2021 Waitlist Thread

[PolPhil]

On 2/20/2021 at 1:34 AM, MtnDuck said:

Just to check-in, was this for Philosophy? This is a philosophy thread but it sounds like you're applying to a non-philosophy program and, if so, there may be a different forum that would be able to answer your question!

Yeah I was confused at first because philosophy admissions were suspended at Columbia this year...but then I got to the end of the post: "Russia, Eurasia, and Eastern Europe MA program"

[quineonthevine]

Waitlisted at Notre Dame, but on the second waitlist from which, "in all probability, no one will be accepted." Also haven't heard from CUNY and Georgetown, where acceptances and rejections went out, so I might be waitlisted at both. I'm not sure, I'm in limbo right now. Apparently some of the people who were accepted at Georgetown were waitlisted for funding, however, so even if I were waitlisted, it's bittersweet.

[HomoLudens]

6 hours ago, quineonthevine said:

Waitlisted at Notre Dame, but on the second waitlist from which, "in all probability, no one will be accepted." Also haven't heard from CUNY and Georgetown, where acceptances and rejections went out, so I might be waitlisted at both. I'm not sure, I'm in limbo right now. Apparently some of the people who were accepted at Georgetown were waitlisted for funding, however, so even if I were waitlisted, it's bittersweet.

I also haven't heard from Georgetown. 

[eleatics]

Georgetown seems to be staggering their rejections unfortunately 

[PhilCoffee]

Waitlisted at UT Austin! I'm an international student and applying out of undergrad - with no pedigree and bad GPA. My main target was MA programs but would be really really grateful if I got in. If someone got accepted by UT Austin and is not interested, please let me know! Please.

Edited February 26, 2021 by PhilCoffee

[fuzzysocks]

Waitlisted at UW! Super excited as it's my top choice. 

Also, I was wondering if anyone had any waitlist etiquette tips? How should I respond to the waitlist email? Also, should I update them on recent developments to my CV?

According to department policy, they aren't allowed to tell applicants their ranking, so that's out of the question. The email also said to keep them updated on whether I have offers from other programs, but I have only heard back from two others so far... which were both rejections. 

[ObamaIsGuiltyOfWarCrimes]

27 minutes ago, fuzzysocks said:

Waitlisted at UW! Super excited as it's my top choice. 

Also, I was wondering if anyone had any waitlist etiquette tips? How should I respond to the waitlist email? Also, should I update them on recent developments to my CV?

According to department policy, they aren't allowed to tell applicants their ranking, so that's out of the question. The email also said to keep them updated on whether I have offers from other programs, but I have only heard back from two others so far... which were both rejections. 

Congratulations! Since it's your top choice, respond with a thanks and let them know that it is your preferred program. Definitely recommit yourself. Then, mention that you'd like to send an update to your CV and state what you added. If the administrator sent the email, just do this separately to the admissions director. See if you can do the prospective student events. Ask them for an update by mid-march if you're considering another place and that place is nudging you on a decision, letting UW know you'd reject that offer depending on your UW status.

Don't update on rejections, and I have learned that you probably shouldn't keep them informed of other programs you're considering unless you use it as a nudge. One of my acceptances asked the same thing and then ghosted me after emailing me weekly and pursuing me for two months. I asked several pertinent questions. I think they took offense that I did not take their offer immediately. The secretary keeps sending me the same "sign this document" automated email. The others have been understanding though.

Edited February 27, 2021 by ObamaIsGuiltyOfWarCrimes

[fuzzysocks]

4 hours ago, ObamaIsGuiltyOfWarCrimes said:

Congratulations! Since it's your top choice, respond with a thanks and let them know that it is your preferred program. Definitely recommit yourself. Then, mention that you'd like to send an update to your CV and state what you added. If the administrator sent the email, just do this separately to the admissions director. See if you can do the prospective student events. Ask them for an update by mid-march if you're considering another place and that place is nudging you on a decision, letting UW know you'd reject that offer depending on your UW status.

Don't update on rejections, and I have learned that you probably shouldn't keep them informed of other programs you're considering unless you use it as a nudge. One of my acceptances asked the same thing and then ghosted me after emailing me weekly and pursuing me for two months. I asked several pertinent questions. I think they took offense that I did not take their offer immediately. The secretary keeps sending me the same "sign this document" automated email. The others have been understanding though.

Thank you so much! I always feel so lost with these etiquette-type questions, so this was super helpful! 

Good luck with the rest of your programs!

