Fall 2014 Applicants

[kdavid]

NEN, did Princeton call you or did you receive an email?

[catsandscarves]

Do most acceptances come in the form of an email/call from a POI/DGS? I found my first time around that normally when they told me to log-in to the website I was being rejected.

[levoyous]

I'd say there is no way to know.  He or she has given you all the information that is in his power.  But they're also aware that you are applying to other places that may admit you with better funding packages.  I know a lot of academics who would feel the moral obligation to tell a student to take such a package.  I remember calling a place to withdraw my application after I got into somewhere higher on my list and they told me if I had turned down the ivy to go to that place they would have questioned my sanity.

 

YMMV.

 

BTW, since it hasn't come up before.  As acceptances come in, if you get into someplace that you would definitely go to over places where you haven't heard yet gotten a decision, you should withdraw the other application.  Many programs with tight budgets can only afford to offer so many acceptances and once the offer is made can not make another if you don't come.  They just loose the slot.

 

That is to say that if you applied to 8 schools and you get into your 3rd ranked school, you should withdraw at least your 6th, 7th, and 8th ranked applications.

 

I'm glad you brought up this last point, because the idea of cruising through to the end to collect trophies is definitely appealing. How horrible if that prevented someone else from getting in!

[New England Nat]

I'd expect an email.  That's how it's traditionally done here.  From a department someone followed by professors.

[catsandscarves]

I'd expect an email. That's how it's traditionally done here. From a department someone followed by professors.

Would you say that's Princeton or just in general?

Edited January 27, 2014 by catsandscarves

[levoyous]

Hm, Hopkins acceptance on January 27th, posted on the 26th. Fake? Mistake? International applicant?

[catsandscarves]

Hm, Hopkins acceptance on January 27th, posted on the 26th. Fake? Mistake? International applicant?

Could be those things or one POI reaching out

[New England Nat]

I can't speak for in general.  The question was about Princeton.

 

Emails, phone calls, snail mail, emails directing you to check a website.  All possible.

 

Some departments are more disciplined than others about PoI reaching out before official decisions.  Within half an hour of my acceptance letter coming I had three emails from professors, so presumably they were told when the email would go out.  But I have friends who were told by PoI directly and were waiting for official word.

 

One thing you should all be aware of is a social psych concept called "footholding".  Once you get your first acceptance, you start thinking about it as real, and you start making plans, so much so that you start measuring other programs against the ideal that you get in your head about the first one.  The departments know this, that's why every year the first wave of applications seems to start coming a few days earlier and earlier.  You need to seriously evaluate later offers with this in mind.

 

I didn't end up going to my first choice, not because I didn't get in, but because Princeton had a month to sell themselves to me while the other program still hadn't made decisions.  I didn't make the wrong decision, but I do sometimes wonder if I shouldn't have let the other guys have longer to try and sell themselves to me.  I was also dealing with some serious "of course you'll go there" pressure from my masters program profs.

Edited January 27, 2014 by New England Nat

[levoyous]

Could be those things or one POI reaching out

 

I meant posting a date that hasn't arrived yet. Easy mistake to make, I guess.

[New England Nat]

Yeah, people are posting to the results board when they are giddy and excited.  There will be plenty of typos.

[levoyous]

NEN, do you know how common it is for grad students and professors to poke around on here? Was just reading a somewhat alarming thread where several people were talking about being identified as posters by their adcoms.

[catsandscarves]

NEN, do you know how common it is for grad students and professors to poke around on here? Was just reading a somewhat alarming thread where several people were talking about being identified as posters by their adcoms.

Also is it a bad thing to be identified?

[catsandscarves]

NEN, do you know how common it is for grad students and professors to poke around on here? Was just reading a somewhat alarming thread where several people were talking about being identified as posters by their adcoms.

Link?

[New England Nat]

It's not uncommon in some departments.  I have one friend who as a grad student stopped giving advise here because someone in his/her department felt like they were spending too much time here.  But I wouldn't assume that all the adcoms are poking around here.  They have enough work to do reading your applications to go looking for trouble.  Like all professional forums I wouldn't say anything here that you wouldn't put your name on publically.

 

I operate under the assumption that I'm pretty identifiable if you picked up clues I've dropped in different contexts.

[levoyous]

I think it starts on this page of the political science admissions thread:

 

It didn't sound like it had negative results for these people, and I wouldn't be ashamed of being identified. Just a little awkward, especially if someone brought it up.

 

There's some heavy adcom/grad student posting on the political science thread; I could see how some depts might find that inappropriate.

[New England Nat]

My read of that thread is that it is more representative of the culture of PoliSci departments.  But as always don't say unprofessional things online, undercover of anonymity or not.

[Fresno]

one more Minnesota acceptance... seems I will receive a fabulous rejection letter today   

[Zephyr99]

Can anybody claim the UC- Santa Barbara acceptance? It seems rather odd for that to come this early. I posted this same question on the Results thread but that doesn't seem to have taken off. 

[angelayar]

It seems likely that if you didn't get a Harvard interview, you didn't get in? I see two up there now, including an email asking for interview from way back in early January.

[djp2]

It seems likely that if you didn't get a Harvard interview, you didn't get in? I see two up there now, including an email asking for interview from way back in early January.

My interview (which I forgot to upload to the results page) was very informal, and my POI indicated that professors have no input with the adcom beyond ranking the candidates in their field and submitting that list for consideration. The interviews aren't formally conducted by the adcom but are arranged at each professor's individual initiative. Or at least that's the impression I got. So your POI could have chosen not to conduct interviews for whatever reason. I wouldn't presume that if you haven't gotten an interview you're out of the running.

[angelayar]

Thanks for your response! :-) still not confident but useful to know that

[kyjin]

Saw a handful of USC acceptances on the results board this morning, and just wanted to offer congrats to whoever they may be! If you have any questions about the program, feel free to shoot me a PM.

[A Finicky Bean]

Anyone know when Duke will post rejevtion notices to our sites?

[starpoweroverme]

Though I have never posted, I feel an obligatory sense of duty to inform other prospective students on the brink of insanity of the following:

 

In a brief (email) conversation with the Graduate Specialist at UIUC, I have learned  the admissions committee will be finalizing their decisions this Saturday. 

 

Best of luck with everyone's pending aneurysm. 

[phdwannab]

Hey! Does anyone know how many interviews a school usually does for the number of slots they have? So for example, if they admit 25, around how many would they interview?