Fall 2018 Acceptances/Interviews/Rejections Thread

[wildflower21]

Anyone heard anything from Michigan's JDP Public Policy & Sociology program?

[mfafiction2019]

So, I'm very confused right now. I just got an email from the UC Irvine financial aid department saying that they received my FAFSA (I don't know why but I sent FAFSAs to all the schools I applied to even though I know PhDs are funded), but when I went to check on my grad application status it still says "under review." 

[HydrangeaJ]

1 hour ago, qeta said:

Folks, I called Brown just now. Apparently, they will be sending out results by the end of next week.

Just received my rejection letter. Not surprised. Not a great fit. 

[socstudentzzz]

37 minutes ago, HydrangeaJ said:

Just received my rejection letter. Not surprised. Not a great fit. 

That's their loss ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

58 minutes ago, qualsoc2018 said:

So, I'm very confused right now. I just got an email from the UC Irvine financial aid department saying that they received my FAFSA (I don't know why but I sent FAFSAs to all the schools I applied to even though I know PhDs are funded), but when I went to check on my grad application status it still says "under review." 

I'm not sure what this means, but for the recruitment weekend they sent offers to ~30 people.

[HydrangeaJ]

5 minutes ago, soc4315 said:

That's their loss ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

I'm not sure what this means, but for the recruitment weekend they sent offers to ~30 people.

They also said that they are waiting for a "final headcount of who's attending the Open House", so I'm not sure if that means they have sent out all of the admission letters. 

[mfafiction2019]

8 minutes ago, HydrangeaJ said:

They also said that they are waiting for a "final headcount of who's attending the Open House", so I'm not sure if that means they have sent out all of the admission letters. 

Weird, because I haven't heard anything from them until this financial aid thing today and I had assumed a rejection but now I don't know what to think. 

[KevinJHa]

This is really random, but I've gotten so good at typing "gradcafe" with one hand in my URL bar. It's like typing in my own phone number lol.

[HMcneil]

2 hours ago, qualsoc2018 said:

So, I'm very confused right now. I just got an email from the UC Irvine financial aid department saying that they received my FAFSA (I don't know why but I sent FAFSAs to all the schools I applied to even though I know PhDs are funded), but when I went to check on my grad application status it still says "under review." 

This happened to me last cycle, at WSU, which I was waitlisted at. They informed me it was an automatic thing from their financial department. But I’m not sure with UC Irvine. 

[2733amh]

noticed someone posted that we've been rejected from columbia if we did not hear anything today...just wondering how you know this? only noticed a couple acceptances posted so was holding out hope...was one of my dream schools 

[devouee40]

I know there hasn't been much conversation on Notre Dame, but I'm curious because I am currently finishing up a masters degree at ND (in another field) and kind of waiting on the ND decision before I decide between other programs. I believe their visit weekend is this weekend. I was not invited, but I also have not received a rejection notice. If I did not receive an invite to visit day, should I assume rejection? I am assuming that, but quickly learning that my assumptions are not quite right about this whole process. Any insight is appreciated!

[infovore]

I got my first acceptance, from UC San Diego's Sociology program, and I was invited to their admit open house on March 6th-7th. They offer to match you with a Sociology grad student as an overnight host, and they also offer a $500 travel reimbursement to people travelling from out of state. Because I'm in OR, $500 will basically cover a hotel room for a couple days plus the flight, but I assume it's still better to go with the overnight host, right? Just so I can get as much info as possible and such? I would be better off with a hotel room if the overnight host turned out to be just kind of annoyed that I was there and ignored me the entire time, but otherwise that seems like the best option.

[qeta]

Congrats, @infovore! San Diego is an awesome city and UCSD a great program, from what I hear. I'm being put up with a soc. grad student at Cornell too and I plan to take full advantage of that. I was hosted by grad students when I presented at Cornell conferences in the past. It was a great way for me to get a feel for the school and the kind of people who are attracted to the dev. soc. department. I am a great believer in understanding the demographics, culture, and norms of a department. I firmly believe going to a place where I feel like I belong and  where I can be happy during the PhD marathon will help me produce better scholarship. I attended an MA program where my fit, academically, socially (in that almost everyone was way richer and younger than me), and normatively, was terrible, and it impacted my academic output and well-being enormously. Just my long-winded two cents.

[HydrangeaJ]

3 minutes ago, qeta said:

Congrats, @infovore! San Diego is an awesome city and UCSD a great program, from what I hear. I'm being put up with a soc. grad student at Cornell too and I plan to take full advantage of that. I was hosted by grad students when I presented at Cornell conferences in the past. It was a great way for me to get a feel for the school and the kind of people who are attracted to the dev. soc. department. I am a great believer in understanding the demographics, culture, and norms of a department. I firmly believe going to a place where I feel like I belong and  where I can be happy during the PhD marathon will help me produce better scholarship. I attended an MA program where my fit, academically, socially (in that almost everyone was way richer and younger than me), and normatively, was terrible, and it impacted my academic output and well-being enormously. Just my long-winded two cents.

Great advice, thank you! Will keep this in mind when I visit UCI. 

[MintChocoChip]

5 hours ago, qualsoc2018 said:

So, I'm very confused right now. I just got an email from the UC Irvine financial aid department saying that they received my FAFSA (I don't know why but I sent FAFSAs to all the schools I applied to even though I know PhDs are funded), but when I went to check on my grad application status it still says "under review." 

