a_for_aporia Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 Okay, pure speculation. Berkeley has been so busy grooving to the mellow tunes of Rick Astley that it's slowed down their notification process. They'll be in touch with me tomorrow. amiright? Assuming you do get an offer from Berkeley, would you pick them over Arizona?
PreciselyTerrified Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 Assuming you do get an offer from Berkeley, would you pick them over Arizona? I doubt I'll get an offer from Berkeley. If I did, there's no telling. If I get accepted somewhere else, I will research the departments more, talk to the teachers and students, see what course offerings I can expect, compare the funding, etc. Arizona has an awesome program. I want to make the best all-things-considered decision when the time comes (if I have a decision to make). a_for_aporia 1
Page228 Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 I rickrolled Berkeley. They had a place to put a YouTube link. I couldn't help it... I love this. Congrats to all on the acceptances! PreciselyTerrified 1
Euromaniac Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 Man oh man, I wish I got the news you guys have! Congratulations!
psm1580b Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 Okay, pure speculation. Berkeley has been so busy grooving to the mellow tunes of Rick Astley that it's slowed down their notification process. They'll be in touch with me tomorrow. amiright? Be careful, although Rick Astley would never let you down, I'm not so sure about Berkeley... B. Blumenstrauss 1
Cecinestpasunphilosophe Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 Damn it. Now the song's stuck in my head. B. Blumenstrauss 1
kant_get_in Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 There was a lot of action yesterday. Should we anticipate a slow(er) day today?
Infinite Zest Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 It's still early in the day... Maybe things will pick up in the afternoon.
sidevans Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 It's still early in the day... Maybe things will pick up in the afternoon. Of the likely candidates to release this week that haven't yet: UNC has released on a Wednesday (2014), Friday (2013), and Friday (2012), so there's still a decent chance that they'll release this week University of Wisconsin, Madison has released on a Tuesday (2014), Wednesday (2013), and Wednesday (2012), so they're still a possibility for this week (though they have some variability - they didn't release until the 16th in 2013) UC Riverside has released on a Thursday (2014), Friday (2013), and Friday (2012), so I think there's a good chance they'll release today or tomorrow UChicago always releases on a Friday, and it hasn't been any later than the 10th, so I suspect they'll release tomorrow UC Irvine has released on a Thursday (2014), Saturday (2013), and Tuesday (2012), so they're pretty random in terms of day of the week, but the latest they've released is the 10th, so there's still a good chance they'll release today or tomorrow University of Connecticut, Storrs has released on a Thursday each of the past three years, but with a lot of variability for date, so if they don't release today, we'll probably have to wait at least another week University of Indiana, Bloomington has released on a Thursday (2014), Wednesday (2013), and Friday (2012), so they're also pretty random in terms of days of the week, but they were about two weeks later than usual last year, so it's hard to say whether that was anomalous or a new trend So the data's a bit hard to interpret, but I'd expect Riverside and UChicago to release today or tomorrow, as well as a couple of the others. Additionally, there have been a number of surprises this year from schools releasing earlier than expected, so there may be a few I didn't list that also release over the next few days. B. Blumenstrauss and a_for_aporia 2
riverstyx Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 Ok, so does anybody know what is going on with the one University of Minnesota acceptance? Should I take that to mean they have released all of their acceptances now, or that they are releasing them a few at a time? Same for Berkeley...two acceptances only.
sidevans Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 Minnesota and Berkeley appear to have a pretty similar procedure, judging by past years: they send out wait list notifications after finishing with acceptances. There's often a bigger gap between these with Minnesota than with Berkeley. So while I don't think we can conclude that Minnesota is done sending out acceptances yet, the Berkeley wait list likely means that they are finished. It is a bit surprising to only see two Berkeley acceptances, but say they accept 10 applicants initially: 2 notifications on the results page, 2 or 3 that are a little slow at uploading them, and 5 or 6 that don't use the gradcafe. That doesn't sound too crazy to me.
