Where are you applying for 2014?

[nickinthebox]

Hi all,

 

New cafe-er here.  I've applied to UBC, Queen's University (Canada), Aberystwyth, Leeds, Durham, Exeter, and King's College London.  I reached way too far on all 7 and am almost submitting to the fact that I won't be in school in the Fall.  Although, I did have some conversations with Aber and someone on the committee is a Phd alum from my current UG.  Hoping that helps, my GPA surely won't be helping....

 

Also, I noticed a few people applying to or accepted to OSU for geography.  That's my UG!  I know the staff pretty well (I've had a good bit of them, and I do my work study in the Geog office).  If anyone has any questions regarding anything in particular about the school or the department, I'd be happy to answer.

[ProfMoriarty]

3 rejections (2 PhD and 1 masters) from Penn State in the results page... This is terrifying lol

 

The masters rejection was so harsh :|

 

I applied to PSU as well and have not received notice from them. Even the status on the application web site hasn't changed. I hope this means good news for me,

Edited February 7, 2014 by paolaplease

[pohks]

Hi all,

 

New cafe-er here.  I've applied to UBC, Queen's University (Canada), Aberystwyth, Leeds, Durham, Exeter, and King's College London.  I reached way too far on all 7 and am almost submitting to the fact that I won't be in school in the Fall.  Although, I did have some conversations with Aber and someone on the committee is a Phd alum from my current UG.  Hoping that helps, my GPA surely won't be helping....

 

Also, I noticed a few people applying to or accepted to OSU for geography.  That's my UG!  I know the staff pretty well (I've had a good bit of them, and I do my work study in the Geog office).  If anyone has any questions regarding anything in particular about the school or the department, I'd be happy to answer.

Hi nickinthebox, welcome to the GC! I'll pm you regarding OSU - thanks!

 

The masters rejection was so harsh :|

 

I applied to PSU as well and have not received notice from them. Even the status on the application web site hasn't changed. I hope this means good news for me,

It seems that PSU has usually sent out rejections before acceptances (they are early this year). I'm keeping my fingers crossed for both of you.

Edited February 7, 2014 by pohks

[kay123]

jmu and LeoBixby, 

 

I am interested in working with Luke Bergmann and mentioned this is my essay. However, I haven't had any communication with Prof Bergmann himself (at any point). I don't know if that is going to bode well for me! I did contact one professor from another program I applied to, and received a response initially, but nothing since, so I wasn't sure whether it would help to contact Dr. Bergmann. 

 

Just really nervous at this point! Any updates so far? 

 

Cheers,

kay

[jmu]

Kay, the professor I know who graduated from UW had never spoken to Lucy Jarosz and was initially waitlisted. She ended up getting accepted and doing extremely well there. I wouldn't stress it just yet.

[LeoBixby]

jmu and LeoBixby, 

 

I am interested in working with Luke Bergmann and mentioned this is my essay. However, I haven't had any communication with Prof Bergmann himself (at any point). I don't know if that is going to bode well for me! I did contact one professor from another program I applied to, and received a response initially, but nothing since, so I wasn't sure whether it would help to contact Dr. Bergmann. 

 

Just really nervous at this point! Any updates so far? 

 

Cheers,

kay

Dr. Bergmann is really nice and I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you contacted him, but probably at this point I doubt it would have much of an effect on the deliberation process, because they are already deep into it.  It's driving me crazy.  I hope we find out on the earlier side of things, LIKE THIS WEEK!!!!

[Mcj7]

YorkU, UofT, CarletonU and Syracuse (PhD).

[SiSi26]

YorkU, UofT, CarletonU and Syracuse (PhD).

I also applied to U of Toronto and heard back. Any verdict?

Toronto is great because the guarantee funding for 4 years.

What do you think about Toronto? Is it your first choice? If so why if no why?

I also applied to UWO and Guelph Geography but nothing yet. I was told I should hear by end of Feb - early March.

[JM15]

Hi All-

 

I saw some PSU rejections are in. I have yet to see any change in my official status, but after emailing the department chair I received a less than optimistic reply. ("Your app is within the top third but we are not confident in the likelihood of you being funded, please keep in touch as the semester progresses")

 

Has anyone heard good news from OSU Master's program? The only acceptances I have seen have been to the PhD program (I convinced myself they decide on these before Master's admissions). I have seen several OSU Master's rejections on this site. My status still says "Pending" but I don't know if this means I have been waitlisted or that I have yet to be cut since to my knowledge no master's admissions have been granted. By the way, my research interests include climate change and glaciology. 

 

Good luck to all those still waiting and congrats to those who have been accepted. We should all get a prize for enduring this process.

[Mcj7]

I also applied to U of Toronto and heard back. Any verdict?

Toronto is great because the guarantee funding for 4 years.

What do you think about Toronto? Is it your first choice? If so why if no why?

I also applied to UWO and Guelph Geography but nothing yet. I was told I should hear by end of Feb - early March.

