Fall 2023 PhD Applicant Thread

[DrMutt]

2 hours ago, 911806a said:

I'm stoked - this morning I received an email from POI saying I secured admission to the PhD program at UCSB. 

Yay, yay, yay! An admit? AND on a Saturday morning?! We love to see it! Congratulations! That is wonderful news!

Regarding what you should do next: Take maybe a day or two and relax before responding to that email so your excitement doesn't jump out at your POI.  At least, that's what I do but I'm very prone to over-use of exclamation points in general. What can I say? I'm a high-energy person.  I would respond back and thank them for reaching out to you and let them know that you are looking forward to attending their Admit Day!

I suspect that we will hear back from most UCs next week and early the following week. UCR is usually one of the last of the UCs to send out their decisions from what I've seen and from my experience from last application cycle. I heard back from them around March 3rd in 2019.

[911806a]

7 minutes ago, DrMutt said:

Yay, yay, yay! An admit? AND on a Saturday morning?! We love to see it! Congratulations! That is wonderful news!

Regarding what you should do next: Take maybe a day or two and relax before responding to that email so your excitement doesn't jump out at your POI.  At least, that's what I do but I'm very prone to over-use of exclamation points in general. What can I say? I'm a high-energy person.  I would respond back and thank them for reaching out to you and let them know that you are looking forward to attending their Admit Day!

I suspect that we will hear back from most UCs next week and early the following week. UCR is usually one of the last of the UCs to send out their decisions from what I've seen and from my experience from last application cycle. I heard back from them around March 3rd in 2019.

Yes I am over the moon excited - still can't believe it!

Thank you SO SO MUCH for this feedback, I appreciate the advice and am going to follow it! 

[DrMutt]

5 minutes ago, 911806a said:

Yes I am over the moon excited - still can't believe it!

Thank you SO SO MUCH for this feedback, I appreciate the advice and am going to follow it! 

Most definitely! Please keep us updated. I applied to a few of the same Ph.D. programs that you did. I'm unsure if we applied to the same concentrations, but it's nice to have some common schools and departments with other people so you don't feel like you're swimming out at sea on your own without a floatie. 

[msjen]

4 hours ago, 911806a said:

I'm stoked - this morning I received an email from POI saying I secured admission to the PhD program at UCSB. Mentioned full details and official admit letter to be coming soon. They wanted to also let me know there is an Admit Day for Feb 21st. Planning to go to that of course, but since this is my like, first time experiencing any of this I have no idea what to expect or ask about lol

Any of you have an idea of what one should do next? I'm super excited!

I still haven't heard from any of the other universities I applied to (UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and UC San Diego). Should I be emailing them too just to be like, "Hey.... I've gotten acceptance from UCSB, are you all doing anything?" or if I should just wait it out or what. 

I don't even know how to reply to the POI yet without coming off hysterically excited with a million "!!"'s lol 

Really hoping for the best outcome for everyone else as well! ❤️ 

Congrats!!

would you mind sharing which concentration?

I applied to many of the same places and have also heard nothing. I did have an informal interview with my POI at UCSB over two weeks ago.

[911806a]

21 hours ago, msjen said:

Congrats!!

would you mind sharing which concentration?

I applied to many of the same places and have also heard nothing. I did have an informal interview with my POI at UCSB over two weeks ago.

I don't mind at all! I don't see why not - my main overall focus is educational policy

• For UC Santa Barbara my interest is in the Policy, Program Evaluation, and Research Methods specialization
• For UC Riverside my interest is in the Education Policy Analysis and Leadership specialization
• For UC Irvine my interest is the Educational Policy and Social Context specialization
• For UC Davis my interest is in the School Organization and Educational Policy specialization 
• For UC San Diego my interest is more all encompassing so in my SoP I stated my interest leans towards both the Transforming Education Systems and Policy specialization but also the Transforming Outcomes for Racially and Socially Marginalized Groups program area

Last year I applied to UCSD Ph.D. program ONLY and was not admitted. I was extremely bummed. This year I decided to apply to all 5 above. I'm so happy to have an acceptance! Last year when I didn't get into UCSD I was devastated. But, there was just so much I didn't know about the grad app process (first gen college student and all that)...

I had interviews with UCR and UCSB this cycle. So I'm stoked about UCSB! 

I've tried reading up everywhere else online for other updates. Seems that there is not a lot of updates out there!  I did see that a few people on Reddit received interviews from UC Davis and UC Irvine for PhD in Education Studies a few weeks back, so at this point I'm thinking UC Davis and UC Irvine are a wash. I haven't seen any updates on UCSD at all. 

Last year I had applied to UCSD, and only that 1 program, and didn't get in. When I reached out to the office, the admin staff had stated it was extremely competitive and they were only able to admit I think 4 people? That's what I recall them telling me when I reached out after I got denied. 

Then reading up on the current budget statuses of the UC System, it seems that many have had to tighten their belts considerably for funding and admissions. I know previously UCSD had an average admit count of like 15-20 admits each cohort (they're in year 7 or 8 I think). But last year they only admitted 4. 

