2020 Applicants

[Lighthouse Lana]

WELP I sent an email to BU's DGS. I know many of us have done so at this point, but hey, why not an a little pressure? I figure even if I get no response back, I can now say there is literally nothing left for me to do. I played my part. Now to write that thesis I've put off for two months...

[The Hoosier Oxonian]

19 hours ago, WildeThing said:

They can try to nudge you but if they’re members of the organization that oversees the April 15 deadline then they can’t make you decide before then. But schools want to know ASAP (just like we do, yet we wait for twice as long at least).

I can testify that I've been getting automated messages from Northwestern reminding me that my decision is available (i.e. "accept your offer already!") approximately every 10 days since mid-February. I get it, Northwestern, you want me to commit!

[Glasperlenspieler]

4 hours ago, Byssche said:

As far as the condescension goes, it may just be me being too sensitive (as I’m oft to be given how damaging to self confidence the application process is.) Another question for the folks out here: do people ever feel like they get in off a waitlist and feel like an outsider in the cohort? Since professors work so hard to recruit the original acceptees, I’ve worried that my second-choice status would be conspicuous if I decided to go. Maybe this is once again my own anxiety...

I honestly wouldn't worry about it. I think it's pretty reasonable to believe departments when they say that there are more qualified applicants than there are spots in the incoming cohort. The competition is tough and if you're being offered a waitlist, then you are good enough and they do want you. Plus, a) everyone is going to feel imposter syndrome at some point during their time in grad school, even those that were accepted outright, and b) in a year or two (if that) most of the professors won't remember who was accepted outright and who was accepted off the waitlist. They have more important things to worry about and at that point they will be able to base their opinion of you off of personal experience and not your application.

[WildeThing]

5 hours ago, Byssche said:

 

Thank you both! Yes, I’m definitely planning to choose between my three in the next week: hopefully that can help people on those waitlists. As far as the condescension goes, it may just be me being too sensitive (as I’m oft to be given how damaging to self confidence the application process is.) Another question for the folks out here: do people ever feel like they get in off a waitlist and feel like an outsider in the cohort? Since professors work so hard to recruit the original acceptees, I’ve worried that my second-choice status would be conspicuous if I decided to go. Maybe this is once again my own anxiety...

Definitely not. I don't think professors really remember (though this will vary) who was waitlisted or not and within the cohort you certainly can't tell (we know who because we've discussed it, but it doesn't really come into play at all). Again, as with the question of cohort sizes, this will depend on people's personalities. Some people ARE more competitive and some people ARE elitist and that might come through and affect your interactions with them. But those people are probably the exception rather than the rule.

[meghan_sparkle]

Have ... people seen this?

Not English but I just about burst into tears at the prospect !! 

Have decided the last few days that unless programs begin on campus and in person in the fall that I'm deferring -- and am asking the DGS's of all programs whose offers I'm very seriously considering whether they would allow me to defer in that circumstance. It sucks because it's the last conversation in the world I want to be having, I'm ready to start my PhD tomorrow, but ... I've worked from home for a year and know it is really not great for my mental health and the richness of my intellectual life, and the last thing I'd want to do is waste 1/6 funded years that way. 

[The Hoosier Oxonian]

10 minutes ago, meghan_sparkle said:

Have decided the last few days that unless programs begin on campus and in person in the fall that I'm deferring -- and am asking the DGS's of all programs whose offers I'm very seriously considering whether they would allow me to defer in that circumstance. It sucks because it's the last conversation in the world I want to be having, I'm ready to start my PhD tomorrow, but ... I've worked from home for a year and know it is really not great for my mental health and the richness of my intellectual life, and the last thing I'd want to do is waste 1/6 funded years that way. 

I'm thinking very much along the same lines - would rather wait a year than start remotely. Please keep us posted on the outcomes of your conversations with DGSs about this!

[gooniesneversaydie]

16 minutes ago, meghan_sparkle said:

Have ... people seen this?

Not English but I just about burst into tears at the prospect !! 

 

WHAT THE F*CK!? How?! That is a level of heartbreak I literally cannot fathom. My god, haven't applicants been through enough with applying, waiting, and the virus-related setbacks? That poor person.

[snorkles]

23 minutes ago, meghan_sparkle said:

Have ... people seen this?

Not English but I just about burst into tears at the prospect !! 

Have decided the last few days that unless programs begin on campus and in person in the fall that I'm deferring -- and am asking the DGS's of all programs whose offers I'm very seriously considering whether they would allow me to defer in that circumstance. It sucks because it's the last conversation in the world I want to be having, I'm ready to start my PhD tomorrow, but ... I've worked from home for a year and know it is really not great for my mental health and the richness of my intellectual life, and the last thing I'd want to do is waste 1/6 funded years that way. 

