0% Confidence of Acceptance

[The Whistler]

are you for sure that Penn had 600 application? This is like the lottery now. Not even the most well-intentioned adcom can properly review 600 applications of this kind.

 

Well, my POI's on sabbatical and not reviewing applications, so he was only able to tell me what he heard.

But it doesn't seem that improbable to me. Penn is an excellent school, by far my best fit. Unfortunately, looks like it's everyone's best fit.

 

Exactly what you've said. It's a lottery. I believe they just cut everyone whose area of interest they don't need this year, and that they're choosing from the lucky ones that made the cut. Of course, I don't know that, but that's the only logical way that comes to mind, because we had to write general areas of interest on top of our SOPs.

[bluecheese]

Having now seen what I've seen from the inside, I have a lot of sympathy for ad-comms and grad secretaries. Every time someone posts a result on here, a grad secretary gets a 100 e-mail flurry of "DID I GET REJECTED?/ACCEPTED?/WAITLISTED?" It's quite a burden.

 

This. 

 

Seriously, don't send an email every time something pops up on the board.

Edited February 14, 2013 by bluecheese

[Two Espressos]

Check this one out: I have never been accepted by a school at any level in my life.  That includes undergrad, undergrad transfer, MA, MFA, and PhD.  I dare anyone to beat that.  If only I had ever applied to a prep school for the full sweep.

 

I got my undergrad degree from a school with "modified open enrollment."  I don't even know what that means.

 

Well I'm sure there are applicants coming from worse academic institutions, but my school's still pretty bad.

 

Anyways, I like your posts on here, thestage: always eloquent and intelligent.  I hope you get in somewhere.

[practical cat]

Believe it or not, the people who serve on adcoms are busy. The admissions committee is not the most important thing in their life. Once they are certain that they will not be admitting any more students and they get the paperwork in order, they will notify applicants. 

Are you trying to tell me that they're not as obsessed with me as I am them? Do you think standing outside their window with a boom box will help???

[t1racyjacks]

Are you trying to tell me that they're not as obsessed with me as I am them? Do you think standing outside their window with a boom box will help???

this is a good idea. I suggest that we gather in groups. And let's wear colors that match

[KeelyMK]

are you for sure that Penn had 600 application? This is like the lottery now. Not even the most well-intentioned adcom can properly review 600 applications of this kind.

My POI at Berkeley said yesterday that they had around 600 this year also, and each one gets read by like 10 different people, *and* there's the whole situation with no official grad advisor even working yet, just the interim girl. Also, they said they don't even know when funding info will be finalized but prob not for a few weeks. I want to read this as a good thing for everyone who's only heard silence so far. Either they're just too overwhelmed and disorganized to even bother with rejections until they've gotten all the admits sorted, or they might still be in the last steps of deciding. POI said they were planning on accepting around 20 with a goal cohort of 10, and I think there's only been like 4 or 5 admit results on the board so far? So we'll see

[t1racyjacks]

My POI at Berkeley said yesterday that they had around 600 this year also, and each one gets read by like 10 different people, *and* there's the whole situation with no official grad advisor even working yet, just the interim girl. Also, they said they don't even know when funding info will be finalized but prob not for a few weeks. I want to read this as a good thing for everyone who's only heard silence so far. Either they're just too overwhelmed and disorganized to even bother with rejections until they've gotten all the admits sorted, or they might still be in the last steps of deciding. POI said they were planning on accepting around 20 with a goal cohort of 10, and I think there's only been like 4 or 5 admit results on the board so far? So we'll see

but not everyone who submits an app is on gradcafe I think it's quite likely that around 20 acceptances have been sent out with only 5-6 people reporting it on the board. Still, I appreciate your good wishes

[DisplayCancel]

Can anybody tell me what the hell the following means? I sent an email ( as everybody advises not to do.....) asking if decisions had been made re admissions, and received this in response....I assume it is CUNY telling me not to bug them during decision-making, right?

 

I am writing to let you know that you are a finalist for admission to the Ph.D. Program in English at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY).   We hope shortly to give you news about admissions and financial aid decisions for the coming year, although these decisions continue to be made through April 15th.  We will be emailing with periodic updates on our admissions process.  You are invited to join our Open House for Prospective Students on March 15. Please see the attached flyer.

 

Anyone else got this/ familiar with cryptic wording?

[DontHate]

How is that cryptic? You're a finalist. They're gonna let you know later if they accepted you and if they will fund you. Not much of a close-reader, are you?

