2015 Waitlist Thread

[kosmo]

Declined Queen's (Canada). They have a waitlist, from what the DGS told me. 

[Nastasya_Filippovna]

All speculation. I did respond to the email from UW Madison to acknowledge receipt and ask if any more information was available, all she said was that she doesn't have any more information but should know my position on the wait list closer to April? Definitely not holding my breath.

lol, I decided to contact DGS yesterday after posting about speculation!! She basically said the same thing, she said it is a "roll of the dice"! Just so frustrating bec I would love to start beginning my solid plans- as we all would at this point. Are waitlists how the concept of purgatory was created?

[riverstyx]

So UW Madison us being very tight lipped about their wait list. Hopefully more info will be available in another few weeks. Qualiafreak, what is your AOI, if you don't mind me asking? Is it philosophy of mind?

[qualiafreak]

So UW Madison us being very tight lipped about their wait list. Hopefully more info will be available in another few weeks. Qualiafreak, what is your AOI, if you don't mind me asking? Is it philosophy of mind?

You guessed it! Philosophy of Mind and Cog Sci are my primary interests. Also to a lesser extent Philosophy of Science and Epistemology.

[riverstyx]

lol, I decided to contact DGS yesterday after posting about speculation!! She basically said the same thing, she said it is a "roll of the dice"! Just so frustrating bec I would love to start beginning my solid plans- as we all would at this point. Are waitlists how the concept of purgatory was created?

I think practically speaking we can infer a few general things about our chances. Like if Russ Shafer-Landau is leaving, that is going to flush a lot of ethics people out who are going to go elsewhere. And whether or not their list is divided by AOI, if they have a lot fewer ethics people on board compared to last year, that will free them up to take some waitlisted people from other areas too. So I think it works out either way. I think Nastasya that they are deliberately being tight-lipped because they just don't want to divulge any information. As you can imagine, I think that they have a *little* bit of an idea who they want off of their list and in what specific order. There's no way it's just a "roll of the dice," despite what the DGS said. For some reason, they just don't want to show their hand yet, at least not this early. But I do believe that people declining their offers in ethics and the several people (now more than three) on the forum here who have declined wait list spots, plus Precisely_Terrified, who indicated she declined an acceptance offer from UW Madison, bodes well.

[Nastasya_Filippovna]

I think practically speaking we can infer a few general things about our chances. Like if Russ Shafer-Landau is leaving, that is going to flush a lot of ethics people out who are going to go elsewhere. And whether or not their list is divided by AOI, if they have a lot fewer ethics people on board compared to last year, that will free them up to take some waitlisted people from other areas too. So I think it works out either way. I think Nastasya that they are deliberately being tight-lipped because they just don't want to divulge any information. As you can imagine, I think that they have a *little* bit of an idea who they want off of their list and in what specific order. There's no way it's just a "roll of the dice," despite what the DGS said. For some reason, they just don't want to show their hand yet, at least not this early. But I do believe that people declining their offers in ethics and the several people (now more than three) on the forum here who have declined wait list spots, plus Precisely_Terrified, who indicated she declined an acceptance offer from UW Madison, bodes well.

I concur 100% with you! And in a way, I respect the fact that they are being a tad enigmatic at the moment- until things are more decisive, I'd rather not have my hopes too high. None of my AOIs involve ethics, which of course puts me at a disadvantage if the waitlist is divided (I'm phil mind and language, and to a lesser extent epistemology, and then 19th century continental). At this point I think we must all should do what my dad says- hope for the best and expect the worst! haha!

[riverstyx]

I concur 100% with you! And in a way, I respect the fact that they are being a tad enigmatic at the moment- until things are more decisive, I'd rather not have my hopes too high. None of my AOIs involve ethics, which of course puts me at a disadvantage if the waitlist is divided (I'm phil mind and language, and to a lesser extent epistemology, and then 19th century continental). At this point I think we must all should do what my dad says- hope for the best and expect the worst! haha!

I mean, maybe I'm just an optimist, but I think your areas of interest do not put you at a disadvantage, because in addition to ethics and philosophy of science, they probably want a diverse incoming class as well. I don't think they just want to concentrate in those two areas, because then the range of interests of the class would be too narrow. I think it will work out for you that there are probably fewer people in philosophy of mind and language applying to Wisconsin than in ethics and philosophy of science, so if their wait list is AOI-divided, that will help you. Just my two cents.

[slarcos]

Has anyone been able to get ahold of someone regarding their application status at UCLA? I noticed that they sent out a bunch of rejections on 4/15 last year and I would rather accept rejection now than continue to wishfully think I'm on their internal waitlist. 

[overoverover]

Has anyone been able to get ahold of someone regarding their application status at UCLA? I noticed that they sent out a bunch of rejections on 4/15 last year and I would rather accept rejection now than continue to wishfully think I'm on their internal waitlist.

I emailed them yesterday. I was told I was still under consideration and that an offer was unlikely but possible.

