Anyone else STILL on a waitlist?

[floatingmolecule]

It is two days past the deadline, so yeah, my head is spinning. Unless everyone asked for an extension, they would know by now if any spots are open so.....
I wonder - do they go through the waitlist in waves?

If so:
The waitlist is longer than the shortlist I thought it was.

AND

Considering the time that has passed, I must not be a high priority even on a waitlist.

 

Any other theories?
Experiences?

 

One can only go crazy from here on.

[ChurchHistoryNerd]

As far as I'm aware I'm still on the waitlist.

[floatingmolecule]

As far as I'm aware I'm still on the waitlist.

Have you heard anything from them? Or know if people have gotten rejected or accepted since the 15th?

[ChurchHistoryNerd]

Have you heard anything from them? Or know if people have gotten rejected or accepted since the 15th?

 

no communication except than with a friend in the program

[floatingmolecule]

I just read an update from someone who was informed by their university that the "waitlist is clearing very slowly" and that they should accept another offer if possible since they are only in the middle of the list and chances are low.

That must be what is happening to me.

Sad. Since I have no offer to accept.

[pinkrosz]

I am still on the waitlist to. Someone said when they got accepted that the deadline was April 30th for them to respond and for my program I know last year people were accepted in the first week of May. I wish you guys the best of luck! May the odds be in your favor!

[Ellies]

Not exactly the same I suppose, but I am on a wait list too, but for funding. I have been accepted into the program, but do not have funding (yet).

I was told they are working hard to try and get me a support package, but it may or may not happen. Even if it does, it could come as late as the end of the summer.

I also have another application outstanding at another department, but I have been told they will not even look at applications until May.

So I still have a lot of waiting to do.

Edited April 17, 2015 by Ellies

[shadowclaw]

I am in the same boat as Ellies. I was accepted to OSU and am on the TA waitlist. The way it was phrased by the program coordinator, it seems like there are likely enough TA positions to go around, but they can't guarantee a spot until fall enrollment is finalized. I did get a partial tuition scholarship that covers a third of the tuition... would be 2/3 if I was an Oregon resident.

I am also still on the waitlist at UTK.

[Ellies]

Nice to get at least something, shadowclaw; right now I have nothing. However, I am in-state, and with in-state rates about half-price, if I do end up having to pay tuition it is not the end of the world. I also would be commuting, so no housing cost.

It may not be a terrible thing if I didn't get funded. I would only take 3 courses to reduce the cost (they said I will very likely be funded from the second year onwards), so I would be easing into graduate life without the responsibility of a TA job just yet. It might actually be nice.

That doesn't mean I would refuse funding if I was offered it, of course. I'd still be ecstatic! But I'm trying to see the positive side of things, and I do think there IS a positive side.

[Rose Tyler]

I'm still on a waitlist for a masters program. I have no idea where I stand on the list because they don't rank applicants as admittance is reliant on match with a professor. They said after interviews that acceptance is possible after April 15th and I haven't heard anything in the contrary.

[floatingmolecule]

I only applied to programs that guarantee funding if they accept you (and decline you if they can't afford you).  As an international, I cannot work part time to finance myself in the States, unless it is part of my program (ie. TA or RA), so I would not be able to pay for myself during my stay.  I would need a mininum of 100 000 US dollars to finance an entire PhD (assuming 5 years at 20 000 a year for all living expenses, tuition and medical), which is impossible for me to save up through my job at .... a gas station.  Lol.  Even if my country had student loans available for international studies, I would be very hesitant to take out a sum of that magnitude, as past experience has shown me that there is never a guarantee that I will ever land a job lucrative enough to pay off such a sum.  The scholarships available in my country require a detailed description of a proposed project... plus the support of a professor willing to mentor you.  I have looked into it after suggestions were made regarding independent funding, and it would require me to know exactly what kind of project I was doing and under whom I would be doing it.

So funding is very, very important for me, at least for the first year, until I could start applying for scholarships.  Even so, the risk of NOT getting a scholarship is high enough that I require a guarantee for full funding for the duration of my studies.  A non-funded offer would be equivalent to rejection and in that light, I can fully identify with someone waitlisted for funding who is dependent on it.  It is practically the same thing as not being accepted.

Good luck to you guys in getting funding!  I hope grants come through and there is money available for you!  