So, with that information, I personally am just going to assume I didn't get any further in consideration from UCSD, UCI, or UCD. I'll wait and see if UCR reaches out with anything else but it's looking like I got lucky with UCSB. 

Sorry for the long rant! lol hope it helps though!

[911806a]

22 hours ago, DrMutt said:

Most definitely! Please keep us updated. I applied to a few of the same Ph.D. programs that you did. I'm unsure if we applied to the same concentrations, but it's nice to have some common schools and departments with other people so you don't feel like you're swimming out at sea on your own without a floatie. 

Totally agree with you! 

Yesterday after I got that email from UCSB, I basically spent all day scouring the different grad school admission websites and reddit forums to see if I can find any other kind of updates on PhD in Education Studies in the UC System. I have my longwinded update above if you're interested!

[joc1989]

Hi all! I have applied to Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, Northwestern, Wisconsin-Madison, University of Washington, USC, NYU, TC, Michigan Ann Arbor

Status so far:
- Acceptance: Wisconsin-Madison (Ed Policy)

- Rejection: Michigan (CPEP)
- Interview invitations: UCLA (Urban Schooling), Northwestern
- Waitlisted after interview: USC and TC (Sociology and Education)
- Haven't heard anything from: Stanford (RILE/SHIPS), Berkeley, NYU (Sociology of Education), University of Washington (Learning Science). Has anyone heard from those?

[jackie987]

9 minutes ago, joc1989 said:

Hi all! I have applied to Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, Northwestern, Wisconsin-Madison, University of Washington, USC, NYU, TC, Michigan Ann Arbor

Status so far:
- Acceptance: Wisconsin-Madison (Ed Policy)

- Rejection: Michigan (CPEP)
- Interview invitations: UCLA (Urban Schooling), Northwestern
- Waitlisted after interview: USC and TC (Sociology and Education)
- Haven't heard anything from: Stanford (RILE/SHIPS), Berkeley, NYU (Sociology of Education), University of Washington (Learning Science). Has anyone heard from those?

I also haven’t heard anything from NYU soc of ed if that’s helpful! 

[msjen]

I found out today I was admitted to UCSB!! I interviewed about three weeks ago and heard directly from the POI today.

Here is what I have so far:

UC Berkeley: I have spoken with 2 faculty members, the director of the program I applied to, and 2 students (all informally). This is for the joint program in Special Education with SFSU.

Stanford: Nothing (I applied for CTE Math and the Leadership for Systemwide Inclusive Education Training Program)

UCLA: An email in January saying that candidates chosen to interview would hear back by end of January. I did not get an invite, so I am assuming that's a "no." This is for the HDP concentration.

UC Irvine: I had an informal interview with a POI nearly a month ago.

UCSD: Nothing

 

[eduforall]

Congratulations!!

[911806a]

21 hours ago, msjen said:

I found out today I was admitted to UCSB!! 

 

Congratulations!! And tysm for sharing your other updates!

[Cordelipup]

Does anyone know if University of Washington offers interviews? Has anyone heard back from them?

 

 

 

 

[goodluck2023]

6 hours ago, Cordelipup said:

Does anyone know if University of Washington offers interviews? Has anyone heard back from them?

I feel like no? They did not mention it in a recent email that informed applicants about the timeline. Also, previous records on GradCafe did not have interviews (at least for my concentration, LSHD). Good luck!

 

 

 

 

[goodluck2023]

On 2/6/2023 at 5:06 PM, msjen said:

I found out today I was admitted to UCSB!! I interviewed about three weeks ago and heard directly from the POI today.

Here is what I have so far:

UC Berkeley: I have spoken with 2 faculty members, the director of the program I applied to, and 2 students (all informally). This is for the joint program in Special Education with SFSU.

Stanford: Nothing (I applied for CTE Math and the Leadership for Systemwide Inclusive Education Training Program)

UCLA: An email in January saying that candidates chosen to interview would hear back by end of January. I did not get an invite, so I am assuming that's a "no." This is for the HDP concentration.

UC Irvine: I had an informal interview with a POI nearly a month ago.

UCSD: Nothing

 

I wonder whether which stage UCI is at. Infering from this year's gradcafe record, they stopped making moves two weeks ago. No interviews, no ad, no rej. So weird. They better just reject me and end the wait game. 

[DrMutt]

2 hours ago, goodluck2023 said:

I wonder whether which stage UCI is at. Infering from this year's gradcafe record, they stopped making moves two weeks ago. No interviews, no ad, no rej. So weird. They better just reject me and end the wait game. 

Apparently, UCI only accepts individuals who have had an interview with them. I didn't see too many people on GradCafe reporting that they got interviews, but it's been total silence since those last few updates a few weeks ago, you're right. However, they do rolling admissions and they keep the application open until Feb 1st. According to their website, they claim that all decisions will be sent out by April 15th. Wtf? So those of us who applied by/before December 1st have to wait 4.5 months to get a decision, even though we can already imply that we've been rejected because we didn't get an interview? Lollll

I mean, there's still a chance for them to conduct more interviews. But their whole process is nonsensical to me compared to other UCs.

