2021 Applicants

[Rehana202]

1 hour ago, Warelin said:

Different departments at different schools have their own procedures. How you're contacted doesn't matter. People might even be contacted in ways that are different than in the past because of COVID. Some schools rank their waitlists regardless of field. Some do it specifically by proposed sub-field. I think it is sometimes helpful to remember that being on a waitlist already means the school is interested in your work.

Some schools might have a very small waitlist because they accept 1.5-3x as many people as they have spots for. Some schools might waitlist as many people as they have spots for. Some schools waitlist 2-3x as many people as they accept. Some schools might also have a "hidden" waitlist. Some schools might not ever get to their waitlist. The number of available spots might also depend on if they had an unexpected amount of people accept or reject their offer in the previous year(s).

Thank you for this! It does seem to be very school-specific, which just makes it all more confusing...does anyone have any insight on Rutgers waitlist process, specifically?

[cassidyaxx]

On 2/26/2021 at 2:36 PM, isabelxarcher said:

I’ve been mostly lurking up until I received my own waitlist notification, but I’ve seen your posts and I sincerely hope you get good news soon!!!!! Fingers and toes crossed for everyone ? 

Tysm!! I hope everyone else does too! Hopefully we'll start seeing some movement some places as we move into March

[arrowseeker]

 

5 hours ago, Tybalt said:

In my application year, we were actually able to track wait-list movement in our version of this thread.  Someone who was admitted to Indiana got in off a waitlist at her top choice.  Her spot at IU then went to someone who had been admitted to U of Rochester, and that person's U of R spot went to me.  We saw all of that movement happen from like April 11th-13th.  The wait is agonizing, but don't give up.  The departments are hamstrung until they hear from the people who received initial offers, and those people might be waiting on their own waitlists.  A LOT of movement happens in early April, usually.

 

This really reminds me of the David Attenborough documentary clip on hermit crabs trading shells. I found it has an unsettling resonance to our situation so I'm sharing it here ??? 

Edited February 26, 2021 by arrowseeker

[arrowseeker]

2 hours ago, Rehana202 said:

Thank you for this! It does seem to be very school-specific, which just makes it all more confusing...does anyone have any insight on Rutgers waitlist process, specifically?

From what I've been told by the DGS, Rutgers waitlist is seat-dependent rather than ranking-based -- you can get off the waitlist when the person who got accepted close to your area of specialization turns down their offer, e.g. someone who specializes in pre-modern in my case. ?

Edited February 26, 2021 by arrowseeker

[j.j.pizza]

@NervousYolk I'm sorry UofT didn't work out for you. I really do feel for you--this is my fifth graduate application cycle, the second cycle for PhDs, and I don't have an acceptance yet. A shutout will be very hard to bear. Wishing you well. Solidarity!

[Rehana202]

4 hours ago, arrowseeker said:

From what I've been told by the DGS, Rutgers waitlist is seat-dependent rather than ranking-based -- you can get off the waitlist when the person who got accepted close to your area of specialization turns down their offer, e.g. someone who specializes in pre-modern in my case. ?

Thanks for this! 

[clara salmon]

8 hours ago, Alyycat said:

Has anyone heard anything from SUNY at Buffalo? Results are super late this year ?

Someone earlier on posted (can't find it currently) that UB supposedly already sent out acceptances... but I also haven't heard anything and didn't hear anything else on the results page or otherwise ? Not really sure what's going on. Tempted to reach out and end the suffering~

[onerepublic96]

11 hours ago, queenofcarrotflowers said:

I am SHAKING oof

(also I j want to say I've been seen your journey since last year and your posts have been v inspiring, literally was the happiest I've ever been for a total stranger when I saw you got off the waitlist :'))

Aw thank you! I am totally still traumatised from my own cycle, but also incredibly grateful for where I ended up, because I really love it here. I can't even imagine how much tougher this new cycle has been, emotionally, mentally, etc., so I just wanted to cheer everyone on, because every single person here deserves to get into a great program. Wishing you the best of luck! Especially with Michigan, since I'm a little biased, haha. Please feel free to reach out if the stars align and you end up coming here! ?

[queenofcarrotflowers]

2 hours ago, onerepublic96 said:

Aw thank you! I am totally still traumatised from my own cycle, but also incredibly grateful for where I ended up, because I really love it here. I can't even imagine how much tougher this new cycle has been, emotionally, mentally, etc., so I just wanted to cheer everyone on, because every single person here deserves to get into a great program. Wishing you the best of luck! Especially with Michigan, since I'm a little biased, haha. Please feel free to reach out if the stars align and you end up coming here! ?

thank you sm! it’s my dream programme, will definitely be reapplying even if the stars don’t align this time round :’)

[queenofcarrotflowers]

Wondering if anyone else still hasn’t heard back from Virginia? I’m 100% sure it’s a rejection, but wondering why they haven’t released them all at once

[R Westy]

5 minutes ago, queenofcarrotflowers said:

Wondering if anyone else still hasn’t heard back from Virginia? I’m 100% sure it’s a rejection, but wondering why they haven’t released them all at once

I’m in the same boat!