It's a terrible situation all around. I'm starting to consider the possibility that I may have the fall and winter quarters online. It's too early to tell, of course, but I don't see this thing going any anytime soon. I've had one class session online, and it wasn't so bad. It definitely limits things socially and intellectually though. The writing has been the worst part of it so far for me. Getting tunnel vision quickly that's hard to shake off while sheltering inside. 

[Chloe0023]

Hi.

I finally signed up after just reading this thread for the last few months. 

I applied for 11 schools and didn't get any response from 3 schools.

BU is my top choice but it seems that there is very few chance to be accepted. 

Is it worth trying next year? I spent almost all my endeavour and money. 

[BetterLight13]

I know it's not exactly the same thing, but throughout this whole mad situation, I just keep thinking of every story I've ever read about characters who were suited to / wanted to be academics, but their involvement in a war effort prevented them from realizing this on their ideal timeline. It's crazy. The prevalence of technology and science in our time gives the false perception that we're fully in control, but this is a reality check. 

My heart goes out to everyone, whether involved in Higher Ed or not. It's going to be a rocky road forward. 

[okonivek]

Got rejected from Syracuse and Purdue this week.

It looks like I am headed to University of Kentucky. I realize it's not the highest ranked program, but I am excited about it anyway, assuming COVID-19 doesn't ruin everything.

Also, a side note, I think I found out one of my recommenders thought I was applying for Spanish programs, so maybe that played a role in my many rejections! Oh well. 

 

[killerbunny]

18 hours ago, meghan_sparkle said:

Have ... people seen this?

Not English but I just about burst into tears at the prospect !! 

Have decided the last few days that unless programs begin on campus and in person in the fall that I'm deferring -- and am asking the DGS's of all programs whose offers I'm very seriously considering whether they would allow me to defer in that circumstance. It sucks because it's the last conversation in the world I want to be having, I'm ready to start my PhD tomorrow, but ... I've worked from home for a year and know it is really not great for my mental health and the richness of my intellectual life, and the last thing I'd want to do is waste 1/6 funded years that way. 

Oof, this is the fear that's been seeping into my thoughts the last few days. There were unconfirmed whisperings of rescinded offers on Reddit. And an instructor who had had a verbal offer of a TT position said it has since been withdrawn.

Aside from the awful prospect of losing an offer,  the idea of beginning the first semester or year of a PhD online has had me close to welling up. As I'm wrapping up my master's, I can't overstate how vital the first semester was in terms of bonding with my cohort through our sharing the same struggles and stresses. Those bonds have remained so crucial for our mental well-being. I know not everyone reports the same level of closeness with their cohort. But we communicate everyday through group chat and share so much in terms of information and support. In our second semester, we talked one of our cohort members out of quitting the program, and when I've hit my own rough patches, they have been there to give me a morale boost. Plus, how can we develop relationships with professors through glitchy, hiccuping interfaces? I don't want to defer because I'm an older student and have worked for the past 7 years toward beginning a PhD but I dread beginning the fall semester from home. 

[AnachronisticPoet]

How are people going about admissions communications in this time?

I emailed the administrator who sent out waitlist notifications a month ago for more information on the waitlist process (my position, etc.), didn't hear back from him, emailed the DGS and received confirmation from her that she'd received my email and would get back to me that week. It's now been several weeks. I followed up with her again over a week ago. I know departments and faculty members are dealing with a lot of transition and work right now, but I'm also trying not to hold up a school that has admitted me. Is it rude or annoying to keep emailing? Should I just assume I'll never get a response?

[gooniesneversaydie]

Just had a virtual meeting with the dean of the grad school of arts and sciences. They are going to accept decisions after April 15th, as long as they're made aware more time is needed. Hopefully this is happening with other schools. 

[meghan_sparkle]

After a few further conversations I want to modulate my earlier panic a bit. Universities won't know for certain before our commitment date how the fall is going to proceed, simply because no one knows how exactly this is going to play out. Will the worst of it, the part requiring total lockdown, be 6 weeks? 2 months? 6 months? Impossible to say right now.

That said, many places are planning to be live, in person, in fall, and a dean at one of my schools (sorry to be vague; trying to be informative while also not making private conversations public) said she would be surprised if things were still online in fall. One thing she stressed that I hadn't fully thought about before is really how devastating remaining online would be to so many departments in the arts (and even sciences) where education and classes are 100% built around active, live in-person education. I think everyone is done a disservice in the switch to online but for a lot of departments there really is no replacement the way there kinda is with, say, a literature graduate seminar of 8 people. It would really devastate the university to proceed like that, and (this dean said) she can't see it happening without clear, concrete, firm government directives to continue quarantining based in hard data and health advice.

