2020 FALL APPLICATION VENTING THREAD

[Sosci3]

33 minutes ago, AgumonIsAPokemon said:

Been through this application cycle three times (2017, 2018, 2019). This is my fourth time and hopefully the last time. One piece of advice I could give is: keep yourself occupied. The daily routine (possibly hourly) of refreshing my email/gradcafe never felt invigorating, at least for me. It mostly consisted of anxiety. 

During my previous three attempts, which were all unsuccessful (got into a masters course in 2017 though), the waiting game never did any good to me. I only applied to approx 4 schools each cycle but waiting is still waiting. Luckily, having applied to 11 schools this year, I have been pretty busy with work during the day. Hence, pretty successful in distancing myself from the waiting game (also, I currently live in East Asia so the time zone difference does help me). I do still check gradcafe say about 2 to 3 times a day, but keeping myself occupied with other things does alleviate the anxiety caused from the application process. When I am not working, I would go read a book, watch a movie, or improve on my cooking skills (still a terrible chef, but I am trying!). 

The waiting game will inevitably be somewhat stressful but do stay healthy folks. ? 

I agree with your advice, it really helps to keep busy. I just wanted to add generally to people that might be frantically checking their email and the results search every so often that sometimes we have to accept what we can't control and trust the process. I say this as someone who has applied in 3 application cycles, finally got my first acceptance this time (waiting to hear back from 4). We have to remember that there are a lot of really qualified candidates fighting for the same limited spots so sometimes these decisions can be arbitrary. The entire application process isn't easy by any stretch of the imagination, regardless of the admission decision, the amount of work (that im assuming) folks put in to get to this point is commendable and I hope that bring you all a little peace of mind as you wait to hear back.    

 

 

Edited February 5, 2020 by Sosci3

[sockitty]

9 hours ago, philosocly said:

Hi everyone, I am a newcomer here, and happy to join the thread! I saw some results posted on the board as well as your signatures about the rejection from UCLA and waitlist from UNC at Chapel Hill. I applied to both but heard nothing from them. I checked both portals but saw no updates at all; also tried to check decision status of UCLA on https://appstatus.grad.ucla.edu/account/AppStatus.aspx but saw "your login attempt was not successful" (I put in all information correctly though...).

I am wondering if anyone is in the same situation...and is it too early now to email these departments to inquire about the decision? So anxious waiting for them

Thanks!!

I applied to UNC and haven’t heard anything from them. Seems like a lost cause, to me, just because I’ve seen some people get accepted and don’t expect myself to even get off a potential waitlist since it’s such a good program ? Almost wish my application status would get updated to “Rejected” so it isn’t in the back of my mind!

 

3 hours ago, KatThomp said:

Anyone else still waiting to hear back from all their schools? I haven't heard a PEEP from a single school and I'm starting to get jittery. 

I got an email about a waitlist from one school and NOTHING from the rest (6 schools total). I have only seen results get posted for 2/6 schools so far. The wait is absolutely killing me!

[Almondcake]

I noticed there were some interviews posted for UVA. I unfortunately didn't get anything which worries me ☹️.  

[df323]

I see there was a rejection for u chicago. Anyone else seen an official rejection?

[DeadAccount]

14 hours ago, Sosci3 said:

I agree with your advice, it really helps to keep busy. I just wanted to add generally to people that might be frantically checking their email and the results search every so often that sometimes we have to accept what we can't control and trust the process. I say this as someone who has applied in 3 application cycles, finally got my first acceptance this time (waiting to hear back from 4). We have to remember that there are a lot of really qualified candidates fighting for the same limited spots so sometimes these decisions can be arbitrary. The entire application process isn't easy by any stretch of the imagination, regardless of the admission decision, the amount of work (that im assuming) folks put in to get to this point is commendable and I hope that bring you all a little peace of mind as you wait to hear back.    

 

 

Yes! It's so important not to forget our worth in this process! Many amazing, talented, and skilled students get rejected from amazing programs for arbitrary reasons.

[SOC78]

1 hour ago, df323 said:

I see there was a rejection for u chicago. Anyone else seen an official rejection?

The same has been bugging me. I have not received an acceptance nor a rejection. Maybe someone made a mistake and posted rejected instead of accepted...?

[macska]

Congrats to any and all Duke admits. Has anyone gotten a rejection from UT? I'm assuming it's a lost cause regardless, but figured I'd inquire. 

[Almondcake]

In your guys experience, do schools typically send out their interview offers at the same time? Also, for those who received an interview from U-Virginia, was it from a POI?  Trying to assess my chances at this point (this school had the faculty I matched most with). I'm at 2 W's, 2 R, 1 A. 

