2015 Waitlist Thread

[overoverover]

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

Thanks, friend. It's been a lackluster admissions process for me, but I'd absolutely love to go to UConn.

[Cecinestpasunphilosophe]

Thanks, friend. It's been a lackluster admissions process for me, but I'd absolutely love to go to UConn.

I'm glad things have finally started to look up for you, overoverover! Congrats!

[DontFly]

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 just realized you were talking about UW Madison.

Well... this may be a bit awkward for me, but... I'm pretty sure the reason she can't say anything is because their visiting days are 19-20. If there will be any movement, it'll be after the visits. They are only taking 5 students this year, and all 5 of us are visiting, which makes it doubly hard to judge (because people who don't visit probably are not really interested in going). Once they see us, they might have a slightly better idea.

(I don't know if this is at any degree helpful, though. Personally, I'm super undecided. But if I do turn it down, I'll do so before April so others have enough time to plan ahead.)

[Edit_Undo]

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

Congrats Overoverover! I'm really happy for you! I hope you get admitted soon.

Edited March 16, 2015 by Edit_Undo

[overoverover]

Thanks, everybody!

Also, Edit_Undo: just saw you're in at Calgary. I know one of the profs there quite well (he was my advisor at BU), and so I can say with pretty high confidence that if philosophy of language is your thing, Calgary is a great choice.

[Nastasya_Filippovna]

I just realized you were talking about UW Madison.

Well... this may be a bit awkward for me, but... I'm pretty sure the reason she can't say anything is because their visiting days are 19-20. If there will be any movement, it'll be after the visits. They are only taking 5 students this year, and all 5 of us are visiting, which makes it doubly hard to judge (because people who don't visit probably are not really interested in going). Once they see us, they might have a slightly better idea.

(I don't know if this is at any degree helpful, though. Personally, I'm super undecided. But if I do turn it down, I'll do so before April so others have enough time to plan ahead.)

So she said they are only accepting 5? Yikes that's not very encouraging for us who are waitlisted! I was hoping more like 10 so the odds would be greater!

[salvaeveritate]

If you are put on a waitlist, is it appropriate to ask them for a general idea of the funding prospects if you were to be accepted?

[flybottle]

If you are put on a waitlist, is it appropriate to ask them for a general idea of the funding prospects if you were to be accepted?

 

Yes.

[herenowagain]

If you are put on a waitlist, is it appropriate to ask them for a general idea of the funding prospects if you were to be accepted?

Many programs won't accept unfunded grad PhD students. So you might automatically get funding if you can get off the wait list.

[Duns Eith]

If you are put on a waitlist, is it appropriate to ask them for a general idea of the funding prospects if you were to be accepted?

Yes, I second what flybottle and herenowagain said.

 

However it might be worth noting that many programs don't have an exact word on funding to tell quite yet: e.g. "last year it was...", which is likely available on their website.

[riverstyx]

I just realized you were talking about UW Madison.

Well... this may be a bit awkward for me, but... I'm pretty sure the reason she can't say anything is because their visiting days are 19-20. If there will be any movement, it'll be after the visits. They are only taking 5 students this year, and all 5 of us are visiting, which makes it doubly hard to judge (because people who don't visit probably are not really interested in going). Once they see us, they might have a slightly better idea.

(I don't know if this is at any degree helpful, though. Personally, I'm super undecided. But if I do turn it down, I'll do so before April so others have enough time to plan ahead.)

So only five students? That means the odds of any one student getting in off of the wait list are pretty slim, considering that Madison has a huge wait list and will probably only accept 2-3 at most off of that list. Not very encouraging is right. Incidentally how do you know Madison is only accepting five students this year?

[salvaeveritate]

Yes, I second what flybottle and herenowagain said.

 

However it might be worth noting that many programs don't have an exact word on funding to tell quite yet: e.g. "last year it was...", which is likely available on their website.