riverstyx Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 (edited) Minnesota and Berkeley appear to have a pretty similar procedure, judging by past years: they send out wait list notifications after finishing with acceptances. There's often a bigger gap between these with Minnesota than with Berkeley. So while I don't think we can conclude that Minnesota is done sending out acceptances yet, the Berkeley wait list likely means that they are finished. It is a bit surprising to only see two Berkeley acceptances, but say they accept 10 applicants initially: 2 notifications on the results page, 2 or 3 that are a little slow at uploading them, and 5 or 6 that don't use the gradcafe. That doesn't sound too crazy to me. It seems for Minnesota that at least 2 acceptances should post out of, say, 10. While I think it is important to judge each school by how it releases acceptances and waitlists in past years, it also seems that several schools are sending out acceptances over a period of several days, like Arizona. So while I agree that Berkeley is probably finished with its acceptance and wait lists, Minnesota is probably still sending out acceptances, like you said. Edited February 5, 2015 by riverstyx
sidevans Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 (edited) It seems for Minnesota that at least 2 acceptances should post out of, say, 10. While I think it is important to judge each school by how it releases acceptances and waitlists in past years, it also seems that several schools are sending out acceptances over a period of several days, like Arizona. So while I agree that Berkeley is probably finished with its acceptance and wait lists, Minnesota is probably still sending out acceptances. At least, that's my interpretation. Agreed. However, many schools that send out acceptances over a period of a few days do so consistently from year to year. Just to look at Minnesota's behavior from the past three years: 2014 - First acceptance 1/31, last acceptance 1/31, first wait list 1/31, last wait list 1/31 2013 - First (and only) acceptance 2/1, first wait list 2/11, last wait list 2/11 2012 - First (and only) acceptance 1/27, first wait list 2/6, last wait list 2/6 It's a bit hard to say how their acceptances work since there have been so few posted over the last few years. What we can say is that there's never been a year in which different initial acceptances from Minnesota were reported to come on different days. This isn't conclusive, of course. Minnesota also appears to use an enormous wait list, though it seems to have been scaled back a bit last year. They also have a fairly small number of PhD students - 25 current, by my count. So it's possible they only look for 4 or 5 to enter each year. It's hard to tell whether they may be still sending out acceptances (as you note, this is hard to judge or confirm with any certainty), but it certainly looks like they haven't yet released a wait list. It also seems that, many years (but not 2014), 1 or 2 people get in off the wait list. Edited February 5, 2015 by sidevans
riverstyx Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 (edited) It's a bit hard to say how their acceptances work since there have been so few posted over the last few years. What we can say is that there's never been a year in which different initial acceptances from Minnesota were reported to come on different days. This isn't conclusive, of course. Minnesota also appears to use an enormous wait list, though it seems to have been scaled back a bit last year. They also have a fairly small number of PhD students - 25 current, by my count. So it's possible they only look for 4 or 5 to enter each year. This strongly suggests to me that there will not be any more posted Minnesota acceptances. It also suggests that Minnesota only offers a few acceptances, at least initially. I think that if a greater number of people got in, we would likely see a few more posts. But that's not the case here. The best to hope for now is the waitlist. Alas, if I cannot get on the waitlist or get into Minnesota, it will be a difficult year for me, because most of the schools I applied to are somewhat more highly ranked than Minnesota. Edited February 5, 2015 by riverstyx
sidevans Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 This strongly suggests to me that there will not be any more posted Minnesota acceptances. It also suggests that Minnesota only offers a few acceptances, at least initially. I think that if a greater number of people got in, we would likely see a few more posts. But that's not the case here. The best to hope for now is the waitlist. Alas, if I cannot get on the waitlist or get into Minnesota, it will be a difficult year for me, because most of the schools I applied to are somewhat more highly ranked than Minnesota. I think that's the most likely interpretation of what's happening with Minnesota. It is worth noting, though, that admission is determined so much by fit and luck that where you get accepted doesn't necessarily track department rank very well at all. In other words, keep hope alive! a_for_aporia 1
