Fall 2025 Applicants

[canyoudigit]

Incoming rant:

 

I'm officially done with Classics and academia. Got a phone call last night from a program director after receiving a rejection from their school. They told me I was absolutely perfect for their program and that they had been looking forward to supervising me given the similarity in research interests. I was rejected not because I'm not qualified or a good fit for the program but because of the current political situation in the USA. As they are a public institution coupled with the fact that I'm an international student, they have no way of guaranteeing funding for the entirety of the program or if they will even have the ability to fund the students they currently have in the program. Three years of trying to get into a PhD program has ended with this.

[voxanonyma]

On 2/22/2025 at 8:07 PM, canyoudigit said:

Incoming rant:

 

I'm officially done with Classics and academia. Got a phone call last night from a program director after receiving a rejection from their school. They told me I was absolutely perfect for their program and that they had been looking forward to supervising me given the similarity in research interests. I was rejected not because I'm not qualified or a good fit for the program but because of the current political situation in the USA. As they are a public institution coupled with the fact that I'm an international student, they have no way of guaranteeing funding for the entirety of the program or if they will even have the ability to fund the students they currently have in the program. Three years of trying to get into a PhD program has ended with this.

I'm so sorry. That is utterly horrible. I don't have any other words for it, other than to agree that clearly it had absolutely nothing to do with your own abilities or qualifications and is the definition of being beyond your control, though I know that is little comfort at a time like this. Do you have a place you can go in terms of work once your current program ends?

I actually came to the thread today to ask about this. Some of you may have seen this article that is just stunning and 'deeply concerning' as my advisor put it. I'm worried that Classics - already a field considered in decline - may be hit by this too, though I don't know enough about whether much federal funding goes to Classics programs. I'm so concerned about it that I'm thinking of accepting at Yale now, just in case their graduate school too starts to feel pressured to cut costs; I feel it would be unlawful for them to revoke an offer that has been accepted by the student.

The April 15 Resolution also now allows students to withdraw their acceptance to go to another program provided they notify the first program in advance. What do you all think? The absolute nightmare scenario for me now is having the rug pulled out from under me and I'm extremely worried about waiting to hear from elsewhere or even to visit other schools to which I've been invited.

 

Edited February 24 by voxanonyma

[MatildaMedievalist]

11 hours ago, voxanonyma said:

I'm so sorry. That is utterly horrible. I don't have any other words for it, other than to agree that clearly it had absolutely nothing to do with your own abilities or qualifications and is the definition of being beyond your control, though I know that is little comfort at a time like this. Do you have a place you can go in terms of work once your current program ends?

I actually came to the thread today to ask about this. Some of you may have seen this article that is just stunning and 'deeply concerning' as my advisor put it. I'm worried that Classics - already a field considered in decline - may be hit by this too, though I don't know enough about whether much federal funding goes to Classics programs. I'm so concerned about it that I'm thinking of accepting at Yale now, just in case their graduate school too starts to feel pressured to cut costs; I feel it would be unlawful for them to revoke an offer that has been accepted by the student.

The April 15 Resolution also now allows students to withdraw their acceptance to go to another program provided they notify the first program in advance. What do you all think? The absolute nightmare scenario for me now is having the rug pulled out from under me and I'm extremely worried about waiting to hear from elsewhere or even to visit other schools to which I've been invited.

 

This situation is horrible and I feel terrible for all of you. Admissions has never been fair, but now it's just painful. 

Classics recieves almost no federal money, and is, in that sense, safe. The question is whether schools will also cut humanities admissions to help pay for science students, and the answer is, probably. 

My understanding is that UPenn had to rescind informal admission offers, not formal offers through the admission portal. That doesn't make it less painful, but it does mean, if you have a formal offer, you are *probably* safe and don't need to rush into anything. I would caution against accepting an offer just to change your mind later because doing so decreases the ability of programs to pull from waitlists, and increases the chances of burning bridges. 

My best advice? Ask! It is perfectly reasonable to be nervous, profs are nervous, and no program which has admitted you would mind you asking, politely, how funding cuts might affect you, both this year and in the future. That is important information for you to have, and seeing how certain schools respond in a crisis will also tell you a lot about how they would support you should you have a crisis. 

My final note is that schools which still have not sent offers (looking at you Princeton) are dragging their feet precisely to make sure they don't have to rescind offers. But, hopefully, the will notify people by March 1. 

I hope this relieves some anxiety  though it can do nothing to change the truth of the situation, which is that this is the worst admissions year since COVID.