double waitlist dilemma

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astrostar
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2010 3:40 am

double waitlist dilemma

Post by astrostar » Wed Apr 07, 2010 3:56 am

Alright, so after lurking around on this forum long enough I've finally decided to register with a bit of a dilemma. I've been waitlisted at Berkeley Astro and UChicago Astro, with both places unlikely to make a decision until very close to April 15th (or after). Now these are my top two options, i.e 1. Chicago & 2. Berkeley. I do have a back up option where I have been accepted and would be pretty happy to go ( a lot of people would be pretty thrilled to go there)

1. Does this reasoning make sense: Berkeley-astro and Chicago-astro probably have an overlap in accepted students, who would pick only one of the two, therefore there is a reasonably decent chance that I might be accepted into at least one of them?

2. In case I am accepted to one of these two, but after April 15th, and by this time I've already sent my official acceptance to my backup, what do I do? Of course it would be terribly rude to my back up and to other people wait-listed to get in there, and might be a problem to my future career prospects. (i.e Astronomy is a pretty small field, and I certainly don't want to be on a 'blacklist' of some sort). But then again, I don't want to be unhappy thinking that I might have possibly gone to one of my higher options. Of course, this is a purely hypothetical situation, for all I know, I may not be accepted into either of the two, but I don't want to save *all* my hyperventilating for April 15th.

arieszen
Posts: 26
Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2010 6:01 am

Re: double waitlist dilemma

Post by arieszen » Wed Apr 07, 2010 6:29 am

1. There is always a chance of something good happening, so yeah, it could happen. I was in a similar situation, but my dream school rejected me, but I hope it turns out good for you.

2. It will feel bad to ditch your backup after april 15th but if your dream school accepts you, even if a bit late and your getting a good offer, i suggest you take it and express how sorry you are to the other school in a letter if you don't have the courage to call them. i'm sure your backup school can also make offers to other students after april 15th.

ddubs
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Jan 11, 2010 6:23 pm

Re: double waitlist dilemma

Post by ddubs » Wed Apr 07, 2010 3:26 pm

You could always try asking the safety for an extension. I didn't think this was possible, but the program director for UCLA physics told us if we needed an extension to just email her. Maybe that school isn't totally against it either. If you communicate your situation I'm sure you can work something out.

astrostar
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2010 3:40 am

Re: double waitlist dilemma

Post by astrostar » Fri Apr 09, 2010 10:49 am

Thanks for the advice so far. This is something I should have added earlier, but is there anybody around who has a rough estimate/idea of the probability of being accepted off of a waitlist of Chicago-astro and/or Berkeley astro?

nathan12343
Posts: 249
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 9:34 am

Re: double waitlist dilemma

Post by nathan12343 » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:33 am

astrostar wrote:Thanks for the advice so far. This is something I should have added earlier, but is there anybody around who has a rough estimate/idea of the probability of being accepted off of a waitlist of Chicago-astro and/or Berkeley astro?
I seriously doubt that Berkeley or Chicago will be accepting people after the April 15th deadline.

However, if that does happen, I think your safety school might be a bit incensed but in the long run it won't really matter that much if you withdraw your acceptance. One or two people might remember, but generally people are very accepting about this sort of thing.

ultraballer2000
Posts: 59
Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2009 4:51 pm

Re: double waitlist dilemma

Post by ultraballer2000 » Mon Apr 12, 2010 2:12 am

I am in almost the exact same situation except with two other astro schools. The advice that I was given was to just wait it out as long as you can (until April 15th I guess). However, I'm not sure how much the schools or other students will appreciate this.

Cornell astro indicated that they will probably not get back to me until after the 15th, so I don't think it's completely implausible that other schools would do that.

I feel like this year the whole grad school admissions system is really blowing it.

johnpauljones
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2009 8:32 pm

Re: double waitlist dilemma

Post by johnpauljones » Mon Apr 12, 2010 10:22 am

I managed to avoid this dilemma entirely; I only applied to 4 schools, and I was either accepted (3) or rejected (1) relatively early in the process. I made my decision a couple of weeks ago, so anybody waitlisted at the two schools I declined had enough time to make their decision as well.

But, I wouldn't worry too much. I have a feeling there is a LOT of flurry in the admissions offices for all university departments on April 14-16th every year. It's probably a lot like all the hype about the wild-card playoff spots in the NFL every year...there are students who are definitely in, students who are definitely out, but several who may end up coming if A follows B without C happening, etc. I imagine that may be one reason why they ask what other schools you are applying to -- just a guess.

Anyway, good luck to everybody who is still waiting to hear back. Soon enough we can all let out a collective sigh of relief and start to look for housing :D

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Helio
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Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:11 pm

Re: double waitlist dilemma

Post by Helio » Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:46 pm

johnpauljones wrote:I managed to avoid this dilemma entirely; I only applied to 4 schools, and I was either accepted (3) or rejected (1) relatively early in the process. I made my decision a couple of weeks ago, so anybody waitlisted at the two schools I declined had enough time to make their decision as well.

Not everyone has that luxury... i got accepted by two of topic choice (currently attending one of them) and rejected by safety schools except for one.

Back to topic... ask for an extension or tell them you might not tell to the 15th because of this situation. I was waitlisted at two schools.... one never told me and the other rejected me Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 19:21

astrostar
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2010 3:40 am

Re: double waitlist dilemma

Post by astrostar » Fri Apr 16, 2010 6:40 am

Update: I was rejected by both, and before midnight on April 15th (Berkeley on the 12th and Chicago on the 15th afternoon), so I sent my official acceptance to my safety, without too much agonizing. Note to future applicants: A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.



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