether to interview in order to rank finalist candidates for each subfield. According to one of my interviewers, 20th/21st century interviewed this year (even though they normally don't) apparently because there was an unusually strong pool of candidates and fierce competition, if that's any consolation. All finalists (whether interviewed or not, all subfields) then become part of the final admissions committee meeting (which was yesterday) and a representative from each subfield will argue for the # of spots they want and their picks. The number of candidates admitted from each subfield and the candidates themselves are decided, fellowships are approved by GSAS, and finally the DGS email goes out (which in my case was followed this morning by emails from my POIs). So sorry to be the bearer of bad news but hopefully that clarifies why some interviewees haven't heard anything, while people who didn't interview were accepted. It's subfield specific but I don't think they're admitting in waves. (Not sure about waitlist—that may well still have yet to go out.)

EDIT: Wow, take a shot for every time I say "subfield"—my bad, typing on a crowded London train running on no sleep 

Edited February 22, 2020 by meghan_sparkle

[coffeelyf]

@meghan_sparkle Congrats on the Princeton acceptance! Just wanted to come here to ask you - were you called/emailed by a PoI or was it a mass email from the dept? Still on the edge of my seat for that school alone....

Edited February 22, 2020 by coffeelyf

[meghan_sparkle]

8 minutes ago, coffeelyf said:

@meghan_sparkle Congrats on the Princeton acceptance! Just wanted to come here to ask you - were you called/emailed by a PoI or was it a mass email from the dept? Still on the edge of my seat for that school alone....

I would not fret yet—it was a personal email from the DGS and he said it was meant to be by phone. I mentioned a couple weeks ago on this thread but my phone broke and I can't afford a replacement for another week so I emailed department coordinators at the programs I knew notified by phone just to let them know to use email only for me. I also emailed the Princeton grad coordinator on Friday to ask when notifications would go out (this was before I saw someone on the board had emailed her, but needed an idea because I'm coordinating an international trip for visits and was being pressured by a couple programs to RSVP to dates ASAP and book flights). So, it may be that for those two reasons (phone and being international) I heard earlier than others.

Edited February 22, 2020 by meghan_sparkle

[meghan_sparkle]

Oh, also -- my email from the DGS says the formal offer from the Graduate School on the portal will be coming "early this week".

[tansy, rue, root, & seed]

Coming out of heavy lurk mode (I feel like I know everyone here!? ?) to say that I was also admitted to Princeton today. I missed the phone call, but the DGS left a very nice voicemail and followed up with an email. 

Fingers crossed for everyone still waiting to hear back! x

[angrychalupa]

i only applied to a small handful of programs this year, and only my top choices, because life/money was too hectic, and rn it's looking like i'm shut out. so i'm bummed. guess i'm done with this cycle. good luck to everyone else.

[missmarianne]

9 minutes ago, angrychalupa said:

i only applied to a small handful of programs this year, and only my top choices, because life/money was too hectic, and rn it's looking like i'm shut out. so i'm bummed. guess i'm done with this cycle. good luck to everyone else.

I think I've also been shut out and I had the same approach, only applying to a few schools. Sort of devastated.

[angrychalupa]

@missmarianne i'm not surprised at all rn; i knew it was a crapshoot (and all my profs said to apply to at least 8. i did 4, and they were all rly good, but my parameters for where i wanted to be plus my field had me working with a small number, anyway). but yeah. this sucks.

[missmarianne]

14 minutes ago, angrychalupa said:

@missmarianne i'm not surprised at all rn; i knew it was a crapshoot (and all my profs said to apply to at least 8. i did 4, and they were all rly good, but my parameters for where i wanted to be plus my field had me working with a small number, anyway). but yeah. this sucks.

Okay, I did Princeton and Cornell, so my plan was worse, haha. And my field (Modern American drama) is similarly tiny. And I'm at a tiny state school that isn't great.

That said, my advisor's amazing. I had stellar LORs, a book chapter on an author with a major publisher, and an essay in a journal. I did hope I'd be waitlisted or something. This just means we're going to kill it next year. 