 

No news so far--my status is somehow shows documents pending, why UofT = theoretical and geopolitical. 

[SiSi26]

No news so far--my status is somehow shows documents pending, why UofT = theoretical and geopolitical. 

Theoretical and geopolitical are important for PhD so good to know.

Do you know anything about the other schools? UWO / Guelph?

Do let me know if you are admitted and decide to go. Good luck!

[Mcj7]

Theoretical and geopolitical are important for PhD so good to know.

Do you know anything about the other schools? UWO / Guelph?

Do let me know if you are admitted and decide to go. Good luck!

 

Thx, I do not know much about UWO/Guelph, sorry. Sure I will let you know, good luck.

[Mcj7]

Finally I am on my computer (been traveling and was on the phone for the last couple of days.

SiSi26, I went to SU so I am quite familiar with Cornell--amazing location, beautiful campus and (everyone already knows but let me say it too, Cornell is a Great School). We have our family reunions in State College, PA every year, so Penn State as a school and the campus (and State College area) is awesome. I have been to Wisconsin Madison three times (my friends studied there) and again great place (if you like extreme cold like I do, it is even better). I think you said you are from UofT and got an offer (great news) so no need say anything about that. I am not familiar with other schools. 

Cheers.

[geographyrocks]

Hi All-

 

I saw some PSU rejections are in. I have yet to see any change in my official status, but after emailing the department chair I received a less than optimistic reply. ("Your app is within the top third but we are not confident in the likelihood of you being funded, please keep in touch as the semester progresses")

 

Has anyone heard good news from OSU Master's program? The only acceptances I have seen have been to the PhD program (I convinced myself they decide on these before Master's admissions). I have seen several OSU Master's rejections on this site. My status still says "Pending" but I don't know if this means I have been waitlisted or that I have yet to be cut since to my knowledge no master's admissions have been granted. By the way, my research interests include climate change and glaciology. 

 

Good luck to all those still waiting and congrats to those who have been accepted. We should all get a prize for enduring this process.

OSU is DEFINITELY the right school for glaciology.  The chair of the department I'm in still works with OSU and travels to several glaciers to retrieve ice cores.  It's really fascinating work.  If I didn't hate the cold so much, I might have went that direction. 

However, I hear OSU is really hard to get into due to popularity.  I do think the majority of Masters candidates aren't notified until later.  Good luck! 

[ProfMoriarty]

I am DYING waiting to hear from UW-Madison :'(

 

Did anyone else apply to Oxford?

[obviousbicycle]

I am DYING waiting to hear from UW-Madison :'(

Me too!

 

The longer the wait, the less confident I feel about getting accepted...

[SiSi26]

Finally I am on my computer (been traveling and was on the phone for the last couple of days.

SiSi26, I went to SU so I am quite familiar with Cornell--amazing location, beautiful campus and (everyone already knows but let me say it too, Cornell is a Great School). We have our family reunions in State College, PA every year, so Penn State as a school and the campus (and State College area) is awesome. I have been to Wisconsin Madison three times (my friends studied there) and again great place (if you like extreme cold like I do, it is even better). I think you said you are from UofT and got an offer (great news) so no need say anything about that. I am not familiar with other schools. 

Cheers.

 

I am DYING waiting to hear from UW-Madison :'(

 

Did anyone else apply to Oxford?

I just got an email from Richard Keller at UW-Madison referring to the Development Studies program I applied to (with Geography as the discipline of focus). He says "you are definitely admissible to the program. However, we have had a more difficult time finding an appropriate advisor for you, and in particular, finding secure funding for you. We are extremely reluctant to admit students without funding and without a firm commitment from an advisor. If we are able to find these, we will let you know, but funding appears to be difficult. I would advise you to go with Toronto if they have secure funding for your program."

I would advise that if you are applying to PhD programs make sure you have supervisor(s) confirming that they want to work with you and if you can, confirm that they also have funding / a research project you can work on. Even though the whole Department has an agriculture focus at UW, which is what I am interested in…still nothing. UW-Madison, was my weakest application because the supervisor enthusiasm was not there. Cornell has a supervisor that I definably want to work with and has funding. Penn State has a supervisor, but the funding is uncertain so we will see what they come back with.

Good to know that State College is nice, I was skeptical with a name like that. Ithaca is also not too far from my home, and well Cornell is a GREAT school like you said so thanks for the positive feedback. But I hate the cold more than anything…

Fingers crossed people!!

Edited February 10, 2014 by SiSi26

[ProfMoriarty]

I just got an email from Richard Keller at UW-Madison referring to the Development Studies program I applied to (with Geography as the discipline of focus). He says "you are definitely admissible to the program. However, we have had a more difficult time finding an appropriate advisor for you, and in particular, finding secure funding for you. We are extremely reluctant to admit students without funding and without a firm commitment from an advisor. If we are able to find these, we will let you know, but funding appears to be difficult. I would advise you to go with Toronto if they have secure funding for your program."

