So, on Friday I received a letter from my ultimate "safe school," which had been at the bottom of my 8-school list (I applied for an MFA in CW). Not only did this program turn me down, the tone of the letter was actually condescending, saying, for example, that I might consider focusing on nonfiction instead of poetry, and reapplying once I've had more experience doing community workshops, etc. I was able to chuckle my way through the letter, because A) I have been accepted into programs that are quite a bit better than this one (I don't want to name names here, not wanting to make anyone angry), and B)I really did not want to go there in the first place.

As a friend told me, this just goes to show how bizarre the whole application process is...

So, to those of you who have been denied or are feeling crushed because of rejections, who knows, perhaps the school didn't deserve you! ;)

I don't have any questions (yet) but because I've been silently watching this community for a while, wringing my hands after numerous rejections...
I got in!

Looks like I'll be going to NYU for Visual Culture :)

Woop!

/I have a BA in Art History
/interest in digital media and interactive installation art

So anyway...Hi! Good luck to everyone!!

so i got into my top choice school (!!!). in my acceptance letter, i was given the name of my contact person in the graduate student services office (ms. b), and the name of the departmental grad representative (dr. s).

to formally accept the offer of admission, i was going to contact ms. b. however i have other questions regarding funding, and some other things. should i contact ms. b for this, or ask dr. s, who is in the department? i was also going to contact the prof i want to work with (and had corresponded with and met before i applied), dr. d. should i be asking him my questions of funding instead?

thanks in advance! also, thanks to everyone who offered me advice, reviewed my sop, helped keep me sane during the application process! i really appreciate it.

So, I got in! Yay, right?

Here's the problem: It looks like this is the only acceptance that I'll be receiving, and at this point they're not offering me any funding. At all.

I'm extremely disappointed and let down. I definitely cannot afford to pay for this all by myself. My acceptance letter indicated that although they can't offer me a tuition waiver or assistantship at this point, it's possible that that may change at a later date. There's also the possibility of receiving a waiver/assistantship outside of the department, which several current students have done.

I'm kind of freaking out. A "possibility" of funding is not good enough for me-- I need a guarantee. I can't accept an offer on the chance that I'll get funding later, because if I DON'T get funding then I'm screwed. I'm drafting an email to the coordinator of the program, which I've c/p'd below. Is anyone willing to read it over and make sure I don't sound bitchy or demanding? This is a pretty tough position to be in, since a refusal of funding basically means I won't be attending, but I don't want to sound like I think I'm super hot shit or anything either.

( Email to coordinator )

Has anyone else been in this situation? I'm so, so disappointed.

So the application process went much more smoothly than I had hoped. I have definite admissions to four schools with generous funding offers. (I am still waiting to hear from the last two.)

I am fairly certain that I am only considering two of the offers seriously. These are schools with programs that are a good fit for me and they have made the best offers (they amount to tuition waivers with stipends).

Two other schools have also offered me some funding. We will call them schools A and B for simplicity.

School A has made the best funding offer overall (marginally better than my two preferred schools) but was a fall back school for me. (I want to study environmental science, but I applied to school A's urban planning program just in case I didn't get in anywhere. Long story.)

School B has an excellent environmental science program but has made a substantially lesser offer than the schools I am seriously considering. School B asserts that it is utterly inflexible in its offer and uninterested in discussing what it might take to recruit me given my other offers.

Both School A and School B have campus visit days next week. I have already made soft commitments to attending both, but am beginning to feel overwhelmed. I am scheduled to the minute in my personal, professional and educational lives right now -- having those two days back would really be a relief. Also, particularly with School A which was only ever a backup, I am concerned about the visit being ackward. With other schools, my visits have been very purposeful but this visit to School A is not well defined by the department and I am having trouble figuring out anything I'd like to know about it. (Note also that School A is 200+ miles from my home and the trip will not be reimbursed by them.)

However, I am equally reluctant to fail to visit any school where I have been offered funding, even if I am not likely to accept that offer. I am concerned that circumstances could change before I have finalized my decision, and that cancelling these visits would deprive me of valuable information and also might make me look bad.

What would you do? Take the time to make the visits just in case or politely withdraw your rsvp?

