Feminist/Women's/Gender Studies PhD 2021 Cycle

[anxious_chic]

45 minutes ago, Soc_Gen23 said:

It honestly is so awful on how hard it is to get into schools, not based on ability to do the work but based on funding. I don't plan to apply another cycle for WGSS after this year either. I wish you the best of luck hearing back from programs!

Thank you! Applying is already exhausting enough so let's see what happens! Good luck with this admissions cycle and everything else ❤️ 

[Soc_Gen23]

2 hours ago, anxious_chic said:

Thank you! Applying is already exhausting enough so let's see what happens! Good luck with this admissions cycle and everything else ❤️ 

Thank you! I believe many of us are in the same boat so it's nice to have community here to know we're not alone!

[ShivD]

10 hours ago, anxious_chic said:

This is the second time I apply for WGSS programs and I swear I might get rejected again from all programs this cycle. 
I am pretty much dying waiting for decisions. Seriously never applying for a PhD if I fail at this one more time.  Life probably has wayyyyy better things for me than this corrupt academic system. 

:))))) just wanted to rant on here since this is the Feminist Studies forum and I don't really care. 

 

Hey hey! Hang in there! This is my second year too... and last year was full of just rejections. Don't lose hope is definitely what I will say at this point. 
But also, I think it is good to remember that getting into or not getting into a program is never a marker of our caliber or how good we are as candidates. One thing that I learnt from last year's experience is that it's just so much also about luck and what the departmental priorities are each year. At the end, most schools get over 100 applications each cycle... and after all, only 4-5 are selected on an average (or even fewer!). So it is really not about us... 

I hope that you get accepted into one of the programs of your choice. But in case you decide to follow a different path, know that there are so many other ways in which you can use your talent to do something good.

[venus99]

9 hours ago, ShivD said:

Hey hey! Hang in there! This is my second year too... and last year was full of just rejections. Don't lose hope is definitely what I will say at this point. 
But also, I think it is good to remember that getting into or not getting into a program is never a marker of our caliber or how good we are as candidates. One thing that I learnt from last year's experience is that it's just so much also about luck and what the departmental priorities are each year. At the end, most schools get over 100 applications each cycle... and after all, only 4-5 are selected on an average (or even fewer!). So it is really not about us... 

I hope that you get accepted into one of the programs of your choice. But in case you decide to follow a different path, know that there are so many other ways in which you can use your talent to do something good.

This was honestly reassuring because it's my first cycle and I've been rejected from UCLA and Cornell. I wasn't devastated, but it is disheartening waiting for my other results. Thank you for this, it's such a good reminder to be kind to ourselves!

[ShivD]

19 minutes ago, venus99 said:

This was honestly reassuring because it's my first cycle and I've been rejected from UCLA and Cornell. I wasn't devastated, but it is disheartening waiting for my other results. Thank you for this, it's such a good reminder to be kind to ourselves!

Absolutely-- I can say this over and over again to any PhD aspirant. That a rejection is hardly ever about you. Last year, I got rejected from all the programs that I applied to. Even when, at the two of those programs, people were quite excited about me on the email. In one case, the DGS, who was also my PoI, encouraged me quite specifically to apply and suggested other faculty members who would be great mentors for my project. But ultimately, it turned out to be an issue of limited funding... they offered admission to only one person among the applicant pool, who also didn't accept... so they basically admitted no new student last year. In case of the other, after the results, my PoI wrote to me saying how surprised she was that my application didn't make it to the shortlist and encouraged me to apply again this year. 

So, you know... it is a host of factors... Sometimes to the extent that you are fabulous and your project is super-interesting... but it just might seem out of fashion in specific departments. Or, that in the last few years, they admitted too many students working in the same field of interest. So decided this year to pick someone working from a different lens. It is just a culmination of too many reasons that you can hardly predict. 

Good time to remind ourselves, given that many schools will be making their decisions in the coming weeks. 
Nevertheless, good luck to all of us!

[deimy]

FYI for people waiting on Rutgers the director said that we would know "in a week" last Monday. Also Emory decisions will be out a couple days after the interviews so probably like Tuesday next week or around there. That includes waitlist too.

