Welcome to the 2016-17 cycle!

[terefere]

2 hours ago, advark said:

does anyone know how admissions work? Is it one person per subfield making the initial cut and after this cut they ask other faculty if they are interested in working with a student? Or is it the case that one person per subfield makes all the decisions and other faculty mentioned in your SOP are notified after you've been accepted? 

At my school, the initial cut is done by a professor who has been randomly assigned to your file, and it does not have to be a person in your subfield. It's more like the first person gets all people with their last name from A to F, the next one G to whatever, etc. It is at a later stage that your POIs may be notified.

[necspenecmetu]

1 hour ago, Bibica said:

Are you referring to any program in particular?

I heard that UC schools engage in negotiations with admitted students on terms of financing. Not only them, I just wondered whether schools in general make adjustments on their initial offer of financing or negotiate with admitted students who have not decided to enroll. 

[zapatos]

8 hours ago, gc_user said:

Does anyone know when Berkeley sends fellowship information or what the stipend amount is?

Based on this I would expect about $29,000 for Berkeley:  http://www.phdstipends.com/results

[Bibica]

3 minutes ago, necspenecmetu said:

I heard that UC schools engage in negotiations with admitted students on terms of financing. Not only them, I just wondered whether schools in general make adjustments on their initial offer of financing or negotiate with admitted students who have not decided to enroll. 

There have been a few good threads about this on other parts of TGC [link] [link]. @TakeruK's post in the second thread is particularly informative.

Generally, I'd say that it is possible to increase your stipend slightly or to get rid of some obligations (fewer TA/RA requirements, summer funding, reduced fees if your school has them, moving costs, etc.) by asking politely. This is most effective when you have a competitive offer at a similarly ranked institution (don't go telling Columbia that you're considering going to UVA because they're paying more, for example) and if the only thing holding you back from the school you're trying to negotiate with is the money. Another option is if you have an outside fellowship/scholarship.

That being said, a lot of schools, especially those without large endowments, will simply not have the money to offer you, even if they wanted to. And other schools (I think UMich?) are adamant about giving everyone the same amount of money.

[aroundandabout]

3 hours ago, yousowildrach said:

Has anyone heard about visitation dates for UPenn or Northwestern? I want to book my flight to UC Irvine for March 3rd, but am worried since I haven't heard back from UPenn and Northwestern; they might have their visitations that same weekend.

I will be visiting Northwestern for the prospective students day, and I was told it was from February 23rd to 26th.

[polisci13542]

Just wanna say, good luck to everyone for next week's round of decisions! Certain that many schools will release their decision by end of next week.

[Bibica]

10 minutes ago, polisci13542 said:

Just wanna say, good luck to everyone for next week's round of decisions! Certain that many schools will release their decision by end of next week.

Good luck to you as well! Fingers crossed for everyone. 

[selectionbias]

Not sure if folks have heard the news but it looks like things just got more competitive over in Cambridge: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/2/13/fas-reduces-graduate-admissions/

No idea on what this will look like for individual departments but 4.4% at an already ultra-competitive program is pretty high.

[Bibica]

2 hours ago, selectionbias said:

Not sure if folks have heard the news but it looks like things just got more competitive over in Cambridge: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/2/13/fas-reduces-graduate-admissions/

No idea on what this will look like for individual departments but 4.4% at an already ultra-competitive program is pretty high.

Please excuse me while I stress vomit.

[jazzmintea]

2 hours ago, selectionbias said:

Not sure if folks have heard the news but it looks like things just got more competitive over in Cambridge: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/2/13/fas-reduces-graduate-admissions/

No idea on what this will look like for individual departments but 4.4% at an already ultra-competitive program is pretty high.

Oh well, not like I'm expecting an admission there but that's awful. 

[Monody]

How would you handle two admissions from two universities of which one is vastly better regarding its faculty, training, offer, and prestige than the other? I am now considering to decline the second offer so that they know what they are at and are able to notify someone on the waiting list so that he or she can still go to the visiting weekend? Is there any chance (in hell) that a department rescinds an offer given that there are no irregularities?

[Bibica]

@Monody I can't see a reason why they would rescind your offer, especially since it has already been approved by Columbia's GSAS. If there is no possible way you'll choose the other school, then I do think it is right to (when you are ready) politely decline their offer. My experience with this has been positive. A short, simple email thanking them for their acceptance but that you are choosing to pursue graduate school elsewhere will suffice. They may ask what school you are choosing otherwise, which I would tell them (they like to keep track), and then they'll probably just wish you well at your other school.

That being said, if you aren't 100 percent sure I would hold on to that offer and visit. Rank does matter, and I you seem pretty decided, but there isn't any shame in not feeling decided.