She said most likely, places will be aiming to go live with extensive contingency plans about what to do in the event of another outbreak—say, a resurgence in fall. It may well be the case that fall starts as normal and there's another outbreak and we have to go back online for two weeks, and so on. Again, all of this is speculation (even faculty, DGS's, and that one dean I've talked to are really only speculating based on whispers or conversations that higher-ups are only just beginning to have). I don't think we'll get a clearer indication for weeks or even months, but fwiw, things aren't looking completely, inalterably bleak. 

[WanYesOnly]

Anyone else feeling like they can't begin looking for housing due to the uncertainty of fall semester? What if I sign a lease and pay the deposit and then we still have to go online or worse, defer, or even worse, have our offers rescinded? I can't do this another year  plus I'm almost 30 and I'm just so ready to get going on this PhD journey. Arrrgggh!!! As an international student, I also have to keep tabs on the situation in my country (which is getting worse by the day) and the US. I get exhausted thinking about this. 

[tinymica]

Got an email from BU's graduate school telling me they're moving visits online (duh) and to contact individual programs if they haven't reached out already. Um, I did that. It sort of annoys me that I'm being asked to reach out to them when the ball is in their court. I'm trying very hard to be understanding about the difficulties of the current situation, but it's...hard not to contrast this with UW's total 180 (in-person visit to zoom visit) in the span of literally 2 days.

[onerepublic96]

6 hours ago, BetterLight13 said:

I know it's not exactly the same thing, but throughout this whole mad situation, I just keep thinking of every story I've ever read about characters who were suited to / wanted to be academics, but their involvement in a war effort prevented them from realizing this on their ideal timeline. It's crazy. The prevalence of technology and science in our time gives the false perception that we're fully in control, but this is a reality check. 

My heart goes out to everyone, whether involved in Higher Ed or not. It's going to be a rocky road forward. 

I was actually reading Vera Brittain very recently. Reading the point of view of a young woman beginning an education she was so excited about only to have it cut short by the war and all the trials that ensued really struck. Her situation was more tragic, sure, but some of the emotional background feels so so familiar right now...

[gooniesneversaydie]

Posting about BU now almost has a sense of nostalgia attached to it.

Oh BU, do you remember when we were both young? Full of hopes and dreams and laughter. How naive we both were that summer. To be that young again...

[Emailchecker]

2 hours ago, gooniesneversaydie said:

Posting about BU now almost has a sense of nostalgia attached to it.

Oh BU, do you remember when we were both young? Full of hopes and dreams and laughter. How naive we both were that summer. To be that young again...

When I woke up, I saw two posts on the results for BU. PEOPLE are really not happy with them... 

Edited March 26, 2020 by Emailchecker

[merry night wanderer]

20 hours ago, tinymica said:

Got an email from BU's graduate school telling me they're moving visits online (duh) and to contact individual programs if they haven't reached out already. Um, I did that. It sort of annoys me that I'm being asked to reach out to them when the ball is in their court. I'm trying very hard to be understanding about the difficulties of the current situation, but it's...hard not to contrast this with UW's total 180 (in-person visit to zoom visit) in the span of literally 2 days.

I definitely felt this with my schools, lol. 

[Brown_Bear]

Help, for those who have MA experience.

I have 2 standing MA offers, both with partial funding:

A.) Bigger city, slightly better funding, higher cost of living

B.) Smaller city, funding is worse, cost of living significantly less

Is the cost of living enough to make a difference in my case? In A, rent is going to probably be above $1k for a 1 bedroom. In B, I think I can score a 2 bedroom apartment for like under $800. I worry that A will have also a longer commute time to get to school.

Anyone have advice? It seems like funding is an illusion if the place is more expensive. 

[WildeThing]

54 minutes ago, Puurple said:

Help, for those who have MA experience.

I have 2 standing MA offers, both with partial funding:

A.) Bigger city, slightly better funding, higher cost of living

B.) Smaller city, funding is worse, cost of living significantly less

Is the cost of living enough to make a difference in my case? In A, rent is going to probably be above $1k for a 1 bedroom. In B, I think I can score a 2 bedroom apartment for like under $800. I worry that A will have also a longer commute time to get to school.

Anyone have advice? It seems like funding is an illusion if the place is more expensive. 

You can use a Cost of Living calculator to determine how the funding will work in each context.

[spikeseagulls]

Just recieved my Santa Cruz rejection. It was implied, and I wasn't considering them anymore, anyway, but it's relieving to finally have all my decisions!

[tinymica]

I keep going around in circles about my decision. I feel like I know what I want to do, but I'm too nervous to commit right now. I keep worrying that I'll make the wrong decision and hate it! But while one program might be objectively "better" than the other (smaller cohort, slightly more resources), I don't feel...excited to go there. It's weird because I've not laid eyes on either city/campus. I hate that I have to make this decision blindly!