[angrychalupa]

@missmarianne it's nauseating, that's for sure aha. well it sounds like you've done everything right thus far. good luck with next year!

[SolusRex]

Checking in from a long time lurking to say probably also facing a shutout, unless Johns Hopkins waitlist comes through. ? 

Tough process, sometimes really stellar stats and references don't cut it if you can't stand out with your WS/SoP, especially if you're competing for a tiny number of places at top schools.

Edited February 22, 2020 by SolusRex

[tinymica]

Another day of no news!

[onerepublic96]

Well then...

Of my remaining schools, looks like only 3 are not implied rejections, and unless Princeton is planning on sending out more acceptances on Monday, that number dwindles to 2. The idea of going through this process again is awful, but I’d be up for it if I do get shut out. I want this badly enough that I know I’d work my ass off to have a better cycle next time, but I’m terrified of asking my recommenders for a third round of letters. (Would they be the same exact letters? Would they need to change anything? How laborious would that process be?) 

These three people are really the only ones I could ask, unfortunately, so if they decline, I just... wouldn’t know what to do then... 

It’s looking grim.

[tinymica]

I’m slightly concerned about the fact that I haven’t heard from schools that seem to have sent out acceptances, waitlist offers, and rejections already (Brown, UVA). I’ve checked my portals and I can’t even see an option for messages/letters. Should I contact them?

[jeangabrielle98]

1 hour ago, tinymica said:

I’m slightly concerned about the fact that I haven’t heard from schools that seem to have sent out acceptances, waitlist offers, and rejections already (Brown, UVA). I’ve checked my portals and I can’t even see an option for messages/letters. Should I contact them?

I reached out to UVA saying that I was wondering where I was in the applicant pool as I have an earlier deadline for another school's offer but I really prefer UVA and they got back to me really quickly, i'm waitlisted but at least the mystery is gone, so yes, absolutely reach out if you feel comfortable doing so!

[Rootbound]

35 minutes ago, tinymica said:

I’m slightly concerned about the fact that I haven’t heard from schools that seem to have sent out acceptances, waitlist offers, and rejections already (Brown, UVA). I’ve checked my portals and I can’t even see an option for messages/letters. Should I contact them?

I know from experience last year that UVA maintains an invisible waitlist, and while they did eventually formally tell me I was on it, it was well into March, and after I had informally been told in answer to my email. However, there were also people who were simply rejected later--whether or not that spoke to their place in the invisible line, I'm not sure. I would recommend waiting until March if you can stand it, as it's likely your application is still under some kind of consideration.  

Edited February 22, 2020 by Rootbound

[spikeseagulls]

On 2/21/2020 at 2:56 PM, gooniesneversaydie said:

So for those of us who have one acceptance (I think @spikeseagulls @jm6394 @tinymica that I see today) - what is everyone thinking at this point in time? Take the acceptance and run should no more come? Or try again next cycle? I know it's premature to assume, but at least for me, I really don't think I'll be getting in elsewhere. My one small hope still exists with BU, but Penn and Rutgers? Fuggedaboutit.

I'm definitely sharing the same sentiments about my remaining schools. I'm not expecting anymore acceptances— UC Davis seems like an implied acceptance and so does Penn State and UCSC (since I goofed the entire application). Maybe UCSB, but I wouldn't choose that over UC Irvine (Same with UCD, UCSC and Penn State). I definitely don't think I could handle another cycle mentally, and I don't have anything else planned after graduation. I'm quite content with attending UCI and excited to be attending such an amazing program. I've heard so many stories about people being accepted to only one program, and I think it's quite amazing actually! All it takes is one. 1/11. I'm grateful they were willing to take this chance on me— BA-only, typos and all. 

Edited February 22, 2020 by spikeseagulls

[Dogfish Head]

16 minutes ago, Rootbound said:

I know from experience last year that UVA maintains an invisible waitlist, and while they did eventually formally tell me I was on it, it was well into March, and after I had informally been told in answer to my email. However, there were also people who were simply rejected later--whether or not that spoke to their place in the invisible line or not, I'm not sure. I would recommend waiting until March if you can stand it, as its likely your application is still under some kind of consideration.  