[anxious_chic]

11 hours ago, ShivD said:

Hey hey! Hang in there! This is my second year too... and last year was full of just rejections. Don't lose hope is definitely what I will say at this point. 
But also, I think it is good to remember that getting into or not getting into a program is never a marker of our caliber or how good we are as candidates. One thing that I learnt from last year's experience is that it's just so much also about luck and what the departmental priorities are each year. At the end, most schools get over 100 applications each cycle... and after all, only 4-5 are selected on an average (or even fewer!). So it is really not about us... 

I hope that you get accepted into one of the programs of your choice. But in case you decide to follow a different path, know that there are so many other ways in which you can use your talent to do something good.

Thank you so much for the reassurance. I’ve let these rejections consume me so much making me feel like I’m not worthy. It’s complicated only because I had a traumatic experience in my MA program. I just feel extremely stressed and maybe if I don’t make it again this time, I think that’s a sign that I need to do something else.

but thank you and good luck with everything!! :) 

[ShivD]

33 minutes ago, deimy said:

FYI for people waiting on Rutgers the director said that we would know "in a week" last Monday. Also Emory decisions will be out a couple days after the interviews so probably like Tuesday next week or around there. That includes waitlist too.

Thanks you for sharing that info! If you were introduced to other candidates for Rutgers, could you share how many were interviewed?

[deimy]

Just now, ShivD said:

Thanks you for sharing that info! If you were introduced to other candidates for Rutgers, could you share how many were interviewed?

I wasn't. The grad director told me during my interview that they aren't interviewing many people (and not all admitted will get interviews) and that they didn't know exactly how many they would admit. She told me she only interviewed me because while she was very impressed with my application she had a specific and technical question about it.

[Undeuxtrois]

13 minutes ago, ShivD said:

Thanks you for sharing that info! If you were introduced to other candidates for Rutgers, could you share how many were interviewed?

Hey, I was interviewed for Rutgers last week. My interviewer mentioned there was a shortlist and they would conduct interviews last week and this week. Based on GradCafe's info, it seems like 3 people have been contacted for interviews so far but i'm sure they're interviewing more people. 

[ShivD]

14 minutes ago, deimy said:

I wasn't. The grad director told me during my interview that they aren't interviewing many people (and not all admitted will get interviews) and that they didn't know exactly how many they would admit. She told me she only interviewed me because while she was very impressed with my application she had a specific and technical question about it.

Thanks a lot for telling us this!! Well well, look forward to whatever the outcome will be then. Hopefully this week!
Goodluck to you as well as us, others-- I hope it's a good news for us.

[mx.marx]

I applied to Emory and was rejected immediately (pretty bummed, I graduated with Honors, magna cum laude, was published in a peer-reviewed academic journal, and was nominated for an Outstanding Thesis Award ? I wish they would have provided feedback.

Still waiting to hear from UBC, UToronto, and Western University Ontario.

 

I looked on ASU's website a few times and it said they weren't accepting a cohort this year? Did I miss something?

[coffeegrad]

32 minutes ago, mx.marx said:

I applied to Emory and was rejected immediately (pretty bummed, I graduated with Honors, magna cum laude, was published in a peer-reviewed academic journal, and was nominated for an Outstanding Thesis Award ? I wish they would have provided feedback.

Still waiting to hear from UBC, UToronto, and Western University Ontario.

 

I looked on ASU's website a few times and it said they weren't accepting a cohort this year? Did I miss something?

Ugh I'm sorry to hear about Emory! I wonder if you could reach out and ask for specifics on why they rejected you?

Also, University of Arizona isn't taking a new class for 2021 but ASU is. Is it possible you are thinking of UA? I know UA and ASU usually alternate every year which is taking a new cohort, so UA didn't open apps for this cycle. 

Good luck on the rest of your apps!

[relantern]

So I guess hopefully we'll hear from ASU and final results from Rutgers next week, then? ?

[Undeuxtrois]

On 2/13/2021 at 9:34 PM, relantern said:

So I guess hopefully we'll hear from ASU and final results from Rutgers next week, then? ?