Rose Tyler:
It is possible that the professors interested in working with you are still waiting for grant approval.  The fact that they informed you of late acceptance as a possibility during the interview is more than I ever got, so you have reason to be far more hopeful. I never had any feedback from my POI, except very generic information. He did not seem very eager to keep my hopes up and never inquired about my continued interest.  He merely stated  (very late on) that I was a waitlist candidate and that offers might be made to the waitlist if first choice candidates decline.  I am assuming he has favorites, even on the waitlist, but judging from his disinterest, I cannot imagine I am one of them.

 

Do you know of others in your program who already got in or were accepted?

Edited April 18, 2015 by floatingmolecule

[Rose Tyler]

I only applied to programs that guarantee funding if they accept you (and decline you if they can't afford you).  As an international, I cannot work part time to finance myself in the States, unless it is part of my program (ie. TA or RA), so I would not be able to pay for myself during my stay.  I would need a mininum of 100 000 US dollars to finance an entire PhD (assuming 5 years at 20 000 a year for all living expenses, tuition and medical), which is impossible for me to save up through my job at .... a gas station.  Lol.  Even if my country had student loans available for international studies, I would be very hesitant to take out a sum of that magnitude, as past experience has shown me that there is never a guarantee that I will ever land a job lucrative enough to pay off such a sum.  The scholarships available in my country require a detailed description of a proposed project... plus the support of a professor willing to mentor you.  I have looked into it after suggestions were made regarding independent funding, and it would require me to know exactly what kind of project I was doing and under whom I would be doing it.

So funding is very, very important for me, at least for the first year, until I could start applying for scholarships.  Even so, the risk of NOT getting a scholarship is high enough that I require a guarantee for full funding for the duration of my studies.  A non-funded offer would be equivalent to rejection and in that light, I can fully identify with someone waitlisted for funding who is dependent on it.  It is practically the same thing as not being accepted.

Good luck to you guys in getting funding!  I hope grants come through and there is money available for you!  

Rose Tyler:

It is possible that the professors interested in working with you are still waiting for grant approval.  The fact that they informed you of late acceptance as a possibility during the interview is more than I ever got, so you have reason to be far more hopeful. I never had any feedback from my POI, except very generic information. He did not seem very eager to keep my hopes up and never inquired about my continued interest.  He merely stated  (very late on) that I was a waitlist candidate and that offers might be made to the waitlist if first choice candidates decline.  I am assuming he has favorites, even on the waitlist, but judging from his disinterest, I cannot imagine I am one of them.

 

Do you know of others in your program who already got in or were accepted?

 

Thank you, that does give me a bit of hope. I probably should have mentioned in my initial post that all of that information came from the grad coordinator, not my POI. I don't know of any others in the program that have been accepted. It's a small program and several states away. There's only one acceptance posted in the results section here. I'm probably going to email the grad coordinator tomorrow, just to check in. At this point I'd really just like to know, even if it is bad news.

 

I'm sorry that your POI didn't seem interested; I felt that way about a professor at another program I applied to. It's very disheartening.

[opaljmy]

I am on the wait list for funding too and I accept the admission. My adviser told me they still have many research grants pending, which kinda give me hope. And I was told that students who have come without funding have generally been able secure GAships. Anyway, preparing for the worst. I can support myself in the first year, but only the first year.

Edited April 20, 2015 by opaljmy

[Ellies]

opaljmy, take heart. They usually have some sort of qualifying exam at the end of the first year and I was told that, as long as you pass this exam, funding will be as good as certain for the years after. Thus, if you're accepted without funding, you generally will be paying for no more than 1 year.

At that point you have become an extremely low risk applicant. They will absolutely want to fund you.

[Mechanician2015]

Urgh... I am an International... If I don't get a funding decision by the end of the month(which is week and a half from now) it won't matter anymore, since the visa process wouldn't allow me to be in USA before classes start. 

I think I'll just prepare myself to apply again in F2016(and contact faculty this time... EARLY...).

[floatingmolecule]

As I stated in the other wait list thread earlier - I got accepted off of the wait list, much to my utter shock and surprise!

Now I am in a haze world of disbelief, housing, VISAs, health insurance - and there is no place I'd rather be!

 

Rose Tyler:  Any updates?

Mechanician2015: Oh no!  I received full funding, but just got accepted today..... Is there some kind of deadline that we have to meet as internationals?  As far as I know, my paperwork is still being processed.  Are they giving you the run around when it comes to funding? 