[Ploy51]

I got waitlisted at UCSD. There are 15 people on the list; could anyone make an educated guess of how likely it is to get admitted? I know that this depends on academic fit and many other contingent circumstances, but maybe someone has a clue about whether it is more of a 10% or a 60% chance? 
Would you assume that some will reject their UCSD offers for higher ranked schools? 

[PhilCoffee]

11 minutes ago, Ploy51 said:

I got waitlisted at UCSD. There are 15 people on the list; could anyone make an educated guess of how likely it is to get admitted? I know that this depends on academic fit and many other contingent circumstances, but maybe someone has a clue about whether it is more of a 10% or a 60% chance? 
Would you assume that some will reject their UCSD offers for higher ranked schools? 

In the case of UCSD, they have a list of acceptance numbers on their department websites. Presumably, the number is the total of the first-round acceptance and the acceptance off the waitlist. So, maybe you can make a guess of the initial acceptances based on the result page, and do some math.

[Ploy51]

25 minutes ago, PhilCoffee said:

In the case of UCSD, they have a list of acceptance numbers on their department websites. Presumably, the number is the total of the first-round acceptance and the acceptance off the waitlist. So, maybe you can make a guess of the initial acceptances based on the result page, and do some math.

Thanks for your reply. I know the chart with the acceptance numbers but there is no info about waitlists/number of applicants. I guess the 12% for 2020, for instance, indicate the number of admissions granted but I don’t know. Is there another page you are referring to?
 

edit: found the page: https://ir.ucsd.edu/grad/stats/admissions.html

Edited February 28, 2021 by Ploy51
Revision

[PhilCoffee]

40 minutes ago, Ploy51 said:

Thanks for your reply. I know the chart with the acceptance numbers but there is no info about waitlists/number of applicants. I guess the 12% for 2020, for instance, indicate the number of admissions granted but I don’t know. Is there another page you are referring to? I can’t find anything on their Website. 

Hi. Sorry, we're referring to the same page but I misremembered the info listed there. I thought they listed the total number of acceptance, but they actually listed the number of those who enrolled. But it may make sense to make a (bold, though) guess based on the result page.

The posts of acceptance for this year and last year were both 5. I'd say the initial offers will not exceed 15 (as suggested also by the number of waitlists), maybe half of them turn down, and eventually 7-10 students enrolled. Say there were 15 initial offers, and 8 turned down, and 3 got accepted off waitlist. That would mean 18 acceptance out of around 140, since the acceptance rate was around 12%. But say there were only 10 intial offers, and 5 turned down, then 5 would got off the waitlist. That would mean 15 acceptances out of around 120.

So, if half of the initial offers get turned down, the chance to get off the waitlist is around 20%-30%, or better. Whether you make it depends on some contingent matters like whether someone with similar AOI turns down.

Edited February 28, 2021 by PhilCoffee

[somethingwitty]

Waitlisted at Villanova after my interview. Three interview invites, three waitlists ☹️ 

[Happybuddha]

Just in case anyone is on here who isn't in the FB group, I (as well as a LOT of other people) am on the USC waitlist! I can't imagine everyone from the waitlist will get an offer based on its size and USC's ranking, so that might be helpful information ? I am definitely not holding my breath! 

[PhilCoffee]

2 hours ago, Happybuddha said:

Just in case anyone is on here who isn't in the FB group, I (as well as a LOT of other people) am on the USC waitlist! I can't imagine everyone from the waitlist will get an offer based on its size and USC's ranking, so that might be helpful information ? I am definitely not holding my breath! 

Wow you are on many waitlists. I think that certainly suggest that you're a very strong candidate, and I'm sure you'll get into one of those places—those who get in everywhere will have to decline. Good luck! 

[Happybuddha]

55 minutes ago, PhilCoffee said:

Wow you are on many waitlists. I think that certainly suggest that you're a very strong candidate, and I'm sure you'll get into one of those places—those who get in everywhere will have to decline. Good luck! 

Thank you so much! I am feeling optimistic, especially since it seems like people generally applied to more schools and so the top applicants will end up opening up more spaces than normal (that's what I'm telling myself anyways ?). Either way, it's very encouraging to know that I am among the top 10-30ish candidates at several schools, that is very motivating to continue to pursue this path! 

[semiotic_mess]

Also waitlisted at Villanova.

I have a much better offer so I will be turning it down, but it might be a week or two until I do because per strong recommendation of my professor I am going to wait until I officially accept elsewhere and have things locked in and I want to wait until after the virtual visit to do so. Since I am on the waitlist anyway my spot doesn't matter as much atm, but if I get off of the waitlist beforehand I will make sure to turn them down earlier so that the next person can hear back quicker. Best of luck to everyone!

