2020 FALL APPLICATION VENTING THREAD

[toolkitsocio]

30 minutes ago, lkaitlyn said:

Nice! I’m really so happy for you. It gives me hope that not getting into a lower ranked school doesn’t mean all hope is lost for others. I know I kept preaching that earlier in the thread but it’s comforting to see that actually happen. 

Thank you! 
I had given up and stopped checking the application status given the set of initial rejections. And above this I had the world telling me about the GREs. So this was an emotional moment for me. That being said , the process is brutal! I got a sense of security but not happiness as I expected. I expected I would be proud but I have no clue why I was rejected somewhere and accepted elsewhere. 

 

[laselvanegra88]

22 hours ago, annetod said:

Anyone else freaking out waiting for UT-Austin? The last 3 years they sent out acceptances on January 29, 25, and 24...looks like this year won't be until February 3 at the earliest at this point (assuming they don't do it over the weekend). 

YES! That is the program I have been obsessively checking... I'm just hoping it will be early next week! 

 

[akjbri]

5 hours ago, Maya584 said:

@akjbri Did you apply for the masters or the phd? 

Masters

[vince2020]

11 hours ago, ALieNNatioN said:

 

I am also the other rejected person that posted on the results page. Now I guess it's because we are all international (?) not based on objective measures...

GRE 162+166+4.0, GPA 3.8, TOEFL 106...

My profs told me these "objective measures" aren't that important so I went ahead with my suuuuuper low GRE scores (<320), guess I'm pretty much over. 

Based on the results board i think being international really isn't bad but if you have not studied in the US it might be an issue... 

[socio1251]

7 hours ago, vincentorld said:

My profs told me these "objective measures" aren't that important so I went ahead with my suuuuuper low GRE scores (<320), guess I'm pretty much over. 

Based on the results board i think being international really isn't bad but if you have not studied in the US it might be an issue... 

I think it is only the case for Cornell, which is super weird this year. Other schools and programs may view objective measures differently, don't worry!

Edited February 2, 2020 by ALieNNatioN
revise my answer

[laselvanegra88]

Whoever just posted about the Rutgers waitlist too- please let us know what you find out if/when you call the department!

[CeXra]

13 minutes ago, laselvanegra88 said:

Whoever just posted about the Rutgers waitlist too- please let us know what you find out if/when you call the department!

Will do. Like I said I was admitted into the program but they are looking for university funding to fund students. But again, they won't officially admit students who they can't find funding for. I am going to call the department, but I am excited for the admittance, mainly because I am optimistic funding will open up, it wasn't a full blow rejection, and also it was not a waitlisted status-- because there is a difference between the two, and I applied to two external fellowships (and I am very hopeful that I will get one of them).

But I am hoping for the best as this is my top choice in schools/programs. So I do hope it works out. I will call and let others know.

Was anyone admitted to Rutgers (soc) with funding?????? I am curious to know/ask questions if its okay. 

[laselvanegra88]

3 minutes ago, CeXra said:

Will do. Like I said I was admitted into the program but they are looking for university funding to fund students. But again, they won't officially admit students who they can't find funding for. I am going to call the department, but I am excited for the admittance, mainly because I am optimistic funding will open up, it wasn't a full blow rejection, and also it was not a waitlisted status-- because there is a difference between the two, and I applied to two external fellowships (and I am very hopeful that I will get one of them).

But I am hoping for the best as this is my top choice in schools/programs. So I do hope it works out. I will call and let others know.

Was anyone admitted to Rutgers (soc) with funding?????? I am curious to know/ask questions if its okay. 

Great, thanks! Yeah I received basically the same thing, but am wondering how many they allotted funding for.

[quietsoc]

39 minutes ago, laselvanegra88 said:

Great, thanks! Yeah I received basically the same thing, but am wondering how many they allotted funding for.

Me too--the email made it sound like some people had already received a promise of funding, but honestly it was written in a way that I really have no idea. If they did promise funding to some students already, I don't know why they don't just...waitlist people, like other universities! What an odd situation to put so many students in. 