[msjen]

For UCI, my interview was informal and the professor I spoke to basically said she had to decide how much my research interests could help her in her research (that is what I took from the conversation). That was early January and there was no follow up after, so I am not really holding out hope for that one anymore.

I was admitted to UCSB and Berkeley, and those fit my interests better than UCI anyway.

[DrMutt]

11 hours ago, msjen said:

For UCI, my interview was informal and the professor I spoke to basically said she had to decide how much my research interests could help her in her research (that is what I took from the conversation). That was early January and there was no follow up after, so I am not really holding out hope for that one anymore.

I was admitted to UCSB and Berkeley, and those fit my interests better than UCI anyway.

Huh. . .well that doesn't sound very professional to admit to a potential student that their admittance is determinant upon how much THEY can help in her research lol! I'm glad you have some options because that potential POI at UCI sounds. . .interesting to say the least. Maybe you dodged a bullet. And, same here. UCI is actually my last choice this round and I have very little hope of getting in. Can't say I'll be too incredibly hurt by it. Just send it already lol.

Edited February 10, 2023 by DrMutt

[911806a]

8 hours ago, DrMutt said:

Huh. . .well that doesn't sound very professional to admit to a potential student that their admittance is determinant upon how much THEY can help in her research lol! I'm glad you have some options because that potential POI at UCI sounds. . .interesting to say the least. Maybe you dodged a bullet. And, same here. UCI is actually my last choice this round and I have very little hope of getting in. Can't say I'll be too incredibly hurt by it. Just send it already lol.

I agree! 

[DEV2122]

Anyone heard back from Northwestern HDSP? Interview invites should have been sent out by now right? 

[joc1989]

3 hours ago, DEV2122 said:

Anyone heard back from Northwestern HDSP? Interview invites should have been sent out by now right? 

I did get an interview invitation, but it has not been scheduled yet. They are flying out people for in-person interviews on Feb 17th. However, for candidates who cannot be there in person they will schedule online interviews.  

[manatee77]

I got my second rejection today. I've only got one interview so far and I'm just really worried I'm not going to get in anywhere. I know this happens and isnt the end of the world but it still feels really bad.

[mintchocol8e]

3 minutes ago, manatee77 said:

I got my second rejection today. I've only got one interview so far and I'm just really worried I'm not going to get in anywhere. I know this happens and isnt the end of the world but it still feels really bad.

I got my first rejection late last night and second rejection this morning. I live abroad now, so technically they were both sent out on the same day. I’m expecting my third rejection this weekend or on Monday from the school were I got my masters. And I haven’t heard anything from my fourth (final) school. I have had no interview invitations or anything from anyone, though I thought I had a very good research and teaching background. I’m not even in my 20s anymore, so next year will be my final year trying. Everything will be okay, but it just sucks to have to go through this at the moment and realize that I’m just not good enough despite any of my efforts.

[eduforall]

9 minutes ago, mintchocol8e said:

I got my first rejection late last night and second rejection this morning. I live abroad now, so technically they were both sent out on the same day. I’m expecting my third rejection this weekend or on Monday from the school were I got my masters. And I haven’t heard anything from my fourth (final) school. I have had no interview invitations or anything from anyone, though I thought I had a very good research and teaching background. I’m not even in my 20s anymore, so next year will be my final year trying. Everything will be okay, but it just sucks to have to go through this at the moment and realize that I’m just not good enough despite any of my efforts.

@mintchocol8e Don't let it ruin your mood please! It's not over yet, and your worth is not related to a series of PhD applications. You know that there are only a couple of spots for hundreds, if not thousands of applications. The selection process is dependent of so many factors outside of your control. Plus, you can always reapply next year to other universities. 

I'm also in my mid thirties and it's alright, it's never too late to chase your dreams.

Keep your head up! 

[mintchocol8e]

43 minutes ago, eduforall said:

@mintchocol8e Don't let it ruin your mood please! It's not over yet, and your worth is not related to a series of PhD applications. You know that there are only a couple of spots for hundreds, if not thousands of applications. The selection process is dependent of so many factors outside of your control. Plus, you can always reapply next year to other universities. 

I'm also in my mid thirties and it's alright, it's never too late to chase your dreams.

Keep your head up! 

Thank you for the kind words. ❤️ I’m also trying to stay positive. Just waiting for this month to be over with though! Lol

[DrMutt]

Got a nice big fat rejection from UCLA's HEOC program this morning. Far from unexpected, but that was my second choice school. Still have not heard back from UCI (and I doubt when I do it'll be good news, seeing as I haven't had the mandatory interview). PULL THROUGH, UCR! It's my #1 choice school, but someone on the forums notified me that they got in touch with the program and they state they won't be releasing decisions until March or April. . .omg. It's deliberate torture, I swear!

How's everyone else fairing since our last check-in?