[leveluptbc]

I emailed them yesterday. I was told I was still under consideration and that an offer was unlikely but possible.

 

Same thing they told me. I think the way they run their admissions is unbelievably awful.

Edited March 13, 2015 by leveluptbc

[overoverover]

I'm assuming the email was a form letter, and that they won't change it to reflect position on the waitlist. I'm not optimistic about my odds (and yeah, I'm not a fan of the way they run things, though I've heard good things about the department more generally).

[cogsguy]

I got waitlisted at Arizona a few days ago. Hope it works out!

[Nastasya_Filippovna]

Waitlisted at UW-Milwaukee and declined it- hope this helps somebody out!!

[salvaeveritate]

@ overoverover and leveluptbc, who did you e-mail at UCLA to solicit a response?

[leveluptbc]

@ overoverover and leveluptbc, who did you e-mail at UCLA to solicit a response?

 

Despite what the website says, you should email John Carriero. That's to whom my email was forwarded.

[slarcos]

Despite what the website says, you should email John Carriero. That's to whom my email was forwarded.

 

I emailed the "Philosophy Counselor" and received a response in about 24 hours. I'm still under consideration as well so I'm not really sure what to make of my situation. 

[salvaeveritate]

Thanks for the info on who to contact for UCLA. Hoping for the best! Relatedly, has anyone successfully solicited an update from UT Austin? I'm not sure who I should e-mail at that department.

 

Sorry for asking these questions that are slightly off topic from the main point of this thread. fwiw, I am number 4 on the waitlist for UC Irvine LPS. I'm assuming my chances are extremely low.. (though I do have an offer from U of T for a direct entry PHD, which I'd probably take over irvine in any case.)

Edited March 15, 2015 by salvaeveritate

[riverstyx]

I emailed one of the schools I applied to and was told I was just put on the wait list. The director of graduate admissions said s/he doesn't expect the wait list to budge substantially before the end of next week, and s/he said I should swing by then and s/he would "fill me in" (I live very close to the school and am currently a masters student there in philosophy applying for the PhD. I appreciated the offer to fill me in, but I'm slightly confused. Is this a positive sign or a negative sign. From what s/he said the wait list will budge significantly by the end of next week, so does that mean I may get an acceptance, or just that I won't get an acceptance by then, but they'll have a better idea of where I stand and will talk to me about it?

[sar1906]

I emailed one of the schools I applied to and was told I was just put on the wait list. The director of graduate admissions said s/he doesn't expect the wait list to budge substantially before the end of next week, and s/he said I should swing by then and s/he would "fill me in" (I live very close to the school and am currently a masters student there in philosophy applying for the PhD. I appreciated the offer to fill me in, but I'm slightly confused. Is this a positive sign or a negative sign. From what s/he said the wait list will budge significantly by the end of next week, so does that mean I may get an acceptance, or just that I won't get an acceptance by then, but they'll have a better idea of where I stand and will talk to me about it?

You wrote s/he DOESN'T expect it will budge, and then "from what s/he said the wait list WILL budge."  Which is it?  If she doesn't expect it will budge then she doesn't expect they will be able to extend you an offer, but you can stop by to double-check. 

Edited March 15, 2015 by sar1906

[riverstyx]

You wrote s/he DOESN'T expect it will budge, and then "from what s/he said the wait list WILL budge."  Which is it?  If she doesn't expect it will budge then she doesn't expect they will be able to extend you an offer, but you can stop by to double-check. 

S/he said s/he doesn't expect it will budge *before* the end of next week (the week ending March 20th). S/he said come in Thursday or Friday (March 19th or 20th) and s/he will "fill me in."

[sar1906]

S/he said s/he doesn't expect it will budge *before* the end of next week (the week ending March 20th). S/he said come in Thursday or Friday (March 19th or 20th) and s/he will "fill me in."

Gotcha. Well it sounds like it could go either way. Depends on how much movement there is on the wait-list.

[riverstyx]

Gotcha. Well it sounds like it could go either way. Depends on how much movement there is on the wait-list.

Yeah, I take it as (slightly) positive news. I think she wouldn't have invited me in if she were going to tell me something negative, because there would be no need to and she offered completely of her own initiative. So hopefully I'll at least know my position on the wait list by the end of next week. Hopefully.

[sar1906]

Yeah, I take it as (slightly) positive news. I think she wouldn't have invited me in if she were going to tell me something negative, because there would be no need to and she offered completely of her own initiative. So hopefully I'll at least know my position on the wait list by the end of next week. Hopefully.

 

I mean, it sounds like she genuinely doesn't know, which means you'll just have to check and see when the time comes.

[overoverover]

Waitlisted at UConn, with "pretty reasonable" chance of admission.

[isostheneia]

Waitlisted at UConn, with "pretty reasonable" chance of admission.

 

Congrats, I'm really pulling for you. Hope it turns out well.