[MapleCola]

Hi, I'm new to this site but some grad friends of mine referred me here. All the grad schools I applied to rejected me but thankfully I networked my way onto the wait list of one of them. I work for free at that school for a professor who wants new grad students, but not me because he dislikes my husband? Weird. Anyways, I was told by the first year grad students that this particular school can take up until two weeks before classes begin! I fear I was added to the bottom of the barrel and even if they have a historically high admittance amount (9!) I will receive a rejection notice even though I've committed to this path. Any feel good thoughts/ comments/ insights would be very appreciated. 

[Mechanician2015]

As I stated in the other wait list thread earlier - I got accepted off of the wait list, much to my utter shock and surprise!

Now I am in a haze world of disbelief, housing, VISAs, health insurance - and there is no place I'd rather be!

 

Rose Tyler:  Any updates?

Mechanician2015: Oh no!  I received full funding, but just got accepted today..... Is there some kind of deadline that we have to meet as internationals?  As far as I know, my paperwork is still being processed.  Are they giving you the run around when it comes to funding? 

 

Congratz buddy! Well deserved admission! =)

 

There is no deadline, but the visa process is rather long and( as everything involving mailing) full of uncertainties and delays. Once you provide the financial guarantee for the university to work out your I-20, you need to wait for the document to be mailed to you, apply for a VISA interview(which is not immediate) and then it takes some time for the visa to be emitted and mailed/delivered to you. I've been researching on the matter, and end-of-april is the safe time to get this process started(otherwise you run with the risk of being late for classes or, worse, late for induction or any sort of training required for TA or RA ships). 

 

And yeah, I would prefer a plain "No funding" status, but not even that... it's just "we are still in the process...".(For what's worth, I personally would have preferred a straight rejection).

[foreignstudent]

@mechanician2015

 

A dumb question but I would just like to clarify ...if the university asks to provide a financial guarantee to process my I-20 then does it mean that there would be no funding from the University? Btw I am applying for a PhD and I got a mail from the University asking me to provide the financial guarantee to speed up my I-20.

 

I have not yet done so far and have mailed the department if there would be any chance of funding...

[Mechanician2015]

@mechanician2015

 

A dumb question but I would just like to clarify ...if the university asks to provide a financial guarantee to process my I-20 then does it mean that there would be no funding from the University? Btw I am applying for a PhD and I got a mail from the University asking me to provide the financial guarantee to speed up my I-20.

 

I have not yet done so far and have mailed the department if there would be any chance of funding...

 

The fact that the university asked you for the financial guarantee is not a sign that you won't be funded. Simply put, the person that process the I-20 has no way to know if you will provide your own funding, or if you have an external sponsor, or if you were offered a position in the university as TA or RA(the person that works with the I-20 is not part of the department that funds/accepts you).

 

As far as I know, when you are funded, the department sends you a document that you need to sign and return, accepting the offer. Then, you can send a copy of that offer to the person that works with the I-20(assuming that the offer meets the required minimum, which is not always the case).

 

It is the department that accepted you, or the admissions office in some cases, that is in a position to tell you if there is funding or not.

[foreignstudent]

@mechanician2015

 

I got the mail from the Graduate College Admission team.. I have mailed them asking for any possible funding ( have I made any mistake here??). I have not got any response from them yet. They have stated in the mail that after I fulfill the financial guarantee I would be eligible for the I-20 and the PhD admission. So this means that my funding is not allocated right?? Would love to hear your opinion as I am not sure on what I should I do next

[SLPH2b]

Still waitlisted. I took a risk and called the program yesterday and was surprised when the Director answered the phone. I told her that if admitted, I would 1000000% go. I hope this helps....

[Marika 88]

I am wait listed at ESIA - GW, I e-mailed admissions asking if I would hear back in the middle of May, they said to expect a decision after May 1st. Fingers are crossed, trying not to get my hopes up. And still waiting to hear back from another school as well. 

[GradSchoolTruther]

Ask how many students without funding get funding. It's not very common to grant funding after one year, as they can already see you're willing to pay.

 

opaljmy, take heart. They usually have some sort of qualifying exam at the end of the first year and I was told that, as long as you pass this exam, funding will be as good as certain for the years after. Thus, if you're accepted without funding, you generally will be paying for no more than 1 year.

At that point you have become an extremely low risk applicant. They will absolutely want to fund you.

 

 

I am on the wait list for funding too and I accept the admission. My adviser told me they still have many research grants pending, which kinda give me hope. And I was told that students who have come without funding have generally been able secure GAships. Anyway, preparing for the worst. I can support myself in the first year, but only the first year.

[ningjing9988]

Yep, still there. No idea who's waiting together with me. Best luck for everyone!