Waitlists

[iwantgradz]

I was so shocked to hear I'd been waitlisted for a Phd at my top choice school - that normally admits about 6-8 students each year. I never received a letter or email so I called to find out about my status, and was told I'd been waitlisted. The person who answered the phone also expressed surprise that I hadn't received a letter... I'm guessing it got lost in international mail. Either way, I would loooooove to attend as it is an amazing program and fully funded.

It sucks to have to wait... I'm drafting an email right now to find out about the waitlist procedures. Any advice?

[jferreir]

I'm on the waitlist of my top choice school as well. I was told by the graduate coordinator that the university requires them to wait until April 15 to act on the wait list. Does this mean that I'll have to wait until the last day to decide whether to accept other offers or not? Is this common? I always thought I would hear their final decision by April 15 at the lastest.

jferreir, I understand how you feel right now, in or out, makes a huge differece. I saw that you have at least one other secured offer, and things will work themselves out eventually Good luck!

Ahh, that frightens me... I also thought that April 15th was the latest we would receive a response - not the earliest! Unfortunately, the one school I've been accepted to offered minimal funding, so I'm 110% sure I can't afford it. I'm still struggling to pay my gov't loan, my bank loan, and my line of credit. At this point, all I see is red :cry:

Can anyone confirm this April 15th nonsense?

[illinoisellie]

I was wondering if anyone here knows about accepting an offer to one school, and then (perhaps) not going to that school if a waitlist spot opens up....???

Does accepting an offer automatically take you off of the waitlist at the other school?

(yeah, i know - probably not, but I had to ask!)

Will accepting an offer and then not going give you a black spot?

(I am also guessing no, because if other schools admit waitlisters until august, someone must have signed up and then dropped out)

I was accepted into a masters program. I had three days of blissful de-stress-ful-ness! Then, the PhD program contacted me and now I'm on a waitlist - and I'm FREAKED OUT AGAIN!!!

I want to know who was accepted into the school so I can email them a "well, you really don't want to go to this program" letter...

But supposedly some accepted people weren't offered much funding, so hopefully they'll drop - I think I can last a year with an outside job and no funding....

[LadyL]

Can anyone confirm this April 15th nonsense?

My understanding is that if the school is part of the Council of Graduate Schools (http://www.cgsnet.org/Default.aspx?tabid=102) then they require that students make decisions on funded offers by April 15. This applies to people already offered funded admissions. People who are accepted without funding or wait listed are not bound to the same time line.

In my situation, if enough offers get declined by April 15th, I could get in with departmental funding. However if that doesn't happen but they decide to admit more students based on grant funding coming in, grant decisions are made in May, so I expect to hear as late as May or June potentially.

[iwantgradz]

i just received an email from the dept administrator stating that the acceptance rate was cut due to the financial crisis and that they are using a waitlist for the first time. I should expect to hear back after April 15 when the committee convenes to consider responses to offers.

[meg0822]

I'm waitlisted at Umass Boston. I was told I'm number 2 on the list. I REALLY want to go to this school. But a few months ago the DGS had told me the year before no one declined their acceptance there. And this year since every program is cutting their acceptances I think that those who were accepted will go some place else..

I don't have much hope

[whateverneveram3n]

So, if you were in my position, would you feel confident? What would you do to help yourself sleep at night?

Well, I would start by having a drink.

I'm also stressing out waiting to hear from a school, so, I feel your pain. I've been averaging about 5 hrs of sleep a night for the past month. Hopefully we both get some good news...and can return to normal, healthy sleep habits.

[leetchisgod]

Hopefully it posts a response this time around. Good news, for me, and possibly for many of you. I was on the wait list at Alberta, and I got accepted. Not only accepted but also received a great scholarship package, at least 21k each year for the next 4 years, which is great for a Canadian school. But yea, wait list doesn't necessarily mean the end of the world, especially in terms of funding. Yay!

[Await]

Congratulations!

I'm presently surprised that I'm vicariously happy for you ; )

[leetchisgod]

Thanks. Good luck to everyone still waiting, there's still hope!

[jinyuan]

It felt like i was on death row, waiting for the governor to call to and praying to God I would be granted clemency. when the call finally came, i got a stay of execution.

I'm joining the game late, but you can add me to the wait list.

Got wait listed two days to my first and only choice, seems kind of late, and I was told by the graduate secretary that replies for the first round of admissions would be in by the third week of April and the next round of admissions, (for those on the wait list) will start in early May. I was also told the wait list is not "formally" ranked, probably put this in here so I dont send an email asking about my rank.

The email sounded warm and not vague at all, it almost seemed like a last minute chance given to me to wow them into accepting me, and I did my best by sending a reply, stating that I had acquired a further credential that could help my research. dont know if it would help but gave it a try.

anyways, to all those sharing my pain, lets hope the governors call and give us all clemency!

[zoberg]

Madison Comp Lit program has put all applicants, except those offered fellowships, on the wait list until after April 15, when they'll know who's taking fellowships, and when they'll finally send out acceptances and rejections. I think it's horrible of them.

[ajesusj]

Only 59 results posted to day so far...activity is slowing. 2 days before the deadline.

[dherres]

Only 59 results posted to day so far...activity is slowing. 2 days before the deadline.

Want some activity on here, at least?

I'm still waitlisted at my (now) top choice (1st choice put me in their MA program). As of last Thursday, they were still waiting to hear back from one last girl -- she was off visiting another school for a different program and would have a decision over the weekend. If she turned down their offer, the department would reconvene today (Monday) to decide who to draw from the waitlist pool (apparently it's not a ranked list, although I was told otherwise two months ago by one of the faculty).

I haven't heard anything. Maybe she did accept their offer? Maybe they sent out an offer to someone else on the list and there's still the possibility that that person will turn it down as well, forcing them to reexamine the waitlist and (hopefully) me?

It's not yet time to start counting down to the 15th by hours..... is it?

[ajesusj]

almost there....

[azul123]

have any of you been lucky enough to get off the wait list and accepted?

[Await]

I started this thread with hope, but here's my update. May the rest of you have better luck! I think the longer it takes for you to hear, the better!

End game for me.

Received the standard email directing me to a decision on "ApplyYourself".The decision began "We regret to inform you. . ." When I saw the email I figured it was bad news on the heels of the "high yield" email from above and the fact that the original waitlist decision said we'd be notified after May 15th. I also read a tweet (oh yes the admissions person is on Twitter!) around April 15th commenting on having 40-some people at the admit weekend, which is close to the target program number. From the letter it sounded like they're not going to the waitlist at all this year-- which is quite different than last year, when they took 11 people. Makes applying next year a bit more nerve wracking. . .

But there is a blessing in disguise! I had started to think that a different program (well they're considered "tracks" within the M.Ed) is a better fit for me. And now instead of being anxious about that on top of everything, I have plenty of time to figure it out! At least they make the admissions process easier when reapplying. . .

And to end on a personal note: I got engaged this winter, so it has been a very happy spring with the exception of this. I'm surprisingly relieved. And of course my fiance is happy to have me stick around. I might just be taking off immediately after our wedding NEXT summer. . .

For your sake I hope I don't see you on this forum next year, but all the same, it would be fun to recognize some names. I've been surprised by how supportive, insightful, and just damn good people have been here. Thank you all for reading and especially for commenting! Best of luck to you!