Deciding with Waitlists?

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  • There are applications, personal statements, letters of recommendation, visiting schools, anxiety of waiting for acceptances, deciding between schools, finding out where others are going, etc.

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idkwhatimdoing
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Dec 10, 2021 11:29 pm

Deciding with Waitlists?

Post by idkwhatimdoing » Mon Mar 14, 2022 12:38 am

Hi, I've currently been accepted to one Ph.D. program and waitlisted for three others (the acceptance is an astrophysics concentration of a physics Ph.D, the waitlists are astronomy PhDs). I was wondering if anyone has advice on how to go about making decisions with undecided waitlist offers? Out of the four schools, I've never really tried "ranking" them by my preference and am not even sure which I would pick if I was admitted to all four. I think part of the reason I didn't try doing this was to prevent myself from being upset if I didn't get into my top choice. I feel like being on a waitlist gives me a disadvantage to learning more about the program because I'm not invited to attend admitted students' visits. Additionally, all three of the schools I'm waitlisted at are 2000+ miles away so it's not like I can conveniently just go visit them myself without knowing if I'll even ever get accepted.

Mainly, I'm just nervous about if I get an offer close to/after April 15th when I've already committed to the program I'm accepted for and only have a little bit of time to decide whether or not to change my mind. I think I'd be happy at the school I've been admitted to, but then there's the "what if one of the other ones accepts me and would be better."

Finally, I haven't contacted any of the three programs I'm waitlisted for (other than filling out a form saying "yes I'd like to remain on the waitlist.") Is this a bad move? I'm worried about seeming desperate but would it be better to contact them to prove I'm interested?

(There's also one more program I've applied to but haven't heard from yet, but I think it might be safe to assume by now that one is a rejection.)

Any advice is appreciated as long as you're kind, thanks!
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gaugeinvariance
Posts: 58
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2020 6:33 am

Re: Deciding with Waitlists?

Post by gaugeinvariance » Mon Mar 14, 2022 2:10 am

Hi, I am on the same track as you, mind chatting through PM?
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cosmologyftw
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2022 11:45 am

Re: Deciding with Waitlists?

Post by cosmologyftw » Thu Mar 17, 2022 10:59 am

I would reach out to one or two of the professors you would want to work with to see if they have projects/funding for a student and make sure the project aligns with your interest. You might find that some of the PIs are not a good match (or a very good match) for you.
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