2016 Waitlist Thread

[philosophe]

Hi folks,

I thought I would go ahead and round things out, since we already have the acceptance and rejections threads for this cycle.

I'm hoping that this will be a place where 1) we can anxiously discuss our fate and 2) where people who are turning down offers will be able to let us know (and give us some hope).

I'll start -- I'm currently waitlisted at Northwestern.

[dgswaim]

WL for Indiana HPS. Fucking fuckity fuck.

[peco]

I have been put on an unranked waitlist at Minnesota.. 

[dgswaim]

2 hours ago, peco said:

I have been put on an unranked waitlist at Minnesota.. 

Was this today?

[peco]

Just now, dgswaim said:

Was this today?

No. I got the notification on Jan 29.

[dgswaim]

5 minutes ago, peco said:

No. I got the notification on Jan 29.

Do you have any notion of whether they've sent out any acceptances at this point? Sorry so many questions. I would relish the opportunity to work with Alan Love.

[peco]

4 minutes ago, dgswaim said:

Do you have any notion of whether they've sent out any acceptances at this point? Sorry so many questions. I would relish the opportunity to work with Alan Love.

In that notification email, there is no information about  whether there are acceptances that have been sent out. But there is an official (formal) letter as an attachment, which says I have been waitlisted...Anyway, good luck wth you..

[dgswaim]

I'm almost tempted to email them. I won't... but I want to. Would be nice if some others had posted results. The mo' evidence the betta, as we philosophers of science say.

[psm1580b]

I was also waitlisted at Indiana HPS yesterday. 

[philosophe]

1 hour ago, dgswaim said:

I'm almost tempted to email them. I won't... but I want to. Would be nice if some others had posted results. The mo' evidence the betta, as we philosophers of science say.

You could always call, then there's no identifying feature. They likely won't ask your name, they'll just let you know whether or not they've been sent out. 

[currentphilgrad]

Just found out I was waitlisted at Indiana's HPS department! It's not an acceptance, but I'm still excited. Now to start convincing people not to go to Indiana HPS haha

[philosophe]

Just now, currentphilgrad said:

Just found out I was waitlisted at Indiana's HPS department! It's not an acceptance, but I'm still excited. Now to start convincing people not to go to Indiana HPS haha

Has anyone been straight accepted to Indiana HPS? It almost seems like they just waitlist until funding becomes available... no accepts on the results page at least. Good luck!

[dgswaim]

33 minutes ago, philosophe said:

Has anyone been straight accepted to Indiana HPS? It almost seems like they just waitlist until funding becomes available... no accepts on the results page at least. Good luck!

I had a brief email exchange with the DGS, and she seemed to indicate that they indeed have not accepted anyone yet. She said that they had identified a "pool of applicants" that they deemed fit for their program, and that the waiting list consists of all and only such applicants, but that it's unclear how many will be admitted at this point (because da monies).

[psm1580b]

41 minutes ago, currentphilgrad said:

Just found out I was waitlisted at Indiana's HPS department! It's not an acceptance, but I'm still excited. Now to start convincing people not to go to Indiana HPS haha

*waves hand* You don't want to go to Indiana...

[psm1580b]

8 minutes ago, dgswaim said:

I had a brief email exchange with the DGS, and she seemed to indicate that they indeed have not accepted anyone yet. She said that they had identified a "pool of applicants" that they deemed fit for their program, and that the waiting list consists of all and only such applicants, but that it's unclear how many will be admitted at this point (because da monies).

*waves hand* neither do you

[philosophe]

Just now, psm1580b said:

*waves hand* You don't want to go to Indiana...

pshh cost of living there is sweet. the stipend would go far. 

[philosophe]

9 minutes ago, dgswaim said:

I had a brief email exchange with the DGS, and she seemed to indicate that they indeed have not accepted anyone yet. She said that they had identified a "pool of applicants" that they deemed fit for their program, and that the waiting list consists of all and only such applicants, but that it's unclear how many will be admitted at this point (because da monies).

we should be allowed more than 5 daily upvotes >:( Thanks!

[dgswaim]

6 minutes ago, psm1580b said:

*waves hand* neither do you

At this point the only open applications that I would choose over Indiana, were I accepted, are Princeton and Penn. Or, I should say that those are the only two I have left that I can say definitively that I would choose them over Indiana. Some of the others are closer calls. But, I'm very sure I won't get into Princeton. That was my YOLO application.

[dgswaim]

I hasten to add that she said there are people ahead of me, but she did not say how many. She did say that people from approx. my rank have been admitted before... so that's coolish, I guess.

[philosophe]

Where the berkeley waitlisted at? Ppl keep posting WLs on the acceptance thread! (shameless thread bump to keep everything ordered on their individual threads). 

[designer peirce]

Ah, this thread clears up a lot. I got an email from Indiana's HPS department that was very positive but disconcertingly ambiguous. When I showed the message to my letter-writers, they all interpreted it as saying I was accepted, but on a waiting list for a fellowship.

The DGS didn't clarify when I responded, though I didn't push on the matter, since she said she'd be sending more info. I heard from her on the 2nd, so I guess I can infer from the information here that it wasn't an acceptance. What a letdown.

[psm1580b]

21 minutes ago, designer peirce said:

Ah, this thread clears up a lot. I got an email from Indiana's HPS department that was very positive but disconcertingly ambiguous. When I showed the message to my letter-writers, they all interpreted it as saying I was accepted, but on a waiting list for a fellowship.

The DGS didn't clarify when I responded, though I didn't push on the matter, since she said she'd be sending more info. I heard from her on the 2nd, so I guess I can infer from the information here that it wasn't an acceptance. What a letdown.

Not at all, go look at the history of Indiana's HPS on the results page. They only release "waitlists" and then a couple weeks later those that they can fund from the waitlist are granted acceptance. 

Edited February 7, 2016 by psm1580b

[designer peirce]

7 minutes ago, psm1580b said:

Not at all, go look at the history of Indiana's HPS on the results page. They only release "waitlists" and then a couple weeks later those that they can fund from the waitlist are granted acceptance. 

Ah, I think I understand. Thanks. 

[dgswaim]

I'm starting to wish I'd selected a different writing sample for Indiana HPS. I decided to use the same paper for all my apps, which is not very historical in character. 

[psm1580b]

3 minutes ago, dgswaim said:

I'm starting to wish I'd selected a different writing sample for Indiana HPS. I decided to use the same paper for all my apps, which is not very historical in character. 

It's funny you say that, a lot of people tell you to use your "best" work--regardless if it is in the area you wish to research. For a M.A. person, that's probably your thesis. It's what you've spent your most time on and had probably the most significant feedback from peers and faculty. Last year that's what I used. I submitted a paper that was really not at all related to the people that I was hoping to work with. This year I switched it up and submitted a paper that was within philosophy of physics. 

Last year: 15 rejections.

This year (so far) one HPS program waitlist.

This is clearly not enough data to form a conclusion from, but it is definitely pointing in a particular direction. 

Of course, another interpretation is that last year I was not graduated and therefore what they were receiving in my application was not actually complete. This year, there remain no questions about my last two semesters of performance. (I've always wondered if this played any role at all...)