[DisplayCancel]

Apologies, donthate, I wasn't familiar with 'finalist' in this context- it essentially means 'candidate', then, given they haven't made rejections? It just seemed an oddly elaborate way of saying, 'not all decisions have been made yet'. And given that it is saying I am yet to be accepted, the invitation to open house bemused me. 

[ProfLorax]

What helps me keep my sanity and empathy in this process is remembering that GradCafe has only existed since 2006, and I imagine most adcomms cemented their admission review and notification procedures way before then. Before 2006, applicants found out when they found out; they had no way to track if other people had already heard from schools, and thus, there were no "assumed rejections." In my case, I wouldn't know that some people already had heard back from Ohio State, so I would have never contacted the office to ask what was going on. That also meant that the committees could take their time reviewing, finding funding, and making decisions in chunks, without worrying about messing with the minds of the applicants who hadn't heard back yet.

 

The question is, do we think that adcomms should change their protocols because GradCafe has changed the game? I have a hard time imagining universities and English departments bending to the will of some users on a website. I laughed out loud when Purdue emailed me to let me know that my application was complete. This was the last sentence of the email: "We want to emphasize the fact that, unless you receive a rejection notice from us, you most definitely remain a competitive applicant in our pool of potential candidates (even if other people are posting online that they have received offers from Purdue)." Purdue acknowledged the existence of the Results Survey on GradCafe, but also placed the onus of patience and understanding on me, the applicant. I thought that was an interesting way to deal with the still fairly new pressures brought upon by the Results Survey. If anything, that sentence helped me keep my cool when I saw the one Purdue English acceptance on the board a week or so ago.

Edited February 14, 2013 by proflorax

[wreckofthehope]

Apologies, donthate, I wasn't familiar with 'finalist' in this context- it essentially means 'candidate', then, given they haven't made rejections? It just seemed an oddly elaborate way of saying, 'not all decisions have been made yet'. And given that it is saying I am yet to be accepted, the invitation to open house bemused me. 

I think you're right to be a bit confused...it's not an outright acceptance, but it's an indication that you're pretty close to being accepted...I think it's a bit weird that they invite you to visit when they haven't quite decided if they want you, yet. It's not going to be easy, when you're located overseas, to justify going when you don't have an actual acceptance from them. 

[dazedandbemused]

Can anybody tell me what the hell the following means? I sent an email ( as everybody advises not to do.....) asking if decisions had been made re admissions, and received this in response....I assume it is CUNY telling me not to bug them during decision-making, right?

 

I am writing to let you know that you are a finalist for admission to the Ph.D. Program in English at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY).   We hope shortly to give you news about admissions and financial aid decisions for the coming year, although these decisions continue to be made through April 15th.  We will be emailing with periodic updates on our admissions process.  You are invited to join our Open House for Prospective Students on March 15. Please see the attached flyer.

 

Anyone else got this/ familiar with cryptic wording?

 

I would also advise strongly against going for the visit if they require you to pay for it yourself, especially since you haven't received an actual offer. I know someone who went through apps last year and was invited to a "finalist weekend" at a school in Chicago with the idea that acceptance was forthcoming. A few hundred dollars later, their POI announced his retirement and they received their rejection in the mail.

[DisplayCancel]

I think you're right to be a bit confused...it's not an outright acceptance, but it's an indication that you're pretty close to being accepted...I think it's a bit weird that they invite you to visit when they haven't quite decided if they want you, yet. It's not going to be easy, when you're located overseas, to justify going when you don't have an actual acceptance from them. 

 

 

I would also advise strongly against going for the visit if they require you to pay for it yourself, especially since you haven't received an actual offer. I know someone who went through apps last year and was invited to a "finalist weekend" at a school in Chicago with the idea that acceptance was forthcoming. A few hundred dollars later, their POI announced his retirement and they received their rejection in the mail.

 

Thank you both for responses, that's helpful. A trip to New York would not really be feasible, given that it would be very close to the deadline for my coursework.  I suppose it is heartening to hear I'm still in the running at least.

[InHacSpeVivo]

What helps me keep my sanity and empathy in this process is remembering that GradCafe has only existed since 2006, and I imagine most adcomms cemented their admission review and notification procedures way before then. Before 2006, applicants found out when they found out; they had no way to track if other people had already heard from schools, and thus, there were no "assumed rejections." In my case, I wouldn't know that some people already had heard back from Ohio State, so I would have never contacted the office to ask what was going on. That also meant that the committees could take their time reviewing, finding funding, and making decisions in chunks, without worrying about messing with the minds of the applicants who hadn't heard back yet.