[oldmanapplicant]

There's one acceptance for Columbia listed on the results page. Has anyone else heard back? Past results suggest that there is sometimes a gap of at least a few days between their first PhD acceptance and their last.

[achang324]

Hi, has anyone heard back from UCLA, UC Irvine, UPenn, UofMichigan, Columbia, Harvard, Yale and Princeton? I have also applied for U of Toronto and I saw that it has released some results but my status is still under review.

[ahwithsoc]

31 minutes ago, achang324 said:

Hi, has anyone heard back from UCLA, UC Irvine, UPenn, UofMichigan, Columbia, Harvard, Yale and Princeton? I have also applied for U of Toronto and I saw that it has released some results but my status is still under review.

i know UCLA has sent out some acceptance but it seems to send them in rounds. my status for U of Toronto also stays “under review” 

[passere]

1 hour ago, achang324 said:

Hi, has anyone heard back from UCLA, UC Irvine, UPenn, UofMichigan, Columbia, Harvard, Yale and Princeton? I have also applied for U of Toronto and I saw that it has released some results but my status is still under review.

I heard back from UCLA. The deadline to RSVP for their visit day is 2/14, so unfortunately if you haven't heard back by then it seems likely it's a no. I'm also waiting on some of those others you listed... haven't heard anything 

[annetod]

On 1/2/2019 at 12:27 AM, sociopolitic said:

I've scoured the results page from last year and compiled a list of dates that various departments released decisions. I think there's some variation in these dates from year to year, but I still thought you all might find it useful. These are all strictly for sociology doctoral programs (which is to say, I haven't included any development sociology degree programs or terminal masters programs).

(I've only done this for the top 20ish programs though -- feel free to add any that I missed!)

Berkeley - Acceptances released on Jan. 26

Michigan - Acceptances released on Feb. 9

Harvard - Acceptances released on Feb. 10

Princeton - Acceptances released on Feb. 1, 8, and 19 (not sure why so spread out)

Chicago - Acceptances released on Feb. 6, interviews requested in the second-third week of January (not clear if interview is required of all admitted applicants or not)

Stanford - Acceptances released on Jan. 26

UCLA - Acceptances released on Jan. 12, 20, 26, 30, and Feb. 13 (as with Princeton, not sure why so spread out)

UNC - Acceptances released on Jan. 22, 25, 26, 29 -- most released on Jan. 26

UW-Madison - Acceptances released on Jan. 31

Northwestern - Acceptances released on Feb. 15

UPenn - Acceptances released on Feb. 23

Columbia - Acceptances released on Feb. 6 and 7, but mostly on Feb. 12

Indiana - Acceptances released on Feb. 2, 8, and 10, interviews requested on Jan. 30

UT-Austin - Acceptances released mostly on Jan. 25, some on Jan. 28

Duke - Acceptances released Jan. 29

NYU - Acceptances released Feb. 16 (REJECTIONS NOT RELEASED FOR A WHOLE MONTH AFTERWARD; this is not the case for really any other department)

Washington - 1 Acceptances released Jan. 18, most acceptances released Feb. 5 and 6

Yale - Acceptances released on Feb. 15 and 16

Cornell - Acceptances released on Feb. 15

Brown - Acceptances released on Feb. 14

UC Irvine - Acceptances released on Jan. 15, 23, 24, 25

U of Arizona - Acceptances released on Feb. 3

Penn State - Acceptances released on Feb. 3, 5, and 20

Minnesota - Acceptances released on Jan. 31 

 

 

[annetod]

^^I reposted the above from last year's thread. 

Please, before aimlessly asking in this thread if anyone has heard back from XYZ programs or if anyone knows when they will hear back from XYZ programs: 1) Check the results board for 2020 acceptances/rejections, then 2) Go look at that list above.

If neither of those turn up anything on your program of interest, the most efficient thing to do is search the school's name and sociology (so it'd look like "Rutgers sociology") in the results board search bar, and look at when that program has released decisions in the past few years. 

[lkaitlyn]

2 hours ago, achang324 said:

Hi, has anyone heard back from UCLA, UC Irvine, UPenn, UofMichigan, Columbia, Harvard, Yale and Princeton? I have also applied for U of Toronto and I saw that it has released some results but my status is still under review.

Michigan is releasing next week we think, UCI deadline for recruitment weekend RSVP is tomorrow so they’ve made their first round of acceptances, some people got into Columbia today, some have heard from UCLA as posters above commented, and no one has talked about Harvard, Yale, Penn, or Princeton yet. I do agree with others mentioning the results board as a resource, but I’m answering you because I know that board is super stressful. Checking it is the most stressful part of my day. I would, however, at a minimum recommend checking or monitoring this thread if you’re curious about when others hear, because people have referenced the schools you mentioned in previous posts or in their signatures when hearing back. I hope that helps! ?