This is nice to hear. I have also heard nothing from UVA, and I was not %100 sure how to interpret my lack of news. Has anyone heard anything from UNC-Chapel Hill? I saw two acceptances and a waitlist on the board, but that seems to be a small amount of notifications for a relatively big program. Does anyone have any insights?

[tinymica]

18 hours ago, Rootbound said:

I know from experience last year that UVA maintains an invisible waitlist, and while they did eventually formally tell me I was on it, it was well into March, and after I had informally been told in answer to my email. However, there were also people who were simply rejected later--whether or not that spoke to their place in the invisible line, I'm not sure. I would recommend waiting until March if you can stand it, as it's likely your application is still under some kind of consideration.  

Thanks for letting me know! I just wondered if they’d forgotten me somehow? I tend to be impatient, so I appreciate your insights.

 

18 hours ago, spikeseagulls said:

I'm definitely sharing the same sentiments about my remaining schools. I'm not expecting anymore acceptances— UC Davis seems like an implied acceptance and so does Penn State and UCSC (since I goofed the entire application). Maybe UCSB, but I wouldn't choose that over UC Irvine (Same with UCD, UCSC and Penn State). I definitely don't think I could handle another cycle mentally, and I don't have anything else planned after graduation. I'm quite content with attending UCI and excited to be attending such an amazing program. I've heard so many stories about people being accepted to only one program, and I think it's quite amazing actually! All it takes is one. 1/11. I'm grateful they were willing to take this chance on me— BA-only, typos and all. 

You should be really proud of yourself! One is all we need :’)

[MundaneSoul]

That's a great way to look at it, spikeseagulls. Congrats on UC Irvine!

I'm trying not to hold my breath for anymore acceptances at this point, either. I'm kind of kicking myself over (probably) not getting into my top choices, because I wish I had started preparing about a year earlier than I did, but I am really excited about working with Betsy Wheeler and Tara Fickle at Oregon or Jean Elyse Graham and Jeffrey Santa Ana at Stony Brook, and truthfully I think I'll probably have a great experience at either university. (It helps that I'll finally be escaping the deeply red state I currently live in.)

[Small potato]

I’ve been lurking on here a while and was not going to create an account but here I am lol. Solidarity to everyone else who got shut out; I have so far only been on one waitlist  My undergrad uni was really competitive and it’s hard to see all of their successes both in academia and on other career paths; as happy as I am for them I can’t help but feel like a failure in comparison. Especially since the only thing I see myself doing is academia and this round has been so rough for me. It’s like getting ghosted by someone you thought you were in love with. Taking a deep breath and getting ready for (probably) the next cycle!

Edited February 22, 2020 by Small potato

[lotsoffeelings]

39 minutes ago, Small potato said:

I’ve been lurking on here a while and was not going to create an account but here I am lol. Solidarity to everyone else who got shut out; I have so far only been on one waitlist  My undergrad uni was really competitive and it’s hard to see all of their successes both in academia and on other career paths; as happy as I am for them I can’t help but feel like a failure in comparison. Especially since the only thing I see myself doing is academia and this round has been so rough for me. It’s like getting ghosted by someone you thought you were in love with. Taking a deep breath and getting ready for (probably) the next cycle!

I think the importance of a deep breath cannot be overstated in these kinds of situations, so you're definitely doing the right thing. I think it's okay to take time to grieve, much like you would after a bad breakup (which I am also conveniently going through simultaneously with rejections, lol life). It's kind of like those first few weeks/months after the breakup when you think you will never fall in love again, but slowly slowly slowly space opens up your heart and you begin to imagine new ways of being and loving and getting by. I'm reminding myself that I don't have to make the decision to apply again too urgently, and it's okay if I feel like I don't have the strength to reapply in this moment. That strength will come in time if it needs to, and wishing the same for you. Hang in there ❤️ 

[brownjournal]

Does anyone know what's going on with Brown?