[vince2020]

21 minutes ago, quietsoc said:

Me too--the email made it sound like some people had already received a promise of funding, but honestly it was written in a way that I really have no idea. If they did promise funding to some students already, I don't know why they don't just...waitlist people, like other universities! What an odd situation to put so many students in. 

Question. If Rutgers does not offer funding, will you actually consider going still? I mean, it’s NJ, it’s a pain to afford living there

[quietsoc]

The email stated that "you are admitted, but on a wait-list for funding, and will not be given full admission to the university without an offer of funding." So it seems like attending without funding isn't an option (which is probably good, they aren't out to steal peoples money!) 

@vincentorld

Edited February 2, 2020 by quietsoc

[DisciplineSwitcher97]

I'm was also admitted to Rutgers but I am waitlisted for funding. I wonder how it works as well in terms of funding or if anyone was admitted with funding. 

[MFSocio]

Same as all the other Rutgers folks! I got the email saying I was admitted but on the waitlist for funding. My interview was with the Graduate Program Director and he said every year they have guaranteed departmental funding for four students. Typically they receive additional institutional funding for 2-3 more slots making the cohort size a small 6-7 people. I wonder if the four sports for students have received admits or if we are all waiting until they know the full amount of students they can fund? Either way congrats to everyone else! 

[quietsoc]

9 minutes ago, MFSocio said:

Same as all the other Rutgers folks! I got the email saying I was admitted but on the waitlist for funding. My interview was with the Graduate Program Director and he said every year they have guaranteed departmental funding for four students. Typically they receive additional institutional funding for 2-3 more slots making the cohort size a small 6-7 people. I wonder if the four sports for students have received admits or if we are all waiting until they know the full amount of students they can fund? Either way congrats to everyone else! 

Thanks for the info! If I HAD to take an educated guess, I am guessing that 3-4 people total from the shortlist got funding offers, and they plan to extend it to the funding waitlist (probably the whole shortlist, if not most?) once people deny/they get a few more spots. An interesting process, that is for sure. 

[sociology2020yikes]

Since one person posted they got a call from the IU director of graduate studies, think it's a bad sign if I didn't? ?

[DeadAccount]

44 minutes ago, sociology2020yikes said:

Since one person posted they got a call from the IU director of graduate studies, think it's a bad sign if I didn't? ?

Since it was a phone call, I definitely wouldn't worry yet! Could be a number of reasons you haven't heard yet. If they're exclusively making phone calls it could take a while to get through everyone, or maybe they're only calling a few individuals who they are trying to decide between...you never know, so don't give up! Good luck!

[vince2020]

Yo I got waitlisted by Rutgers too but for admission and for a different program (even skinnier chance of getting in I guess). 

[lkaitlyn]

Belated congrats to the Rutgers/Chicago/UT (I think?)/Oregon/other acceptances! Didn't apply to those schools but excited to see so many people getting great results!

Edit: But schools really need to stop accepting people but waitlisting them for funding. I imagine that's extremely anxiety producing.

Edited February 4, 2020 by lkaitlyn

[PoliticalSociology]

Hey all! What does everyone think of Chicago? I know the PhD program has attracted criticism in the past, perhaps because it runs AJS, but it has a good fit with my interests, and I'm not sure how much merit there is to the criticisms.

[DeadAccount]

Has anyone heard anything from Duke? I figured we would have seen/heard something by today, granted it's only halfway through. 

[quietsoc]

11 minutes ago, PoliticalSociology said:

Hey all! What does everyone think of Chicago? I know the PhD program has attracted criticism in the past, perhaps because it runs AJS, but it has a good fit with my interests, and I'm not sure how much merit there is to the criticisms.

So I cannot give specific information, but a person I worked with in the past did a soc program there recently, and was adamant I did not even apply there. Obviously that is only one opinion, but I trust it. From the vibe I got, they aren't the best to their students, at least in their experience and opinion. However, this is the only information I have, and I would be interested to hear if anyone has similar or opposite stories. 

For your case, (if you were accepted, if so, congrats!) I would definitely take a school visit, and try to talk to graduate students. A department can change, and quickly too, but they would be the best source to go to to attempt to find some truth, I would think. 