 

The question is, do we think that adcomms should change their protocols because GradCafe has changed the game? I have a hard time imagining universities and English departments bending to the will of some users on a website. I laughed out loud when Purdue emailed me to let me know that my application was complete. This was the last sentence of the email: "We want to emphasize the fact that, unless you receive a rejection notice from us, you most definitely remain a competitive applicant in our pool of potential candidates (even if other people are posting online that they have received offers from Purdue)." Purdue acknowledged the existence of the Results Survey on GradCafe, but also placed the onus of patience and understanding on me, the applicant. I thought that was an interesting way to deal with the still fairly new pressures brought upon by the Results Survey. If anything, that sentence helped me keep my cool when I saw the one Purdue English acceptance on the board a week or so ago.

 

I was just thinking about this! I first applied to grad programs in 2005, and it was actually easier in some ways. All of my schools were snail mail, so I would be stressed out all day waiting for the mail, then once it came that was it for the day. Now it's a much more consistent anxiety. I think it also helped that I was in school and working (instead of just in an office), so I didn't have time to just ruminate on things.It's a definite give and take, though, because it's so nice to have people to discuss the process with who actually understand it!

 

Also, I LOVE that Purdue said that! It's making me feel better about Chicago, lol.

[champagne]

But if your waiter gives you shitty service, you're allowed to leave a shitty tip.

 

If we follow this conceit further, the "tip" you give these institutions is the amount of scholarship you contribute to the field with their name attached to your CV.

 

I don't know about you, but I plan on leaving a hefty tip.

[curbetty]

Can anybody tell me what the hell the following means? I sent an email ( as everybody advises not to do.....) asking if decisions had been made re admissions, and received this in response....I assume it is CUNY telling me not to bug them during decision-making, right?

 

I am writing to let you know that you are a finalist for admission to the Ph.D. Program in English at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY).   We hope shortly to give you news about admissions and financial aid decisions for the coming year, although these decisions continue to be made through April 15th.  We will be emailing with periodic updates on our admissions process.  You are invited to join our Open House for Prospective Students on March 15. Please see the attached flyer.

 

Anyone else got this/ familiar with cryptic wording?

I received the same email. So, it wasn't in response to your inquiries. I believe it means we are still in the running. . . i.e.., wait-listed. I don't know how I feel about flying to an open house without having been admitted, though. 

[Seungwon Kim]

I received the same email. So, it wasn't in response to your inquiries. I believe it means we are still in the running. . . i.e.., wait-listed. I don't know how I feel about flying to an open house without having been admitted, though. 

I also received the same mail. I think we've been wait listed (why can't they just say "waitlisted"?).

(not using my ID by the way; plz ignore status on the left).

 

Would love to be admitted, but I'm not willing to fly half around the earth only to be rejected ;(

Edited February 15, 2013 by Seungwon Kim

[thestage]

Apologies, donthate, I wasn't familiar with 'finalist' in this context- it essentially means 'candidate', then, given they haven't made rejections? It just seemed an oddly elaborate way of saying, 'not all decisions have been made yet'. And given that it is saying I am yet to be accepted, the invitation to open house bemused me. 

 

they have most certainly made rejections.  believe me, I know all about it.

[DontHate]

they have most certainly made rejections.  believe me, I know all about it.

 

You should become a rejection consultant, make bank.

[TripWillis]

How is that cryptic? You're a finalist. They're gonna let you know later if they accepted you and if they will fund you. Not much of a close-reader, are you?

You should practice being more of a dick to people before you start your program this fall. Programs really like that sort of thing. 

[Two Espressos]

You should practice being more of a dick to people before you start your program this fall. Programs really like that sort of thing. 

 

As for the general turn these threads have taken in the past few months: sorry, adcomms!

Edited February 15, 2013 by Two Espressos

[DisplayCancel]

I also received the same mail. I think we've been wait listed (why can't they just say "waitlisted"?).

(not using my ID by the way; plz ignore status on the left).

 

Would love to be admitted, but I'm not willing to fly half around the earth only to be rejected ;(

 

 

I received the same email. So, it wasn't in response to your inquiries. I believe it means we are still in the running. . . i.e.., wait-listed. I don't know how I feel about flying to an open house without having been admitted, though. 

OK, thanks both for responding, that makes things a little clearer. Yes, 'wait-listed' would have been more straightforward...I hope we all hear something soon. 

[Troppman]

Here's hoping for good news today!

[lewisthesamteenth]

Fingers crossed for the best of all news for everyone today! The days are growing longer: soon it will be Spring!

 

Here's to everyone getting in SOMEWHERE so that we can all enjoy the auspices of the coming season without neither dread nor loathing; here's to 100% confidence of acceptance; here's to Friday !

 

Courage, my friends !