2009 Acceptance

[rising_star]

Hal, if you're at AAG, you should go to the talks and parties of the departments you're interested in. I'm not sure where you've applied but a lot of the older PhD programs have parties. Signs will be posted somewhere.

[taa]

I found out about being accepted to OSU's MA program in early Feb. I still haven't heard about ra/ta possibilities. The website these decisions are made known until 15 March. Has anyone heard about funding at OSU????? I am dying here!

[sarah_bear]

Has anyone heard from UPENN: Masters of urban spatial Analytics ???

(gis / urban studies program)

penn school of design said notifications would be sent out 3.23 and other programs in penn design have heard!

just wondering if there are any other MUSA applicants out there.

thanks

sarah

[hhw]

Has anyone gotten any response from UBC? I've emailed twice (once last week, once this week) to ask about my status since i'll have to respond to other schools soon, but I haven't gotten any reply. My application status online simply says "received."

[smt]

Has anyone gotten any response from UBC? I've emailed twice (once last week, once this week) to ask about my status since i'll have to respond to other schools soon, but I haven't gotten any reply. My application status online simply says "received."

Yeah, I heard...: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=17229

It doesn't seem hopeful.

[xiaoman]

UBC told me that I was admitted on March 17. They asked me to respond by March 27. I'd assume they are now going through their waitlist?

[hhw]

smt -- I got the identical email from UBC, but for the MA program. (after having to email them 3 times in 2 weeks before I got a response -- why didn't they just send those out 2 weeks ago when they contacted the first round instead of making us beg for an update? sheesh.)

For my own sanity, I have chosen to interpret this as equivalent to a rejection (the language of the email is clearly avoiding saying that, but I think it's likely, in my case) I am curious now to see how long before an official rejection is sent, if ever.

[smt]

Ah, nevermind. I got an official rejection letter from UBC in the mail...which was sent out before they sent me that ambiguous email. So, speaking of why they couldn't just be straight about what the answer was instead of being all confusing...

So, it's official, I will be at Rutgers next year. I feel fortunate to have gotten an offer with funding in this economy. But I don't understand how it was that I spent weeks reading mountains of the papers that certain professors wrote so that I could send out really smart sounding email introductions, and then went and visited four schools, and sending thank yous and corresponding with folks a lot only to have all four of those schools reject me and to have the two that I never even contacted accept me with offers. Go figure :? I guess maybe visiting isn't really all that important.

[rising_star]

smt, my advisor always says that sometimes prospective students help their cause by visiting before decisions are out and sometimes they sink their own chances. Not saying this is what happened but, sometimes on a visit, people realize that the research fit isn't there...

Congrats on Rutgers. It's a fantastic program.

[smt]

smt, my advisor always says that sometimes prospective students help their cause by visiting before decisions are out and sometimes they sink their own chances. Not saying this is what happened but, sometimes on a visit, people realize that the research fit isn't there...

Congrats on Rutgers. It's a fantastic program.

Thanks! I am excited and grateful. I only wish I was closer to some really big mountains...

Who knows what really happened during my visits? I learned a lot in the process and I would do a lot of things different if I had to do it again. Visits seem to be highly encouraged, but if there is some bitterness in my tone it is only because I think sometimes professors don't respect the sacrifice of time and money that a visit requires. I know people are busy, but in some cases I thought that by reading the email that I spent hours writing someone may have saved me the trip. Instead, in some cases, I was encouraged to visit and THEN told that the prof was going in a different direction or just flat out ignored when I got there. I could definitely use some of those hundreds of dollars and weeks of my life back.

[rising_star]

smt, this is why I always advise prospective students not to visit until after they've been accepted to a program. That said, my advisor and dept chair get a huge kick out of the fact that they are the only program that I did not visit last year and I still decided to enroll. (I had met both of them beforehand and had extensive email and phone conversations with my advisor's students before committing.) Visiting isn't all it's cracked up to be, though I did have a great time on all my visits because the programs were paying (I had already been admitted with funding).

I actually hate NJ but Rutgers isn't a bad place. One of my advisor's former students works there now and you're a train ride from NYC, which is never a bad thing. Hope to see you at AAG in DC since apparently I didn't see you in Vegas (or didn't know if I did).

[eagle-bear]

Ironically, as a non-geographer (BSc Double Major Environmental Ecology and Anthropology from UBC), the only programs I got into were in geography. I guess I will probably take the offer from Geography at the University of Toronto.

Can someone "in the know" geography-wise tell my anything about the reputation of U of T's geog department? I know nothing!

[smt]

wow, everyone disappeared. I don't really know that much about how to rank some of these programs, but I think U of T is considered an excellent program in Geography. It's probably the second best in Canada and would likely be considered in the peer group of most top tier Geography programs in the US or UK as well. Perhaps others would disagree with that assesment, but I think you have found yourself in a very good program. Congrats!

[design_survivor]

As we quickly approach April 15th-- I have one last question.... UCLA?! Has anyone heard from them/did anyone apply there? I've seen no results posted for this year at all... but maybe I'm just the only one. Anyway, just checking in-- much luck to you all.

As for U Toronto-- all I can says is I've had friends go there (not for Geography) and they love it and especially the city-- so enjoy if you decide to head north!

[eagle-bear]

It's probably the second best in Canada

Let me guess, 2nd to the university I just came from (UBC)? Sometimes this whole process feels like a big game of snakes and ladders. Thanks for the info!