Committee on Social Thought

[Mark Tully]

Anyone care to claim one of the two acceptances? When did the email come out?

[Enjay]

I, too, would like to know.  The impression I get from looking through the archives is that people aren't told all at once, but with two acceptances out of a possible five, that's a big dent in the pool right away.

[cavorting]

No other news? Those two came early compared to previous years if true. Last week of Feb/ first week of March seem more typical. 

[frantz]

Called a couple of weeks ago, and was told end Feb/1st wk March was when decisions will be sent out. That was the official word anyway.

[oneofthoseusers]

 Called a couple of weeks ago, and was told end Feb/1st wk March was when decisions will be sent out. That was the official word anyway.

 

Might have been Master students who are already there.

Edited February 19, 2015 by oneofthoseusers

[frantz]

Just an update: spoke to the Coordinator for the Comm today, who says we'll hear back by end of this week and that decisions have been made. But was cagey about whether offers have been made, and told me I couldn't get my status over the phone. But surmising now, just from results page, that if we haven't heard back, it's a rejection.

[Enjay]

It's aggravating to not knowing one way or the other.  Social Thought was my #1 program and I thought I stood a decent chance, that is up until the point when the application started asking me things like whether or not I had ever been a Rhodes scholar or a Fullbright.  

 

Thanks for the update, though.  I don't know if it's typical for programs to be this cagey, but I'm in a PhD group on FB where some people have heard acceptances or waitlists from a program and others have applied, heard nothing, and continue to hear nothing.  It makes me wonder if it's policy for programs to keep a particularly long waitlist "just in case."

[Mark Tully]

Anyone have any updates? I thought we were supposed to hear on Friday.

[Enjay]

Sent 'em an e-mail late Thursday night inquiring about my application status.  No reply as of yet.  But then there's another program I've been waiting on an e-mail from since the 20th of February.  Such seems to be the waitlist/rejection limbo.

[Enjay]

So, I'm a patient boy, but not all of the time.  I decided to call them up today to help get my bearings on some things.  The woman who answered was helpful, but seemed as if she had other things she'd rather be doing and so I didn't drop my own name or the fact that I'd been accepted into other PhDs or that Social Thought remains my #1. I did not ask them about the status of applications or when/whether decisions have gone out either, figuring that would be a lost cause.

 

Here's what I did learn!:

 

* There is not a "quota" so to speak regarding specializations.  Multiple acceptances can be made within a single specialization.  It comes down to the committee's decision on what to do with the applicants.

* The specialization through which they receive the most applications is philosophy, by a good margin.  Didn't ask for breakdowns elsewhere, but philosophy is definitely tops there.

* I asked if things like Rhodes and Fullbright scholarships really mattered all that much as far as making the decision.  This was the toughest question for her to answer, she said, because the application pools vary so much year to year and there are only around 125 applicants, so sometimes they get a few or more of those, sometimes they don't.  There's no telling whether or not you'll be stacked up against an applicant with those kind of credentials.

* Accepted applicants get flown out to the University for an introduction.  My question as phrased was whether or not they did interviews based off a field of candidates once they narrowed it down, and so she clarified in her response that when the accepted applicants were brought in, it wasn't really a formal interview as such.  Nevertheless, got the impression that that they didn't screen applicants in that way but rather made decisions based off the materials provided in the application.

 

May this information be of some use to someone.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Enjay

[cavorting]

Thanks very much for sharing what you got from contacting the university! Looks like there isn't a fixed date when they're going to send out all replies sadly. 

[Enjay]

Just got the official rejection, expect that others will be getting theirs soon enough as UChicago seems to be sending out a bunch of them this afternoon.

[Mark Tully]

Sorry to hear the news, enjay. I still haven't heard anything. I guess I'll get my rejection tomorrow? Do they not send them all out at once?

[Enjay]

Not sure.  I figured based off past research we were approaching the deadline and as I submitted my info, I saw a slew of other Chicago-based rejections.

 

I thought I presented an interesting research concept, but if the committee isn't into the idea, it can't be helped.  That I haven't had any formal teaching experience or many fellowships might've worked against me though; my application was basically high test scores, high BA/MFA grades from respected institutions, and a killer writing sample.  I don't think anyone posting on here past or present appears to have a clear idea of what they're looking for.

[cavorting]

OK so according to an email they should send out all responses by 10 March. Just got my rejection, sadly.