Dirt Posted February 13, 2009 Posted February 13, 2009 Minnesota just sent me an e-mail version of the rejection letter I got earlier in the week. And they CC-ed (not BCC-ed) it to 100+ other rejected applicants. That is rather obnoxious; I feel for those Berkeley Sociology folks now. The mail's here, and I still haven't seen anything from the two schools I was sure had rejected me last week. I never thought I'd be so relieved to think that a decision has *not* been made yet.
Dirt Posted February 13, 2009 Posted February 13, 2009 For those of you waiting for Stanford, I emailed the grad coordinator (trying to get a definite yes or no on whether decisions have been delivered; though my prof source said they had, as you all know, miscommunication is rife in department stuff) and got this response "I'm afraid decisions have not been handed out just yet. As indicated in my message back in December, decisions go out in early March or before. Your patience is greatly appreciated." So, though I hate lingering in limbo, it looks like there is still hope. Assuming I'm not misinterpreting this again. Ugh. Um, yeah: it's the "or before" part that keeps me up at night. If I knew that no decisions would be made for two more weeks, I could sleep like a baby until then.
synthla Posted February 13, 2009 Posted February 13, 2009 Seems like Berkeley is sending out those rejection emails one at a time.
lhistoire Posted February 13, 2009 Posted February 13, 2009 um, so has anyone else not heard from Penn? I've heard nothing and I'm not really sure how I should feel about that.
kahlan_amnell Posted February 13, 2009 Posted February 13, 2009 um, so has anyone else not heard from Penn? I've heard nothing and I'm not really sure how I should feel about that. Check the website if you haven't already. The decision was posted there for me before I got the e-mail. If there's nothing there that could be a good thing, just about everything posted today from there has been rejections.
fortiesgirl Posted February 13, 2009 Posted February 13, 2009 Re: Penn... My rejection was also posted there hours before I received an email telling me to check my application status online. If you haven't heard anything, then that might be a good sign. Here's a few positive vibes ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*.
Scare Quotes Posted February 13, 2009 Posted February 13, 2009 Last year, Harvard's rejection letters came a LOT later than the acceptances. :roll:
stanford315 Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 NYU sent the agenda for the Student Prospective Weekend. I will be very very very sad if they say no after the event. I will be like "what was the point?!" well. they are paying for it though... but still, it will hurt me.
IronDuke Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 I've been accepted to a higher-ranked program than NYU so I'm uncertain as to what kind of attitude I should go with...I'm going to try very hard to seem interested but even if I got an offer I don't know if I would take it. Plus, what if I end up really liking NYU and then being faced with a difficult choice? Hmm.
synthla Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 The NYU thing is bizarre. I can't imagine it will be a great deal of fun socializing with faculty by whom you're being judged and other prospective students with whom you're competing. I understand why it's beneficial from the department's perspective, but one would think the same benefit could be gained by a half-hour or hour phone interview. Obviously this doesn't impact me one bit as I didn't apply there, but if I had another offer I was pretty happy with, I doubt I'd jump through their hoops.
kahlan_amnell Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 I've been accepted to a higher-ranked program than NYU so I'm uncertain as to what kind of attitude I should go with...I'm going to try very hard to seem interested but even if I got an offer I don't know if I would take it. Plus, what if I end up really liking NYU and then being faced with a difficult choice? Hmm. I'd say go with an open mind, and be ready to learn about what that program has to offer. Ranking isn't everything, and it might turn out that NYU is a better match than the other program.
fortiesgirl Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 I earned my M.A. at NYU so I'm curious to see if I get accepted to the Ph.D. program. I'm applying to one of their joint programs in history, so I'm in a bit of a different situation. As far as the prospective students weekend is concerned, here's how I was told to view it after I attended the school. You aren't really competing with other prospective students because they are likely interested in so many different disciplines. It's true that there may be some students who are interested in the same fields as you, but for the most part, the program at NYU is so diverse that the weekend shouldn't be viewed in terms of competition. Some applicants might discover that the school isn't a good fit for them, and a weekend like this will save both parties a great deal of pain in the long run. Also, the faculty might want to meet potential applicants for various reasons, but you aren't necessarily "ruled out" if you aren't invited. I was never invited to a prospective weekend and I was admitted. Btw, NYU is a totally awesome school. I loved it there. I can't say enough great things about the place, the faculty, the environment, etc. You get attention from faculty, which can be rare at some other institutions. I experienced this even as a Master's student, whereas other programs tend to ignore their M.A. candidates and focus primarily on their Ph.D. students. I can only imagine the type of attention I would have received had I been in the doctoral program at the time.
