The Waitlist Struggle

[hd397]

I have officially been rejected from the waitlist at my top choice, but I hope all of you have much better luck! Despite how massively disappointing this is, I think I'll have a really good shot at this school next year--my POI emailed me directly and seemed genuinely bummed to not be able to offer me a spot.

[WillComeTrue]

2 minutes ago, hd397 said:

I have officially been rejected from the waitlist at my top choice, but I hope all of you have much better luck! Despite how massively disappointing this is, I think I'll have a really good shot at this school next year--my POI emailed me directly and seemed genuinely bummed to not be able to offer me a spot.

Oh no...I am so sorry to hear that, @hd397. My heart dropped when I read your post... it is very disappointing and upsetting to hear that news. I learn everyday how strange this process is. You probably deserved every bit of the opportunity, so I think it was just a bad luck. The "stars-must-align" concept, which is incredibly anxiety-provoking, seems to be very true for the application process. You would definitely have a better chance next year, as you would have much more experience in research/practice and also you would be much better prepared for the interviews. I know nothing would be soothing at this time, but I hope that you regain your peace soon. I wish you the best, and hope there will be better turn out for next year for you.

[wootar]

One week closer to the April 15 deadline, and the last week of March! Hopefully as that deadline looms closer and we get into April more and more people will begin making decisions. Good luck to everyone still waiting, hopefully we'll hear at least one good success story on this thread this week!

[Gvh]

Hi all, 

I'm late to the waitlist party but I am currently waitlisted at one of my top choices and accepted to the other. Why not accept my offer? Long story short, the school I'm waitlisted at is considerably better for my S/O, and as a result I am holding out to see if a spot opens up before accepting the offer I do have. 

Today, my POI at my accepted school "checked in" with a "heyyyyy....are you gonna accept?" email, which was followed by ANOTHER email by the department chair a few hours later, saying she was excited about my app, asking if I had additional questions, etc etc. So now I feel so ugh and kind of guilty. I also don't want to start off on the wrong foot if I end up starting at this school. Can anyone else relate?!

I will note that my accepted school does not have a waitlist so at least I can rest assured I'm not holding anyone up...

But still. This is so frustrating. 

Edited March 29, 2016 by Gvh

[Psych_Law]

Rejected after being on the waitlist for my top choice program for over a month. The waiting was agonizing but the longer I was on the waitlist, the more hope I had that I would get off so I wasn't really expecting this today. I'm pretty disappointed but I'll be attending a master's program in the Fall and after giving myself a few days to cry and get over this I know I'll be excited to start this other program. Good luck to the rest of you! I sincerely hope you all have great outcomes! 

[WillComeTrue]

@Becks_Psych Oh no...I am so sorry to hear that your waitlisted status didn't end up with an offer. I think Clinical Psych is extra difficult to get an offer for its competitiveness. But I am glad to hear that you are going for a masters and that you are excited about that program. You've come so far this time, I am 100% sure that you will get multiple offers next time you apply. Keep up your good work, and thank you for your positivity in encouraging us to get off the waitlist and get accepted.

Good luck to you too for your future program!

[Psych_Law]

@WillComeTrue Thank you! Same to you!

[MarineBluePsy]

3 hours ago, Becks_Psych said:

Rejected after being on the waitlist for my top choice program for over a month. The waiting was agonizing but the longer I was on the waitlist, the more hope I had that I would get off so I wasn't really expecting this today. I'm pretty disappointed but I'll be attending a master's program in the Fall and after giving myself a few days to cry and get over this I know I'll be excited to start this other program. Good luck to the rest of you! I sincerely hope you all have great outcomes! 

{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}

[wootar]

16 hours ago, Becks_Psych said:

Rejected after being on the waitlist for my top choice program for over a month. The waiting was agonizing but the longer I was on the waitlist, the more hope I had that I would get off so I wasn't really expecting this today. I'm pretty disappointed but I'll be attending a master's program in the Fall and after giving myself a few days to cry and get over this I know I'll be excited to start this other program. Good luck to the rest of you! I sincerely hope you all have great outcomes! 

So sorry to hear that  However, it's great that you already have a super solid backup plan in place!! I'm just now trying to figure out what my backup should be and wishing I had applied to a couple of Master's programs. Also, glad to hear you let yourself have time to be sad and bummed out about the situation...I think that is so important in this process! Good luck in your Master's program!!!

[WillComeTrue]

Hey everyone... we've rolled into another week of uncertainty and torture...!!! And I am still here. We are merely two weeks away from 4/15, the day which our fate will be decided. I have been occupying myself by working on research projects, distracting myself with Friends marathon, eating comfort food...a lot, and praying everyday that I end up at the school. I don't expect to hear back from my school until 4/11ish, but I really do hope that I would hear back with good news next week.

Is everyone hanging in there? I hope everyone would hear back with good news very soon! We are almost there!!!

[emhopefulme]

hey @WillComeTrue! I'm doing the same, trying to distract myself by keeping myself busy. I suppose at this point in time, no rejection letter = hopeful right? Well, hopefully all who are in the waitlist get accepted soon.  

Quick question. If someone only rejects an offer on the 15th of April, does that mean whoever is next in line only receive an offer after 15th of April??? 

[clinpsy]

3 hours ago, emhopefulme said:

Quick question. If someone only rejects an offer on the 15th of April, does that mean whoever is next in line only receive an offer after 15th of April??? 

Yes, I know someone who was on a waitlist and received an offer in May!

[WillComeTrue]

@emhopefulme Yes, definitely! No rejection letter at this point = still hopeful!