[Mischief]

On 2/25/2021 at 7:11 PM, PhilCoffee said:

Waitlisted at UT Austin! I'm an international student and applying out of undergrad - with no pedigree and bad GPA. My main target was MA programs but would be really really grateful if I got in. If someone got accepted by UT Austin and is not interested, please let me know! Please.

Putting it out there: there are a lot of posts on this board from applicants who have profiles similar to yours. It might be worth doing an AMA of sorts, or at least a write-up of your experience, once things are settled down a bit. It could be very helpful for people in a similar situation.

[PhilCoffee]

10 minutes ago, Mischief said:

Putting it out there: there are a lot of posts on this board from applicants who have profiles similar to yours. It might be worth doing an AMA of sorts, or at least a write-up of your experience, once things are settled down a bit. It could be very helpful for people in a similar situation.

That's a nice piece of suggestion. I can give some general advice here specifically to those are, like me, from outside the English-speaking world: force your self to get used to reading in English, develop relationships with professors who have studies/worked in the English-speaking world, and start a bit early with your writing sample.

I am fortunate enough that my department has some people who has a real preference for the analytic tradition, which also result in their making hirings of a couple of people who received doctoral degrees from the US and the UK. But the bad parts are that (i) most course are, of course, not in English, (ii) the general arrangements of courses are such that we take a lot of courses with little flexibility, by which I mean we don't generally have alternatives with which course we can choose to take.

So, as I found my interests in doing graduate studies in philosophy, I forced my self to read only in English. This was tough, but it worked out. My suggestion is to try to give a summary of the argument. Also, find a paper that rephrases the original one, and compare this summary with yours. Sometimes you'll find that the obscure article gets explained within one or two sentences, and you should learn from that as well.

I didn't approach to any professor specifically in my first two years, but I suggest that one should if one decides to do graduate studies in philosophy. My experience was that I did some guided readings in my third year with a professor, and then I chose a topic that is relevant to write on. If one started earlier, it could work out better.

If you have a rough topic in mind, just write it down. There are two aspects to improve: how you write and what you write. For a non-native speaker, there will always be grammatical issues. But write it down once you have an idea, read it on your own and then let your professors look at it. I learned a lot after revising on wording and grammar. More importantly, I improved my main argument a lot through discussions and readings, where I tried hard to see how one should attack a position and how to situation the conflicts in a bigger picture. Also, never think this way: since I'll have a quite different argument in the end, it's a waste of time if I write my current thoughts down. You'll need to improve writing before you get the ideas settled, and the improving process also helps with getting your ideas settled.

[Larry David]

Does anyone have any insight into the situation at the University of Miami? I made their waitlist. I am specifically looking for information about their waitlist. 

[HomoLudens]

For those who do not know much about this whole process, I have some insights into waitlist movement.

I am currently attending a fairly small program that for the past 3 years has had a cohort of 4 students. Pretty much every year the entering cohort was entirely composed of students who were on the waitlist. Waitlists are typically quasi-ranked. By that, I mean there are multiple rankings based on area of interest, gender, etc. There is a lot of hope that you will move up on the waitlist at some point. 

Edited March 4, 2021 by HomoLudens

[MtnDuck]

1 hour ago, HomoLudens said:

For those who do not know much about this whole process, I have some insights into waitlist movement.

I am currently attending a fairly small program that for the past 3 years has had a cohort of 4 students. Pretty much every year the entering cohort was entirely composed of students who were on the waitlist. Waitlists are typically quasi-ranked. By that, I mean there are multiple rankings based on area of interest, gender, etc. There is a lot of hope that you will move up on the waitlist at some point. 

Too add on: This is still in the works, but one way to project how much the WL might move is to know a) how many initial offers a school makes; b) how many WL offers they make; and C) Look at their offered admission vs yield vs enrollment statistics. I'm adding these elements to the spreadsheet right now under "statistics" (Though some things will need to wait until Summer when I have time to FOIA anything departments aren't willing to share. Though if folks have friends at certain institutions they may already be able to access the info ??‍♂️).

[pinkgradient]

Waitlisted at UMass Amherst. Email says the list does not have a "static" ranking, so I assume it is ranked according to interest/fit. This is my fifth waitlist this cycle.

[talkativemarmot]

Also WL Amherst

[Hamid.ir]

Waite listed in Miami.