Waitlist Etiquette

[philosophia14]

I posted this in the acceptance thread, but figured it would get lost in there really quickly. What is the etiquette protocol for finding out info about the waitlist one is on? Is it okay to ask the DGS how long/where you are in the waitlist or is it best to stoically wait for the magical phone call?

[ianfaircloud]

I posted this in the acceptance thread, but figured it would get lost in there really quickly. What is the etiquette protocol for finding out info about the waitlist one is on? Is it okay to ask the DGS how long/where you are in the waitlist or is it best to stoically wait for the magical phone call?

 

REPOSTED from other thread:

 

If you've been wait-listed, it's completely appropriate to ask what that means for you. Ask to know the length of the wait-list and your position in line. Some departments have unranked wait-lists. I think, e.g., Harvard's list is short and unranked. But it's neither inappropriate nor unexpected for applicants to ask these questions.

[philosophia14]

Thanks Ian! I'll send off an email later today. Any thoughts on why there are so many ND accepts in TGC compared to other years? I'm a little bit baffled. Normally I'd understood they only accepted 10.

[DHumeDominates]

Thanks Ian! I'll send off an email later today. Any thoughts on why there are so many ND accepts in TGC compared to other years? I'm a little bit baffled. Normally I'd understood they only accepted 10.

 

I was actually quite surprised to be accepted to ND. To answer your question: maybe it had a very small incoming class last year and wants to make up for it this year. But I really have no idea.

[Griswald]

REPOSTED from other thread:

 

If you've been wait-listed, it's completely appropriate to ask what that means for you. Ask to know the length of the wait-list and your position in line. Some departments have unranked wait-lists. I think, e.g., Harvard's list is short and unranked. But it's neither inappropriate nor unexpected for applicants to ask these questions.

Is this what your advisors have told you? Because I've heard differently.

[Golem]

Is this what your advisors have told you? Because I've heard differently.

 

I've been back and forth about how I should reply back to a department that wait listed me. Is there anything else you can share about what your advisor said (and any rationale)?

 

Hopefully this will help me make up my mind about what to do.

[Griswald]

My advisor said that I should thank the person who notified me and that's it. He said that if I haven't heard anything more by the beginning of April, then it would be okay to contact someone in the department to ask about the likelihood of receiving an offer.

Edited February 21, 2014 by aduh

[Golem]

My advisor said that I should thank the person who notified me and that's it. He said that if I haven't heard anything more by the beginning of April, then it would be okay to contact someone in the department to ask about the likelihood of receiving an offer.

 

Thanks for your response. That seems like a reasonable approach and I'll give it a shot.

[ianfaircloud]

Is this what your advisors have told you? Because I've heard differently.

 

Yes, but feel free to do what your advisors tell you to do.  In fact, common sense suggests that departments would be more than happy to answer very reasonable questions from those who they have on their wait-lists. Remember, they want you to attend, or they would have offered a precious spot to one of the other three hundred people on their list. Right? But maybe I'm missing something here. I'm not being sarcastic. I may be missing something. Maybe there's something I'm not thinking about, etc. Do you know why your advisors have said otherwise?

 

(By the way, a thank you to Philosophia14 for starting this helpful thread!)

[philosophia14]

Anything to help the local philosophy admissions ninjas, Ian Faircloud.

Edited February 21, 2014 by philosophia14

[PhD applicant]

. . . But maybe I'm missing something here. I'm not being sarcastic. I may be missing something. Maybe there's something I'm not thinking about, etc. . . .

 

LOL, I'm not being sarcastic, there's something funny about this.

[objectivityofcontradiction]

Re: Wait-lists, I have been told by friends already in PhD. programs that it is okay to ask questions about the wait-list generally, and I suppose you could ask where you are 'ranked' if they do such a thing. But I think some times Wait-lists aren't ranked by 'best student left,' and more along the lines of this: 'Well, we just had 3 students with interests in epistemology choose elsewhere; these two on the wait-list have an interest in epistemology, and we do want students in that area from this class, so lets go with them, over the students who are interested in moral, because we already have three confirmed accepts from that contingent.' 

[ianfaircloud]

Re: Wait-lists, I have been told by friends already in PhD. programs that it is okay to ask questions about the wait-list generally, and I suppose you could ask where you are 'ranked' if they do such a thing. But I think some times Wait-lists aren't ranked by 'best student left,' and more along the lines of this: 'Well, we just had 3 students with interests in epistemology choose elsewhere; these two on the wait-list have an interest in epistemology, and we do want students in that area from this class, so lets go with them, over the students who are interested in moral, because we already have three confirmed accepts from that contingent.' 

Yes. Harvard is an example.