I would appreciate any feedback on this, especially from those who have been in my position:

I have thus far been accepted into 2 of the 7 schools to which I applied, and the one especially has given me an offer that is going to be hard to beat. However, naturally I want to wait and hear back from ALL of my schools before I give a definitive answer. I do not want to send the wrong signals to the schools that have accepted me by being tardy in my response to their acceptance, etc. Is this a time for frankness, or should I not let them know I'm waiting on multiple responses? Normally I go for tactful honesty, but I'm not sure this will do the trick this time.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

I got into my top choice school. Yay! I received an email from the graduate school and that, combined with the paper letter from my department due in a few days, will make up my formal admission to the program. I'm to wait for information on funding and other details from the department.

So, what do I do now, re: contacting my advisor? (I've already asked him to be my advisor and he agreed.) Should I email him and say, "O hai! I'm in ur graduate skool?". Or should I wait until I get more info from the department (probably the grad coordinator).

What did you do after that wonderful, wonderful acceptance letter came?

Thanks, and thanks for all of the advice and calming messages posted to me on this community during the application process!

Hi English Grad folk,

So I thought it might be fun, since we've been in communication throughout the process and most of us have read one draft or another of each other's SOPs- to update the community on our success/failure rates. Anyone biting?

Drinking + the application process = ... a mess, most likely.

I just got my first notification and it was an acceptance! it's my safety but atleast i know i'll be going somewhere! yay master's in economic policy! 1 down 3 more to go! they sent me and email and ill be getting more info in the mail!
i'm so excited! that is SUCH A RELIEF!!!!

thank you to everyone here who helped me with my SoP and answered all of my crazy questions!  =)


now the big question:
HOW SHOULD I CELEBRATE?!!?

Hi everyone! I have not logged into this for a while but I am now just waiting for acceptances into the programs I applied to. My friends in my department (I am currently an MA History student) have heard from UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis on their acceptance. Has anyone applied and have heard from these programs?

UCLA History
UC San Diego History
UC San Diego Ethnic Studies
George Washington University History
UC Irvine History
UC Riverside History

Responses would be very much appreciated! Thanks!

I just received a phone call/letter saying that I was accepted into Purdue University's Child Development and Family Studies Program.  I will be in the Developmental Specialization.  Although Community Psych Programs were my first choice, this will work out because of their intervention/prevention focus and faculty members.  The funding sounds shady, and they didn't seem like they could completely fund me all 4 years which really worries me.  I don't have a money-growing tree...anyone out there who is in a similar situation??  A school that isn't sure about your funding? I *need* a full tuition waiver throughout the whole program...:(

No word on funding yet, but I'm in! MA Sociology program, as of this afternoon!

It's my alma mater, so it's my last choice school, but the acceptance means I've got somewhere to go in the fall.

Ironically, my last choice schools answered me first- one rejection, one acceptance. Hmm....

Does the following mean I'm in?

Based on the review of your graduate application, I am pleased to invite you to attend an Orientation/Information Day on Friday, Feb. 29th. This is an opportunity for you to gather more information about our industrial-organizational master’s program, our department and _____ University. Further details about this event are being mailed next week, but I wanted to inform you so you could add this to your calendar.

I turned them down anyway, because I got into my top choice PhD program and this school was a safety (I said it more nicely), but I was just wondering if I could basically chalk this up as an acceptance to boost my self esteem ;). It doesn't say anything about a formal interview.

Got into my top choice I/O Psych PhD program! Got offered an interview for another one, an MA, but turned it down, because the PhD program will pay a lot and I can simultaneously live at home, mooch off my parents, and pay off undergrad loans/get drunk. Didn't get in to my #2 PhD program, and haven't heard from the last 7 schools yet.

If you got in somewhere, email your profs and see what happens. My department apparently doesn't send many kids to grad school every year (I guess I thought it was more common than it is) so when they do, they send emails around to each other. I was rather amused to get an email from a prof I didn't know, and a congrats from a prof I have a class with whom I definitely did not email.

So if you got in, tell everybody. :D

P.S. Anyone hear from Purdue Social Psych yet? Michigan State I/O Psych?

Hi!  Ok, I have a dumb question, I figured this would be the place to ask it.