 

Thanks all for the advice. The idea was that if the funding was very low, I would take myself off the waitlist, since I have a real offer with very good funding already. And I wouldn't have to wait around till mid April to finally accept that latter offer. But I just wasn't sure if it would seem as if I was trying to leverage them or something despite only being on the waitlist. But I sent it and I'm sure it'll be fine!

Edited March 16, 2015 by salvaeveritate

[DontFly]

So only five students? That means the odds of any one student getting in off of the wait list are pretty slim, considering that Madison has a huge wait list and will probably only accept 2-3 at most off of that list. Not very encouraging is right. Incidentally how do you know Madison is only accepting five students this year?

They told me (Now that you mentioned it I'm not so sure I was supposed to share it.. but WTH)

I was offered off the wait list, so I think it's still moving. They're also pretty explicit in telling us that they have a long wait list, and, if we want to decline, we should do so sooner, which I think is very considerate of them. So far every interaction I've had with them has been really positive. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd start to put pressure on us once the visit had finished.

[riverstyx]

They told me (Now that you mentioned it I'm not so sure I was supposed to share it.. but WTH)

I was offered off the wait list, so I think it's still moving. They're also pretty explicit in telling us that they have a long wait list, and, if we want to decline, we should do so sooner, which I think is very considerate of them. So far every interaction I've had with them has been really positive. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd start to put pressure on us once the visit had finished.

Oh so you were offered a spot off of the wait list? That must mean they are accepting people now off of the list, and they won't have to wait until the week before April 15th. I wonder if anyone else has been offered a spot off the waiting list too.....are you thinking of accepting or going somewhere else?

[Needle in the Hay]

Hi, I've got a general question about waiting lists. Basically, my inclination is to think that once you've been waitlisted somewhere there's really nothing you can do to improve your chances and you just have to wait it out. But I am wait- listed at Colorado Boulder, and I am somewhat tempted to see if I can submit more of my work there to try to improve my chances. I probably won't do this, but I'd still like to know what others think about whether or not it would be appropriate.  

[isostheneia]

Hi, I've got a general question about waiting lists. Basically, my inclination is to think that once you've been waitlisted somewhere there's really nothing you can do to improve your chances and you just have to wait it out. But I am wait- listed at Colorado Boulder, and I am somewhat tempted to see if I can submit more of my work there to try to improve my chances. I probably won't do this, but I'd still like to know what others think about whether or not it would be appropriate.  

 

As far as I know, many programs are actually not allowed to review any more work you send them once they've reviewed your app one time around. So I wouldn't do that. What you can do is send them a gracious email thanking them for putting you on the waitlist, and assuring them that you're interested in the program.

[Needle in the Hay]

As far as I know, many programs are actually not allowed to review any more work you send them once they've reviewed your app one time around. So I wouldn't do that. What you can do is send them a gracious email thanking them for putting you on the waitlist, and assuring them that you're interested in the program.

 

 

Right, that all makes a lot of sense. Thanks!

[DontFly]

Oh so you were offered a spot off of the wait list? That must mean they are accepting people now off of the list, and they won't have to wait until the week before April 15th. I wonder if anyone else has been offered a spot off the waiting list too.....are you thinking of accepting or going somewhere else?

I was offered off wait list because someone declined without visit (at least one person did so from this forum). Now that all 5 of us have confirmed our visits, I think any movement will happen after next week, when visitation is over.

Personally I sincerely have no idea whether or not I'll accept. My decision on Madison is going to depend exclusively on my visit. Sorry for not being more definitive about it. If you want more information on my experience so far with them and the information I gathered so far, feel free to PM me.

Edited March 16, 2015 by DontFly

[riverstyx]

I was offered off wait list because someone declined without visit (at least one person did so from this forum). Now that all 5 of us have confirmed our visits, I think any movement will happen after next week, when visitation is over.

Personally I sincerely have no idea whether or not I'll accept. My decision on Madison is going to depend exclusively on my visit. Sorry for not being more definitive about it. If you want more information on my experience so far with them and the information I gathered so far, feel free to PM me.

Well good luck to you, whatever you decide to do. I have a few wait lists and I am expecting to hear back from them in another few weeks, so hopefully it will all work out!