I did the same thing with sending FAFSAs to all of the schools I applied to just in case. I'm not sure about UC Irvine's case, but I did get two FAFSA related emails and they seemed to be an automatic thing.

@infovore Congrats!!

@qeta Would it be worthwhile to take up the offer to stay with an overnight host if you live close to the school? I wasn't sure whether to take up the offer from a school that I live fairly close to. My hesitation comes partly from wanting to give the students who lived further away the option and partly from my own shyness, though the former is the bigger concern. 

On another note, I find it funny how, after someone mentioned CU Boulder, the decisions started coming out. Then I also asked about UCSD and now the decisions started coming out today. What a coincidence! (maybe if I mention Yale again they'll come around... )

[qeta]

3 minutes ago, MintChocoChip said:

@qeta Would it be worthwhile to take up the offer to stay with an overnight host if you live close to the school? I wasn't sure whether to take up the offer from a school that I live fairly close to. My hesitation comes partly from wanting to give the students who lived further away the option and partly from my own shyness, though the former is the bigger concern.

@MintChocoChip I think this is such an important decision and one that will impact you for such a long time that you can give yourself the permission to be a little bit selfish and put your own needs first. I would stay with the current grad student IMHO. It's really nice that you're so considerate though - I'd love to have someone like you in my cohort.

[MintChocoChip]

26 minutes ago, qeta said:

@MintChocoChip I think this is such an important decision and one that will impact you for such a long time that you can give yourself the permission to be a little bit selfish and put your own needs first. I would stay with the current grad student IMHO. It's really nice that you're so considerate though - I'd love to have someone like you in my cohort.

Thanks, @qeta!  After reading what you posted about the benefits of being an overnight guest, I started to think that maybe I should do it. I really hope you find the program that not only fits you better but also supports you more than your previous MA. 

[cam_soc]

To the person who got into Brandeis- how did you check your application status? The online portal still only has my list of submitted documents. Also, congratulations! 

[Socioeconnut]

2 hours ago, 2733amh said:

noticed someone posted that we've been rejected from columbia if we did not hear anything today...just wondering how you know this? only noticed a couple acceptances posted so was holding out hope...was one of my dream schools 

I am freaking out about this myself. If the poster could elaborate it would really help

[ereoupupup]

I wonder whether UCLA and UNC have sent out all their decisions, I have noticed many acceptances on the decision page, but haven't heard anything from my app. So nervous.

[Want_PHD]

41 minutes ago, cam_soc said:

To the person who got into Brandeis- how did you check your application status? The online portal still only has my list of submitted documents. Also, congratulations! 

My Brandeis application still says "submitted" too, and now it's the start of the weekend, so I expect more notifications will not come out until Monday?

[HydrangeaJ]

20 minutes ago, ereoupupup said:

I wonder whether UCLA and UNC have sent out all their decisions, I have noticed many acceptances on the decision page, but haven't heard anything from my app. So nervous.

I heard UCLA has, but I haven't received one, so I'm assuming it's a rejection. 

[Want_PHD]

5 hours ago, KevinJHa said:

This is really random, but I've gotten so good at typing "gradcafe" with one hand in my URL bar. It's like typing in my own phone number lol.

I've been checking the website like every 5 minutes for the past week or two, it's sad.  I'm with you.

[Want_PHD]

6 hours ago, HydrangeaJ said:

Just received my rejection letter. Not surprised. Not a great fit. 

I was rejected there as well, my first rejection, with 5 other schools with no decision yet.  I hear a lot of people saying that they weren't a good fit, but I don't understand, do you already know what you want to study?  My master's thesis is on gender, but I wrote my statement of purposes fairly open ended because I don't know what my PhD dissertation topic will be on...because I'm not a PhD student yet.  Does that make sense, or was I supposed to know already what I want to study?  I wrote my letters like "I would work well with X professor because of our shared interest, and would work well with Y because I can learn from her," etc.  With the exception of Harvard, I literally applied to every sociology PhD program in the Boston area (including Brown; excluding Amherst which is too far away).

[Want_PHD]

Anyone hear from Boston College?  I know one person posted on January 31st on the results page "An e-mail from faculty and the official letter is in the mail. 5-year full funding."  I don't understand how that is, the applications were only due on the 2nd.  Was their application that good that they didn't even need to see the remaining applications yet, or does it mean that they have reviewed mine and I'm not at the top of any list?

[Mopar18]

18 minutes ago, Want_PHD said:

I was rejected there as well, my first rejection, with 5 other schools with no decision yet.  I hear a lot of people saying that they weren't a good fit, but I don't understand, do you already know what you want to study?  My master's thesis is on gender, but I wrote my statement of purposes fairly open ended because I don't know what my PhD dissertation topic will be on...because I'm not a PhD student yet.  Does that make sense, or was I supposed to know already what I want to study?  I wrote my letters like "I would work well with X professor because of our shared interest, and would work well with Y because I can learn from her," etc.  With the exception of Harvard, I literally applied to every sociology PhD program in the Boston area (including Brown; excluding Amherst which is too far away).

Don't think most people expect you to have a proposal ready but have a general sense of what your interests are. So no need to be laser precise but just saying I like sociology won't fly either. When I tell people a school isn't a great fit I usually mean no one on the faculty is in the same ballpark as me as far as their research interests. Some people, myself included, will apply to some schools even though the fit isn't great. I had to reach a little bit on one of my apps to find a decent fit.