So, I was unable to visit any of the schools before applying due to, you know, life (hey, when applying to grad schools... who has I life?  I didn't!).  I have received my first acceptance from a school and now that the dizzying optimism has worn off, I'd like to actually visit.  This isn't my first choice school (actually, it's second to last) but I'd like to give it a chance, considering I haven't heard from anyone else yet.

so...

Should I contact the head of the department and say something like, "wow, gee, thanks for accepting me!  I would love to come out and visit the campus and meet some of the faculty" and then organize a day with him?  Is that how this whole thing works?  I'm a poor college kid, is there any chance in hell that they'll pay for it even though they've already accepted me?  How do I ask that question, "Hey, can you pay for this?" Or do I ignore it and consider the trip expenses as "an investment?"

These sound like really dumb questions, but I figured that if this is the same board that answers the "binder clip or staple" question, then this would be the right place for my inquiry. :)

Good luck out there!

Hokay, so I've gotten my first (eep - only?) acceptance, and they want me to come out and visit the campus, learn about the curriculum and meet the faculty at the end of February. I emailed saying it'd be financially difficult, and got an email back saying there was "at least" 350 available for travel for me to come out. I only live about a 6-hour drive away, so the 350 is really generous for a two-day visit.

Here's my question. In my email to the program, I only mentioned transportation, not lodging being an issue - which of course it is (Tucson is cheap, but not super-cheap, and I am still a poor grad student). The professor who wrote me about the funding mentioned (I think) me flying out, but didn't mention anything about me getting to stay in a hotel/inn/whatever's cheapest while I'm out.

Would it be rude/seem greedy of me to write back saying yes yes, I'm definitely interested in coming, and ask if that 350 includes covering a night or two at a local (cheap) hotel/motel? I don't want them to... unaccept me? reject me for funding? ...and I really want to go visit, but funding is something of an issue for me (as is staying with strangers... I have, er, qualms).

What would you folks do? What have you done during visits in the past?

So I get an email from my top choice university on Friday. Their website says that they send out invitations to interview in the last week or so of January. The subject line of the email is "X University Application Update."

Of course, I start bouncing in my seat like an idiot. This is it, right? I'm gonna find out if they want me!! I cross all my fingers, hold my breath, and open the email.

"Dear [me],

We wanted to update you on your application to the Doctor of Philosophy program
in Clinical Psychology for the Fall 2008 Semester. The committee is still in
the process of reviewing applications and making decisions.

If you have questions about the application process, please contact the office
of Graduate Enrollment Management at whatever or via e-mail at
whatever.

Thank you for your interest in graduate study at X University.

Sincerely,
Head Admissions Dude."

Seriously? Did you really just email me to tell me that you have no reason to email me? *HEADDESK*

Has anyone else received a similar email/phone call? Seriously, I sat there with my hands up in the air for about thirty seconds, my jaw on the floor. What a let-down! But I guess it's better than a rejection letter. Oh, grad school acceptance committees... I picture the person who sent that email sitting at his desk, laughing maniacally and rubbing his hands together as he thinks of the needless anticipation he gets to build up in the applicants.

And I got an email later that day from a different school, actually requesting an interview. So all's well that ends well, I guess. :)

I got an acceptance letter today from U of Michigan. Biostatistics MS. Their deadline was the 15th, letter dated the 16th, got it today. I'm so flippin' excited that I dont know what to do with myself.

This takes the edge off a bit and I'm incredibly grateful. I wish this for you all. Good luck everyone!

 Hey thanks for the people who replied to my last post full of nervousness, you definitely helped rationalized things. But now I am so over it because I just received my acceptance letter from UGA which was my first choice program.
So for all of you who have a depressing GPA (3.3), abysmal GRE scores (1070 ew), and no first hand research experience... it is possible to get into grad school! Just goes to show you how important your statement and letters of rec are. So hope everyone else's wait ends up a positive in the end!

PS, anyone here go to UGA now or is familiar with the Athens area? 

I got in! I'm going to be getting my Masters in Applied Political Science from American University! I'm so happy that I'm just sitting here grinning like a moron.

Oh my god, how am I going to pay for grad school?!