P.S. Irvine has been notorious in past years for having silent wait lists and not sending out prompt rejections or status updates to not accepted but not rejected students. They’ve certainly made initial offers but if they haven’t rejected you yet, you could still get in if enough people turn down offers. 

Edited February 7, 2020 by lkaitlyn

[PoliticalSociology]

8 hours ago, lkaitlyn said:

UCI deadline for recruitment weekend RSVP is tomorrow so they’ve made their first round of acceptances

UCI's Visit Days are March 6-7. I'm tempted to go, but it's not my top choice, and I don't want to commit if I might want to go to a different Visit Day at that time. Do people think schools that release decisions later will consistently have later Visit Days? Like, is it safe to assume schools that admit after today will have Visit Days after March 6?

[Meylinaless]

1 hour ago, PoliticalSociology said:

UCI's Visit Days are March 6-7. I'm tempted to go, but it's not my top choice, and I don't want to commit if I might want to go to a different Visit Day at that time. Do people think schools that release decisions later will consistently have later Visit Days? Like, is it safe to assume schools that admit after today will have Visit Days after March 6?

I'm in a similar situation and hope that those releasing decisions next week/week after would organize Visit Days later in the month. This would give international students like me some time to get a visa and deal with all the paperwork that entails. Of course, that is only my hope. If there is anyone out there who may have some intel on likely Visit Days for unis releasing decisions next week (e.g. Stanford, Upenn, Harvard, etc.), plese do share! ?

[lkaitlyn]

2 hours ago, PoliticalSociology said:

UCI's Visit Days are March 6-7. I'm tempted to go, but it's not my top choice, and I don't want to commit if I might want to go to a different Visit Day at that time. Do people think schools that release decisions later will consistently have later Visit Days? Like, is it safe to assume schools that admit after today will have Visit Days after March 6?

I anonymously called my remaining schools to confirm no overlaps and nothing conflicted. The programs seemed happy to help out when I explained why I was calling. 
 

I can confirm UCI does not conflict with UMich, Cornell, Stanford, or Northwestern. 

Edited February 7, 2020 by lkaitlyn

[df323]

25 minutes ago, lkaitlyn said:

I anonymously called my remaining schools to confirm no overlaps and nothing conflicted. The programs seemed happy to help out when I explained why I was calling. 
 

I can confirm UCI does not conflict with UMich, Cornell, Stanford, or Northwestern. 

Do you know the dates for any of those?

[PoliticalSociology]

31 minutes ago, lkaitlyn said:

I anonymously called my remaining schools to confirm no overlaps and nothing conflicted. The programs seemed happy to help out when I explained why I was calling. 
 

I can confirm UCI does not conflict with UMich, Cornell, Stanford, or Northwestern. 

That's smart! Does anyone know about NYU? I might do the same thing and anonymously post all the Visit Day dates I can.

[lkaitlyn]

7 minutes ago, df323 said:

Do you know the dates for any of those?

I just asked the schools to rule out the overlap. Sorry! You should try calling if you want specific dates, though since they’re all probably releasing next week, I’d wait if I were you. 

[Rosettaspoon]

Got my first official rejection today. . Based on the results posted on gradcafe, I assume at least other 4 rejections on the way. So far no offers, only got into two waitlist. Exhuasted and frustrated.

[lkaitlyn]

7 hours ago, Rosettaspoon said:

Got my first official rejection today. . Based on the results posted on gradcafe, I assume at least other 4 rejections on the way. So far no offers, only got into two waitlist. Exhuasted and frustrated.

Hang in there. I remember your post from the Am I Competitive thread and you looked like a great applicant. If you stuck with that list of schools, they're all super difficult to get into and admissions to them is very arbitrary at a certain point, so I wouldn't be too hard on yourself. Worst case scenario you come back and rock the app cycle next year, maybe with a couple schools that are slightly easier to get into so there's more diversity. But you're certainly qualified for the schools you applied to and I wouldn't be surprised if one or more pulls through for you. (And waitlists are very much living things!)

Edited February 8, 2020 by lkaitlyn
Was on phone before and couldn't write enough!

[SOCGRAD2020]

Anyone know around when UC Davis and USC will notify people? I saw one post from USC a while back but nothing overall really.

[SOChelp]

Just looking for some general advice. I RSVP's to a visitation but now have gotten into schools higher on my list so I am thinking about backing out just because I can only take off so many Fridays. Would this be seen as rude? Also any recommendations on how I should word the email.