I hope so! Has anyone heard back from any of these universities? 

[ShivD]

35 minutes ago, Undeuxtrois said:

I hope so! Has anyone heard back from any of these universities? 

Nope. No word from Rutgers yet for me.

[Soc_Gen23]

7 hours ago, Undeuxtrois said:

I hope so! Has anyone heard back from any of these universities? 

Nope. Hoping ASU is letting us know this week because I can't wait another week ?

[Undeuxtrois]

Someone just posted on the regular gradcafe website that they're no.1 on the Rutgers waitlist. The strange thing is, I also just received an email saying I was at the top of the waitlist......

Anyone else heard back yet?

[deimy]

1 minute ago, Undeuxtrois said:

Someone just posted on the regular gradcafe website that they're no.1 on the Rutgers waitlist. The strange thing is, I also just received an email saying I was at the top of the waitlist......

Anyone else heard back yet?

That’s me! I guess they said the same thing to both of us lmao? shady as hell imo! 

[PhDFall2021]

I also received an email from Rutgers today stating that I am at the top of their waitlist. Honestly, based on my experience with the program last year (my POI informally told me I was admitted but wouldn't respond for months when I followed up. Eventually they told me I was put on the waitlist, and ultimately I was rejected) and information I received this year (a mentor of mine heard from a good friend of hers, who is senior faculty r in the department, that they would not be accepting PhD students this year because they lacked funding), I am going to tell them to remove me from the waitlist. I've been accepted to top programs elsewhere and I don't want to enter a department that already feels messy. 

Edited February 15, 2021 by PhDFall2021

[Undeuxtrois]

5 minutes ago, PhDFall2021 said:

I also received an email from Rutgers today stating that I am at the top of their waitlist. Honestly, based on my experience with the program last year (my POI informally told me I was admitted but wouldn't respond for months when I followed up. Eventually they told me I was put on the waitlist, and ultimately I was rejected) and information I received this year (a mentor of mine heard from a good friend of hers who is a senior faculty member in the department told me that they would not be accepting PhD students this year because they lacked funding), I am going to tell them to remove me from the waitlist. I've already been accepted to top programs elsewhere and I don't want to enter a department that already appears to be messy. 

Wow, thanks for letting us know! It's so strange that they would accept applications if they weren't looking for students. But yeah, like you, I won't hold my breath and will start looking elsewhere. Thanks again!

[PhDFall2021]

I imagine they are hoping to receive funding from somewhere for one or two students, but obviously can't guarantee that that will happen.  But yes, it is very strange, and in my opinion a very bad sign in terms of what kind of support a PhD student/candidate should expect from the department during their time there. 

[ShivD]

Oh dear! That's so messed up. But yes, also from my experience from last year... with their Comp Lit program... same thing happened. PoI that I was in touch with told me that they offered admission to one person, who did not take it up... and they did not then move on to anyone else... which doesn't make sense?! So my guess is that they are simply too stretched for funding to admit people in a transparent manner... Which is so unfortunate coz Rutgers has some amazing people!

[blacksnow25]

I received an offer of admission to the Women's Studies program at Rutgers via email from the DGS on February 10 - I've since been in touch with them and had a response, but my official portal is yet to be updated. I really don't have any insider information, though the email did mention that they are planning an admitted students' day, so I don't think that they are not accepting people at all, though again I could be wrong. That said, not having an official letter aside from the email has me a bit worried. 

Edited February 16, 2021 by blacksnow25

[Undeuxtrois]

38 minutes ago, blacksnow25 said:

I received an offer of admission to the Women's Studies program at Rutgers via email from the DGS on February 10 - I've since been in touch with them and had a response, but my official portal is yet to be updated. I really don't have any insider information, though the email did mention that they are planning an admitted students' day, so I don't think that they are not accepting people at all, though again I could be wrong. That said, not having an official letter aside from the email has me a bit worried. 

Hey, congratulations! I think this sounds pretty legit, I think if the director told you you've been admitted it's probably pretty solid.