ianfaircloud Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 I just received word of my rejection from UVA. This is really so very depressing. I had a mediocre application last year, and I was waitlisted. This year, I have a much better application, and I was flat-out rejected. This is not a good sign. I've applied and been rejected at all the schools I applied to a few times before, and I don't think I have the stamina to go through this ever again. Realistically I have five schools I am waiting on, and two of those already started sending out acceptances: University of British Columbia and University of Western Ontario. My application credentials arrived a little late due to customs inspection in Canada, but they were very forgiving. I saw that UBC released an acceptance the other day about 10 days after releasing its first few, so I'm keeping my hopes up. The graduate secretary there was very insistent that I get my official transcripts in to her, so who knows, maybe they're interested in my application. She said I would hear my decision when it's available and that that would likely be before the end of March (the UBC philosophy website says decisions go out by the end of March, too). I have a waitlist from Miami, and the person who emailed it to me said my application was "very strong" and that I am one of the ones they would "love" to admit. He said they've gone to the waitlist every year for the past several years and anticipate doing so again this year. Sounds like I'm near the top of the waitlist, right? But the other day someone posted an acceptance to Miami off of the waitlist. I emailed the admissions contact to see if there was any movement on my application, and he said that these things go until close to April 15th because most people decide last minute. I'm not an overly anxious person and so this is hardly consuming my life. But I do get discouraged easily. And this is very discouraging. The fact that I didn't get into UVA is a bad sign. I don't know why they rejected me, but if this is indicative of the way things are going to go, it will be a very hard application season for me. I completely "get" the frustration. It's hard to react in a way that honors your feelings without alienating the people who are shut-out altogether. Two years of applications and not a single admission-- I get that. But look, you still have time (assuming you applied to some of the programs that haven't yet released). And, as an encouragement: you must be a good applicant to have been wait-listed by UVA last year and by Miami this year. You know how many people apply; even a wait-list is a high honor. I hope Miami comes through for you. I concur with the other posts that suggest you should be optimistic. It *is* very common for programs to go through the wait-list. Programs do *not* like to give false hopes, in my experience. I'm very optimistic for you, and I hope you'll keep us informed. Good luck, my friend. Duns Eith, Needle in the Hay, NathanKellen and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franzkafka Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 My application season thus far can be accurately summed up as follows: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/The_Scream.jpg Me too. a_for_aporia 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verificationist Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 I just received word of my rejection from UVA. This is really so very depressing. I had a mediocre application last year, and I was waitlisted. This year, I have a much better application, and I was flat-out rejected. This is not a good sign. I've applied and been rejected at all the schools I applied to a few times before, and I don't think I have the stamina to go through this ever again. Realistically I have five schools I am waiting on, and two of those already started sending out acceptances: University of British Columbia and University of Western Ontario. My application credentials arrived a little late due to customs inspection in Canada, but they were very forgiving. I saw that UBC released an acceptance the other day about 10 days after releasing its first few, so I'm keeping my hopes up. The graduate secretary there was very insistent that I get my official transcripts in to her, so who knows, maybe they're interested in my application. She said I would hear my decision when it's available and that that would likely be before the end of March (the UBC philosophy website says decisions go out by the end of March, too). I have a waitlist from Miami, and the person who emailed it to me said my application was "very strong" and that I am one of the ones they would "love" to admit. He said they've gone to the waitlist every year for the past several years and anticipate doing so again this year. Sounds like I'm near the top of the waitlist, right? But the other day someone posted an acceptance to Miami off of the waitlist. I emailed the admissions contact to see if there was any movement on my application, and he said that these things go until close to April 15th because most people decide last minute. I'm not an overly anxious person and so this is hardly consuming my life. But I do get discouraged easily. And this is very discouraging. The fact that I didn't get into UVA is a bad sign. I don't know why they rejected me, but if this is indicative of the way things are going to go, it will be a very hard application season for me. As the others said, don't despair yet. Maybe you're not the right fit for the departments that have said no and that's all. If it helps at all, I'll definitely reject my offer from U of Miami if I get an offer from any of three places that still haven't released offers, or if I am made an offer off the waiting list from another place that I'm waiting on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roast beef Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 (edited) Could the person who posted the McGill acceptance provide any more information? Was it a personalized email and, if so, who did it come from? Congrats on getting in, seems like a really interesting program. edit: Would also be curious to know if you're Canadian. Edited February 25, 2015 by roast beef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil-life Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 (edited) Could the person who posted the McGill acceptance provide any more information? Was it a personalized email and, if so, who did it come from? Congrats on getting in, seems like a really interesting program. edit: Would also be curious to know if you're Canadian. I received an official email including the admission letter! The graduate program director sent the email to me. And yes, I'm a Canadian permanent resident. Edited February 25, 2015 by phil-life Phil2015 and roast beef 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverstyx Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Why would CUNY post rejections before giving out acceptances and wait lists? It doesn't make sense.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidevans Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Why would CUNY post rejections before giving out acceptances and wait lists? It doesn't make sense.... It is odd for them, but some schools (notably WUSTL) use this procedure every year. My understanding is that it's often used when a school decides on a group of applicants to either accept or waitlist, rejecting everyone else before settling on who gets accepted and who gets waitlisted. It's hard to say, though, without a pattern of them using this procedure year after year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidebysondheim Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 I talked about this with one of my profs and the procedure makes sense. Notify all the people you know you're not going to accept, so they know while you continue deliberating on who is the best. Ritwik 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNaturalist Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Riverstyx: don't worry too much yet. A lot of the admissions process for many schools has to do with the AOS of the students, not just the perceived quality. Some of the smartest graduates I have met from any school got rejected at plenty of places, just because the departments "didn't need another student working on x". This