Wait List Blues

[NadaJ]

Anyone else having the wait list blues? I am trying to stay positive. I have only applied to one program, so I feel very fortunate to have made it this far. They have offered me full funding for the MA (I am coming from a separate field), and gave me an extension to decide on the MA until April 15th. I have never wished for a month to go by as fast as I have now. I've already emailed about wait list ranking, but have not received a response, so I am leaving it alone. I've also already contacted my POI and her response to my wait list was positive. All I have left is just...wait...

Edited March 4, 2011 by NadaJ

[snes]

Me too, and they also didn't respond to my question about ranking. I've also been rejected from two other programs and am pretty sure about being rejected from a third, and the only other option I have is a Master's (I've heard nothing back yet, and I don't think that's promising either).

So I'm hanging on to this one thing, too. I'm going to ask to send them an updated CV that comes with candy, or something. I have no POI there because I applied to programs not even knowing what a POI was or that contacting someone ahead of time was good or even expected.

[epf]

can anyone weigh in on the likelihood of making it off a wait-list? is it a death sentence in nicer terms? or does it sometimes lead to admission?

[MadameNon]

You have to assume that people who were accepted there probably were accepted elsewhere. So it can lead to admission as things shift around. You would think they'd come up with a better system, though. It feels like the top handful in your field hold everyone's fate in their hands while they make their decisions, and the rest of us hang on the waitlist and hold onto our other offers, where their waitlisters are suffering through the uncertainty, and so on.

Then, you freak out and accept what you have by April 15, only to get accepted from a waitlist right after, when it's too late for you to do anything about it. Inefficient.

[NadaJ]

ITA, MadameNon. It's like a game of musical chairs. I spoke with someone in admissions today to ask about the details of their "top awarded" MA offer. I am so infatuated with their program, I don't feel quite so bad about being on the wait list now. Fortunately, the wait list is not ranked, so there's still hope. I also keep wondering if they offered me the MA as a test...to make sure I'm either serious about the program, or a way to pacify me. Conspiracy theories abound!