stanford315 Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 The NYU thing is bizarre. I can't imagine it will be a great deal of fun socializing with faculty by whom you're being judged and other prospective students with whom you're competing. I understand why it's beneficial from the department's perspective, but one would think the same benefit could be gained by a half-hour or hour phone interview. Obviously this doesn't impact me one bit as I didn't apply there, but if I had another offer I was pretty happy with, I doubt I'd jump through their hoops. I agree with you. They sounded like it's ganna be a fun socializing thing, but for applicants being nervous about their decision, it won't be "FUN" at all. Meeting with "faculty by whom you're being judged" and sharing a hotel room with "other students with whom you're competing".... how can this possibly be fun?
synthla Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 I agree with you. They sounded like it's ganna be a fun socializing thing, but for applicants being nervous about their decision, it won't be "FUN" at all. Meeting with "faculty by whom you're being judged" and sharing a hotel room with "other students with whom you're competing".... how can this possibly be fun? Sharing a hotel room? Eek. Yeah, I think until decisions are actually made, ignorance as to the other prospective students is probably more blissful (gradcafe is bad enough :wink: ). Who knows, maybe you'll go and come away feeling really good about yourself, but I think there would be a great risk of increasing one's insecurities. At the end of the day, if NYU is a school you're into, it sounds like you don't have much of a choice but to go and endure, but I think there's probably a reason NYU is sort of on it's own with this type of event.
riss287 Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 I know this is slightly off topic at the moment, but.... has anyone ever heard of a school changing the online application server/website/whatever and voiding all the applications submitted (and paid for) before the switch? And, on top of that, not notifying the previous applicants of the switch and the need to fill out another application in the new system?
synthla Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 I know this is slightly off topic at the moment, but.... has anyone ever heard of a school changing the online application server/website/whatever and voiding all the applications submitted (and paid for) before the switch? And, on top of that, not notifying the previous applicants of the switch and the need to fill out another application in the new system? Ummmm... no. (?)
riss287 Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 Exactly. There's no precedent for this so how was I supposed to know? Basically, one of the schools to which I applied did this and now I don't have an application and it's obviously too late to do another one, even though I've sent in all the supplementary materials. I want to call and ask them what the hell but they probably will ask me why I didn't check after I applied. But it said two weeks and there was no reason for me to check my application within two weeks of submitting it. They could have at least emailed the previous applicants or something. But noooo. Soo.... although I'm embarrassed, I think I'm going to call and either request a refund or ask them what happened to my application and politely request that they notify people in the future. But it's probably too late for me, and this was my friggin' safety school so now I'm afraid I'm basically up the creek.
limeinthecoconut Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 I know this is slightly off topic at the moment, but.... has anyone ever heard of a school changing the online application server/website/whatever and voiding all the applications submitted (and paid for) before the switch? And, on top of that, not notifying the previous applicants of the switch and the need to fill out another application in the new system? What?!?!?! I'd actually kick up a fuss. You paid money, you deserve a service. Update us on how it goes.
synthla Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 Wow riss287, that's really hard to believe. (As in, hard to believe they would do that, not hard to believe you!) I can't imagine how they would think it was legitimate to have a system up and accepting applications (and application FEES) and not either transfer the info over to the new system if they made a switch, or at the very least warn people "hey there's no point in doing this until we move over to the new system." Doesn't seem like there is anything for you to be embarrassed about; although many people obsessively check the application websites, there should certainly not be any expectation that you do so after you've turned in everything. How did you find out about the problem?
riss287 Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 I found out by looking on the results page on here and seeing that someone found out by the website last year. So, I went to the website and found an "application status" page. It instructed you to log in to the system and then select your application and then "status." I logged in fine, the ID number and PIN number I had been given way back in September worked, but when I went in, my application wasn't there... You guys have definitely given me more courage to call, which unfortunately I have to wait until Monday to do. I suppose there is the off chance that they processed it before switching over or else forwarded it, but then I would think it'd show up when I logged in. So I don't know. Their website was kind of crappy anyway and I got the impression that the school wasn't that great, but still. It's the school that I was pretty sure I'd get in to, and I paid $55 to apply, so I should at least see what's up. UGH!!! As if not hearing anything and waiting for responses was bad enough.... GEESH!
Louiselab Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 Btw, NYU is a totally awesome school. I loved it there. I can't say enough great things about the place, the faculty, the environment, etc. You get attention from faculty, which can be rare at some other institutions. I experienced this even as a Master's student, whereas other programs tend to ignore their M.A. candidates and focus primarily on their Ph.D. students. I can only imagine the type of attention I would have received had I been in the doctoral program at the time. Go Violets! [and GSOC!] I went for undergrad. What field are you going for?
limeinthecoconut Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 Hey Riss, I do hope that they somehow got your application. Best of luck!
riss287 Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 Hey Riss, I do hope that they somehow got your application. Best of luck! Thanks!
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