Edited February 4, 2020 by quietsoc

[Sosci3]

15 minutes ago, SocAnth_Lou said:

Has anyone heard anything from Duke? I figured we would have seen/heard something by today, granted it's only halfway through. 

I haven’t heard anything yet, I figured we would hear by today as well. Fingers crossed. 

[soc2310]

Hey everyone, I'm new here so just saying hi, and congratulations to all those who got positive news! I'm at 7/7 pending and compulsively refreshing the results page...

58 minutes ago, lkaitlyn said:

Edit: But schools really need to stop accepting people but waitlisting them for funding. I imagine that's extremely anxiety producing.

I tend to agree with this, especially if they won't accept anyone without funding! It seems they could wait a few more days before announcing results.

1 hour ago, vincentorld said:

Yo I got waitlisted by Rutgers too but for admission and for a different program (even skinnier chance of getting in I guess). 

Well not necessarily, the way I see it funding may ultimately determine how many they accept, but your waitlist spot will depend more on how many turn their offer down, so there's definitely hope!

[KatThomp]

I'm so nervous about hearing back I don't have as high of a GPA as other candidates so I had to rely on my GRE and writing sample and other personal achievements and I'm starting to see people get acceptances from the schools I applied to, primarily CU Boulder and Mizzou. Has anyone heard from UT San Antonio yet or have any idea when that might come out?

Thanks ?

[DeadAccount]

1 hour ago, PoliticalSociology said:

Hey all! What does everyone think of Chicago? I know the PhD program has attracted criticism in the past, perhaps because it runs AJS, but it has a good fit with my interests, and I'm not sure how much merit there is to the criticisms.

1 hour ago, quietsoc said:

So I cannot give specific information, but a person I worked with in the past did a soc program there recently, and was adamant I did not even apply there. Obviously that is only one opinion, but I trust it. From the vibe I got, they aren't the best to their students, at least in their experience and opinion. However, this is the only information I have, and I would be interested to hear if anyone has similar or opposite stories. 

For your case, (if you were accepted, if so, congrats!) I would definitely take a school visit, and try to talk to graduate students. A department can change, and quickly too, but they would be the best source to go to to attempt to find some truth, I would think. 

I actually applied to MAPSS at UChicago, with a concentration in sociology. (I missed the PhD application deadline - long story)

Anywho, what's more relevant to your comments is that I visited UChicago in November 2019 as a prospective student. I scheduled appointments with two faculty members in sociology. The first appointment went horribly. The professor showed up 30 minutes late to our meeting which was only scheduled 30 minutes to begin with. He then rushed me in and out of his office in less than 5 minutes, and was completely uninterested and dismissive. He seemed annoyed because I had emailed him asking him if he still able to make our meeting (I was very polite) when he didn't show (he hadn't even sent me an email saying he would be late or had to cancel). The reason he was late, he told me, was because he just was enjoying his lunch with some other faculty too much.

Suffice to say I left the first meeting almost in tears. I felt humiliated, especially because of how this prof treated me. I was exhausted and frustrated. I had driven over five hours, toured the campus (which was honestly beautiful and lovely imo), and was so looking forward to these meetings before driving five hours back home in less than 30 hours total. 

Luckily my second meeting went much better. The professor I talked to seemed genuinely interested in visiting with me, discussing my research, and even introduced me to another faculty member. He told me he was looking forward to my application and hoped I would attend. We spent 45 minutes together and I left far more hopeful (and mentally stable) than I had left the first meeting.

From my impression and research, faculty at UChicago can either be really involved and helpful with their students, or completely dismissive and uninterested in students, although this seems to be a bigger problem for MAPSS students than PhD students. 

I was originally very excited to possibly attend UChicago for the MAPSS (and possibly the PhD program eventually)...my visit left me both really excited, yet apprehensive due to that bad meeting. After seeing some reviews of the university/program online I am a little more wary now, but am trying to take all opinions with a grain of salt. 

I would definitely recommend visiting as well and seeing how you feel with the faculty and other students, the experience will be different for everyone! It is still a great program and highly respected/well known. Hope this helps!

Edited February 4, 2020 by SocAnth_Lou