riverstyx Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 I think that's the most likely interpretation of what's happening with Minnesota. It is worth noting, though, that admission is determined so much by fit and luck that where you get accepted doesn't necessarily track department rank very well at all. In other words, keep hope alive! Well, I foolishly put in my personal statement that I was interested in the philosophy of science and wanted to specialize in it. Foolish, because I have absolutely no background in science outside of philosophy. My undergrad major was at a continental school, and my master's, which I'm finished with as of last semester, was in Analytic. But I didn't have an undergrad or grad science major, so I'm sure that hurt me a little. Fortunately at other schools I put a different interest-ethics-and those schools are strong in that area. We'll see what happens! sidevans 1
Edit_Undo Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 Minnesota and Berkeley appear to have a pretty similar procedure, judging by past years: they send out wait list notifications after finishing with acceptances. There's often a bigger gap between these with Minnesota than with Berkeley. So while I don't think we can conclude that Minnesota is done sending out acceptances yet, the Berkeley wait list likely means that they are finished. It is a bit surprising to only see two Berkeley acceptances, but say they accept 10 applicants initially: 2 notifications on the results page, 2 or 3 that are a little slow at uploading them, and 5 or 6 that don't use the gradcafe. That doesn't sound too crazy to me. Isn't it the case that many schools send acceptances with fellowship nominations first and then they send other acceptances?
sidevans Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 Isn't it the case that many schools send acceptances with fellowship nominations first and then they send other acceptances? True, many schools do this. But for Berkeley and Minnesota in particular, I can't find a non-wait list acceptance past the date on which they release wait list decisions.
Edit_Undo Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 True, many schools do this. But for Berkeley and Minnesota in particular, I can't find a non-wait list acceptance past the date on which they release wait list decisions. For Minnesota, if you look at 2012, the acceptance with fellowship nomination (which was posted late) was on Jan 27th, while the first acceptance without mentioning a fellowship was on Feb 3rd. Also, the only acceptance this year suggested a nomination for a fellowship in the comment. Ritwik 1
sidevans Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 You're right, I must have missed that one. Sounds like they probably release fellowship acceptances before non-fellowship acceptances. Ok, new version of Minnesota's procedure: acceptances can happen at any time until wait list decisions are released (with fellowship acceptances coming first), but once wait list decisions go out, no more acceptances. Thanks for the tip!
An0416 Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 I have been lurking for a while now, and have finally decided to join in! Hello! a_for_aporia, philstudent1991 and reixis 3
riverstyx Posted February 6, 2015 Posted February 6, 2015 You're right, I must have missed that one. Sounds like they probably release fellowship acceptances before non-fellowship acceptances. Ok, new version of Minnesota's procedure: acceptances can happen at any time until wait list decisions are released (with fellowship acceptances coming first), but once wait list decisions go out, no more acceptances. Thanks for the tip! I think that's the best we can piece together for now, but I'm not so sure about the fellowship funding being over with. It is certainly possible, but I don't think we should assume that because in the past years the first acceptance without a fellowship mention got posted in early February that that thereby means that person did not get a fellowship. I think that would be premature. Some people just don't want to post more than the minimum. It's too difficult to read into what the people on the boards are trying to say and what they are deliberately leaving out, and for what reason(s). Edit_Undo and isostheneia 2
ianfaircloud Posted February 6, 2015 Posted February 6, 2015 Just a note to people who applied to WUSTL and have NOT (yet) been rejected: Last year, I noted that a non-rejection from WUSTL could be taken as good news. At the time that I posted about WUSTL, I commented that a friend had not received the rejection. This friend was later admitted to WUSTL, though I can't remember how many days passed between the rejections and this friend's notification of admission. Bottom line: If you applied and have not been rejected, you may end up at WUSTL this fall. Let's hope so! Ritwik 1
ianfaircloud Posted February 6, 2015 Posted February 6, 2015 I've just been rejected by WUSTL I can't tell whether you're joking. Do you mean that right after I posted this optimistic note of encouragement, you were rejected by WUSTL?
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