I would advise that if you are applying to PhD programs make sure you have supervisor(s) confirming that they want to work with you and if you can, confirm that they also have funding / a research project you can work on. Even though the whole Department has an agriculture focus at UW, which is what I am interested in…still nothing. UW-Madison, was my weakest application because the supervisor enthusiasm was not there. Cornell has a supervisor that I definably want to work with and has funding. Penn State has a supervisor, but the funding is uncertain so we will see what they come back with.

Good to know that State College is nice, I was skeptical with a name like that. Ithaca is also not too far from my home, and well Cornell is a GREAT school like you said so thanks for the positive feedback. But I hate the cold more than anything…

Fingers crossed people!!

I applied to the masters program and corresponded with someone I'm interested in working with. She doesn't have funding, but said she'd be willing to be my advisor......

[SiSi26]

I applied to the masters program and corresponded with someone I'm interested in working with. She doesn't have funding, but said she'd be willing to be my advisor......

That is definably more optimistic then with the supervisor. I hope you included their name in the application.

That is also similar to my situation at Penn State.

I just got a long email from Clare Hinrichs at Penn State, Rural Sociology saying I have been admitted, but the funding is TBD because not able to offer a graduate assistantship. Meaning they might know more in two weeks time and will get back to me...

[pohks]

Has anyone heard good news from OSU Master's program? The only acceptances I have seen have been to the PhD program (I convinced myself they decide on these before Master's admissions). I have seen several OSU Master's rejections on this site. My status still says "Pending" but I don't know if this means I have been waitlisted or that I have yet to be cut since to my knowledge no master's admissions have been granted. By the way, my research interests include climate change and glaciology. 

Have you tried to click the button that says "show more information on status"? My status says "pending" as well, but on the other page there is more information (I applied for the PhD program).

 

Just my two cents, but MA/MS admissions might be granted after they know how many of their fellowship nominees receive financial support from the graduate school and thus have a better overall view of their financial situation.

 

Congrats to Kansas State admits!

 

P.S. I absolutely dislike the admission portal of U Illinois saying: "Congratulations! Your application has been successfully submitted."

Edited February 11, 2014 by pohks

[nickinthebox]

Re: OSU MA/MS - I have personal knowledge that the top candidates have been offered, the bottom have been rejected.  Everyone else is in that limbo stage where they wait on either some sort of funding or those waiting on those who have been accepted to decline

[JM15]

Have you tried to click the button that says "show more information on status"? My status says "pending" as well, but on the other page there is more information (I applied for the PhD program).

 

Just my two cents, but MA/MS admissions might be granted after they know how many of their fellowship nominees receive financial support from the graduate school and thus have a better overall view of their financial situation.

 

Congrats to Kansas State admits!

 

P.S. I absolutely dislike the admission portal of U Illinois saying: "Congratulations! Your application has been successfully submitted."

The information I received was that only the very top applicants (those they sent to the OSU Graduate School as Fellowship nominees) have been admitted. The remaining applicants who have not yet been denied do not have a concrete date of notification. It all depends on how many of the department's nominees received funding from OSU, and how many spots/departmental funding remains. When I click on more information it just says something about my application has been sent to the department for review. While the website says applicants are notified by March of their status, I do not know if this still applied to the pending applicants. I believe University Fellowships aren't granted until mid-March, so this could be a long and tortuous process haha. I hope you receive good news soon.

[SiSi26]

Hi friends,
I have some decisions about two  Geography Phds. Choice between University of Toronto / University of Western Ontario. I have a confirmed funding amount from UofT but not yet from UWO because they are trying to improve the offer.

 

Supervision - is similar at both schools. I have two supervisors at each: all related to what I want except one supervisor at UWO is from the community I want to do field research in. One supervisor at UofT has a project there as well but she is a scientist and Im interested in human geography. Spoken to students who have worked with all of these supervisors and I have only received good news about them.

 

Funding -will be similar with the possibility of UWO being a bit more. I have been told that the UofT program takes about 5 years but only have money for 4, not sure for UWO yet.

 

Community / culture- UofT is big and very intimidating. I had a really really good time at the lab at UWO

 

Reputation: UofT is a better department reputation wise than UWO

 

City - no competition, Toronto is better than London ON

 

Support - there are two other faculty (making 4) who I would like to work with at UofT, at UWO there are only 2 that I can say. But the administration at UWO is much better than UofT.

 

There is also the issue of academic incest with UofT, meaning I already have a degree from there….

 

You can see my dilemma right? What would you do and why? If you are not sure, tell me what more information you would need to make the decision?

[Mcj7]

I will go with the one that provides better funding, unless one of those school who provide less funding is your "dream" school, than go with that one. 

[kay123]

So... how does is work with U of W? Haven't heard anything from them, no interview, nothing.. will I just see a status change on the web portal? For candidates who've been accepted in the past, how has the process been?