Also, as @clinpsy said, I have seen some posts here at gradcafe that some people had received offers after 4/15. The dates seemed to vary from later in April to June. Hopefully though our schools let us know well before this!!! The email I got from my school says that they will let me know before or by 4/15, so my hope is that I hear back in two weeks... I think every school has different policy for waitlists, but I think they will try their best to reach everyone by 4/15.

We waited patiently to hear back from the schools (although I went back and forth in sending the adcom professor who sent me the email, an email saying that this school is my first choice and that I really, really would like to attend if I got accepted...), so they would return to us with good news soon! (fingers crossed) I hope everyone who is waiting here on this post gets an offer!

 

Edited March 31, 2016 by WillComeTrue

[MD_io_16]

Are all applicants who receive PhD offers given a deadline to make a decision? Is it always April 15?

[WillComeTrue]

Just now, MD_io_16 said:

Are all applicants who receive PhD offers given a deadline to make a decision? Is it always April 15?

From what I understand, the 4/15 deadline is following the APA guideline, which should be universal throughout all programs. So I am assuming people who received the initial offers have to decide before or by 4/15.

[MD_io_16]

I'm not even sure knowing there are earlier deadlines helps me... if I'm "on deck" when they go to the waitlist, I'll get on offer no matter what that date is. Definitely an anxiety-provoked question, but felt better asking. Thanks for answering it! 

[WillComeTrue]

3 minutes ago, MD_io_16 said:

I'm not even sure knowing there are earlier deadlines helps me... if I'm "on deck" when they go to the waitlist, I'll get on offer no matter what that date is. Definitely an anxiety-provoked question, but felt better asking. Thanks for answering it! 

Oh, I know. I completely understand and relate to your anxiety regarding the order of the waitlist which is basically your likelihood of getting an offer. I think it depends on the schools, whether they are trying to fill ALL of the positions that are offered in that particular year so they keep giving out the offers to the waitlisted people until every slot is filled regardless of the deadline date, or they just stop giving out their offers after certain point even not all slots are filled. I wanted to email the adcom so, so much about how their waitlist works, but I ended up not doing it...

[didion10]

just stopping by to say I was just admitted off the wait-list at my first choice after 6 weeks. Have hope and make sure you reiterate your interest!!

 

you guys are all awesome.

Edited April 1, 2016 by didion10

[WillComeTrue]

YAAAAAY!!!! Congrats @didion10!!! I was checking the results this morning and was wondering if it was you!!! Oh my gosh! I am so happy for you. And this is good news for all of us here on this post, that there's still hope:) Very encouraging and exciting!!!

I didn't contact my school after being notified of my waitlist status so I think it is kind of late for me to reiterate my interests, but hopefully they think I am patient and deserves a spot!

Thanks for sharing this very happy news and hope you get some rest now! Best wishes with going forward with your PhD!!!

Congrats again!!!

[wootar]

On 4/1/2016 at 2:35 PM, didion10 said:

just stopping by to say I was just admitted off the wait-list at my first choice after 6 weeks. Have hope and make sure you reiterate your interest!!

 

you guys are all awesome.

That is suuuuch wonderful news!!! So thrilled for you that it worked out in the best way possible  That really does help give a little hope to everyone else, it really can happen still!

We're getting into the final stretch of the process. Two weeks....that will hopefully fly by and result in good news for all. Over the last several weeks I've kind of put it in the back of my head for the most part and haven't been too worried about it, starting to think about plan B's instead. I find myself today though starting to slowly return to that anxious e-mail checking and gradcafe checking behavior. Hopefully at least some will recieve some good news this week, hang in there everyone!

[WillComeTrue]

Yes--I, too, am still here, still waiting! Only two weeks! As we roll into our final two weeks, all the anxiety and worries have become a natural part of me. Thankfully I have people around me who are very encouraging and saying nice things like I will get the good news from the school in no time, and I have you guys who are also very encouraging and most importantly you all understand this situation more than any others.
So thank you all for being here with me at this troubled time, and really wishing good luck for all of us!

 

[psyched55]

On March 22, 2016 at 2:02 PM, WillComeTrue said:

 

I hope your other option works out well.

I have another uplifting story! 

I ended up getting into the program!  I thought I was lower down on the waitlist, but my POI called me telling me that he just got another spot and that it's mine 

Thank you @WillComeTrue and everyone else on this thread. I am keeping my fingers crossed for everyone!

[wootar]

Congratulations!!! So glad it worked out for you. Sometimes it almost feels better when you think there's almost no chance it will happen. So glad that the process has worked out for you this application cycle and that you can now start planning for life beyond July!!!! 

 

I e-mailed a school yesterday to see if I was still on the wait list, and was informed that the admin had just recently checked with the POI about that and that I am still on the list. He wants to take two students next year, but neither of them have responded to the offer yet . All in all, I think that is good news more than bad news for me...but, I hope that they respond soon! Same for the other school I am waitlisted at. They are my 1 and 2 choice schools. The admin also said that as we get closer to the April 15 deadline the POIs will likely reach out to people holding offers with a gentle reminder that the deadline is coming, so hopefully the rest of us still waiting on this thread will be hearing something soon!

[WillComeTrue]

OH MY GOD!!! It is wonderful news!!! Congratulations, @psyched55!!! You don't know how happy I am to hear that news. 

As the deadline approaches my anxiety is peaking, so it is really encouraging and soothing to hear news like yours. Now all you have to do is to relax and enjoy a few months of freedom, because it will get super busy very soon!

I hope the two people on your POI's list get other offers that would make them to choose other schools, @wootar, especially for your 1st choice school!!!

We are almost there, and hopefully we will receive great news soon!!!

[emhopefulme]

I just received news I got rejected off the waitlist. Kind of expected it yet well think I need time to grief and think about my plan B. All the best to the rest of you who are still waiting! Hope it will turn out well for you!