[riverstyx]

Why does UW-Madison keep such a long wait list if they only accept very few off it? What's the point? And how long is "long"? 20? 30?

Edited March 17, 2015 by riverstyx

[Duns Eith]

Hi, I've got a general question about waiting lists. Basically, my inclination is to think that once you've been waitlisted somewhere there's really nothing you can do to improve your chances and you just have to wait it out. But I am wait- listed at Colorado Boulder, and I am somewhat tempted to see if I can submit more of my work there to try to improve my chances. I probably won't do this, but I'd still like to know what others think about whether or not it would be appropriate.

I think any thing the applicant does -apart from thanks- could reflect negatively.

Though, I have spent 10-15 minutes trying to find where I read that a reference (IF they had a personal connection) could call up the DGS and say something along the lines of, "this student I recommended would say Yes if you offered it" -- the idea would be that the reference is a trusted intermediary, getting rid of the AdCom's questionmarks for filling a position among qualified applicants. Concluding a tedious process.

I can't remember if this advice originally had any qualifications or additional context that I am missing

Edited March 17, 2015 by Turretin

[a_for_aporia]

Why does UW-Madison keep such a long wait list if they only accept very few off it? What's the point? And how long is "long"? 20? 30?

 

No clue. Looking at the results page, and judging by the ratio of UW Madison rejections to wait list notifications posted, there are well over 100 people on the Madison wait list. But if I had to guess, I'd say there are more like 30. 

 

But okay, here's one reason Madison might have such a long wait list: A *lot* of people end up turning down Madison. But that would mean, of course that in fact Madison does actually accept more than just a few people off their wait list. 

Edited March 17, 2015 by a_for_aporia

[DontFly]

Hi, I've got a general question about waiting lists. Basically, my inclination is to think that once you've been waitlisted somewhere there's really nothing you can do to improve your chances and you just have to wait it out. But I am wait- listed at Colorado Boulder, and I am somewhat tempted to see if I can submit more of my work there to try to improve my chances. I probably won't do this, but I'd still like to know what others think about whether or not it would be appropriate.  

One of my letter writers had told me that, sometimes, it's possible for a letter writer to contact a school about a student, thus bumping  the student ahead on the wait list. This is only possible if the letter writers know someone on the admission committee, though. I highly doubt the committee members would have time to read more work.

[Needle in the Hay]

One of my letter writers had told me that, sometimes, it's possible for a letter writer to contact a school about a student, thus bumping  the student ahead on the wait list. This is only possible if the letter writers know someone on the admission committee, though. I highly doubt the committee members would have time to read more work.

 

Thanks so much for this. I just emailed one of my letter writers who is likely to know people on admissions at Colorado and asked if he could do this for me. Here's hoping it works!

 

I think any thing the applicant does -apart from thanks- could reflect negatively.

Though, I have spent 10-15 minutes trying to find where I read that a reference (IF they had a personal connection) could call up the DGS and say something along the lines of, "this student I recommended would say Yes if you offered it" -- the idea would be that the reference is a trusted intermediary, getting rid of the AdCom's questionmarks for filling a position among qualified applicants. Concluding a tedious process.

I can't remember if this advice originally had any qualifications or additional context that I am missing

 

Thanks also for this very helpful reply! I might end up pursuing this in tandem with DontFly's suggestion above. 

[riverstyx]

No clue. Looking at the results page, and judging by the ratio of UW Madison rejections to wait list notifications posted, there are well over 100 people on the Madison wait list. But if I had to guess, I'd say there are more like 30. 

 

But okay, here's one reason Madison might have such a long wait list: A *lot* of people end up turning down Madison. But that would mean, of course that in fact Madison does actually accept more than just a few people off their wait list. 

It sounds like it should be right. I imagine a lot of people who get into UW-Madison are competitive at other top schools as well, and like I said in another post, many people don't find the idea of studying in Wisconsin attractive because of the climate. So there must be a reason. I mean, if everybody was accepting an offer right off the bat, then there wouldn't be a reason to keep such a long list.