[R Westy]

2 hours ago, queenofcarrotflowers said:

Wondering if anyone else still hasn’t heard back from Virginia? I’m 100% sure it’s a rejection, but wondering why they haven’t released them all at once

One theory I had — I saw that at least one rejection was recommended to the MA program. I marked that I was “not interested” in the MA on my application form, so maybe that put me in a different set of rejections, folks who wouldn’t be considered for the MA?

[queenofcarrotflowers]

21 minutes ago, R Westy said:

One theory I had — I saw that at least one rejection was recommended to the MA program. I marked that I was “not interested” in the MA on my application form, so maybe that put me in a different set of rejections, folks who wouldn’t be considered for the MA?

Aaa that makes sense, me too!

[queenofcarrotflowers]

On 2/17/2021 at 9:04 PM, queenofcarrotflowers said:

who wants to live in NJ anyway amirite

Now that Rutgers have updated my portal to denied without sending out an email, I reiterate:

[Shake829]

That moment when you realize that you paid Rutgers $70 for a one-sentence rejection on their portal. 

Edited February 27, 2021 by Shake829

[Shake829]

39 minutes ago, Shake829 said:

That moment when you realize that you paid Rutgers $70 for a one-sentence rejection on their portal. 

Disregard this . . . They actually did send an email.

[R Westy]

16 minutes ago, Shake829 said:

Disregard this . . . They actually did send an email.

I can’t even be mad at them regardless, they were the only school I was able to get a fee waiver for, because unlike most schools they didn’t make me apply for one with an essay on how poor I was, due at least three weeks in advance of the app deadline. ? 

[queenofcarrotflowers]

damn that’s rough  at least you know you were in the top pool of applicants in this crapshoot of a cycle, I’m sure you’ll land a spot at BC or UConn, or a better spot next time around ! Keeping my fingers crossed for ya

[isabelxarcher]

I contacted my PoI at UVA about the waitlist, and she informed me they had over 400 applications this cycle for 6 spots. Grad school is such a crapshoot in a normal cycle, but this seems to confirm that this year is especially cutthroat. 

[Emailchecker]

Waitlisters, would you inform the insititution/dgs for a recent acceptance with minor revisions (mine is not refereed, but I would say very respected and known, like a graduate refereed journal). The piece itself is a research article, so not journalistic.

[OpenBook]

Hey, just wanted to share here that I'm an early modern person rejecting all but the Stanford offer below this weekend. So, hopefully some movement will come from that!

Indiana University

UWisc Madison

UIllinois Urbana-Champaign

Ohio State

Rochester

Edited February 27, 2021 by 1 Pint of Ricotta

[silvestre stallone]

8 hours ago, queenofcarrotflowers said:

Wondering if anyone else still hasn’t heard back from Virginia? I’m 100% sure it’s a rejection, but wondering why they haven’t released them all at once

 

8 hours ago, R Westy said:

I’m in the same boat!

I’m also in the same boat. I know that UVA keeps a pretty big waitlist, so it might be that. I made the waitlist last cycle, but this application cycle is ultra-competitive so I really have no idea what they’re thinking. Just wishful thinking... I have my fingers crossed for all of us!

[silvestre stallone]

3 hours ago, Emailchecker said:

Waitlisters, would you inform the insititution/dgs for a recent acceptance with minor revisions (mine is not refereed, but I would say very respected and known, like a graduate refereed journal). The piece itself is a research article, so not journalistic.

If people feel otherwise, please chime in. I definitely don't think it would be wrong to let them know if it is in response to your waitlist email. This is how I framed my waitlist response last year:

1. I thanked them for considering me for their program and told them that I wanted to use this opportunity to share what I have been up to since applications had been turned in

2. I wrote about new accomplishments

3. I reiterated that this was my dream program and that I would eagerly matriculate if extended an offer

Again, it might have just been printed out and put in my file, but I think that it showed that I was still actively building my resume even after submitting my applications.

Best of luck, though! And feel free to message me if you have other questions on that!

[MaoistTowelette]

3 hours ago, 1 Pint of Ricotta said:

Hey, just wanted to share here that I'm an early modern person rejecting all but the Stanford offer below this weekend. So, hopefully some movement will come from that!

Indiana University

UWisc Madison

UIllinois Urbana-Champaign

Ohio State

Rochester

I'm an early modernist and I tanked at most of those. If you would ever feel comfortable sharing your SoP and writing sample I'd be grateful; I clearly do not know what to aim for, nor the right stance to take. Plus it's just plain fun checking out other folks' work ?.

[thursdaynext]

4 hours ago, 1 Pint of Ricotta said:

Hey, just wanted to share here that I'm an early modern person rejecting all but the Stanford offer below this weekend. So, hopefully some movement will come from that!

Indiana University

UWisc Madison

UIllinois Urbana-Champaign

Ohio State

Rochester

Another early modernist here! Thanks for the update. Not waitlisted at any of those but am waitlisted at USC and Notre Dame. So here's hoping it creates some movement. Any other early modernists or general acceptances to USC and Notre Dame looking to go elsewhere?