[Monody]

9 minutes ago, Bibica said:

@Monody I can't see a reason why they would rescind your offer, especially since it has already been approved by Columbia's GSAS. If there is no possible way you'll choose the other school, then I do think it is right to (when you are ready) politely decline their offer. My experience with this has been positive. A short, simple email thanking them for their acceptance but that you are choosing to pursue graduate school elsewhere will suffice. They may ask what school you are choosing otherwise, which I would tell them (they like to keep track), and then they'll probably just wish you well at your other school.

That being said, if you aren't 100 percent sure I would hold on to that offer and visit. Rank does matter, and I you seem pretty decided, but there isn't any shame in not feeling decided.

I honestly would feel bad to visit as an international student and getting reimbursed with over 500$ even though I am practically certain that choosing Penn over Columbia would be foolish given my interests. Yes, they have a great program, great faculty, and great research opportunities, that's why I applied there, but as someone else mentioned earlier, it is being trumped in every category by Columbia. 

Edited February 13, 2017 by Monody

[Bibica]

3 minutes ago, Monody said:

I honestly would feel bad to visit as an international student and getting reimbursed with over 500$ even though I am practically certain that choosing Penn over Columbia would be foolish given my interests. Yes, they have a great program, great faculty, and great research opportunities, that's why I applied there, but as someone else mentioned earlier, it is being trumped in every category by Columbia.

Fair enough. I think you've answered your original question for you--time to politely decline Penn. Will you be visiting Columbia, by the way? We might see one another there  

[Monody]

2 minutes ago, Bibica said:

Fair enough. I think you've answered your original question for you--time to politely decline Penn. Will you be visiting Columbia, by the way? We might see one another there  

Then I know what I will do later today.

I am still waiting for the email regarding the travel arrangements. The flights from Copenhagen are surprisingly not as expensive as I thought they would be (around 450€ round trip) so that I am quite certain that I will be there.  

[VMcJ]

7 minutes ago, Monody said:

I honestly would feel bad to visit as an international student and getting reimbursed with over 500$ even though I am practically certain that choosing Penn over Columbia would be foolish given my interests. Yes, they have a great program, great faculty, and great research opportunities, that's why I applied there, but as someone else mentioned earlier, it is being trumped in every category by Columbia. 

Yeah, it's an easy decision to make, but a hard action to take.

Myself, I am spiralling inside my own conundrum. I have five good offers, maybe will get a couple more, and can see good reasons for accepting all of them. My case should be settled by visiting them, but that is not going to happen. My only solace is that:

"Is this a hard choice for you?" he demanded. Yes! I cried. "Oh," he said, springing back cheerfully. "In that case, it doesn't matter. If it's a hard decision, then there's always lots to be said on both sides, so either choice is likely to be good on its way. Hard choices are always unimportant."

[HermioneWannabe]

1 hour ago, VMcJ said:

Yeah, it's an easy decision to make, but a hard action to take.

Myself, I am spiralling inside my own conundrum. I have five good offers, maybe will get a couple more, and can see good reasons for accepting all of them. My case should be settled by visiting them, but that is not going to happen. My only solace is that:

"Is this a hard choice for you?" he demanded. Yes! I cried. "Oh," he said, springing back cheerfully. "In that case, it doesn't matter. If it's a hard decision, then there's always lots to be said on both sides, so either choice is likely to be good on its way. Hard choices are always unimportant."

Ohhhh I like this quote - thanks!

[ugurcanevci]

I believe the trolls strike again with a rejection this time. The MIT post

Edited February 13, 2017 by ugurcanevci

[Kenga]

6 minutes ago, ugurcanevci said:

I believe the trolls strike again with a rejection this time. The MIT post

It must be the only one they can spell ... Or is there another possible reason for their obsession with MIT?
 

[ugurcanevci]

5 minutes ago, Kenga said:

It must be the only one they can spell ... Or is there another possible reason for their obsession with MIT?
 

I can't forget the post with "I think why I paid". Lol. 

[Kenga]

12 minutes ago, ugurcanevci said:

I can't forget the post with "I think why I paid". Lol. 

I remember that one. It was a great one.
I wouldn't mind the trolls if more of them were like that one  

[ikebana]

Has anyone heard back from Washington University in St. Louis?

[sharklotte]

Based on past results, can we safely assume that Stanford results won't come out until Wednesday or Thursday? 

[RevTheory1126]

1 hour ago, ugurcanevci said:

I can't forget the post with "I think why I paid". Lol. 

My personal favorite is still a response to rejection: "uncalled for!"

[guest56436]

2 minutes ago, sharklotte said:

Based on past results, can we safely assume that Stanford results won't come out until Wednesday or Thursday? 

No. Stanford is all over the place.