is exactly right. Graduate admissions committees are very, very concerned with "fit" and the AOS/research interests of applicants plays a huge role in who gets in and who doesn't. Even if all of the very best applicants are, say, epistemologists, they are not going to have an incoming class of only epistemologists. And so very qualified people inevitably end up getting rejected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooSerious Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Like many of you I've been paying constant attention to the results and discussion. Just wanted to say "Hi" and ask some questions. When does Cornell typically release their offers/rejections? I've not heard from some schools who have made offers and rejected people. Is it more likely that I am on a wait-list, in a "maybe pile", rejected, or my application has not even been reviewed yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Bauer Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 (edited) Like many of you I've been paying constant attention to the results and discussion. Just wanted to say "Hi" and ask some questions. When does Cornell typically release their offers/rejections? I've not heard from some schools who have made offers and rejected people. Is it more likely that I am on a wait-list, in a "maybe pile", rejected, or my application has not even been reviewed yet? Cornell: 2014 - Feb 28. Last week of Feb, Friday 2013 - Feb 25-26. Last week of Feb, Monday 2012 - Feb 27-28. Last week of Feb, Monday 2011 - Feb 23. Last full week of Feb, Wednesday 2010 - Feb 23. Last full week of Feb, Tuesday If I was a betting man, I'd wager we should hear from Cornell today or Friday. To your second question, some schools have an internal waitlist. A stack of people they don't want to reject but they for whatever reason don't publicize their waitlist. As such it could still be a rejection or an acceptance but you might not know for a bit. I doubt that they have not looked at your application prior to sending out notifications of any sort, but I may be wrong. It seems to vary greatly by school. Edited February 25, 2015 by Matt Bauer Duns Eith and Phil2015 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a_for_aporia Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Like many of you I've been paying constant attention to the results and discussion. Just wanted to say "Hi" and ask some questions. When does Cornell typically release their offers/rejections? I've not heard from some schools who have made offers and rejected people. Is it more likely that I am on a wait-list, in a "maybe pile", rejected, or my application has not even been reviewed yet? https://philosophyadmissions.wordpress.com/predictions/ flybottle and Duns Eith 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philstudent1991 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 https://philosophyadmissions.wordpress.com/predictions/ Wow some of those were right on the money, and most were in the right neighborhood. Nice work isostheneia 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verificationist Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Now that I think of it, it would be MADNESS for the faculties to tell you even where you are on the waiting list, let alone publish the names. Even if they only told the person at the top it would have so much potential to wreak havoc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philstudent1991 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Now that I think of it, it would be MADNESS for the faculties to tell you even where you are on the waiting list, let alone publish the names. Even if they only told the person at the top it would have so much potential to wreak havoc. how so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverstyx Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 It is odd for them, but some schools (notably WUSTL) use this procedure every year. My understanding is that it's often used when a school decides on a group of applicants to either accept or waitlist, rejecting everyone else before settling on who gets accepted and who gets waitlisted. It's hard to say, though, without a pattern of them using this procedure year after year. I talked about this with one of my profs and the procedure makes sense. Notify all the people you know you're not going to accept, so they know while you continue deliberating on who is the best. Maybe, but let's not forget that some schools release their rejections in waves, too. It may be that CUNY is going to release their rejections over the next few days, and not just today, and then they will release their acceptances and finally waitlists. University of Virginia released acceptances and waitlists, and then rejections over a several-day period this year, so there is precedent for this. So just because someone (like me) didn't hear a rejection from CUNY today, doesn't mean s/he won't hear a rejection over the next week as they deliberate and narrow down their pool of acceptances and waitlists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidebysondheim Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Well... yeah. Rejecting applicants as they determine who is the best fit for their program/who they most like/what have you. Perhaps I should say, Notify all the people you know you're not going to accept when you know that you're not going to accept them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Bauer Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 can anyone confirm the Cornell that just went up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ineedwine Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 https://philosophyadmissions.wordpress.com/predictions/ I have not heard anything from Oregon or Toronto yet. I know some people have, but they must really stretch out their notifications. I'd really like to see my rejections already! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverstyx Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Well... yeah. Rejecting applicants as they determine who is the best fit for their program/who they most like/what have you. Perhaps I should say, Notify all the people you know you're not going to accept when you know that you're not going to accept them. The predictions for CUNY were spot-on last year, and I think CUNY will come out with acceptances on Friday just like they're predicting this year. So probably more CUNY rejections tomorrow, and then acceptances on Friday, and waitlists over the the next one or two weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreciselyTerrified Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Congrats, all! Accepted to Madison. A: Madison, Toronto, Penn, UCSD, Arizona W: Chapel Hill R: Duke, Brown, and probably a bunch of other ones unofficially wandajune, CNK 80Q3, ianfaircloud and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temporal Parts Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 I have not heard anything from Oregon or Toronto yet. I know some people have, but they must really stretch out their notifications. I'd really like to see my rejections already! Oregon's website says mid to late February. So, we should find out in the next three days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverstyx Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Congrats, all! Accepted to Madison. A: Madison, Toronto, Penn, UCSD, Arizona W: Chapel Hill R: Duke, Brown, and probably a bunch of other ones unofficially Congratulations to you! Are you in England, or the Continent? It says that it was added tomorrow, February 26th (I'm on the East Coast in America). PreciselyTerrified 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IWokeUpLikeThis Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Waitlisted at Cornell. Accepted at UC Riverside. Will almost surely take myself off of the waitlist, and turn down UC Riverside. Hope this helps someone. PreciselyTerrified 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidebysondheim Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Congrats, all! Accepted to Madison. A: Madison, Toronto, Penn, UCSD, Arizona W: Chapel Hill R: Duke, Brown, and probably a bunch of other ones unofficially Congrats!! PreciselyTerrified 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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